NYC - Day 2 & 3

During Day 2 of our trip, we first headed to Rockefeller Center where I made a stop at the Nintendo store to buy a new DSi, then had lunch at Burger Heaven on recommendation of my dad. It was very good.

We then got adventurous and walked across the Queensboro Bridge, thinking we could get to Roosevelt Island from there. We were wrong. We never made it to Roosevelt Island. There was some subway detours, and between that and the bridge incident, we gave up on the place....forever.

Walking across the bridge was actually very fun, but getting the hell out of Queens once we arrived was less exciting. We immediately hopped on the subway and headed south to Brooklyn.

Brooklyn is an incredible place. It has so much personality, and there were so many fun stores, restaurants and cool apartment buildings. We think that if we move to NYC, Brooklyn is where we would live. We relaxed by sitting on a park bench in a Brooklyn neighborhood for an hour. There were so many families and little kids running around everywhere, it was funny.

Monday was more difficult to get around, because it was pouring rain all day. We still adventured around town, but occasionally had to seek refuge in a store. Melissa got a nice stuffed animal in FAO Schwartz, and I got my picture taken next to LEGO Batman. We also continued to eat fantastic food at every meal.

Monday evening was the pinnacle day of our trip. We went to a taping of the Colbert Report. The guests were Tom Brokaw and Rich Lowry, both of whom were funny and interesting. Seeing the show in person was a fantastic experience. We actually got lost looking for the studio, and had to take a cab to get there in time. Once we arrived, we checked in and waited in line, then were ushered into the waiting room, where we received instructions from show employees.

Once in the actual studio, Stephen walked in and greeted the crowd, taking questions, doing a little dance, and generally being awesome. He was very funny and energetic in-person. He even managed to sneak in a few impromptu lines into the actual show that originated during his conversation with audience members before taping the episode. During commercial breaks his producers would rush over to his desk where they would discuss things, and loud music would play. During the first ten minutes of the show, I was sitting about 6 feet away from Tom Brokaw who was reading over blue index cards preparing for his appearance. Even funnier was that after the show finished, the main guest, Rich Lowry, simply walked out of the studio with his suitcase and began walking down the street, chatting with audience members. Since he lives in NYC, I assume he was just walking home.

Overall, this has been an awesome trip.