Tuesday dawned cloudy and cold, so we bundled up and headed to Amelia’s for breakfast – Kipp and his daughter Sarah had prior commitments and could not provide us breakfast themselves, but treated us to breakfast at Amelia’s.  We walked down there for a delicious and somewhat filling breakfast, and Jenny walked the whole way flawlessly without her Halti!

 

After breakfast, we met up with Cory – our tour guide – at Penn Station for the Food on Foot Tour, which is unlike any other tour we have been on since arriving here.  The group was large, with attendees from Canada (Vancouver and Edmonton), USA, Australia, England, Germany, Scotland, South Africa, Japan, Taiwan, and Costa Rica.  This tour was designed both to be an eating tour and a mingling tour, and we did much of both!  Cory was a bit of a drill sergeant, demanding a “New York pace”, describing how things were going to be, but under that gruff exterior was a man who loves his city and wants to share it with others.  He told us that the current Penn Station was a new building, but there was an old station that acted as a hub until it fell into disrepair, and then Pennsylvania Railroad company bought the air rights to where Penn Station now stands.  We even found a Tim Hortons at Penn Station!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started at a pizza place, where Ben and I split a slice of fresh mushroom pizza.  It was quite tasty, especially in comparison to generic pizzas back home.  While eating, we chatted with two travelers from Germany, who explained that from Munich, they could drive 3 hours, be through another country, and be halfway through Italy, while from Edmonton, we would still be in Alberta if we drove 3 hours in any direction.

 

After that, we headed to a Mexican grocery, where I enjoyed a fruit punch Mexican soda.  It was delicioso!  While waiting for the others’ tacos to arrive, we chatted with a couple from South Africa who happened to be at the Rangers game we were at earlier in the week.

 

 

Leaving that stop, we headed toward City Sandwich, where Ben and I split a “Todd”, which was like a BLT, except the Portuguese bacon was a bit thinner and not crispy, but it was so delicious.  We chatted with a couple from Scotland who were both teachers, and we stood outside shivering in the cold chatting about Scottish independence, traveling, and our love of NYC.

 

From there we went to a Greek bakery, where I went in and brought out an apple strudel for Ben and a honey cookie for me.  While I was inside, Jenny got to play Doggie for Mayor while hanging out outside with Ben, which made her and fellow travelers very happy.

 

After that point, we took a bit of a detour through a park, and then on to Papaya Go, where I enjoyed a kinesh (think fried potato cake) and Ben got a hot dog.  We ate outside while the line kept moving, but many other tourists – perhaps even us – found it very very cold!

 

Our last stop on this tour was the Little Pie Company, where I had (arguably) the best apple pie in the City – the sour cream apple walnut pie – and Ben had cheesecake.  We were both in foodie heaven, and believe it was the perfect way to end our tour.

 

Jenny did almost all of the guide work herself, in some places leaving Ben at the back of the group while heading up to the front, being only mildly distracted by other dogs, but loving the few minutes when she could say hi to the other travelers.  I was so impressed, and think that she has really grown during this trip.

 

We planned on going to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, but the lineup was so long that we decided that it wasn’t a make-or-break place to go during our trip.  We caught the Subway back to the B&B, then relaxed for a couple of hours and then headed back out toward the theater district.

 

Upon exiting the train station, we found a cute little souvenir stand where we nearly completed our souvenir shopping.  Then we tried to find a particular Italian restaurant, but were unable to locate it due to the crowds.  Instead, we found a pub where we ordered sandwiches – which we enjoyed – and ate them with a background of very loud music – which we did not.  Then we made our way to Broadway, where we located the Longacre Theater.

 

“You Can’t Take it With You” stars James Earl Jones, which brings out the inner nerd in Ben, and all the reviews say the play was supposed to be hilarious.  It lived up to all our expectations, and more!  Once we entered the theater, we were guided to our seats, and offered water for $5 a bottle (“Welcome to Broadway!” – we declined.  The usher was very polite once we were seated and asked other theater-goers to go around the long way so as not to disturb Jenny, but it was done in such a way as to be both respectful and discrete.

 

The play is hilarious; I do believe there’s a movie, but I can’t say if it models the play well.  We spent 80% of the play laughing at the antics of the characters, and the rest just smiling.  Jenny scrunched herself under my seat, and did fantastic with all scenes – including those with fireworks – except the end of the second act, where there was a mass explosion of fireworks, where she wriggled out and tried to sit up.  Thankfully, this was literally the last part of the act, so we were able to get up, stretch, resettle, and thoroughly enjoy the rest of the play.  If you are ever in New York and get a chance to see it, DO IT!  It was such a unique experience, where all of the cast fed off each other’s energy, performed extremely well, and – most importantly – engaged the audience.

 

Tomorrow is a busy day, because it is our last full day in New York.  We are doing a tour of the High Line, Chelsea and Meatpacking District, then visiting Carnegie Hall, and enjoying a lovely New Year’s Eve dinner.  Even as I love New York, home is calling me back; it will be nice to go home, but I feel like I have seen what I wanted to, and still will have more to see when we come back again – and make no mistake… we WILL be back!

Ben and I have been looking forward to our alone day since starting this trip, not because we wanted to get rid of each other, but because we had a couple things we wanted to do that the other wasn’t interested in.  Ben toodled off before I did to head to his TV and Movie sites bus tour.  He saw some cool sites, but was overall disappointed with the bus tour.

 

I Took the E train to the Museum of Modern Art, which was an incredible experience.  Debbie, my guide, described pictures, Matisse cutouts, and walked me through the sculpture gallery, where we could, with surgical gloves, touch sculptures by many artists, and learn about some art history.  I am not well-versed in art, and probably won’t be much more educated in it, but it was a lovely experience, and Debbie’s descriptions were spot-on.  We went to one exhibit where you could touch some of the canvases; one of them was like a patchwork with different squares of canvas put together, some with charcoal, others with oil, and you could feel all the contrasts!  Jenny even got in on the action – laying down on the canvas!  She also was photographed as much as the artwork – something I didn’t find out until Debbie asked if I often got people taking pictures of my dog.  Thankfully, Jenny handled it all with the utmost professionalism.

 

 

After that, I went back to the train station, where I headed to the Dunkin Donuts for a coffee and donut.  Soon as I walked in the door, the lady behind the counter yelled “No dogs!”  Another customer said that it was a service dog, and that I could not be refused.  Another employee, probably a manager, said from the back that service dogs were allowed.  This all happened in the span of about 5 seconds, before I could even think to interject and say anything for myself.  Thankfully it got squared away quickly and I didn’t have to.

 

We took the E train back to within a few blocks from our B&B, and relaxed for an hour or so before taking off again.  At this point, I realized that I had misplaced my Metro card, but Ben and I talked to a transit officer who let us take the 1 train to Christopher St – advising me to call 511 to report the lost card – and walked down to Washington Square Park.  There’s a fenced dog run there, and Jenny had a blast running around, picking up other dogs’ balls, and generally meeting other dogs and being a goofy pup.  We bought a water bottle from a vender and filled Jenny’s water dish, which prompted nearly every other dog to come by for a drink!

 

After the park, we went back to the Subway station, where I purchased another 7-day Metro card – there is a reason we carried emergency cash  – and headed back to the B&B, where we got ourselves gussied up for a night on the town.

 

I found a groupon for Bill’s Food and Drink, and from the time we walked in to the restaurant 20 minutes ahead of our reservation, to being led to our table and being asked if they could set out water for Jenny, to the minute we walked out the door, the staff was attentive, service was prompt, and the food was terrific – they earned their tip, and then some.  We split an Amstel Lite beer in celebration – toasting Henny (Jenny’s trainer), New York, each other, Jenny, and whatever else we could think of.  Ben had an appetizer of roasted beets, and I had curried cauliflower soup, and we each had the pork chop, and chocolate cake for dessert.  It was a terrific place, from the food to the service to the ambiance; we would go back!  Cool fact about this place: they have real silver dollars embedded in their floor!

 

Jenny was exhausted after leaving the restaurant; she really slowed down.  She was SO tired that she completely ignored another dog that came on the E train with us usually – at the very least she looks up!

 

Tomorrow, we head off to a Food on Foot tour, have a blank slate for the afternoon, and then it’s BROADWAY!!!!!

This morning – Saturday – started out late, as the sites we wanted to see weren’t open until 10:00 AM.  We lazed around a bit until we got some breakfast late downstairs.

 

After breakfast, I twisted my ankle quite badly off the step of the B&B – Jenny tried to avoid getting hit in the bum with the front door, walked too fast, and down I went!  It HUUUUUUURT!  But the show must go on, as they say, and we walked down to the New York Fire museum, where we looked at interesting stories about the history of the fire department, and Jenny and I even got to try on some gear!

 

After a quick trip back to the B&B, we took the Subway to Bowling Green, where we sat down amongst a small swarm of pigeons and other birds to enjoy a beautiful picnic lunch.  It has been unseasonably warm here in NYC; I think the city has taken pity on us poor Canadians and given us an extra week of autumn.  We’ve heard so many stories from other travelers – from Florida, Australia, and other warm climates – that they were disappointed not to see snow; we told them to come to Canada to visit us… THERE they would get snow!

 

After our lunch, we met up with the Slavery and Underground Railroad tour from Inside Out Tours.  Before the tour started, we met up with two tourists from Germany, who joked and laughed with us about life in general.  Oliver, one of the tourists, told Ben he owed him a beer on behalf of all Germans as an apology for a German-speaker who called him an a**hole one day while he was driving a bus.  We would’ve taken him up on it if we’d caught up with him again, but the tour was rather large, and we didn’t get the chance.  We also met up with the Australia couple who were on the Inside Broadway tour with us yesterday, giving proof to the idea that New York is, in effect, a small world.

The tour guide described many ideas that New York has traditionally held about slavery, Africans other races, and it was an incredibly eye-opening experience.  I had no idea that New York bought slaves until the early 1800s, but did not emancipate them all at once, but it was a gradual abolition of the institution.  We also saw pictures of what was done to slaves who ran away, or men and women in free states who passed themselves as white.  This also brought up the fascinating question of “passing”, and what that meant for people; many lost their families because they couldn’t acknowledge them due to their African ancestry, but this also enabled some to survive, and others to help free slaves.  We also passed many historic buildings, almost all of which were rebuilt after one fire or another, including taverns, churches, and homes.  At one point, we even saw some wooden spots in the road that are where the original wall of Wall Street stood.

 

 

 

At the end of the tour, we got insanely lost, taking the wrong Subway, then getting turned around on foot and having to walk at least 12 blocks to get back to the B&B.  My ankle was throbbing at this point, and many of the streets were aggravating the injury by being uneven.  When we got back, Ben wrapped my ankle in the tensor bandage from Jenny’s emergency kit (don’t judge me!), and that kept the ankle stabilized enough to heal.

 

We ordered in chicken strips for dinner through the same site that we ordered last night’s Chinese food.  I am constantly surprised by the number of restaurants in the city, and the number that will deliver through Seamless.  It is nearly overwhelming, the amount of choice here.

 

We packed up Jenny, put away our cameras, and took off to Madison Square Garden to watch the New York Rangers take on the New Jersey Devils.  If you know we’re from Edmonton, you will have heard about our hockey woes; if not, look them up, because they are fascinating (if depressing) reading. we purchased accessible seats so we could have room for Jenny, which turned out to be a great choice, since my ankle was NOT up to climbing up and down a ton of stairs to get to other seats.  The view was fantastic, and Ben could see the whole rink from where we were – we’re pretty sure there’s not a bad seat in the house!

 

The atmosphere (beyond chaotic) of the Garden is electric.  These fans love their team, get into the game, and it has been a long time since I have felt something that electric at a sports game.  Even the pre-game preamble was classy, polished, and engaging.  We got snacks for the game, including cotton candy that came with a free hat (or did the hat come with a free bag of cotton candy?)  We went on to see the Rangers beat the Devils 3-1, and it was the first time we ever saw a hat trick live!  It was fantastic!  At the end of the game, the fans gave the Rangers a standing ovation.

 

All this time, Jenny was… terrific.  The whole day, she walked calmly with Ben and I.  If we were in crowded areas or with walking tours, I put down the harness handle and held her leash; in less-crowded (though still crowded) areas, I walked with her harness.  She did nearly flawless guide work all day, ignoring an insane amount of dogs (I stopped counting at 6), walking at a steady pace, and moving through crowds like she’s done it for years.  She curled up at my feet during the hockey game, MuttMuffs in place, and handled herself with grace and professionalism.  I just want to pick her up, snuggle her, and tell her to keep do whatever she’s been doing.

 

Ben and I talked today about how much we love the city.  We thought we would hate the crowds, and while we have had moments of panic due to the sheer number of people, it has not been as crazy as we thought.  We have met some great people along the way – along with a group of MTA bus drivers while coming out of Madison Square Garden; one of them hit Jenny in the bum with a door, apologized profusely, and we got talking and found they were a group of bus drivers, many with more than 20 years on the job.  Ben gave one of them his ETS patch from his old parka, and the driver gave him an MTA calendar.  It was great to hear them swap war stories, laugh at their pronunciation of Newfoundland, and just enjoy some levity.

 

Tomorrow, we’re off to a NYC Gospel Music tour, the New York City Transit Museum, and whatever else we feel like doing.

I LOVE working a guide dog.  Even though I am a good cane traveler, my worst day with a guide dog is exponentially better than my best days with my cane, especially in unfamiliar places.  I need to remind myself of this, even as I realize that we are all – dog, husband, myself – slightly overwhelmed by all the sights, smells, people, and new experiences.  We will get into a groove, and it WILL get better… and it did… culminating in what might be a legendary story for the trip.

One thing that I have noticed while I have been here – and the couple of other American cities that I have been in – is that people will not necessarily reach out and pet Jenny (though I have gotten that), but they will stare at her.  This does freak her out, and ultimately puts me on edge.  It’s just a weird quirk that I have noticed here.

We purchased the New York Pass at a discount months ago, because almost everything we wanted to do was included in the pass, and it would save us a ton of money while letting us do things we might not otherwise wish to fork over admission fees for.  Since Ben and I both love boats, we decided to take advantage of the All-day Access Pass for the New York Water Taxi, but since it was running on a 90-minute schedule we decided not to get off the boat, but just take pictures from the windows and the decks.  We got pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, and learned a lot of cool facts about new York City – like if Brooklyn were to break away and become its own city, it would be the 4th largest city in the world.

Jenny didn’t like the boat much, which ultimately culminated in our disembarking, going down the dock, and her leading me smack into a door frame.  We had a little “chat” about this, the Halti went on her nose, and on we went to the Intrepid.

The Intrepid was a cool experience, not only because it was, well, the Intrepid, but because they had a completely accessible guidebook.  If I had gone completely by myself, I had tactile maps that would have enabled me to both navigate the museum and learn about the exhibits.  In addition to the tactile maps, there was a pen that I assume read bar-codes in the book, which would let you trace the map and find out where you are, and read you the signs by the exhibits as well.  I have never seen anything so instantly accessible to me in my life, and I didn’t have to even ask for it!  The admissions crew mentioned it to us… I wish more museums had such awesome services!

After the Intrepid and lunch, we had some time to kill, so we went down Broadway and did some souvenir shopping.  We talked to one shopkeeper who told me the rent for the Subway sandwich shop around the corner – half his store’s size – was $28,000 a month.  Our mouths just fell open!  We couldn’t imagine such high rents for anything!

Since we still had time, we went to Discovery Times Square, where we took a quick look at the Body Worlds exhibit.  I remember when it came to Edmonton, and there were protests and boycots… I can’t remember why, and now that I have gone to the exhibit myself, I don’t understand the major protest fuss… it’s bodies; we all have them, we all should learn about them and what we do to them and how they break down.

Then we got insanely lost trying to find our tour guide for Inside Broadway tours (we did find him).  Tom, our guide, was terrific!  He laughed with us, at us, cracked jokes, did some awesome singing, and even got to say hi to Jenny, who I took off harness at the end of the tour… she went NUTS playing “Doggie for Mayor”.

I think here might be a good time to explain about the traffic here… IT IS NUTS!  At some spots – both before and on our tour – we had to jaywalk, squeeze between cars, or do other insanely crazy things that go against all instincts for self-preservation.  Jenny was NOT comfortable with this, even at one point trying seriously hard to pull me down the street and over to the corner.

Even before the Broadway tour, our feet started to HURT!  We decided to be lazy, went back to our B&B, and ordered Chinese food while Jenny passed out on the floor… but the day wasn’t done!

I am either brave, foolish, or some combination thereof, but I purchased a ticket for Jazz at Kitano for the Friday night show.  Ben is not a jazz fan, so I decided to go alone.  I looked up the train route on the MTA web site, and hoped and prayed I wouldn’t get too lost walking from 42 St to Park Avenue… my friends have told me that I am brave, so I’ll go with brave… but I didn’t feel brave at all!

That walk started off badly.  Jenny seems to struggle finding the corner near our B&B, so I walked several blocks while listening (and doubting) my GPS tell me that I was on the wrong street, so we went back and had to find the corner, which we ultimately did.  The rest of the trip to the Subway went off without a hitch; Jenny even took me directly to a box where I could swipe my card, and we JUST made it on the train.

I started to get nervous once I got off the train at 42nd street, but Jenny got me to the steps.  We got a bit disoriented, but I heard someone use the door to get toward street-level, so I directed her that way.  We made it up to W 40 St entrance, and we were off and walking.  The crowds, even at 9:30 at night, were HUGE – partygoers, tourists, even young kids.  Jenny nearly effortlessly guided me through them, around them, beside them.  I kept on walking until I got to W 38 St, which is where I thought I needed to be… and we walked, and walked, and walked.  I started to get nervous when we passed where I thought we should be, because my GPS kept on telling me we were going to go to E 38 St… but I decided, trust the dog, trust the GPS, ASK PEOPLE!

I did end up making it without incident, and squeezed in to the show just before it started.  The staff at the Kitano was incredibly attentive without being invasive, asking how they could assist… it was a wonderful experience!

I ended up sitting with a friend of Scott albertson, leader of the band.  The club was VERY anti-talking during performance, so we chatted a bit between songs.  The jazz was blues-influenced, with old standards and new interpretations.  As a special guest, a young girl played the piano on one song, and the saxophonist came back from the first set to stick around and play with her on the second one – she is 12 years old and plays the piano wonderfully!  The whole show was a great experience, including birthdays and that Robbie Burns song that you sing every New Years Eve and can’t get out of your head.

Turned out that all the people sitting at the table beside me were either band members or friends and family related to them.  They heard my story about walking from Times Square, thought I was sooooooo brave, and said that Scott would give me a ride back to the hotel.  I SO accepted, and wound up riding back with half the band!  Jenny was a big hit at well, staying calmly (asleep?) during the whole performance, but she did say hi when we got to the hotel.

We all fell into bed, exhausted after a day that didn’t start out so great (I have a massive bump on my forehead to prove that), that ended up terrific.  And now… for tomorrow!

We got up early this morning and prepared to face the day, unpacked the rest of our things, drank Ben’s kick-you-in-the-teeth coffee, and had breakfast in the cafe at our B&B – I enjoyed the waffle-iron frittata, and Ben loved the French toast.  We could have spent hours talking to Kipp (our innkeeper), who has had many careers – actor, furniture maker, playhouse owner, and probably a zillion other things we haven’t gotten to yet.  I honestly think I could spend a month talking to him about life experiences, from Hurricane Sandy to building furniture to thoughts on pride of residence… oh, wait, we did that this morning!

 

We left Jenny in the room to rest and recover for an hour or so, so that we could locate the Subway stop(s) closest to our B&B.  We got our Metro cards, and decided to take a train ride just for fun.  We took the E train to Penn Station, and got off to see where Madison Square Gardens is, and fulfilled our desire for hot dogs from a street vendor.  I got a chili dog that leaked everywhere, no matter how straight I held it… thankfully we had a ton of napkins!  Then we picked up a couple things from a pharmacy, which is where we heard our funny quote of the day.  I keep forgetting that American money includes pennies, and I made a comment about that; the cashier was surprised that we didn’t have pennies.  Ben showed her a toonie and told her it was worth $2 in Canada.  Her response was priceless: “That’s $2? Here, that’s a souvenir!”

 

We made our way back to our B&B, called friends and families to wish them merry Christmas, rested a bit, and then Ben went out to take some pictures.

 

 

We have been looking forward to a holiday lights and movie sites bus tour since we first heard about it.  The normal meeting spot was closed today, but we met up with Max, our tour guide, across the street, after enjoying lamb gyros and pretzels from street vendors for dinner.

 

 

 

 

It was an interesting way to see the city, but unfortunately traffic in some areas was insane, Jenny decided the little tiny spaces on the bus floors were GREAT for scavenging (aided by a spilled bag of jellybeans), there were too crying babies on the bus, and Max (our tour guide) only have a finite number of movies and trivia questions to choose from to fill the time.  We ended up at Macy’s, where Ben took this great picture of the Empire State Building.

 

 

We caught the train from Penn Station, where thankfully Jenny had mostly gotten over her case of the munchies (thank goodness for the Halti!!!) and arrived back at our B&B, where we are planning tomorrow’s itinerary.  On the docket?  New York Water Taxi, The Intrepid, and the Inside Broadway Tour!  This will be our first time using our new York Passes, which (according to our calculations, will get us in to see a ton of attractions we are either too inexperienced or cheap to take advantage of without it 🙂

Well, we arrived at our B&B about two hours ago, and are both absolutely exhausted!  Even on the best of days, air travel is exhausting for many people… we are both wiped, feel disgusting, and really just wanted the opportunity to sprawl as much as possible.

 

In preparation for this trip, we purchased MuttMuffs for Jenny, as the past couple of trips she has not been a great traveler.  We won a contest that provided us with two Roam Mobility Sim cards so that we can call and be reached while we are here, and we made sure we had talk, text and data plans at the ready so that we can keep in touch with friends and family.  And exchanging money? Yeeeeesh! I have never in my life had to fold money before; Canadian money includes Loonies ($1 coins) and toonies ($2 coins), and the new $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 bills are made of a plastic-feeling material that includes braille symbols that can help someone who is visually impaired identify their money immediately (even our previous currency had these markings).  Here, the money is paper, with no markings, and the smell gives me a contact high (is it the ink?)  Thankfully, I have folded my bills into cool different shapes which thankfully were not held up at the airport…

 

I have mixed feelings about traveling in airports with my guide dog, but thankfully Jenny has matured sufficiently in the past six months, and handled security with the professionalism she possesses.  Our first flight, to Denver, was a bit of a gong show; we sat very close to the front of the plane, and Jenny was very very cold.  Even though I used her jacket as a blanket, it was still too cold, too confined or too loud for her on the plane, and she nearly vibrated the whole flight.

 

Once getting to Denver, we had a bit of a problem.  Jenny was giving me all the signals that she needed to go outside, but the animal relief area was both outside security and at the far end of another terminal, and we only had less than 1.5 hours to get to our next flight (cane users thankfully don’t ever have to deal with this…).  I tried to improvise a “pee-pad” in a bathroom, and she wouldn’t go… she turned around in circles and just sat down; I could see the wheels turning in her head, thinking “Well, this is a very very bad idea…”  This ultimately resulted in a dog that desperately had to relieve, no where to do it, and a hope and a prayer – or several – that the 3.5-hour flight ahead would be as uneventful at the end as it was at the beginning.

 

But I didn’t need to worry; the plane departed and landed on time… and without incident.  There were several extra seats, so we did a little bit of musical seats amongst our row, which enabled Jenny to have the space in front of two seats – mine and the one in the middle!  I know some people who wouldn’t accept this, but why cut off my nose to spite my face?  And anyone who is not sure their dog will benefit from MuttMuffs – they have earned their keep FOR SURE!  Jenny used to always sit up and squirm during takeoff and landing… today, NOTHING!

 

We landed at Newark, and Jenny was pulling SO hard on the harness – a typical “take me out now!” sign.  Thankfully, there was an exit door right by the baggage carousel where we found a great patch of grass for her to happily answer nature’s call.  As soon as that was done, she was a very very very calm dog, taking me back to my husband, who unfortunately ripped an unimportant zipper on our duffel bag when carrying it off the carousel.

 

Then… the organized chaos of the Passenger Pickup area of Newark Airport.  It was honestly crazy… there were attendants constantly yelling “If you’re not dropping off or picking up, get out of the way!” and I could tell that this had been said multiple times every day.  We chatted up one of the attendants, and he said that he uttered that phrase “all day, everyday.”  Our hired car picked us up and got us to our B&B, talking about driving in the city, his homeland (India), asking questions about Canada.  My favorite line – just based on his tone – was “I don’t like the south of India… it is WAY too hot! (emphatically) I am from the north! (quickly)”  I doubt I can adequately convey the humor of it, but it was just so priceless!  In the 30 minutes in his car, I heard more horn-honking than I do in a month back home.

 

Upon arrival at our B&B, we were met by the innkeepers, Kipp and Margo.  Once we got inside and started to settle, the first thing they asked was if they could say hi to Jenny.  Normally I wouldn’t, be OK with this, but Jenny had been in work mode for 12 hours straight, including air travel, so I took off her harness and let her go.  She ran up the stairs and played “Doggie for Mayor”, promptly endearing herself.

 

Since then, we’ve ordered and eaten New York-style pizza – unfortunately the delivery driver didn’t want to accept our groupon, but did in the end – watched cheesy game shows, and unpacked our suitcase.  Jenny is now fast asleep on her blanket on the floor beside my bed, and we will live to face our first full day in New York City!