The Girls in NYC

Let's start at the very beginning!

It's a long story that involved the original possiblility of 5 adults with luggage and how do you fit all that in a taxi! So Donica had reserved a limo beforehand to surprise my sister, Ruth, and her daughter, Lesley, at the airport when we all arrived that Saturday (the 21st) around noon.

Ginnie, Ruth, Lesley and Donica
It was Ruth and Lesley's first limo ride. And with it Donica ordered a bottle of champagne, which we easily finished off in the 30 minutes from the airport to our hotel! (DUH!)

In front of our hotel, on 34th and Lexington, where Donica and I spent the week, was this fabulous photo op. Were we ever ready to hit NYC and paint it red!

As you see, there were photo ops all over the place. Donica and I are both taking pics of Ruth and Lesley giving scale to this very important concept. I don't know when this "statue" was erected but I think NYC has become a city of LOVE since 9/11. We talked to tour guides who said the city has a different feel today than pre-Twin Towers. I totally believe it.

Ruth (from our home state of Michigan) was with us for only Saturday and Sunday, so we made sure we saw what SHE wanted to see. Since Sunday was Earth Day, the 22nd, it was appropriate that we spent most of the day in Central Park. And yes, we were as touristy as we could possibly be.

Lesley is holding her mom's hand on the horse-and-buggy ride. I have never seen such a loving Mother-Daughter relationship. Now that Lesley lives in NYC, she and Ruth are separated most of the year. So this was a joy for Donica and me to observe how demonstrative they are with each other. Maybe they got specially "zapped" on that LOVE statue!

If you haven't been to Central Park, you wouldn't believe it. SEEING is believing! Even though we didn't see all 843 acres of it, we saw enough to amaze us. I know it has had its reputation of crime in the past but not today. With 25 million visitors per year, with only 100 crimes now per year (as compared to 1000 in the early '80s), it is one of the safest parks in the world. We were there on a warm, spring day when it felt like the world was celebrating Earth Day!

Of course, we tired ourselves out! We knew Ruth would be leaving too soon! Earlier in the day we had been to the Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Center, 70 stories up, where we had views of the whole city, including Central Park. So we really did tire ourselves out before we went to dinner and said Good-Bye to Ruth.

Lesley, Nathan and Nancy
After Ruth left (some people have to work, of course!), we still had Lesley the rest of the week (even though she had to work as well). On Tuesday evening we had a fabulous dinner at my nephew, Nathan, and his lovely wife, Nancy's apartment near Central Park. Nathan is ordained and is working in a ministry to high school prep students. He said he would gladly be called "one of the girls" for this post. What a guy!

On Wednesday night, Donica and I took Lesley out to dinner before seeing "Wicked" on Broadway for her 26th birthday (which happens to be today!). Lesley took this pic of the 3 of us with her cell phone before the play started.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Lesley!

These are just tidbits of one aspect of our week in NYC, related to all us girls! We actually spent time with Lesley on 5 of our 7 days, visiting her and her boyfriend at her apartment in Queens on Thursday. We don't normally go on a vacation week and have family nearby (unless we're going to the family cottage in Michigan, of course). So this was was an extra special vacation!

More impressions of the Cig Bity (as my mom called it) to come! But I definitely had to start at the very beginning. :)