NYC here we come!!

When you last joined us for the love story of Brooke and Jay, he had just shown me the ring, but not officially proposed.

I could only guess when the big moment would happen - he and I were planning a trip to NYC to see the Yankees play the Boston Red Sox. It was the last year that they would be playing in Yankee Stadium.

Growing up I had read pretty much every book ever written about Lou Gehrig, and I wanted to see a game in the same stadium where he played, and where he gave his famous "Luckiest Man" speech.

Once I knew Jay was going to propose, I wondered if it would happen at the game. Here is the first day of our NYC trip as I recapped it for friends and family later that night:

Jay and I planned to leave Tennessee at midnight Monday night/Tuesday morning. He was going to sleep in Monday morning so that he could take the first driving shift, and I would slept straight away. Then once the sun came up I would take over and he would sleep. Also, please know that when I say "plan" I don't mean something we casually decided in conversation. I mean that according to the excel spreadsheet of the week's events we were leaving at twelve on the nose.

Jay, being new to the vacationing with a Justus phenomenon, took the midnight departure time as an approximate - and didn't start packing until the clock struck twelve. We finally got on the road about 12:30 and as planned about Mo-town I laid my seat back. But before I could get to sleep, I couldn't help but hear the radio call in program that he was listening to.

Ever heard of John Teeter? Yeah us neither. Apparently he is a time traveler from the year 2030 that is hanging out in 2008 under the watchful eye of the United States government. And one of the show's listeners is good friends with one of Teeter's bodyguards. All the proof I need to believe.

At about the 400 mile mark, we stopped for gas and I took over driving. Jay was supposed to use the time to get some sleep so that he would be able to better enjoy NYC this afternoon, but he was too impressed by the farmland and the historic farm houses to fall asleep.

When I stopped at McDonald's for a potty break, I made the mistake of choosing the exit with the mega-Cabellla's store on the same exit. I knew that going into the store would deviate from the plan too much, so I made sure the doors were locked and got out of dodge quickly as possible.

Today alone, Jay and I have been 7 states: Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Without a doubt New Jersey was the ugliest of them all. It didn't help matters that while driving on the Jersey turnpike I got cut off by two drivers. Thanks to my superior driving skills I managed to avoid an accident.

Quit laughing Jay, I am a good driver. Honestly thought even he said that neither was my fault and trust me, whenever I made the slightest lapse in judgment he felt the need to let me know. Just a heads up apparently he's the "work your signal before changing lanes" police.

After settling into the Bed & Breakfast we are staying at, we circled Staten Island looking for a place to park so that we could catch the ferry to Manhattan. The plan - according to my itinerary - was to visit Battery Park, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty this afternoon. Then we would have dinner and call it an early night to recover from the days travel.

I failed to thoroughly research my plan, because Ellis Island closes at 1 in the afternoon. We didn't arrive until after 2. Once again, my plan for the day was thwarted. We control freaks don't take too kindly to that, but at least we were able to cover the Battery Park portion of the schedule.





We I decided that the subway to Time Square would be our fallback plan, but I was so distraught over my faulty planning it took me a few minutes to figure out which train we should be on. My manly man turned into a sissy and worried the whole time we were waiting for the subway that someone would push him onto the tracks. We finally made it safely to Time Square and took a moment to just take in the city.

Then we headed to the 2nd story of Mickey Dee's to have a seat and take a look at the map. Jay had to look up a few addresses, but we were able to plot out the rest of the afternoon's activities.

Next stop was Rockefeller Center, NBC Studios, and Radio City Music Hall. On our way to the Empire State Building, we took a brief detour into the New York City Public Library.



On display they have a Bible dating back to the 1400s, the original stuffed animals that inspired the Winnie the Poo characters, and a Honus Wagner 1909 baseball card.



We didn't go up into the Empire State Building, but admired it from outside. Then we headed toward Madison Square Garden - with the convenient trip inside Macy's on the way.



Of course while we were in Ann Taylor, I found a t-shirt dress that I really liked, but couldn't justify spending $40 on that casual of an outfit. So when I passed H&M, I insisted on stopping item. I found a cute sundress there for $14. Instead of smiling and saying that he liked the dress, Jay foolishly gave me his honest opinion. He liked the expensive dress (that probably wouldn't have even fit my pear shape) better than the more thrifty, a-line dress that would have looked very cute on me.

Our last stop of the evening was at Lasagna, a restaurant on 20th and 8th that a friend of a friend suggested. It was reasonably priced and the food was excellent. I ordered angel hair chicken primevera, and when it was served it was covered in mushrooms. So my darling love gave me his yummy lasagna and ate the fungus covered dish instead. I also must brag on myself for a moment because as the hostess was seating us, she complimented my sweater. Who would have thought a $7 find at Ross Dress for Less would be considered fashionable in Manhattan?

On tap for tomorrow - Central Park, the Tavern on the Green, shopping, and a Broadway musical.

And maybe a ring??? You'll have to wait till next week to find out! In the mean time head on over to Rachel's for more Meetings, Marriages, and Memories!!

I'd also like to encourage those of you that haven't participated to jump on board - its not too late! And wouldn't you love to have all your memories recorded to be able to give to your children one day?