Day 1 of our Accidental Vacation

The day we were supposed to meet Katharine, Brian and the Boys was beautiful...in Newark NJ. Not so in London England. We all discovered, around the same time, that the only personalities going to Heathrow that day could purr. Thank goodness the cats would be boarded in a cattery once they arrived in their new land. Warren and I had reservations to stay at the Newark Liberty Airport Marriott, so were not stuck in the airport. I will, without reservation, compliment the hotel for their hospitality and assistance. We were able to book the room across the hallway for the Maguires, so the Boys could easily motate from one to the other. Here is the view out our window.

Once we figured we were stuck, we spent hours on the phone trying to get tickets. Both families were able to snag tickets for Christmas Day, but on different flights. Warren and I would have to go through Copenhagen. With that taken care of, the next most important thing was to turn our situation into a great vacation in New York City, which is less than an hour's train ride from the airport.

We got really good at traveling to NYC. We took the hotel shuttle to the airport, caught the AirTran to the train station and then hopped on the New Jersey Transit line (which to Warren's delight, we happen to own stock in!). Voila!

Warren had never been to The Big Apple, so we were excited to show him the many sites. The sign on Macy's says "Believe" and we all believed our time in NYC should be fun. However, it was cold! We had to stock up on hats and gloves before going any further.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, where we met Officer Vanessa. After our police-star-struck 4-year old sheriff, marshall, officer, soldier said "hello", she invited him to come to her cruiser. He got to turn on the siren and lights. Quite a delight for our someday-police commander!! NYC is a police lover's heaven, as they are everywhere! McColley waved at many officers and security guards on this trip.

The Empire State Building was next on our list of to-dos. We purchased our SkyRide tickets from a guy on the street and then proceeded to wait and wait and wait in line...the ride was OK, but one of the two had broken down, hence the wait.

After the ride, we went up to the observation deck. It was a gorgeous night - although the wind felt like it could rip right through you, AFTER pushing you over the edge. Thank goodness for railings. The monkey in the picture is one of Brady's new mittens. They proved to be quite comical over the days.

There were beautiful decorations in the lobby, including a variety of Empire State Buildings in various artistic modes.

Where to go for dinner? OH YEA! Serendipity 2 for Frozen Hot Chocolate!! Yum-diddly-yum! The menu in that place is unique. We even tried the Fried Parsnips, which were surprisingly delicious! We may not have been on a plane to London, but we were having a great time.

Tah Dah - Frozen Hot Chocolate...about the size of a dinner plate. We ordered two, which was about 1 too many. Delicious.

Brady taking a picture of Grandma taking a picture. He was quite a hoot throughout our many adventures. We turned into the two sets of the Three Musketeers: Brady, Mommy and Daddy vs. McColley, Grandma and Grandpa. It was SO much fun to spend time together.

More to come...