Empire State of Mind

Yesterday we flew to New York. The flight was pretty uneventful, and we got to our hotel at about 4:30 after a very, VERY exciting taxi ride. The driver was more than definitely used to driving in New York and didn't hesitate to cut people off, change lanes when there was a car in the way, and constantly lay it on the horn. I was pretty anxious. . . but my life didn't flash before my eyes. Just countless billboards. :)

We went to Carvers, a deli near our hotel, the Crowne Plaza, that has spectacular pizza, then after a while we watched the Jazz game, which didn't start until 10:30 pm NY time. Needless to say, the game was really, really disappointing. Oh well, I guess that means we won't miss much while we're in Ghana.

Today we went to the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Plaza, which has an awe-inspiring view. From there you can see Central Park, the Empire State building, and countless others. After admiring the view for a while and a quick King Kong moment, we decided to walk to Central Park. Thanks to my "brilliant" navigation skills (go Jazmyn), we walked 15 blocks past it before we finally asked for directions. If you look at the photo below, which is the view of Central Park from the Top of the Rock, you'll realize how impressive that really is. . .

We walked all the way from the base of the building where the photo is taken, past the end of of the park, then walked several blocks over, THEN through the park! Central Park is beautiful, though. Around many corners we saw people playing saxophone or trumpet. We also saw an amazing juggler and a little boy who kept loudly singing, "I see a man with pink shoes! I see a man with a bike! I see a man with a drink! I see a man with black shoes! I see a man with. . ." well, you get my point. Under select bridges there might even be a teenaged girl from Utah doing a heel-click! Crazy place.

Tonight, we're going to Stomp (a percussion group I've wanted to see since middle school band) and tomorrow we head to Ghana. This is crazy stuff! I'm way, way excited. For now, I'm going to take a page out of my dad's book and take a nap. :)