NYC Trip

Luke's company, Endochoice, went public. He did a lot of work for the Initial Public Offering, so he  had to be up in NYC to work and I was invited up, so we were able to take part in celebration. It was a very cool experience and it was great work experience for Luke. He went up on Wednesday to work and I joined him on Friday at lunch. We were able to get some friends to babysit the kids for a trade. We love our kids, but it was a really nice break from their antics!

We had lunch together near Wall Street and saw the sign on the New York Stock Exchange building.

 The group of co-workers met up outside and everyone took turns taking pictures with the sign in the background.

 Luke with his bosses. It was pretty cool that he was low man on the totem pole and got to mingle with all these executives. Both the CEO and CFO bragged on Luke to me and talked about what an asset he is! The CEO told me that they got lucky with Luke and he could do whatever he wanted! I'm so proud of my super smart and hard-working hubby!

 This was a really neat conference room in the NYSE.

 On the floor of the NYSE! It was an incredible experience! So strange to be where I've seen on TV so many times and never expected to be.

 Luke's direct boss, Mark the controller.

 Did you know there is a CNBC studio at the NYSE?

 His bosses got to ring the closing bell.

 Afterwards, we went for drinks at the hotel restaurant (yay, Coke!), then we boarded a fancy black bus with tinted windows and leather seats. Luke sat next to one of the guys on the board of directors who had so many cool experiences to share and they were able to have a really smart discussion that I didn't understand entirely :) What I got out of the ride was a man peeing in a gutter in the middle of crowds of people... 

We ended the ride at a classy restaurant where the Endochoice group had a whole room for a fancy dinner. There was more mingling, then the CEO and others spoke and had presentations. It was really well done and I am very impressed by Luke's company. All of his co-workers/bosses are really great people with a lot of drive but also a lot of kindness. We tried to walk back to the hotel with the controller and his wife, but got lost and called a cab.

The hotel, called the Andaz Wall Street, was really cool. The room was in this modern, cube like style. Hard to explain, but really neat. Here are some pictures from the web.

The next morning, we walked over to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. It was a really solemn and heart wrenching experience. They did an amazing job with the memorials.

The new building.

We had lunch near Wall Street on this cobble stone street in between buildings. All along each side of the street are restaurants who have tents and tables set up in the street. We picked an Irish restaurant. I got a lamb burger with feta cheese and pesto sauce that was very delicious. The atmosphere on the street was cool.

Then, we checked out of that hotel, toted our luggage on the subway over to our next hotel next to Times Square. We got back on the subway to go up to Central Park. We road bikes around, then went back to walk and eat popsicles. I absolutely love Central Park. It is my favorite NYC spot. I could have spent the entire day there.

The bridges and structures in the park were so beautiful.

We took the subway back to Times Square and got changed for the night. We had dinner at a little steak house, then went to the Imperial theater to see Les Miserables! I have been wanting to see this play since my junior high teacher got me hooked. It was so cool to see it on Broadway! The actors were so wonderful and perfect for the parts. Jean Valjean was fantastic! The set was also super cool and the entire playhouse was really nice. We were able to get seats 11 rows back in the center isle, so we could see their faces!

We walked around Times Square for a little, got a Jamba Juice (which we so miss in GA), and got the kids some souvenirs. Abby talked all about the Statue of Liberty when she learned about it at school, so we got her a little one. Brad got a little snow globe that was broken within 24hrs of getting it by his big sister, of all people.

 When we flew out the next morning, I had a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty out my plane window. You can just make it out on the island. We were able to see that last time we went, but no time for it in our 1 day tourist day. 

We really enjoyed our trip and I feel so grateful that we could enjoy it together. I wish we could go back!