My Birthday Surprise(s)!

What a way to close out the year!  We began the month celebrating my 50th birthday.  Then we continued celebrating through the middle of the month!  We spent an evening laughing and sharing the most wonderful dinner at Andrews in Paris with friends.  Then a few days later, Alan surprised me with a trip to New York City.  New York City!  It has been on our list of "places we want to visit" for a long time.  So a couple of days later, we were in the Big Apple.  We walked and rode the subway.  We ate in those little neighborhood diners with the heavy china and fresh-made bagels.  Does the coffee taste that good anywhere else?  We stopped at a Starbucks to compare...not the same.  We dined at the tables next to "locals" pondering their NY Times crossword and ordering their "usual."    

"Miracle on 34th Street" is one of our favorite movies, so after breakfast we headed to Macy's on our first morning in the city.   WOW!  Santa was in all his glory.   These two grown-ups were, however in awe of the original wooden escalators that were carrying shoppers from floor to floor in this NYC landmark.  Yes, we took a picture.  We walked through the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center.   

We saw "The Addams Family" with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth which was hilarious!  We saw the "Christmas Spectacular" with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall.  We wandered through the lights of Times Square.  We could smell the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center a block before we got there.  We strolled Wall Street and viewed the void of Ground Zero.  

A short ferry ride took us to Liberty Island to walk about the grounds surrounding The Statue of Liberty.  Another short ferry ride and we were on Ellis Island.  We have talked since of how, as visitors we felt the presence of those immigrants who were "processed" as they were funneled through the rooms of the grand building.  We wandered and wondered for four hours.

New York City was magical in December.  I have always loved Christmas and everything about it.  I will always believe in Santa!  Alan has accused me of wanting to be Santa as long as he has known me.  He says every year, "I love how this time of year makes you smile."  It was just what I wanted for my birthday.  He knew it even though I didn't.  Thank you, Honey!  "You make me so happy."