Jersey/NYC Whirlwind Weekend

Our plane left for Philly at 7 am last Friday

We landed in Philly about 830, picked up our rental car, and crossed the Walt Whitman bridge into Jersey

Once we arrived at the hotel, we slept for a few hours since we had been up since 4am. We got ready and headed to the wedding at the church. We then caught the shuttle from the hotel to....

This is one of Donald Trump's private country clubs. The venue was absolutely gorgeous. The chandeliers were 25,000 dollars a piece

There was great food

Great music

and we were surrounded by great people. Brian, the groom, is one of Tom's college roomates. Pat is also a former college roomate and due to the long history, Tom knows many of their friends that reside in Jersey. Pat, Tom, and Pat's wife Jamie

There was even a caricature artist at the wedding from 830-1130. The line was no less than ten or more couples the entire night.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to drive to Princeton NJ to catch the train into New York City One of the train conductors punching our tickets

We took the train into Penn Station at Madison Square Garden This is what the weather looked like when we arrived. We made it just in time for the nor'easter to hit

We stopped at a Greek Deli across from Madison Square Garden for some gyros

The weather was insane. It was a heavy mix of snow, sleet, and rain and wind sending the weather straight at your face. Shortly after we arrived, the boots I was wearing became completely soaked. We had to stop at Macys for some rain boots. Macy's was a complete madhouse but well worth the stop as the boots saved me

We walked the few blocks to Times Square. As you can see by Tom's clothes, we were soaked in just those few short blocks

We stayed in Times Square maybe a total of ten minutes. Grabbed some Starbucks and hopped in a cab to get warm and head over to The World Trade Center Memorial

Little did we know, until we arrived, that tickets can only be printed from the internet and there is only a few tours early in the morning. We were able to view the memorial from the second floor, viewing area of The World Financial building. The memorial is sunk down in and surrounded by the trees. There is still construction going on everywhere around ground zero

This is the site where the North Tower fell and crushed the building previously there. This is the new World Trade Center Tower currently under construction

The weather took a turn for the worst as we were near The World Trade Center. The wind and snow/sleet picked up and by this point we were soaked through our clothes and to the skin. We decided to grab a cab to Little Italy, have some dinner, and catch the train back. All the cabs have tv screens in them with weather, news, and a map of your route. The cab drivers are insane. Its amazing to me that we didnt get in a wreck with their driving

We sat down for dinner in a little restaurant in the heart of Little Italy. By this point we were soaking wet and freezing cold. One of the men that worked there sat down behind us with his dinner. I asked him what it was that he was having. He said it was pumpkin ravioli and INSISTED that I try it, literally right off his plate. I love that "we are all family" mentality. After dinner we caught a cab back to Penn Station and hopped on the next train out. On the train ride home we were able to see just how much snow had fallen.

This was our rental car when we arrived back in Princeton

We only ended up spending around five hours in the city. I was looking forward to taking lots of photos in NYC; however, the weather did not permit me to have my camera out for more than a few minutes at a time. While it would have been nicer to have warmer weather to walk around in, this is a trip we will never forget. It was quite the adventure and we did not let the weather bring us down. Saturday night after taking a long, hot shower and changing into dry clothes we headed over to Pat and Jamie's house. Another former roomate, Neil, who currently lives in DC headed to Pat's on Saturday morning with his wife and son to meet up with everyone. Tom with Pat's daughter

Xavier roommates reunite

These guys typically see each other once a year or more and keep in contact on a regular basis. They have the kind of friendship that will last a lifetime. Its always good to meet up with this group. It was also nice to meet a few of their wives for the first time. Everyone was so warm and inviting. Sunday morning our flight left Philly at 1130

While it was a crazy, whirlwind weekend, I am so glad we went. We truly had an absolutely fabulous time. It was great seeing new places, old friends, but most of all we really did rekindle our love. I loved the one on one time we got but we also couldn't wait to get home to Ella. Ill update Ella's weekend with grandma tomorrow. I am happy to say that I believe Ella may be on the road to recovery. After five days of fevers reaching 104.6, not eating, and pretty much not moving I was glad to see an almost fever free day with a few bites of food!