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Flying in and first day!

We are so excited to be visiting NYC together. Tami had been there many times for classes, but this is Samantha's very first trip. The trip to the airport and the flight were uneventful and easy. We got to JFK ahead of schedule and our baggage was waiting for us when we got to baggage claim.  JFK is a lot bigger than Samantha expected!

We decided to take the Airporter shuttle bus to Times Square because it seemed less stressful than riding the subway all the way there. However, the traffic was just horrible and it took us two whole hours to get to Times Square! Once off the bus, it took us a few tries to walk in the right direction and when we got to our hotel, the line to check in was very long so it was another hour and a half later when we finally got settled in our room.  We were both very tired and frustrated waiting for so long in line but when we finally reached the desk agent Tami smiled and said hello to the desk clerk and he said he really appreciated the smile. Apparently most of the other guests had not been very nice to him.  Based on that (he said) he upgraded us to a nicer room with double beds instead of twin beds, and gave us a corner view looking over Times Square. 😃

So we hadn't eaten since breakfast 8 hours earlier. Samantha was so tired she wanted to stay in the hotel room and order something but we thought it would take too much time so instead we walked to the Five Guys and ate there. It was quick, familiar and fairly easy, and it hit the spot!!
We had to get shampoo and some medicine we forgot to bring so we walked to the pharmacy and bought that. (And some snacks for later!)

We were super tired when we got back to the hotel, despite it only being around 8:30, so we turned on the TV and laid around until almost midnight.

There's a row of theaters down below us, and people were lined up down the block until late at night. It's crazy that there are so many bright billboards, even at night. And since our room looks out onto that, we could've left the curtains open and had enough light to light up the room! But we closed the blackout shade and went to bed. Between that and the air conditioner, almost all the sound was blocked out. The hotel doors are pretty close to each other though, so whenever anyone closes their door, we hear it loud and clear.

So anyway, the first day went really well! We walked around a bit, got settled in our hotel, and took some pictures.  Tomorrow we are planning to visit the Statue of Liberty!

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