Katie & Todd Blake

What's better than getting a paid trip to New York City? How about getting to spend it with your incredibly cool brother-in-law? Yes, Katie and I got to go to New York for my job's annual business conference, and while we were there Matt happened to be doing an internship for PC Magazine. Thanks to him we were able to see all of the best sites New York had to offer without spending most of our time trying to navigate the labyrinths of city streets or spending a mountain of money on "two bit" attractions. I think it's fair to warn you that this is a hefty blog entry!

Our adventure began on Friday evening. Katie had gotten in the night before and I was going on my second night in the city. My time up until then had mostly been spent in meetings and training seminars. Thankfully, however, Matt came to my rescue and showed me around the town a bit. By the time Katie came to town we were well seasoned veterans of the New York City streets...and we were looking to get the party started.


That night there was a cooperate dinner and party planned for all the employees and their guests. It was an old west theme; compete with cowboy hats, bandannas, and sheriff badges with our individual names on them. It was great. There was mounds of barbecued meat everywhere and western dressed waitresses that were bringing us a never-ending supply of Diet Coke and Ginger Ale. In fact, Matt "the baddest gun in the west" Reichman caught the eye of our love-struck waitress without even trying. Some guys make it look so effortless.



The next day we spent looking at the inner-city sites. I was particularly excited because we went to the New York Metropolitan Museum; the same place where the Ghostbusters got their start. In case you didn't notice, the table I'm sitting at is the same one Dr. Spengler was listening to with stethoscope when Peter Venkman slammed a book it. I was so excited I could barely keep from suddenly bursting with childish glee. It was one of the best moments of the trip, though we did have to be quiet while we took the picture. We were in a library, after all.


Our next adventure was to head across town to see the Manhattan, New York Temple. Honestly, if Matt hadn't have been there to point it out to us, we may have missed it. It's located in the middle of a very urban area which tends to hide it from view. Once we got a little closer, however, we could see the temple spire with the statue of Moroni gleaming in the sun. It was a sight for sore eyes. We entered the temple and mostly looked around in the lobby, but the most impressive part was how quite it was. The building is located on the corner of a busy intersection but it was so quiet inside that talking louder than a whisper seemed too excessive. It truly was a world unto itself.


That evening we spent underneath the bright lights of the big city. Matt had secured us some tickets to see the Broadway show "The Little Mermaid." The classic Disney movie was now a theater play, complete with the classic songs and a couple new ones. Before we went in we stopped by Toys R Us and each got a gigantic sack of candy, so we were well prepared for the show. The play was great and I was happy to see that Ursula still gets it in the end...even on Broadway!



That night we walked around Time Square searching for the best souvenirs. After some searching (and putting up with some very ornery Middle-Eastern store owners) we found the perfect items: A Christmas tree ornament, a key chain license plate with the name "Blake" engraved on it, and an I 'heart' NYC t-shirt. We don't have pictures of those, but your more than welcome to visit us and take a look at them.


Sunday we traveled where millions of immigrants had traveled before us: the Statue of Liberty. It was incredible. I never really imagined how cool the iconic statue is until we were chugging into the harbor. I can't say if I've had any ancestors who had crossed that way, but that didn't matter. I still felt some sort of connection to the ol' gal.
















After getting back on the main land, we made our way down town On our way there, we came upon a sandwich shop named Blake & Todd. Katie squeed with delight, She demanded I take a picture next to the sign. What she didn't know is that I already had many second hand encounters with the resturant seeings as they marked their goods on my jobs website. My co-workers loved to point the fact out when I was first hired on. So, needless to say, taking a picture with the cause of so much lame jokes wasn't exactly cool by me. But, It's katie was to excited to say 'no' to. We took our pictures and headed to Rockafeller Plaza. It was pretty neat, but it had been raining most of the day and Tina Fey was nowhere in sight, so we decided to head indoors. The lumanecent glow of the ESPN Store attracted Matt's and my attention like moths to a flame. That place had everything. Honestly, I think Matt and I could have played Hoop-it-up all day. The funny think was Katie didn't even mind. I though that was kind of funny until I saw the gigantic bobblehead of Yao Ming standing in the middle of the store. In case you didn't know, Katie has an odd crush on the 7' 6" chinaman, so in return for letting us play in the store she wanted a picture with him. I wasn't too jelous, but that hasn't kept me from wondering if she keeps that picture under the bed somewhere.


You know, I think that if we were to visit New York City again, we would do it exactly the way we did it the first time. It was a great vacation. We really got to see a lot of what the city has to offer in the couple of days we were there. If you ever find yourself looking to go to New York City and would like some advice about where to go, be sure to drop us a line. We may not be as good as Matt, but we'll be happy to point you in the right direction.