The Today Show

And finally, we made it to our simple goal of being on The Plaza at Rockefeller Center to get our moment on The Today Show. Doug had this banner made for us...we had to announce to the world that "The Bonko Babes of Utah were proud to admit we were 40 & Fabulous!" :} It may have been a bit wordy, I should know with some marketing background, that simple would have been better; but, it's all good. Still awesome & fun. Though it was FREEZING and the others were probably wondering why exactly we were there! They were good sports though & played along...thanks friends! We did get a few quick clips (especially liked when Millie lifted Lette up, her head just popped up :}) & watching the recording, knowing we were there, was great too! I am a faithful Today Show fan, starts my mornings...so, I was excited to see the crew in person!

Trying to warm up by sitting on the grate with the subway underneath, the banner our blanket. Millie thought she'd just try to take a quick nap! :}

Surviving the bitter cold morning!
We made it!Meeting "Lenny"...he's been there every day for 15 1/2 years!

Oh, look who showed up?! j/k...they were the smart ones. No sense all of us getting up real early & freezing just to get a spot! :}

Matt Lauer...he's such a handsome man! :}

The always silly, Al Roker, comes out to the plaza
Meredith Viera ...she's a lot of fun, I like her!

Matt talking to our new friends in line, from Iowa Anne Curry..just love her too!

Matt, Al & Meredith doing a piece on the Plaza...see, we were so close!Millie lifting Jules up to be on camera

Actually getting to talk with, and get my picture with, Meredith was awesome!!
Also seeing the one & only, Sir Elton John, through the window (too bad it was too cold for him to do one of their outside concerts) was very cool...I love Elton John, still one of my favorite concerts ever!! So other than one last bit of shopping, that finished off the trip. The plane ride home was about the longest ever...I attempted to catch up on some sleep (as well as you can do on a plane). It was good to land & be home again, I missed my family a lot!! Now we can quit talking about going & just enjoy all the incredible memories that were made! Goodbye NYC...for now!

Having some fun in the big city...

Besides all the site seeing & planned events, we also just enjoyed being in the city that never sleeps! And some of us did our best to take advantage of that! There's something to be said about grabbing an espresso & pastry @ 3 AM! :} Our little hang out across the street was a place called 'The Social'. Gave you that 'Cheers' kind of feel....nice meeting place, or inbetween spot.

Probably the funnest of these places had to have been the Piano Bar, 'Sweet Carolines'. With having a name like that, and having some huge Niel Diamond fans with us, we just had to! Anywhere that get you to sing & dance for hours on end has to be a good place. They covered all the classic sing-alongs, even did a little Bon Jovi & Abba for us! :}

The sax player for Billy Joel

Some of us just had to dance the night away one night, we did this at a place nearby, The Mean Fiddler...fun times! Especially when they did a little clip of the Old Rock Classics from ACDC, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi (again :}) . Though that's when I realized we really were the old ones. Some younger people there weren't quite sure how to dance to that! :}

Our night of walking around Times Square, stopping at Planet Hollywood for a little snack

Getting lunch at Carnegie Deli...oh, now there's a sandwich! And the cheesecake?...Yummm!!

One thing about this trip, between dancing & walking, you definately can get your exercise in NYC without ever hitting a gym! And you need it after all the good food!!!

The Sites of NYC

Where do I even start with this one? As I mentioned, we really tried to see as much as we could, though there's still a lot to see. We took the tour bus around the city to get a brief of Manhatten. You can't help but be in awe of all around you! So many historical places to see!! I would have to say there were two spots that really are breathtaking. The first would be seeing the Statue of Liberty, and getting to go up on the pedalstool (you used to be able to go all the way up inside; but, it's now closed up since 9/11). The pedalstool itself is still real high up, gives you a great view of the city & you can look up inside. It was amazing! It makes you all the more proud to be from America! The cast of her foot...makes you realize how huge this really is!

We also went over to Ellis Island & walked through the American History Immigration History Center. There included the Wall of Honor naming over 25 million immigrants that came through the NY Harbor from 1892 and 1924. It really put things in perspective how this country has formed. I had to catch a few names for the family heritage...thought this was pretty cool!Of course, the other breathtaking spot, would be seeing Ground Zero. I can't even tell you what it feels like to walk up to that location & know all that's happened there. They have just started the reconstruction, 7 years later. One tower is all ready rebuilt, Tower 7. There will be a nice memorial there & think they've come up with a good plan to still make this location a place of rememberance. It was strange walking down through that area, recognizing places I'd seen over & over during all the clips of that day. Some places still being repaired even. Again, gave you real sense of pride for our country & how we came together after that. Though very sad to see too.
Tower 7-the 1st one to be rebuilt (pretty cool picture I think!)

The Tiles For America (tiles made by a bunch of school kids after 9/11)

I also admired seeing many firehouses around the city & how they've all done their part to put a rememberance of that fatal day. Of course it was also cool to see The Empire State Building, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Maceys, and more. And visiting the different areas like Litty Italy, shopping in SOHO, Wall Street, Upper Manhatten, etc. I loved seeing so many neat buildings, churches, museums, sculptures, big ads & lights, etc...it was everywhere!! I wish we had more time to go in more of these places...next time!!