A couple months before we knew we would be going to NYC, Harold had the idea to check into how we could get in to see the taping of the Late Show with David Letterman. He got online, made a couple of phone calls, and left the appropriate messages with the folks who get you in, and then we were to wait to hear back from them.
It got to be the week before we were leaving and we still hadn't heard anything, so we decided that it just wasn't meant to be. No biggie, we knew there would be plenty to do in NYC, so we weren't worried. But about three days before we were to leave, we got the phone call saying we had seats and giving us directions.
Basically, the directions were, be there by 1:00, wait in line forever, go through security, wait in another line, go spend an hour or two doing something else while you wait, then come back and stand in another line, do security again, then hurry into your seat (ours was in the balcony behind the sound booth, so it was hard to see), then enjoy the show. No pictures allowed. Boo. Seeing the Late Show was fun, but it was disappointing to have to spend the WHOLE day in order to get to see it. We were there the night that Dave interviewed Regis Philbin. It was the night before Regis was to retire, so it was kind of a "big" night, so that was nice.
One of the things we did while we were waiting was scope out "Rupert's Hello Deli" which is featured occasionally on the Late Show. It's just around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theater. We could see Rupert through the window.
It rained off and on all day, which made us thankful for our umbrellas while we were waiting in line outside the theater (all 50 hours!!!).
After the Late Show was over, we walked to Times Square, bought something to drink at Starbucks, and spent some time enjoying the atmosphere. I could sit right there and just absorb all the sights and sounds for days.
There are so many things that we got to see in person that we had seen on TV a million times, but to see them live was fun. It was neat to be able to put the New Year's Eve ball dropping that I'd seen forever on TV into perspective.
I think that might be an "Occupy" sign on the back of that bike. We were in NYC during the time the 99%-ers were there. In fact, on one of the days, there was a huge ordeal with the protesters clogging up the subway traffic and the news was broadcasting lots of warnings about delays and the possibility of things turning ugly if things got out of hand.
Fortunately, we didn't run into any trouble. In fact, overall, NYC was much cleaner and friendlier than I had anticipated! Of course, we were in the "tourist-y" areas for the most part, but still, I expected it to be much grittier. I'm not sure why I thought that, but I was pleasantly surprised!
It was so much fun for just the two of us to spend time together. We LOVE LOVE LOVE our kids, but we also LOVE LOVE LOVE each other, and this mini-vacation for just us was a lot of fun! Here we are enjoying the NYC night life in Times Square.
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