So upon checking in, we found out we were upgraded rooms to a suite- how cool is that! We ended up with a two bathroom (fit with a living room and a bedroom) on the 55th floor (out of 57). Also, we were on the corner, so we looked out over both Broadway and 47th St. Here is a picture taken from our room overlooking the excitement of Times Square. I can only imagine how much this room were to go for on New Years Eve! By the way, we didn't pay a dime for this room, we redeemed credit card points (similar to an airline frequent flier program). It was the deal of the century!
Our first "touristy" thing we did was the "The Top of the Rock". This is an observation deck at the top of the famous Rockefeller Building. The picture that I have below is cool because you can see our hotel- look for the purple W sign at the top of a building in the middle of the picture. Thats where we stayed! Rockefeller Plaza is only a 10 minute walk from Times Square.
The Top of the Rock is a great place to see New York. I think its even better than the Empire State Building because you don't have to look through the metal fence or wait in long lines. You can go up to a section of the roof accessible only by stairs and have an unobstructed view of the city- no glass, no fence. This is a shot looking North, you can see Central Park behind us.
Here's a nice shot of Dean overlooking the city thinking to himself... I am so glad I live in Northern Michigan. Thats the Empire State Building in the background (looking South over Manhattan). We did have a great time exploring the city, but it made both of us very appreciative of where we live.
Here's another shot looking south over Lower Manhattan.
Another part of the Rockefeller Plaza tour was an inside look at Radio City Music Hall. This tour was very cool. It brought back memories of getting to see the Rockettes when I visited Al a few years back. I'll never forget this tour, however, because its the first time I thought I might have to perform CPR on an Adult. Walking up the stairs to get to the balcony a man collapsed, was unresponsive, clammy and gasping for air. He came around, but it was apparent no one else on the tour was familiar with CPR except me- A Baby Nurse. I take that back, there was a kid who who said he knew CPR- he probably learned it in Gym Class... Luckily when we layed him down he started to actually make eye contact and pink up. In the mean time his wife fainted. It was an adventure!
The night before we visited Radio City they hosted Fashion Rocks (which some of you may have seen on TV) It was the kickoff to Fasion Week that took place in NY while we were there. They were in the process of tearing down that set while we were on tour.
We got to meet a real Rockette, although I question whether she really was because the height requirements are 5'6". If you look at the picture, she is wearing heals & is just barely taller than me (I'm only 5'3"). Dean is 5'8" and she is well short of him- with heals on! I think we may have been scammed!
We took one afternoon to explore Central Park. It was hot so we hired a Pedi-Cab to take us around. I didn't get a picture of him, but he was an Irishman named Dean (no-I'm not kidding) who evidently got into riding his bike cab to help keep his weight under control. He liked visiting his Irish Pubs at night. Anyway- he was a chubby sweaty mess and wouldn't have taken a nice picture.
While waiting to get a table at "The Boathouse" restaurant, we rented a row boat and cruised around one of the man-made lakes in Central Park.
While were were in New York we did buy a 3-day pass for the double decker bus tour. We could hop on and hop off all around Manhattan. They took us around the city, explaining the different districts, buildings, history, etc. We didn't go to the Empire State Building, but we drove by it on the bus and I snapped this shot of it.
The highlight of our trip was going to the US Open Tennis Tournament. We bought the cheapest tickets and still had great time. We saw the Quarterfinal match (for those who know tennis) between Andy Roddick and Novak Djokavic. The American lost to Djokavic in four sets.
While we were at the match- we even got to see some celebrities. We sat in clear view of Donald Trump's Box. Here he is talking to a nice looking woman- go figure. It was kind of funny to watch him though- he had two Ice Cream Bars during the match- Dean asked if he could go get another one- after all- Donald did.
So, has anyone ever waited in line for an hour just to eat a burger? Well, until this trip I hadn't. This was the only thing we waited in line for the whole trip, but I have to say- it was a darn good burger! We went to the famous Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. Everyday, there is a line up of people waiting to get a burger and a shake. Dean kept teasing me that it was all my idea- but I know he really wanted to try one of the burgers himself! He took a picture of me waiting in line. This is when we were only about 15 minutes away from ordering- multiply this line by four- thats how long it was. We drove by the park later that day at about 3pm and the line was still that long! 
So here are my scenic pictures of the city at night. We were there the week before Sept. 11th, so in honor of that day they turned on the tribute spot lights near where the World Trade Towers stood. FYI- it is no longer appropriate to call it Ground Zero because it is no longer a place of destruction, but rather a place of construction. The new building, when it's completed, will be the tallest building in the US- but not the world. Dubai will have that claim to fame. I took this picture from a boat, so it is a little blury, but the effect is still very cool!
This shot was taken from Brooklyn looking over toward Manhattan.
They had a multi-million dollar art exhibit going on while we were there entitled "Waterfalls". They had huge artificial waterfalls set up at various sites on the East River. This one was very cool as they had it set up under the Brooklyn Bridge
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