The Big Apple...

After two years on the east coast, Sean and I finally made a trip to New York to visit family and see the Big Apple. It was my first time ever going up there, so I was in shock the entire time.

We were fortunate enough to be able to stay with Sean's Grandma Fran, Uncle Rick and Aunt Michelle. Sean's mom flew in from California to meet us, so we got to spend the weekend with her too. Grandma, Rick, and Michelle live in a quaint little home on Long Island, which also happens to be the same home Karen grew up in. It was very fun to see where she spent her childhood, and even more fun to hear how she acquired her awesome accent. Being from California, I thoroughly enjoy listening to Sean's family talk, they put an "er" on everything that ends with an "a"; I love it!!!

On our first day Uncle Rick was kind enough to drive us all the way out to the eastern tip of Long Island through the amazing homes of the Hamptons, and give me my first experience with New York pizza. It was extremely cool to see the small towns up there and get a chance to see farms, real farms in New York (who knew???)

This is one BIG house out on the beach in the Hamptons!

This the lighthouse on the very very tip of Long Island

A cool shot of a fishing boat coming in with a good days catch

Our second day, the weather was a little dreary, so the day was spent in Yonkers Raceway (next to the Bronx), where we might have participated in playing a few slot machines and even horse racing. Sean quickly learned that blindly betting $10 on a horse race isn't the fastest way to get rich. Sean went skipping to the booth to collect his winnings after his horse won, but he quickly returned with his head down and a little dissapointed. Apparently, the digital screen said the odds were paying 3/2 to 1 and not 32 to 1 (in his defense, the digital board was somewhat difficult to read). It ended up being a subtle, yet important difference when calculating one's winnings.

Then there was NYC, the most amazing, crazy, busy city I have ever been to. In addition to many firsts for me on this trip, we rode the train from Long Island to Penn Station, then took the subway to Time Square. I'm not going to lie, I am not a huge fan of the subway; I totally understand the importance and usefulness, but I certainly don't think I could do it everyday. However, I must say, it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen; an entire world underground. Once we got downtown, we ended up doing a city tour on a double decker bus. We traveled uptown, downtown, and everywhere inbetween (including Harlem, yikes!). We got hit with a little bit of rain and some chilly winds, but we still had the time of our lives.

As our day in NYC came to a close, Grandma Fran (who wasn't able to make it into the city with us) had made reservations for us at her favorite Italian restaurant, Carmines. It's the most authentic italian food, served family style; so between the five of us, we ordered one salad and two entrees. The dishes were huge!

Rick and Michelle in front of our tour bus

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine which is the second biggest cathedral in the world (second only to Saint Peters Basilica in Rome)

Sean looking cool as always in Times Square

Ashley in front of the Subway entrance in Times Square

This is a faris wheel inside of the Toys R Us in times square. Sadly, we didn't have time to ride it, sorry Mom.

The day we went into the city was unfortunately our last night visiting, so Sean and I got a hotel right in the middle of Time Square. Due to Sean's traveling status with Doubletree Hotels, we were fortunate enough to get upgraded to a corner suite; the view of Times Square was incredible. We all were pretty fascinated by just staring out of the window at everything happening in down in Times Square.

I just thought that this was a very unrealistic sign to put in NYC. Who doesn't honk?

After all was said and done, New York City wins as my favorite city ever. Sean and I want to throw a huge thank you out to our New York family for so easily taking us in and giving me the best New York experience a girl could ask for. We can't wait to go back this summer and head out on Uncle Ricks boat to do some fishin'.

We love you guys!!!