Hello Big Apple!

Wow, the last month has flown by and I've been terrible about keeping up with my blog. It's actually August 5, 2009 as I write this, but I've chosen to back-date my blogs to keep the timeline correct. I'm doing to try my best to get caught up and have pretty much been writing half the day. One good thing about it is that I get to experience my whole vacation again by writing and posting photos. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

I'll start with my trip to NYC. It was a welcome break from the monotony of work and patience with my knee. I had a feeling I would end up walking too much around New York, but I was intent on using the subway, buses, and trains. Whatever I could to keep from over doing it. I flew out early on Saturday morning, July 25 (this blog date). I had decided red eye flights aren't for me, but the 4:15 AM pick-up from Super Shuttle wasn't great either. I was excited to be off for my city vacation so it was good to get on the plane and be on my way. I changed planes in Salt Lake City and arrived in Newark, NJ around 4:30 PM East Coast time. I had been told there is now a train from the EWR airport direct to Penn Station in NYC. I wandered around, pretending to know where I was going, and eventually (after a ridiculously long wait for my bag) found the entrance to the NJ Transit train. Cool, it was only $15.00! I arrived at Penn Station and this was my first sight of the city.

How could I have had a better first view of Summer in NYC?

I made my way on the subway over to the W New York, my home away from home, for the next 3 days. This W is in the midtown area, towards the East side of New York. My sister and brother-in-law stayed there several years ago and recommended it to me as a good location. I've always liked the style and atmosphere of W Hotels and was happy to find a good deal on this one.


I booked a "cozy" room so I knew it was going to be a small, but I thought in reality, I don't take up a whole lot of space! My room was on the 5th floor and I ended up loving it! Even though it was tiny, it was like my little cocoon. The bed was so comfy and I had a big flat-screen TV. It really was a nice place to curl up in in the evening hours to watch a little TV or read before I fell fast asleep.

Not much of a view behind the building, but it wasn't over a busy street. So quiet for NY!

Little desk and entryway

That first night I arrived, I went for a short walk around the neighborhood, got a bite to eat in the Living Room, (photo in an upcoming post) and went to bed with ideas of many places to visit the next day.