My dad, my sister Alyssa, Scott and I all went to New York/Boston on August 18 – 29, 2009.
We stayed in Hoboken, New Jersey for the first couple of nights. It was a great location, we didn’t want to pay the price to be in New York but this hotel was almost just as perfect. We were right on the Harbor and had a city view from our hotel room of New York City. The hotel was also the last stop for the bus, so we hoped on the bus right from our hotel and it took us straight into New York.
We did so much in NY, that i am just going to randomly talk about a few of the highlights. Time Square, which was crazy busy! Rockefeller Plaza and the NBC Experience Store.
United Nationals Building. Scott and I did a tour of the UN building. At first I wasn’t that excited about it, but I knew Scott really wanted to do it, but it ended up being really interesting. I attached a few pictures of it.
We visited Ground Zero and also did a walking tour of wallstreet. It was a HOT day, but the tour guide was over all pretty interesting and told us interesting facts of NY back when NY was first established. Wall Street is called Wall Street because there use to be a wall right where to divide the Dutch and well I don’t remember.
We also saw the Statue of Liberty… but only from afar. Scott and I got on the wrong ferry. We saw a sign that said Ferry and tons and tons of people going that way, so we assumed that was the ferry to the statue. Only to get on it and have the ferry PASS the Statue of Liberty that was realized, we got on the wrong Ferry. I knew you had to pay to get to the Statue of Liberty and when I couldn’t find someone to buy tickets from I thought, k maybe you buy tickets at the island. So we got on the ferry that took us to Staten Island.
Wicked – The show was amazing; I would recommend it to everyone!
Manhattan Temple.
China town – This was another really interesting experience. We got taken into the back rooms of a few shops to get some purses. Good thing for Scott, he was such a little haggler. He did the negotiating for my sister and dad too.
Soho – Shopping! We bought this huge clock at CB2, which we loved but then had to carry it around all day. Even took it to the boardway show that night. But worth it!
Age of Rock – A smaller broadway show. It was funny and had good entertaining music. A bit crude but other than that really good.
On Saturday we headed to Springfield, MA – Toured the small city, my dad showed us where his mission apartment use to be and Scott also showed us 2 of the apartments he lived in. (My dad went to NY on his mission which included Springfield and Scott went to Boston on his mission with included Springfield.)
On Sunday, we went to church, where Scott and my dad both served. It was fun people’s faces when they saw Scott. Elder Fullmer, is that you?!? I met a few people and families that he spent a lot of time with. It was also really nice to go to Relief Society. The lesson happened to be on President Monson’s talk where he mentions Calgary. The lady giving the talk knew Scott was from there and Alyssa and I got to talk about Calgary and the Stampede.
Sunday afternoon we drove to Boston – I am just going to mention here, I HATE the driving over in New York, New Jersey, Boston, ect. I was scared and on edge the whole time. Not only that, we got lost all the time. Like really lost. We had directions but that didn’t help. Next time, we need to buy another GPS.
Some of the highlights of Boston were …
Herbie – Scott’s favorite person on his mission was this guy named Herbie. He is 76 years old and is almost completely blind now. He wasn’t that bad when Scott was with him on his mission. I forgot o take a picture of Scott and Herbie, so that is upsetting. I loved listening to him talk. His stories are interesting and also incredibly funny. He has such a positive outlook on being blind and I think he helps that he has an amazing sense of humor. I can see why most missionaries love Herbie and still keep in contact with him.
Harvard – We did a free tour of Harvard done by some of the students. The two guys did a great job. They told us interesting facts about different building and the town of Cambridge were Harvard is located.
Duck Tours – This was fun, it is a bus thing that is also a boat. The tour drove past a bunch of history buildings and sites.
US Constitution – This was also a free tour. We got to go on the Old Iron Sides ship.
We ended up back in New York for the last couple of days. The highlights…
Central Park – My sister and dad, got there before us and rented bikes. Scott and I came a bit late and just talked around.
Metropolitan Museum of Art – I didn’t really know what to expect and I was shocked at how much art was in the museum. There was paintings, artifacts, furniture, weapons, naked people, ect.
Dinner – I don’t remember what the place was called, but Scott and I decided that I was our last night in New York City, so we should spoil ourselves. I also over budgeted on food for the trip. We went to this really nice restaurant and I had the best salmon I have ever had in my whole 25 years of living. Well work the $70.00 bill at the end, which also included Cheesecake for dessert.
The last full day in New York we decided to stay in New Jersey. My sister left Friday morning and my dad Friday afternoon. We took the hotel shuttle to the New Jersey Outlet Gardens. There was an amazing selection of outlet malls and we got some good shopping done!
Our flight left at 8am on Saturday and we got back into Calgary at 11am and went out for lunch with Scott’s parents to tell them all about our trip.
Time Square
Alyssa and the M&M Store
The NBC Store
UN Tour
Scott and the Secretary General
The Apple store
Stairs of the Apple Store
Candy Store
Weird Guy on Time Square
Harvard Man
Duck Tours
The Cheesecake Factory
Ironsides Tour
Navy Boat
Pilgrim landmark
