When we got to our hotel in East Rutherford, NJ we learned that they had a free shuttle to the Secaucus train station. Then from there it was a 10 min ($8 per person round trip) train ride into Penn Station in New York City.
We thought about going up to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller tower) but there was an hour wait. We were going to get up early so we decided we would just do it the next day.
When we got back to our motel we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do the next day and how early we needed to leave. We decided we needed to get a taxi at 5:45 AM to the train station as the free shuttle didn’t start till 9 AM. So we called and arranged for a cab in the morning, but when we came down the next morning our cab was not there and after waiting for 10 min Nate called them, finally at 6:10 AM the driver shows up and we tell him we are trying to catch a 6:15 train. Well he was a crazy driver but we did get there in time. The train as it turned out wasn’t leaving till 6:20. Once in New York we had to figure out how to buy a subway ticket and where to go. Our plan was originally to be up at the NBC studios by 7 AM, but we didn’t get there until closer to 8 AM.
We stood outside the Today show first where I got to meet Al Roker (the news anchor) and I even got on TV for a few seconds as they panned the crowd. Nate stood in line for Jimmy Fallon tickets and we ended up with stand-by tickets #11 & #12.
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| Meeting Al Roker |
After that we walked up through Central Park where it started raining. Luckily I had brought an umbrella and Nate ended up buying a larger one from a vender as well. We decided to go to the Museum of Natural History, even though it was getting close to lunch time.
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| Central Park |
One thing we didn’t think about was the long line that we would have to wait in to get tickets. Knowing we had limited time we went first to the dinosaurs. Nathan had always wanted to go to that museum since he was a boy and learned about it in a magazine. The dinosaurs were really cool, and huge, they also had skeletons of animals that are still living today like elk, and monkeys and so on.
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| Nate with his friend T-Rex |
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| Bones of a Dimetrodon |
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| A giant turtle |
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| Triceratops |
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| Edmontonia |
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| Raptor |
We also wanted to swing through the rock and mineral exhibit because Kristie (Nate’s Mom) loves rocks, and so we wanted to get some pictures for her.
After that we were both famished and needed food. I had been texting Rachel, Nate’s cousin who works at the Rock Café and she said she would serve us if we came to eat. So we hopped on the subway and headed that way.
When we got to the Café they asked if we had reservations and we said no, but that we were Rachel’s cousin. They said “Well then you do have a reservation, follow me.” They seated us at the only open table and the food was amazing, we got spoiled. Rachel was just getting off work when we were done, and it was pouring outside so we wandered around the NBC store some more. We had to be there around 4:30 to see if we would get in for the Jimmy Fallon show.
Rachel invited us over for dinner that night, so we planned on going there after the JF show if we made it in. The night before they had taken more than 20 people, but they only took nine and we were 11 and 12. Probably didn’t help that his guest that night were Taylor Lautner from the Twilight movies and Beyonce was the musical guest.
So Nate and I headed over to Rachel’s, which is a half hour subway ride. It was during rush hour so we had to stand in the very crowded subway train. Then Rachel met us at the station and we walked the very short distance to her house. Rachel made us some very good burgers and we enjoyed visiting with her and Nivaldo. Around 9 we had to leave in order to catch the last shuttle
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| Hanging out with Rachel and Nivaldo at their house |
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