In April/May when Harry Connick Jr was on American Idol Jason got the idea that we should go see him. We had been planning a weekend away just the two of us for June and so he looked into some dates but nothing really worked out. So he took a leap and suggested that we go and and see him when he played on Broadway, not really thinking I was going to go for the idea. However, I jumped at the opporunity and so we planned a quick trip to the Big Apple. As the trip got clsoer though I got more and more nervous about leaving Charlotte for so long and going so far away, but I was still excited to get away and have a fun long weekend.
We planned on flight to leave at 10 am so that we could wake Charlotte up and wouldn't have to be away from her for an extra night. Our plan was to get her up and take her straight to my parents where she would be spending the first two nights and then head to the airport. Leaving was much sadder for us than it was for her because she loves Memma and Papa G's but we were excited too so it wasn't too bad!
So we got on our plane which was on time out of the airport and flew to Reagan in Washington, DC. When we walked into the terminal we knew something was wrong -- it was too quiet and kind of eerie. Turns out the power was out and had been for about an hour when we flew in. We had a decent layover so we went and sat at our gate and watched the terminal fill up quickly because flights were coming in but none were leaving. We realized then how dependent we are on electricity since they couldn't get anyone through security, couldn't scan tickets to board planes, couldn't get bags to planes, couldn't make new food or keep food cold, and the worst was that the restrooms were automatic so that was a whole other kind of horrible. We started planning how we were going to get to NYC and looked into train options. I was literally waiting on hold with US Air to tell them to send our bags to New York and deliver them to our hotel when the power started coming back on.
We were thankful that we hadn't planned anything other than sightseeing at our own pace Thursday night since we knew there was a flight to New York scheduled for 1 pm and we were on the 2pm flight. We figured we would be at least an hour behind, but luckily for us (and not so for the passengers of the 1 pm flight) they cancelled the 1 pm flight and just went ahead with the 2pm flight. We ended up getting into New York only about 10 minutes later than we were scheduled to! But then things got yucky again when only three bags came out of baggage claim for our entire flight. So we had to talk to the baggage claim people and have them deliver our bags to the hotel when they got in. Not fun since we were planning on putting on cooler clothes to go sightsee but, again, thankfully we didn't have anywhere specific to go that night so it wasn't a big deal that our bags didn't get to our hotel until 11 pm.
We went ahead to the hotel and were so happy with what we found. We stayed at The Carlyle and it was a wonderful hotel. Travelocity got us a great rate and we couldn't have been happier with the selection. We have stayed at The Mansion on Peachtree which is a sister hotel so we knew it would be wonderful but The Carlyle was different because it was so old world-y with the period accents and understated elegance. Very beautiful and the staff were wonderful also! Here are some pictures of our room and the lobby.
And then our view from our room...
We got to the hotel and checked in and then went along with our plans to see Chinatown and Little Italy. We hopped in a cab and asked the driver to take us to Chinatown but as we got close and were going through the edge of SoHo and Lolita we asked the driver to stop because we saw some stores that we wanted to try. So, within minutes Jason had made his first purchase and we had gotten a restaurant recommendation from the guy helping us!
He told us about Torrisi which was a block over and told us that it opened at 6 and usually had a line if you didn't get there soon after it opened. Since it was 6:05 we hurried over and found that we were the fourth couple seated in a restaurant that holds around 9 tables. It's a set menu for a set price and all we told them was what we wanted to drink and whether we wanted meat or fish. Let me tell you...the food was fantastic! We had five appetizers, a pasta, our main course (Jason had the pork chop, I had the fish), and dessert. And they were all small portions so you didn't feel like you had eaten all that when you finished. So, so good! I would defintely recommend it to anyone going to New York, but our information was correct. If you don't get there soon after it opens you will have to wait for someone to finish. By the time we left there were three or four couples outside waiting to get in. And they don't take reservations.
The menu is on the wall. It included appetizers like cucumbers, melon with pepperoni, mussels, and our favorite....
Fresh, hand made mozzarella in oil (sorry I forgot to take a picture before I had tried it!)
After dinner we walked through Chinatown and Little Italy but weren't overly impressed. It was later also so most of the shops were closed or closing. So we went back to the hotel to wait for our bags and get some sleep!
One fun part of the trip was that we asked our parents to take pictures of Charlotte for One Tale a Day and so that we could see what she was up to. We loved getting the emails with pictures while we were gone (sidenote - what did we do without smart phones?!? We couldn't have taken this trip without our gps on our phone and our email always available!). Here are some of the pictures of Charlotte's Thursday.
I'm imagining that she was asked "Where are Mommy and Daddy?" because this is her "I don't know" sign. Although, now that we're back she's been doing it out to the front instead of to the back.
Here C and Luca are waiting for Sam and Abby to come over and play! Abby came from dance and while they were waiting Mom told her that Abby loves to "Dance! Dance! Dance!" Now, when you say Abby (cousin Abby or Abby Cadabby) she starts dancing! On Friday, she went to the window and was looking out and Mom asked her who she was looking for and she looked at her and started dancing!
Here are Sam and Abby reading Henny Penny to Charlotte. She loved playing with her cousins!
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