New York, New York - His Story

Michele and I in Baltimore waiting for our flight to Long Island.

Waiting for the subway wasn't bad since i got to stare at this beauty.

The Guggenheim was awesome! The Met was better!

Central Park Princess!! A few hours later, we rode through there in our carriage.

Gotta love the temple in the middle of Manhattan.

I know people don't like reading long blogs so I will attempt to keep this somewhat parsimonious while maintaining all of the romance (who am I kidding - since when have I been brief when talking about Michele?).

For the past month, I have been trying to plan a get-away to celebrate Michele's 30th birthday (Feb. 28) and Valentine's Day. It has been a nightly routine to begin working on homework between 9:30 and midnight but lately, my "surprise" plans have taken me to 1:00a.m. Since I know Michele will fill in the details of the trip, I will just add a brief synopsis of the plans and my thinking behind the whole surprise.

I wanted to take her away to a place that was farther than Vernal. Once I priced out all of the cities that were possibilities, I settled on NYC. Thanks to some travel voucher help from mom and some other things on the side, I was able to come up with enough funds without taking any from our budget. Michele knew we were going away for three days but she had no idea where (which was funny because so many of my friends and family knew). We arrived to the SLC airport at 5:00a.m. on Friday morning. I checked her in so that she could not see where the plane was headed (It didn't matter because we had a layover). While at the airport, I gave her the first present (clue as to where we were going) - the novel "Wicked." She immediately asked, "New York?" and I had to give in. After arriving in Long Island, we took a train to our hotel on the upper west side of Manhattan near Central Park. We were both so excited for the amazing food on every corner of NYC but I had already mapped it out. We walked to Gray's Papaya (hotdog shop made famous in the movie "Fools Rush In") and had a quick bite. We then headed to La Caridad 78—a Cuban/Chinese/Carribean restaurant near our hotel, and indulged in some wonderful cuban food (the tamales were killer). I had also planned on ice skating Friday night at Wollman Rink (Serendipity, Home Alone) but the locals told us that Central Park was dangerous at night in the winter so we passed.

Saturday was our full day. Here it is in a nutshell:
9:00 - Breakfast
9:45 - Times Square
10:45 - Solomon Guggenheim Museum
11:30 - Metropolitan Museum of Art
1:30 - Lunch at a café near the theater district
2:00 - Wicked the musical on Broadway
5:00 - Carriage ride through Central Park (passed Wollman skating rink)
6:30 - Dinner at Sun-Yin Sushi near the Empire State Building (ESB)
7:30 - Skyride at ESB
8:30 - Observation deck at ESB
10:00 - Return to hotel

I have to interject that six years ago, I proposed on Valentine's Day. On that night, we had Thai food and we have had Thai food every Valentine's Day since. I had mapped out a Thai/Malaysian place one block from the ESB. Michele and I showed up and it had closed down. After a brief moment of sadness, we found a wonderful Sushi place where we were treated like royalty. The mochi ice-cream was sooooo good. When we were at the top of the ESB, I told Michele that I had her engagement and wedding rings rhodium plated (cleaned) and that I wanted to re-propose to her. Knowing Michele, I checked with her first to make sure if she wanted a full out, one knee, public proposal or a quiet one. She opted for the quiet one. Let me just say that her "yes" to my question was just as powerful as it was six years ago.

The next day was ground zero, the temple, and images of the statue of liberty from battery park. We then headed home and arrived in Utah on Sunday night.

There were so many wonderful memories from this short getaway: Wicked was incredible, the food was delicious, the museums breathtaking, and the carriage ride romantic. I realized more than anything though, that Michele is the woman of my dreams. Seeing her away from our kids made me realize how much I love seeing her with our kids. I looked at Michele a ton during this trip and I have to say, she is more beautiful than ever. It was a trip that will never be forgotten. Happy Valentine's Day Michele. I love you.

K