Our First Anniversary Cake

On your first anniversary, tradition dictates that you get to eat the "top" of the wedding cake. Yummy! It really tasted good and didn't have the feared "freezer burn" effect that some have experienced. Shannon did a great job wrapping it a year ago and somehow I managed to go a full year without crushing it with a frozen dinner or something!


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Shannon's very nice setup for the dessert party. She also made some delicious pecan/shortbread treats. With the coffee, espresso and cappuccinos, we had the ultimate in sweet toothiness!


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Didn't we do this already?


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First Anniversary in New York City, Day 3

Day 3 in NYC . . . our final day on this great anniversary trip. We awake to check out of the hotel and find this great picture where it looks like this building across the Hudson River is shooting fire! It's really just a reflection, but it looks cool!


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We walked from the hotel after checking out over to Battery Park to catch the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tours. This was a great fall day for just walking around (and dodging cars) in lower Manhattan.


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Lady Liberty off in the distance before we board the tour ferry in Battery Park. A little choppy, perhaps? Time for Shannon to take some Dramamine!


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Shannon in front of a war veterans memorial section of Battery Park.


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From the Liberty/Ellis ferry looking back to Lower Manhattan. Something just seems to be missing even after 4+ years.


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Lady Liberty from the ferry coming to the island. Is she majestic or what? I can't imagine what it must have felt like in the early part of the 20th century to see that coming to America for the first time for a new life.


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Shannon standing below Ms. Liberty and under a beautiful blue sky.


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I didn't know this until this visit to the Island but the inscription on the Liberty statue's tablet is in Roman numerals for July 4, 1776 . . . which, of course, makes sense because the statue was a gift from the French for the centennial celebration of America's independence!


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Arriving at Ellis Island for a very short walk-through . . .


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From Ellis Island . . . Fridge and Snow saying hello to Shannon with the Statue in the background.


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Time to say goodbye to Liberty Island and Ellis Island as we make our way back to lower Manhattan. After grabbing our luggage and the most amazing slice of NY-style pizza, we caught the shuttle back to Newark and headed home. Man, we love this city . . . and we'll back very soon!


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First Anniversary in New York City, Day 2

Happy Anniversary to Us! One Year in the books!

Sunday morning . . . time for some brunch. Taking the MTA #1 again up into midtown, further north this time, to the 62nd St. and Central Park West station. Never made note of this before, but this huge globe structure greets you at the north end exit.


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It doesn't get much better than a Sunday New York Times and brunch at Isabella's at 77th St. and Columbus Ave., just west of Central Park. So much great food to choose from . . . french toast and bacon it shall be . . . and a fluffy omelet and mimosa for my lovely wife.


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After brunch, we took a stroll through Central Park, heading south . . . This was a great picture of us with the south/midtown Manhattan in the background (taken by a nice stranger who was lounging on the rock when we arrived).


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After exiting the park back on the east side at 5th Ave., we strolled into FAO Schwartz, a kiddie and adult toy store fave. No, we did not get this picture mixed up with something from the Central Park Zoo. This was a giant stuffed toy polar bear, priced in FAO at something like $7,000! A life size elephant was $25K! Ouch!


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No, I didn't get fired by The Donald from The Apprentice . . . and I bet this doorman NEVER has anyone get this picture these days.


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This would be one of those great, "Identify this . . . " pictures in some of the travel mags out there . . . Fountains from the second floor of the Trump Tower down into the lobby. Very neat from above . . .


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A newly re-opened attraction in NYC is the "Top of the Rock", which is an observation platform at the top of the Rockefeller Plaza. We had tickets for (fingers crossed) right at sunset and got pretty close. The Empire State Building is very colorfully lit in the background.


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A very pretty shot of the sunset past the Empire State Bldg.


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Another sunset shot . . .


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Walking back through Times Square on our way back to the subway southbound, we had to take yet another shot in all the lights.


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To end a great day in Manhattan on our one-year anniversary, we went to a sushi restaurant that Patrick had been to several years before, Next Door Nobu. Amazing sushi, which Shannon loved, and a great atmosphere.


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Shannon enjoying Next Door Nobu. Sushi coming!


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Our hotel for the weekend, the Marriott Financial Center, just south of the WTC site and west of Battery Park (click this link for an amazing view of Battery Park) on the southern tip of Manhattan. We really enjoyed our stay here (on easy-to-use points!) and would recommend this property to anyone wanting an alternative to the hustle-and-bustle of Midtown Manhattan.


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The guys immediately headed for the window to see the view. They don't seem to be afraid of heights since they've seen the world as much as we have!


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Brunch on Saturday afternoon at Kitchenette in Tribeca, just north of the WTC site. Really great comfort food!


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This is a view of the "hole" at the WTC site as seen from a walkway (bridge) over West St. The site is being renovated and managed by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. They appear to have many different projects going on around the WTC site, Battery Park and other buildings affected by 9/11. The platforms in the center/right of the photo appear to be part of the underground subway/PATH reconstruction (I think!).


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Sunset on Saturday night overloooking the southern tip of Manhattan and into New Jersey. That's Ellis Island off in the distance in the center-left of the photo.


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Before dinner on Saturday night at Brasserie in midtown, we strolled around and got this self-portrait at Park Avenue and 52nd. The light wasn't great, but the scenery with the lights around the trees was fabulous!


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Shannon in Times Square. Never a dull moment here . . . We had a great time in midtown on Saturday night. After dinner at Brasserie, we walked across 5th Ave. over to the Theatre District to go see the Billy Joel musical, "Movin' Out". An absolutely fantastic show, with a raised orchestra playing all of Billy's hits with the story set to a late '60's group of friends torn by growing up, moving away, going to war and discovering the world. Michael Cavanaugh does an amazing job in singing all of Billy's songs and sounds amazingly close to the real deal.


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Shannon in Times Square, part deux.


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Gettin' horizontal during the break dancing in the Times Square subway station.

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An impromptu "break-dance" routine broke out in the Times Square subway station on our way back to the hotel. Pretty neat . . .


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This is what the New York City subway would look like in my imagination for the rest of my life, if I were to never see it again . . . Always active, someone always going somewhere, no matter the time of day or night.


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The "1" train taking us back to the south end of Manhattan after a great night in midtown and the Theatre District.


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The Tar Heel Fan's Ultimate Ride

I just had to get a picture of this customized 2005 Ford Mustang for Shannon . . . doesn't this look like the most "tricked-out" Tar Heel car you've ever seen???


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The interior of this car looked like something you would drive up in heaven . . . seriously, it was so white, you felt like you needed sunglasses to just look inside!


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Danica Patrick Sighting!

Photo op! Red Alert! Patrick and the 2005 Indy Racing League Rookie of the Year, Danica Patrick, at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Manufacturer's Association) Annual Show in Las Vegas, NV. This tiny gal can drive a race car faster than any other woman on the planet. Wow.



(In a completely unrelated story to this "stalker-azzi" photo with Danica, it was announced that she has gotten hitched to her 40-year old physical therapist.)


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Danica signing autographs at the trade show booth.


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Jeff Gordon There, Too!

Jeff Gordon at the SEMA Show. He had quite a crowd around him on Thursday during a press conference for DuPont and a promo display.


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The Guys Return to Las Vegas

Pops and a couple of the little guys kept Patrick company on his business trip. They have now been to Las Vegas more times than Shannon. Trying to keep them away from the craps tables ... easier said than done with all the complimentary fish being given out by the hostesses.


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The "guys" trying to watch a little TV in the hotel room. I think they were having issues with the remote control.


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