Travel

A Tour of The Statue of Liberty

May 19, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray HouseLeave a comment

The Statue of Liberty was an obvious stop for us while exploring NYC.

The day we went was windy and a bit cold. I was still very excited to finally see Lady Liberty in person.

The strong cold wind was really trying to make my hair go cray cray!

Even M looked a little cold!

We are getting closer!

Once we arrived we headed inside because I was a little chilly. We were able to see the original torch.

And then we headed up to the pedestal. We tried to get tickets to the Crown access but the website said it was sold out. I was a little bummed about that but maybe next time!

Heading back down the stairs.

Some pics from down below.

Of course we had to take a selfie.

Just being silly. 😉

The gift shop had cool door handles.

The tickets for the Statue of Liberty were $18 for me and $14 for M since he is a Senior Citizen. Unfortunately, even though it’s a National Park they did not honor our National Parks Pass.

We took the ferry to Ellis Island and you know, I thought that Ellis Island was going to be different. Some of the artifacts were not on display due to the hurricanes but it was still fun to say we had been there.

I think I was thinking that it was going to be like in the movie Hitch where there was a book and you could flip the pages. But apparently it was never like that. The pages were much longer and they had so many pages that they would have filled up like 15 train cars. The NP Ranger told us that they microfiched the records and then burned them. That made me a little sad but they did have a genealogy are which was cool.

Plus I was able to get a smooshed penny.

And two cool patches.

And an awesome mini statue.

SONY DSC

Have you ever been? Did you take any great pics or have any great stories to share?

(((hugs))) ~lisa

Travel

Toys R Us Ferris Wheel and M&M World

May 19, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray HouseLeave a comment

We made a quick stop in Toys R Us. Toy stores are always a fun place to visit and this one was no exception.

They had a Statue of Liberty – made out of Legos.

And The Empire State Building out of Legos. I seriously think the folks that make these things must have a lot of patience. I don’t have that much patience to make something that would take that much time.

We spotted a Michelangelo mask. Our grandson is crazy about the Ninja Turtles so whenever we see Ninja Turtle stuff it reminds us of him!

And that had this robotic dinosaur that was kind of cool. It was like Jurassic Park in a way. And the eyes on it kind of creeped me out a bit.

A super awesome thing is that the Toys R Us has an indoor Ferris wheel!

M taking a pic of me taking a pic of him.

Y’all *know* I had to get my smooshed penny!

We had a good time and then we headed to M&M world.

Elvis has apparently *not* left the building.

What M&M are you?

My color mood was Peanut Butter Mix. I’m good with that.

What will M be?

As it turns out he is brown.

Now isn’t this cute??

And another smooshed penny opportunity.

My mom looks for money when she goes walking so anytime we see money on the ground we take a pic of ourselves picking it up and send it to my mom. Feel free to take a pic of yourself doing the same and send a pic to her…haha!

Yeah, I have no idea why M has his jacket half on and half off.

Whoa!!! The Property Brothers!!

Another fun day in NYC.

(((hugs))) ~lisa

Travel

Our Empire State Building Experience

May 18, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray HouseLeave a comment

I seriously wish we could afford to travel all the time. I absolutely love to explore new cities.

Anytime I see a mail box or a post office, it reminds me of my husband who is a retired letter carrier.

Views from the top!

One cool thing was the fact that The Empire State Building has a manual elevator.

It was another great day exploring NYC!

(((hugs))) ~lisa

Travel

Our Today Show Experience & the Property Brothers

May 15, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray HouseLeave a comment

Let me go on record and say that I know that I took a ridiculous amount of pics when were at the Today Show. I will spare you and not make this a complete photo dumping post but let me just say…the Property Brothers (from HGtv) are awesome!

We arrived around 6am for this show. I was super excited because I LOVE watching the Property Brothers! When you arrive we got in line and there was a food truck there with complimentary coffee and muffins. We had pre-registered HERE and once they allowed us to start going, in we were able to bypass the kiosks where some had to stop to fill in info.

The super cool thing about the Today Show was they actually provided poster board, markers and even sticker letters to make a sign. I thought that was super awesome so I created this:

We took our spot where they were going to film the Property Brothers segment and while we waited I had a chance to meet Alex on the Plaza!

We also saw Tamron Hall! Loved her dress and coat.

My hubby got a pic with Willie Geist.

They suggested we move to the other side by the arch to be seen on tv but me, and the two girls next to me, were staying put so we didn’t lose our spot. I did send M to go and try to get on tv as he was taller and could be more easily seen. :

The Property Brothers came out and they were joking around just like they do on tv.

They came over to where we were standing and Drew took this awesome selfie of all of us!

And I got another photo with Jonathan photo-bombing us.

Some more behind the scenes shots.

Up close and personal with the Property Brothers as they signed our poster!!

And took selfies with our new NYC friends.

After the show they chill-axed on the couch for a bit.

And here are some screen shots of the show that M and I are in!

And the completely :: BEST PIC OF ALL TIME :: is this awesome photo with Jonathan and I being photo-bombed by JD and Drew!!!

If you can’t tell, I had an *A*M*A*Z*I*N*G time!!

(((hugs))) ~lisa

Travel

Our Top of the Rock Experience

May 13, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray HouseLeave a comment

After our super cool Good Morning America experience, we headed to check out Rockefeller Center.

We tried to take a selfie before going inside and this was the first shot.

Bless his heart…at least he’s handsome!! I guess technically that is a true selfie but not the one we were going for.

Truth be told, I stink at taking selfies so it’s almost always my hubby doing the picture taking. Plus, he has longer arms which is a definite need for a good selfie.

The Prometheus sculpture in front of Rockefeller Center.

The views from the top of the Rock!!

The Empire State Building.

My very handsome husband.

Just me! 🙂

More views…

Central Park straight ahead.

Us just having some fun!

If you’d like to take a tour and go to the top of Rockefeller Center then CLICK HERE.

After we finished taking in all the awesome views we headed out and right across the street is St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

It’s currently being renovated.

We spotted this totally awesome mailbox while walking back to the hotel. Love me some Sponge Bob Square Pants!!

We stopped to eat at John’s Pizzeria and it was really yummy!! We split a salad and small pizza and it was more than enough for two!

Another really fun day in NYC!! Tune in to see who else we met on our trip!

(((hugs))) ~lisa

Travel

Our Good Morning America Experience

May 12, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray House3 Comments

We got an early start to our day as we wanted to make sure and get a good spot on the Good Morning America show so we could be seen on tv. I mean who knows? This could be my lucky break! 😉

We arrived around 6am and the barricade that you stand around was almost full. We got the last two front row spots.

This is, and would be, our point of view for the next 3 hours.

You can see Robin Roberts on the camera…. ::squeeeeee::

We are getting closer to something happening!!

We didn’t know it until they came out but Neon Trees was there!

We were so close!!

I love seeing “behind the scenes” things happening.

And here comes Ginger Zee!

This guy was the audience coordinator by day, actor by night.

And here’s Robin!

And George…

And my hubby got a great pic with Robin!!! I was so excited!

I was up close and personal with Ginger!

And of course we told all of our family and friends that we were going to be on tv. Several friends taped the show and sent us screen shots of when we were on.

Here we are on the right with me waving at the camera and Marvin holding his, “It’s my birthday” sign.

Marvin had moved aside to let the lady on my left get an autograph. And then she wouldn’t move to let him back in so I did my best to wave and was just hoping he would be on tv again too. And there he is in the back!! Can you see him?

I have no idea why I am waving so wildly at the camera.

Okay – in this shot I think I look like some kind of muppet or something. I mean I’m so short I think I look silly.

In these next shots I am holding onto the barricade for dear life and I don’t know why! haha!!

Notice the pen in my hand? Like I’m going to take notes or something?? Honestly, I had the pen out because some of the cast had signed our sign.

Again with the wildly waving hand.

And the infamous pen used by the cast to sign our poster. Yes, that’s an orange piece of paper with my name written on it. I used to use that pen at work and that helped it from walking off as pens so often do.

Here’s our poster. Please excuse my messy craft desk in the background.

Robin Roberts’ autograph.

And an autograph from George Stephanopoulos.

I had researched a bit about watching GMA live and I read that you could tour the studio. Apparently, that was not current info but I didn’t know it at the time so I asked the door attendant where the tour was. He indicated that we just needed to go around to the doors on the side of the building and ask there so we headed that way.

We turned the corner and they had it partially blocked off. A celebrity,Sofía Vergara, was exiting the building and we had to wait. I was able to snap a pic so that was cool!

We found out that tours were no longer available, however, they did allow us to join a group that were going in to be on a segment of GMA Live! Here’s the clip of that show:
CLICK HERE >> GMA Live

If you are heading to NYC and would like to see GMA and try to be on tv then CLICK HERE.

We had a super fun time even though it was a bit chilly out *AND* we were able to meet some of the cast, get on tv and get a couple of autographs!!

(((hugs))) ~lisa

Travel

Central Park and Grand Central Station

May 9, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray HouseLeave a comment

Before heading to NYC we made a list of our *must-see* spots. Central Park and Grand Central Station were two that made the list! As we were exploring 5th Avenue we found ourselves right near the south entrance of Central Park.

This was a pretty fountain across from Central Park.

We tried to take a selfie but didn’t quite get the fountain in the pic.

So we asked a stranger to take our pic instead. Much easier that way!

The sculpture of General William Tecumseh Sherman greeted us as we headed into the park.

And of course, no trip to NYC would be complete without buying a hotdog!

For those that are interested, two hotdogs and two bottles of water set us back $10. Not sure how that compares to other vendors as this is the only one we bought from but at least it gives you an idea.

I’d say that they were pretty tasty.

Now we are off to explore more of Central Park. On Saturday we ventured a little bit into the north side of the park. I was a little disappointed as it just seemed to be areas for bike riding, jogging and walking. I thought there would be more picnic type areas so I was super excited to see all of this.

The Central Park Zoo greeted as we entered the park.

I was pleased as punch to find a smooshed penny machine in the park.

A little further in we spotted another street performer.

Lovely grounds for picnics and relaxing…

Beautiful trees blooming…

We approached a little pond and they were sailing miniature sailboats on it.

And we came across a Polish Easter party in the park near the King Jagiello Monument. I googled to find out what was going on and apparently they gather every year. This blog, Walk about NY, shares a little more about it.

They looked like they really enjoyed themselves. Laughing and singing.

This is the Obelisk. It is currently being worked on but it looked pretty peeking out of the blooming trees.

We took a bit of a break to enjoy the park and rest our feet.

Time for another selfie…

And maybe another…

And a quick kiss.

After our brief rest we were off to explore some more.

Some folks having some jousting fun in the park.

Just me…I really enjoyed this part of Central Park!

This reservoir was officially named the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in 1994. It is basically a loooong way from the south entrance of Central Park…haha!

It’s very serene looking

The trail along the reservoir

This is one handsome man and he’s all mine!

We headed back to the subway as we had had a full day of fun sightseeing. We passed by the Guggenheim but didn’t actually go in. Well technically we did go inside but we visited the gift shop.

We made it to the subway and here it comes!

Grand Central Station!

In the subway there are a lot of street performers

Grand Central Station really was grand!!

A super fun day is winding down and we are headed to get some dinner. Stay tuned as there is more fun ahead!

(((hugs))) ~lisa

Travel

Fun on 5th Avenue

May 7, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray HouseLeave a comment

One of the coolest things to do in NYC is to go shopping on 5th Avenueshopping on 5th Avenue. We headed that way on Easter Sunday so some of the stores were closed but that was okay because there were tons of people walking around with awesome hats on that they wore for the Easter Parade!

We passed by Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Fendi, Joe Fresh (a JCP brand) and Prada…

Tons of great shopping options! Most are out of my price range but it sure is fun to look at all the eye candy as you walk down 5th Avenue.

We also saw Tiffany & Co. We didn’t buy anything from there this that day because they were closed but coming soon you will see what my hubby did buy me!

We passed a ton of shops and then finally stopped and went in Trump Tower.

YOU’RE FIRED!!!

The view from one of the Trump Tower Gardens

And there were a lot of street performers out and about entertaining folks for tips.

Then we came across FAO Schwarz!! Ohhhh.Emmm.Geee!!!

The clock as you go down the escalator.

At the top of the escalator they had this original sale ledger. Very cool to see.

They had all kinds of toys. Nearly every toy imaginable and they of course had Barbies!

And my favorite Barbie picture…mostly because of the handsome man photo bombing in the background. 😉

Those of you old enough to remember the movie, “Big”, will know why we stopped here.

You had to wait in a line and then get your pic taken in front of a green backdrop before they would let you play on the big piano. Of course it was to try and get you to purchase a pic but we didn’t. We took our own pics!

If you are saying to yourself….WHAT AM I MISSING! There was a movie in 1988 called Big where a boy wishes to be big at a magic fortune teller machine named Zoltar (click HERE to watch that), he wakes up the next morning and finds himself in an adult body. There’s a scene with Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia where they stumble across a big piano in FAO Schwarz. You can watch the clip by clicking HERE.

After we were done playing I had my hubby take a pic next to Zoltar.

While we were in the store we shopped a little for our grandson Ben. Oh me, oh my that little man LOVES the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My daughter-in-law hadn’t found the shell for his back yet so we bought that and a talking ninja.

Ben received the package yesterday and here’s his response. He really thought it was the greatest thing ever. 🙂

Of course he had to try on his turtle shell.

And then he sent a video to Nana (me) and Poppy (my husband) which you can watch by CLICKING HERE! 🙂

And last but not least I can’t forget to mention that there was a smooshed penny opportunity in FAO Schwarz!!

That was our fun on 5th Avenue!

(((hugs))) ~lisa

Travel

The Subway and our Yankee Stadium Tour

May 3, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray HouseLeave a comment

We had successfully navigated the DC Metro but found the NYC subway to be a whole new ball game. They have so many trains running and you can’t connect to the other side without exiting and walking a few blocks…just very confusing to me but we tried to make the best of it.

First point of confusion, what the heck does “Please dip your credit card” mean? Of course we figured it out but it took me a second.

We were staying in NYC for a week so we purchased a 7-day unlimited pass on the recommendation of a friend who used to live there. It was $62 for two passes. I think it was a great choice considering we would have wasted some money when we got lost a couple of times.

Our strategy was to basically just ask. We’d ask our hotel clerk before we left what subway to take and then when we wanted to go somewhere else we’d ask the subway attendant or just a stranger on the street. It maybe wasn’t the best solution but it worked well for us.

Waiting at the track for our first ride.

And here it is!

We made it to Yankee Stadium in one piece and were eager to start our tour. We had arrived early as we weren’t sure how the subway traffic would be on a Saturday so we were able to walk around for a bit beforehand.

Here are some pics from our tour

My hubby acting as umpire.

Me stealing a kiss at home plate.

More of the tour…

My sister is NOT a fan of the Yankees so we got her this fancy personalized jersey while were there.

Me, not passing up a high 5 opportunity.

I seriously got like 3 inches of air on that jump.

At the very end of the tour we were given these wristbands.

Not exactly sure what *magical* powers that the wristbands would bestow to us but I think one of them involved some sort of discount and the overpriced Hard Rock Cafe next door.

I also found a smooshed penny machine while on the tour and was able to add another smooshed penny to my collection!!

There was another fellow there that was asking to go in and get a smooshed penny (it’s inside the stadium) and the lady wouldn’t let him without a ticket to the tour. The machine was literally outside the side door and about 8 steps away and she wouldn’t let him go get one and didn’t offer to do it for him or help him in any way. Another employee stepped up and went inside and got it for him which was awesome. ::sigh:: I didn’t want to have to start a riot to get a fellow smooshed penny collector his penny! 😉

The tour cost us each $20 and I honestly didn’t get much out of it. We didn’t get to go into the locker rooms, or on the field and we didn’t even get to sit in the stands. Unless you are a Yankee’s fan, I’d put this low on the priority list of things to do and see in NYC but of course that’s just my 2-cents.

Have you taken any tours lately? What’s your favorite baseball team?

(((hugs))) ~lisa

Travel

Dinner at Sardi’s and some Times Square fun

May 1, 2014February 25, 2018 Our Gray HouseLeave a comment

We freshened up and headed out the door to Sardi’s for dinner.

As we arrived we spotted our very first NYPD car! Not quite the same as what the Law & Order characters drive but close enough!

If you notice there is some “stuff” right outside the car door. The cop was eating sunflower seeds and throwing the shells out the window. I’m pretty sure that’s littering and I should have made a citizen’s arrest, right?

Also on the way we saw steam coming out of the manhole covers. May not be exciting to y’all but I’d never seen that and thought it was cool.

We arrived at Sardi’s early for our reservation but they went ahead and seated us. I recommend making a reservation as seating, especially before and after the shows, fills up fast.

In the heart of New York’s Theater District, Sardi’s has been the toast of Broadway for 90 years. Located at 234 West 44th Street the restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner. Late supper is served from Tuesday through Saturday.

Here I am in front of some of the caricatures that cover the walls.

And a shot of my handsome hubby.

One thing that I remembered from my younger days was that Kermit the Frog was in the movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan and there is a scene that was filmed in Sardi’s. Kermit the Frog is portrayed as a mustachioed Broadway producer and he took down Liza Minnelli’s caricature and replaced it with his own. Here’s the scene: Kermit in Sardi’s

They still have the caricature up and it’s located upstairs near the restroom.

Who knows who this caricature is of?

For those that are interested, I consider the price of food in NYC to be a bit on the expensive side. Our dinner at Sardi’s for two entrees, 2 sodas and 2 desserts came to $98 including tip. Notice we did not have any adult beverages and it was still high! It was our first night in NYC, we knew going in that Sardi’s was a bit expensive so we decided to splurge a little.

After dinner we went off to explore Times Square for a bit.

My very handsome husband.

We actually made it up on the jumbotron!

That’s us in the center at the very back of the crowd. The guy in the green jacket is to our right in the pic.

Remember when I mentioned “characters” on Times Square? Well, we ran into my favorite, Cookie Monster, and I took a pic with him! I knew they expected a tip so as my husband reached to get it Cookie Monster says a $5 or $10 will do…say WHAT?? FIVE or TEN DOLLARS?? Are you crazy? I don’t think so scooter. We gave him $2 and thanked him for his time. I get that they are trying to make some money but c’mon.

We were having a blast!

First 1/2 day in NYC was a success!! More fun to come.

(((hugs))) ~lisa