A Slice of the Big Apple

So, if you actually read my blog you know that I went to NYC for the first time ever with my sister and her friends last year.  They took a plane, I had a nice relaxing morning reading a book on an Amtrak train.  The train took me to Penn Station which was just a few blocks from our meeting spot in Times Square.  Perfect.  Because I had purchased that one ticket, I’m now on Amtrak’s email list for life.  Which turned out to be a Good Thing ™.

Thanks to last year’s trip, Amtrak sent me an email last month informing me about the first annual “National Train Day” on May 10th.  The email offered me a “buy one get one free” fair for any train trip on May 10th that was purchased on April 4th.  After some checking around, I found a hotel room at Times Square for around $200 and was able to get both of our round-trip tickets for only $183 (which is just $20 more than I paid for my one ticket last year)!  So, we’re going.

Having never been there before, John wants to do some of the pop-culture stuff and see if the city is anything like what he imagines it is.  Hopefully we have better weather than Kristi and I had last year.  LOL.  So our list of things that we’d like to do includes:

• “National Train Day” events at Penn Station when we arrive (exhibits, simulators, etc)
• Stand in the median at Times Square and look up at all of the signs
• Window Shopping at B&H, FAO Schwarz, Barney’s, Macy’s, Saks, and Toys ‘R Us and M&M World (both of which I’ve been to)
• Statue of Liberty evening cruise
• A sampling of New York pizza
• Dinner at the Marriott revolving restaurant
• View the “Bodies” exhibit (maybe)
• The Soup Nazi!
• All three loops of the Gray Line tour
• Central Park carousel
• Central Park Zoo

So,what is National Train Day all about?  May 10th will be the 139th anniversary of the date when the “golden spike” was driven into the final tie that joined 1,776 miles of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railways.  Why was it so special?  That final spike completed the U.S.’s very first transcontinental railroad.  If you’ve got some free time, why not head down to Washington DC for the primary NTD festivities?  There’s plenty of history and fun to go around.  (And if you’re not in D.C., check the website for other events all over the country.)

Get yer choo-choo on!

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