Before I headed off for the cruise I downloaded multiple books and podcasts to occupy my time and thoughts. I was surprised, however, that I only listened/read during my morning workouts. The rest of the time I filled my schedule with on board entertainment, stretching classes/workouts, dinner plans with my awesome team, a lot of time sitting with my own thoughts and watching the ocean, nightly midnight runs to the dessert bar to accompany the long philosophical discussions with my team, and climbing endless flights of stairs (I decided early on not to use the elevator and with 16 floors there was a lot of time spent on those stairs!).
The main theme of the cruise was my freedom to enjoy my (nonworking) time how ever I wanted to. With five kids that opportunity does not show itself very often, and it is important to seize the chance when it does. I took full advantage. A lot of that enjoyment came from the fact that I have a wonderful husband who was at home spoiling our kids, keeping the house lovely, and was 100% supportive of my trip. I enjoyed all of the pictures and polos (video text messages) from home that showcased all of the fun things they were up to. They had multiple picnics, trips to the children's museum, a Kroc swimming night for family night, and much more. Not to mention that I came home to a beautifully cleaned house, fresh flowers, and all of the laundry done and put away.
Here are a few cruise pictures before I move on to my New York trip.
It was a cold blustery day as we left New York for warmer shores.
Yes. I took a picture of my food. I think some peole go on cruises for the food. This was pretty fantastic and I never would have put these ingredients together on my own. It was shrimp layered with watermelon and mozzarella cheese sprinkled with salt, pepper, and a light lemon oil.
On one of the excursions we went to the Atlantis Water park. The Atlantis is a mammoth casino with a water park that rivals the size of anything I have ever seen. The lazy river was complete with 5 sets of unique rapids and a full mile of river.
These are all scenic pictures of the Bahamas. The three mammoth buildings that are visible are all part of the Atlantis enterprise.
The most amazing part of the Kennedy Space Center was seeing the 1980's equipment that was used for the missions to space. Wow.
Cirque du soleil is always amazing. For this performance the ship was rocking madly back and forth in 65 mph winds. I think the whole audience felt bad for the jugglers. They did pretty well until there were five items in the air and the ship was rocking so much that the juggler was moving and the trajectory of the items were staying the same. Not fun.
When I originally accepted the cruise and was talking to Logan about it he suggested I stay a few extra days in New York since I was going to be there anyway. What a great idea! After I finished the cruise I had two days booked at an airbnb so that I could take three days to explore NY.
First I want to begin with the flight into LGA airport. The sky was crystal clear as we flew over the endless expanse of lights that represented the dense humanity below. My eyes were glued unblinking as I drank in the image spreading before me. Then I was met with skyscrapers that never seemed to end. These monstrous buildings were dwarfed by the sheer number of them. I felt pretty small.
This feeling returned multiple times as I spent hours walking through New York's upper west side, mid town, and downtown. My goal was to do as much as humanly possible while also taking time to enjoy the atmosphere of the places I visited. I was able to achieve a balance I was happy with. I probably walked about ten miles each day and thanks to Adalie's advice I enjoyed it more than I would have otherwise. She advised me to take a listening walk and a visual walk to fully enjoy the experience. Great advice!
I feel that I have a better understanding of the speed of life in New York. Everything is faster! Except maybe the cars who are trying to navigate the endless maze of one lane/one way streets. They make up for the tediousness of the process by honking their horns as rapidly as possible. Problem solved.
I spent some time watching traffic to figure out some rhyme or reason to the honking. On my first ride I was certain that someone had honked to let another car merge in front. I was wrong. I do not think there is any actual reason they honk, the number of times, or the length of the honk (I heard one that was probably 30 seconds long). I figured that most of the time they were just doing it to fit in. Cool. I can accept that. I also noticed that a one lane road meant that at an intersection there would be three people lined up side by side jockeying for position to actually merge into the lane. Two lane streets were really three lanes and cars parked on the side were obstacles to overcome. Extra points were awarded when cars had one inch clearance in the front and on both sides when maneuvering perpendicular to the street to gain an edge in positioning. It was actually a meaningless pursuit because it was, in fact, just faster to walk instead of drive.
One of the highlights of my trip to NY was my bike tour of Central Park. I have always wanted to visit and the park did not disappoint. The sights were breathtaking and it was even better from the seat of a bike. I must admit that I did send a Polo to Logan showing him and the kids John Lennon's house and the monument in Strawberry Fields dedicated to him in which I slipped and called him John Denver. I think the tourists and locals probably wanted to murder me for that slip up. I promise I knew who it was, just a slip!
I was impressed at the size and depth of information at the 9/11 museum. I thought it would be a 30 minute venture, but it turned into a 2 1/2 hour experience. I really enjoyed it and I was impressed with how the creators of the museum used the atmosphere to influence emotions. This was not manipulative in a negative way, but the feelings were intense and memorable. It was an amazing tribute.
An essential part of a New York trip is a Broadway play. I went to see In Transit which is a play about a variety of people who live in New York. Every musical sound in the play is made with human voices. Beat boxers are pretty amazing. The play was well done and had me laughing until the end.
I took a bus tour down Broadway avenue and I also took a fun tour of SOHO, Little Italy, and Chinatown. I learned a lot about history, architecture, and food! I am definitely a fan of tours... and food. There is so much information to learn and interesting stories to enjoy.
On my last day I had just finished up my tour of Central park and I made a spontaneous decision to take an Uber to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I would only have an hour before I had to leave for the airport, but that was better than nothing. I was shocked at the sheer size of the museum! It is the largest museum in America and it did not disappoint. There are so many treasures there, and I am looking forward to go to NY with Logan and revisit when we have more time.
During my NY vacation I spent a lot of time thinking about how big the world is and how small the space is that I occupy. I also spent a lot of time thinking about even though I am small and seemingly insignificant, there are many people in my life who would disagree. There are also many people in my life that mean the world to me.
I had an excellent time in NY and I am sure that I will return, but in the end it felt so nice to return to my busy, crazy life at home. I recognize that even though life can be intense I definitely prefer the pace of life in this beautiful North Idaho town.
Life. Is. Good.
Time for pictures!
Everywhere I looked I saw fun architecture. In good tourist fashion I had to take pictures.
Central Park is amazing.
I ejjoyed this artwork depicting the twin towers.
View from The Top of the Rock
Goodbye for now.
What a great experience for you. Your summary was perfect. Nancy and I are planning our trip!! Thanks for the inspiration.
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