They are PAID vacation days

Don’t you hate it when you look forward to a vacation for a very long time, especially because it’s a longer vacation than you normally take, only to suddenly realize it’s over and then you feel sad and empty because you no longer have it to look forward to? Humph.

P.S. This post is strictly gratuitous vacation reporting so if you could care less about it, go. I understand.

Our trip had 4 parts to it and I learned that traveling to a variety of climates in the fall can make packing pretty challenging.

Part I: Dunmore, PA

This leg of the trip was spent relaxing and reconnecting with relatives, both dead and alive. I suppose I should clarify that for those who have never traveled east with us: my mom has a long history in Dunmore and we always take one day to see all the graves and revisit those who came before us. She recently started diving even deeper via ancestry.com so this time we solicited the help of the cemetery “guy” (I don’t know what you would call him, Cemetery Manager? I also just remembered his actual name was Guy) and he proved to be an entertaining and excellent guide to the records and the cemetery.

Here is proof that our ancestor didn't pay the bills for cemetery perpetual care. They stopped calculating in 1961
but if we wanted to bury someone in that plot, they would figure out how much my family owes.

Me and Cemetery "Guy"

We finished our time in Pennsylvania with my cousin Ross’s wedding at Lake Wallenpaupack. I never get tired of family weddings and I even successfully got Brian to begrudgingly dance way more often than he would've liked. Ross & Meredith were blessed with a beautiful sunset to celebrate their new union. It was a great time!

crappy-quality cellphone wedding selfie.

Part II: Ocean City, NJ 

After the wedding, we traveled east to Ocean City, NJ for a few days on the boardwalk with some family. I must admit that my only knowledge of the “Jersey Shore” made me think we would spend our days at the gym, tanning, and doing laundry but I learned we were too far south for that, in a dry, family-friendly town. Us in-landers don’t see the ocean (or large bodies of water, for that matter) very often so we enjoyed the change of scenery, riding bikes along the boardwalk, and relaxing in the salty-sea air on the massive front porch.

Boardwalk.

We were there in the off season which made some aspects feel a little creepy.

Brian took pictures whilst riding his bike. The resulting photos were of bits and pieces of me. This came closest to complete. 

America

A short little jaunt in Atlantic City to check it out.

Part III: New York City with Brian

Brian and I then ventured to NYC for a few days. Brian had never been and wasn’t even sure he really wanted to go on account of all the people and the traffic. However, the city worked its voo-doo magic on him and he decided it’s as cool a place as people make it out to be. He planned an excellent tour of the city with sections assigned each day. He even planned it so we would arrive via Grand Central Terminal so we could “do it right”. I’m also proud to say that the only chain we ate at was Dunkin Donuts, which felt OK since we don’t have them.

Grand Central Terminal

Ghostbusters Library

Chrysler Building Art Deco.

As good as our trip was in its entirety, nothing could compete with attending a taping of The Tonight Show.  I knew I would love the experience but it far exceeded my expectations. I enjoyed it so much I started to ponder moving to New York to find employment at the show so I could attend every night. 

We somehow managed to get some of best seats in the house: row 2, behind the producers, so our view wasn't blocked by the massive wall of cameras in front of Jimmy. We also lucked out because he selected an audience member for a prize and we got some solid screen-time while he was going down to the stage. Click here to see us. I set it to start when we have our moment: 3 minutes in, we're on the far right side. Jimmy was a very nice host and we even got to high-five him on the way out.

Proof

I was so engrossed in my surroundings, trying to memorize everything and everyone, that when we left I could hardly remember anything that was said. It felt like a dream and NBC does a great job of trying to erase most proof that you were there. If you take out your cellphone they escort you out and confiscate your phone (I witnessed this go down first-hand). They wouldn’t even let us keep our tickets. I did all I could to retain as many keepsakes as I could so I have my wristband, my picture holding my ticket, and, luckily, our time on TV. You guys, it was SO FUN! If you go to NY, please try to get tickets. Tell them Jaime sent you (and find out just how unimportant I am).

PROOF

Other NYC highlights: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway, Liberty Island/Ellis Island, eating at the Chelsea Market at our first “farm to table” restaurant,  walking the High Line at night, standing on the Empire State Building at night, seeing the 9-11 memorial, Washington Square Park, DUMBO, taking the East Hudson Ferry at night (those guys drive those ferries like they’re in Fast & Furious: Ferry Edition), and staying in a beautiful brownstone VRBO in Harlem.

Where we ate before A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder.

Welcome.

Go forth and be free.

Registry Room at Ellis Island. My dad's family came over from Italy in 1912.

Playing around on the High Line

The Freedom Tower and one Memorial Fountain

Freedom Tower

Washington Square Park.

A view from Empire State Building

View from DUMBO

Our wonderful studio apartment in Harlem.

Low points: Flying out of La Guardia and Dunkin Donuts (you guys, it’s SO overrated- come visit and I’ll show you what I consider a good donut and coffee).

Part IV: Denver for the 49ers vs. Broncos game

We flew back to Denver and stayed in a small AirBnB near City Park so we could be in town for the 49ers/Broncos game. We felt like NY had chewed us up and spit us out so despite trying to come up with something fun to do in the ‘big’ city, we ended up just eating dinner and going crazy-go-nuts at the Trader Joes before going to bed really early.

We met up with my parents and Janson and April for the game and also enjoyed visiting with Uncle Vic. He generously gave us pre-game passes so we could spend some time on the field before the game but they wouldn’t let us on the side of the field where the 9ers were warming up so we really could only watch the Broncos. In conclusion, Peyton Manning really is very tall.

It was a depressing game as 49er fans but I still enjoyed getting to be a part of the frenzy (including seeing Peyton breaking the touchdown pass record). To make lemonade out of lemons, we did get to see a lot of fireworks on account of all the touchdowns.

And with that, our vacation ended. ~sigh~

Our month of November looks pretty open so I’m feeling relieved to not have any immediate plans. This allows me to focus on overcoming my mental depression over the fact that I’ll be leaving work in the dark for the foreseeable future, knowing that I will see snow sooner than later, anxiously wondering if this winter will be as relentless as last winter, and watching my skin somehow get even paler and my arm hairs once again get darker.

The good news for right now? Brian bought a leaf-sucker-upper-slash-mulcher so we didn’t have to kill ourselves raking up 3 truckloads of leaves this year. Halleluiah!