Erika, as I have mentioned before, is my unemployed NYC counter part. We have also lovingly given each other pet names; Terri and DJ. Because she is also from a small town outside of New York state, she is just as excited to see and do all of the things that I am. So, lets recap on our glorious cost efficient adventures, shall we? Lets shall.
New York City: Yes, we live here, but have you any idea how large this city is? There are so many things on our check list of things to do here, that this will often be one of our adventure spots.
Originally, we were going to watch Bon Jovi perform on the Today Show, but by the time we got there, we realized we wouldn't see anything. We also didn't particularly care for Bon Jovi. Instead, we waited in line for tickets to be standbys to watch the Jimmy Fallon Show.
We didn't make it into the audience.
The lowering of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller.
Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral. This Cathedral was in TIME after the Kennedy assassination.
Inside the biggest Disney store I have ever seen, yet, they didn't have a single adult sized Little Mermaid t-shirt.
Central Park.
Yea, we saw Ben Stiller filming a movie.
Yea, we also saw Casey Afflec filming a movie with Ben Stiller.
Outside of F.A.O. Shwarts with the doorman. This is the toy store that Tom Hanks played the giant piano in, in the movie BIG. Sadly, that particular piano was not on display.
One of the stuffed animals inside of F.A.O. Shwarts.
Getting ready to take the train home out of Grand Central Station.
It was grand.
Mianus: Yes, this is an actual town, located just outside of Greenwich Connecticut. I'll admit, the only reason why we went to Mianus, is so that we could say Mianus all day long.
"Hey, Erika, did you see that train running through Mianus?"
"Hey, Em, did you see the man riding a bike in Mianus?"
You get the picture. The entire day was filled with shenanigans such as these. Although there really isn't anything all that interesting in Mianus, the story of our journey up there made the trip well worth it.
New York City (again): A few days ago, Erika were feeling like we needed to get our kicks strolling through the city again. This time, however, we had a plan. On the agenda?
1. Take the 6:50am train into Grand Central Station.
2. Wait in line to get standby tickets for Jimmy Fallon.
3. Go to the Museum of Sex (this is not free, however, we figured that spending money on one activity per visit would be ok.)
4. Take the subway to the Staten Island Ferry, take the ferry. Fun Fact: tickets to go to Liberty Island are pretty pricey. Instead, take the Staten Island Ferry. It's free, takes you relatively close to Lady Liberty, and also provides a BEAUTIFUL view of Manhattan as well the Brooklyn Bridge.
5. Go to Wall Street, Little China, and Little Italy.
6. Go back to check in for Jimmy Fallon to see if we got a seat in the audience.
Why is it that whenever a plan of attack is made, nothing goes as planned? Due to weather, 19degrees to be exact, Erika and I missed the 6:50 train, and instead caught the express train at 7:10.
"It's ok," we thought, "they don't pass out the standby tickets until 9...plenty of time."
The train Gods responded with debris on the tracks, resulting in the closing of all but 2 tracks during Ne York rush hour. We got to Grand Central Station a quarter after 8. We then hailed a cab to NBC studios, a location our cabby was unfamiliar with, causing us to try and give directions using a map that was in the cab.
We arrived at 8:30, and were numbers 27 and 28 in line. Once in line, we learned who the guests were; Nick Cannon, Robert Plant, and Sir Paul McCartney.
"There is no way w are going to get into this show," I told Erika. She agreed, however, we decided to stick around and try our luck anyway. It was a Thursday, it was freezing, and we were hoping those would pull in our favor.
Once we had our tickets in hand, we quickly shoved them into our bags, and headed off to the Museum of Sex.
This is a PG 13 example of one of the exhibits.
From here we went to the Staten Island Ferry. Although it was freezing, I stood outside and took photos
Lady Liberty shinin in the sunlight.
Manhattan from the back of the ferry.
From here, Erika and I went to Little China to take a look around. Erika had been telling me how freaked out she got when she went, because she felt like she was lost in China. At about 3:00, we decided we should head back to NBC Studios to check in for Jimmy Fallon. We were pretty sure that we had to be back at 4:30, but we weren't possitive. We pulled out our tickets. There, gleaming at us was the time we had to check in by in order to possibly make it onto the Jimmy Fallon Show...3:30. We were at least a 20minute subway ride away from Grand Central, which was the closest station we knew of. We got lost twice on our way to Grand Central, by getting on the wrong trains.
Once the train stopped in Grand Central, we ran up to the street. To make things worse, the one time we needed a cab, there were none in sight. We ran the 6 1/2 blocks to NBC Studios. Once inside, we bolted up the escalator. By this time, my knee was giving out on me, and I was having trouble keeping up with Erika's Speedy Gonzalez pace.
"Erika!" I managed to blurt out under gasps for breath, "Wait!"
That's when it happened. I tripped. I don't know if you've ever fallen down an escalator, or witnessed someone who has, but they don't fall down; they fall up. I tumbled on the same three steps multiple times, before managing to regain my footing and continue up the stairs.
The pain in my knee was throbbing. Was I bleeding? I didn't know. Would I lose my leg due to the fall? I was pretty positive. None of that mattered, however. All that mattered was getting on Jimmy Fallon, seeing Paul McCartney, and having the most bad ass adventure story in NYC yet. We managed to check in just in time. Then came the waiting.
Trying to get onto a TV show, is much like a game. A waiting game, that is. You get your ticket, then have to wait to come back several hours later. Once you come back and check in, you have to wait to hear if you are one of the lucky contestants who gets to go onto the next round, and wait some more. Erika and I were two of those lucky contestants.
"If you are number 1-120, you are going to the next round. Please follow me upstairs." We did as requested, and followed the girl with the Buddy Holly glasses, and skinny jeans up to the elevator, down a flight of stairs, and into a long hallway.
"Numbers 1-19, you're through to the show. The rest of you can wait until we have everyone seated, at which point we will know how many more, if any, will be allowed in."
The waiting game continued for what felt like days. Finally, the girl in the Buddy Holly glasses and skinny jeans announced,
"Follow me, guys." Again, we did as requested, and followed her back to the original floor the waiting game started on.
"Ok, so, we're only going to take 9 more of you. That means that number 28 will be the cut off. If you are number 29 on, I'm sorry, but you will not be going into the taping."
Erika and I looked at each other.
"Holy shit, dude." I said, still in amazement that my ticket number read the winning number 28.
"OH MY GOD! WE'RE GOING TO SEE JIMMY FALLON!" she excitedly exclaimed while jumping up and down.
Waiting to be seated for Jimmy Fallon.
Jimmy Fallon was amazing. Although I don't find him to be all that humorous, he did a great job pulling some good stories out of Paul McCartney. Also, Robert Plant canceled, so Paul McCartney performed 2 songs, including one he wrote for John Lennon.
I'm still flying on the high of that day.
