We made it to New York City!  My parents flew up from Charlotte, and Frank and I took the train from BWI.  We were all a little bedraggled when we arrived – trying to pull bags, heads down against the fierce wind, and trying not to bump into the busy New Yorkers with all our stuff.  I had booked a promotional deal through American Express at the famed Waldorf Astoria.

In what was like a comedy show, we all arrived at the same time and almost literally fell into the lobby with all of our luggage and hugging each other.  My mother exclaimed in her Southern drawl thank goodness they made it and she always felt at home at the Waldorf.  She told this to the bellman, front desk clerk, and everyone in the lobby – if you know my mom, you know she makes fast friends of everyone in the room.  Maybe to quiet us down, they escorted us to a special hidden lobby, which turned out to be the exclusive Waldorf Towers.  While waiting to check in, we got to know everyone again.  Our rooms weren’t ready, so we decided to have lunch in the hotel (since, as we told them, we had finally made it to safety).  We dined on delicious Waldorf salad in the famous Peacock Alley.

Either we were so friendly – or maybe so entertaining (and there’s a chance my mother had explained to everyone at some point that I had breast cancer and was now traveling around the world) – but they upgraded us all to suites!  We went to Mom and Dad’s first – amazing.  They had a huge bedroom AND a huge living room with crown molding, antique furniture, and 4 sofas.  My mother exclaimed, “It’s as beautiful as the Vendue Inn in Charleston!” (which we love).  I think the bellman thought we were charming – he showed us all the sights from the windows – they can see straight down Park Avenue and also Radio City Music Hall.

Then to Frank’s and my room – even bigger!  We have 6 rooms, including a grand foyer with tapestries on the wall, wet bar that is actually its own little room, living room, dining room, dressing room, and bedroom.  We couldn’t even find each other at first.  It is so big that it takes up one whole side of the building, so we have views on 3 different sides.  My favorite (and the picture here) is the Chrysler Building, which we can see from 6 windows and even when lying in bed.  I could hardly sleep for watching it all night – like a movie.

Since we had such fancy digs, we canceled our dinner reservation and decided to stay in and order pizza.  We started in my parent’s suite for cocktails and then migrated up to our room for pizza and Chianti from room service.  What a night!

This morning, I got up early to see the sun rise over my new favorite Chrysler Building and guess what I saw?  Very small in the distance – the Queen Mary 2 has docked.  Our adventure has begun!