We returned late last night from a 5 day trip to New York City and New Jersey.  Remember, Tina's family is from that area..Dad is from Long Island and Mom from New Jersey...just outside of Newark.  Tina's cousin on her mom's side was getting married and we decided to make a little vacation out of it.  We have not been to NYC in more than 3 years; Ali was 1 and I was there to do weather on the CBS Early Show.  I can't believe it has been 3 years already since I was on National TV.

We left Wednesday and arrived in Newark by evening.  Tina's mom arrived from Jacksonville a few minutes after we landed and we got our car and then drove to Edison, New Jersey about 15 minutes outside of Newark.  New Jersey gets a bad rap because of industrial and rough Newark, but the rest of the state is unbelievably beautiful.  The towns are beautiful and have so much charm and the trees are solid and huge.    It feels like you are driving under a canopy of trees in every neighborhood.  It reminds me of Cedarburg, but the buildings in Jersey are older and have more character and the trees are larger.  This weekend was peak color in that area and it was magnificent.  We drove about an hour northeast for the wedding on Saturday in the pouring rain and the sites were spectacular with the fall colors and the rolling hills and rocky cliffs along the roadway.  It reminds me a lot of Missouri and NE Oklahoma where my parents live.

Thursday was the day we decided to take the 30 minute train ride into Manhattan and do the city...just Tina and I.  Tina's mom, Evie, wanted to watch Ali for us so we could have a get away and enjoy the city.  Tina and I love NYC.  We thought of moving there years ago before we had Ali, but now not so sure it Manhattan is fun place to raise a kid.  The crowds, the noise, the smell...it is everything that makes New York, but kids should have yards and we love our small town life in Grafton...but it sure is great to visit.  Tina spent summers in New York growing up since her parents were divorced and he lived just outside of Queens until he retired to Florida a few years ago.

We dropped our luggage off at the hotel we were staying at in Midtown between the Empire State building (Tina's favorite) and the Flatiron building (my favorite).  We then took the subway down to Battery Park since we have not been to that part of the city in about 5 years.  We wanted to get a picture of the Statue of Liberty for Ali.  Most of the trip was cloudy and rainy and cool, but Thursday was sunny, no wind and 74...it was perfect to be walking around the city all day.  From Battery Park we walked a few blocks to the World Trade Center Site where construction is underway for the Memorial and 1 World Trade Center Tower.  It still gives us chills to think of that day and that we had been up the Twin Towers numerous times.  From there we walked 3 blocks to Wall Street.  I love Wall Street and the power it conveys.  After that we decided to walk to Southside Seaport to walk around the pier and to see the tall ships that were there and to see the Brooklyn Bridge.  After that we walked through Chinatown.  Chinatown is everything you imagine it to be with the crowded streets and all the signs and decorations on the streets.  My favorite are the street side markets with fresh fruit and all the seafood.  It stinks but how cool to watch someone select their fresh fish, eel or squid and then it is thrown around the store to but sliced and packaged..most of the fish is still alive in the bins as you walk by on the streets. It is chaotic, but so fun to watch.  The food in Chinatown is delicious and restaurants are everywhere.  From Chinatown we walked through Little Italy, but it is getting over taken by Chinatown.  Then we walked through trendy SOHO,Greenwich Village and then NYU.  It amazes me how a few blocks back is the chaos of Chinatown and then you find yourself in trendy and tree lined and quiet  streets of the Village.  We then walked up Broadway past the Flatiron building and then to the Empire State Building.  We did a lot of walking, but it is so easy to get around Manhattan and so much to see.  No matter how many times you have been there, you always find something new to see and enjoy.

We tried to go up the Empire State Building the moment we got off the train in Penn Station, but the line was 90 minutes long..and it now costs $25 per person to go to the observatory.  Nothing is cheap in New York....except gas.  It was $0.50 cheaper than Wisconsin.  Now how is that possible?  Do you think we are taxed enough here?  It was getting close to sunset so we tried to go back up the Empire State Building but the line was still almost an hour and Tina did not want to have to rush to get ready for the show later that night...so we headed back to the hotel.

We went to Shrek the Musical at the Broadway theater..it is right next to the Ed Sullivan Theater where David Letterman does his show.  When I worked for CBS, Tina and I went to the Letterman show twice..it is a lot of fun.  Shrek was awesome and Ali would have loved it, but it was late.  They start the national tour this winter and we will be taking Ali to it when it comes to Milwaukee or Chicago.  Broadway is struggling and I can see why with the cost of tickets in this economy.  The Donkey and Lord Farquad (spelling?) were the hits to the show.  The actor that play Lord Farquad is really 6"6" and does the entire show on his knees..dancing around and running around.  Unbelievable and hilarious.  After the show we were starving and grabbed some sushi a few blocks down in Times Square at a delicious restaurant.  We walked through Times Square after that and decided to head back to the hotel since it was almost 1am.

When we woke up Friday it was cloudy, windy and 50.  We rushed to the Today Show to see Tim McGraw perform in their Concert Series on the Plaza, but they had recorded it earlier so when he was on TV at 9:30am it was actually taped an hour earlier..Tina was bummed, she loves her Tim McGraw.  We thought about Ice Skating at Rockefeller Center (yes the ice skating rink is open) but we decided to walk 5th Avenue.  What recession?  The shops on 5th Ave are packed and expensive just like on Michigan Ave in Chicago.  Wow!  It is something to see.  We walked to Central Park to enjoy the fall colors and take a few pictures around the pond.  By then we were cold and tired and took a cab back to the hotel to get our bags and head to the train station.  The rest of Friday was with family in New Jersey.

At dinner Friday night, Tina's brother, Shawn and our sister-in-law, Nicole, had an announcement.  Their 2 year old son Hayden was wearing a shirt that said I have a secret and on the back it said he was going to be a big brother.  They are having a baby.  Congratulations..everyone is so excited. 

Shawn tried to get me to go back into the city Friday night to hang with his high school buddies, but I knew it would be a late night since bars are open until 4am and we had a wedding to go to on Saturday.  Saturday was wedding all day and Sunday was a day of relaxing and watching football before our flight at 8pm.  I got to watch my second favorite team, the Steelers, beat up on the Vikings while getting play by play updates on my cell phone for the Packer game and texts from my buddy Paul whenever the Packers scored.

It was a great trip and we miss everyone already.