7-1-08 (Good Morning America, Today, St. Patricks)

I'm going to work backwards & start out with yesterday. Our last day in the city was just way too adventurous!

Ok, I didn't realize how much we were on camera until I saw the dvd Cheryl recorded. I sent out a text around 5:30am Tues as we were hopping out of the cab in Times Square. TN is an hour behind, of course, so it was an hour or so later when my cell was going crazy. Everyone in the Eastern Time zone was texting me telling me, "I see you!" during the live taping & the Central time zoners were texting me when taping ended & we were eating across the street. (Let me tell ya, 3 hrs of standing in front of the studio made me HUNGRY!) My left knee & hip were killing me while I was standing there. My right shin never did hurt even from all the fast walking we did. We could cover 10 blocks like maniacs!! :)
We were actually on camera 3-4 times but the last time was hilarious. They kept zooming in on the food & then backing out with the wide lens so there were times where I was responding to texts ON CAMERA!!(What a goober I am!) Also, the fact that I looked like a hungry vulture grabbing chips out of a bowl that Diane Sawyer was holding was NOT attractive. Hannah had a permanent smile on her face while I was answering texts & eating chips on LIVE tv. Gesh!

You can see me taking this photo of Diane Sawyer on LIVE TV with my cell. ha!
Click on the photo to enlarge it. Diane Sawyer is REALLY beautiful in person & extremely nice. She & Robin Roberts are both tall but both had on 3 inch heels, too. We shook hands with them & Robin even commented about my sign. She asked if I went to MTSU & I said "yes". She said she used to work in Nashville.Security was tight but they were ALL very nice. One guy told Hannah that he hoped that "Jeff" was watching. Hannah's sign said, "Howdy TN, I heart Jeff!"

We found out that if we stayed outside, we'd very likely end up on TV because they kept setting up food. The staff kept briefing us on what was going to happen next to prepare us. I actually felt like we were part of the taping. This has to be one of the coolest things I've ever done.

We kept getting distracted by this monitor outside. At one point on the dvd, we are waving at the monitor when we should have been waving at the camera! ha!

I've always thought this guy needed a different haircut. He was nice but I'm right. He needs a new "do".
The food set up before taping.

The ice cream they used kept melting. It was a graham cracker kiwi lime, I think... We got cookie samples to take with us but no ice cream. :P I believe most of the food was organic. Today, I noticed they had Emeril Lagasse on this morning. Dang it! We missed him grilling on the street.

After leaving there, we had a huge breakfast across the street & then walked it off. We headed to the Rockefeller Center area & saw the end of the "Today" show. They had the bat mobile set up from what I could tell. Cousin Pam did confirm that she did see this car on tv yesterday morning. :P

After leaving this area we found ourselves at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I LOVE it! It's probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever walked into...very humbling. We were allowed to take photos but they turned out dark. I lit a candle & prayed. One of my prayers has already come true. :)
The architecture & history of NYC is just overwhelming, amazing, & gorgeous. I found myself looking up more than ahead. I had a few close calls with tripping over sidewalks while wide eyed with amazement. This says a lot considering I spent 2 yrs in Europe. I've been inside castles older than the U.S.

Hannah, Cheryl, & I all agreed, it was information overload. So much to see & do. If you have never been there to explore, GO! I've only had a few goobers tell me they hated the place. Well, those who hated it obviously didn't get out enough while there. For instance, on Wall Street, we were standing next to a bank that had terriorist damage on it from a 1920's attack. It was one of the first recorded terriorist attacks in the U.S. & the case is still open. They suspect that it was Russians. Forty people were killed outside the bank but the bank itself only suffered some cosmetic damage. The bank refused to fill in the holes on the side of the building. They wanted everyone to know that even though it was attacked the building still stood strong with nobody hurt inside. Because of 9/11 & the attack in the 80's, Wall Street is closed to traffic. It was really quiet there on a Sunday morning when we took our LONG tour of Manhattan. (I will post about that later with pics.)

After St. Patrick's Cathedral, we kept walking down 5th avenue past Versace, Fendi, & other high end stores until we got to the edge of Central Park. We had 1.5 hrs before we had to head to Penn Station so we decided to take a quick stroll through the park. ha! It turned into a 45 min fast walk. We went from 58th street to 77th. We walked through the Central Park Zoo, past The Plaza, & then over near Strawberry Fields. Strawberry Fields had been on our 5.5 hr tour on Sunday morning. From there we headed back to the hotel, finished packing, & jumped into a cab for Penn Station. Our train left at 12:37pm for Little Silver on the North Jersey Line. Cheryl & the girls picked us up. We ate at a diner & headed to Philly.

June 30th...........Next. yep, posting backasswards....