K&E in NYC: Plagiarism??? The Outrage!!!

New York City is a 'wicked cool' place to visit (as we say in the northeast), so off Jeannie and Paul went for a big city adventure, oh yeah, and to celebrate their 15th anniversary! Of course, it was an immense help for them to have us here to act as their tour guides and generally to keep them out of trouble. This worked for the most part, with a few minor exceptions when left to their own devices. . .especially when it came to subway navigation. They only ended up in Queens once and Harlem once. . .OK, twice - but miraculously they always found their way back! Finding their hotel was relatively easy, as it was across the street from the Empire State Building!

First, let me just say that the food choices in NY are overwhelming, unlike the culinary wasteland they have there in the mountains of Eastern Tennessee. Coal-fired pizza, 'street meat', Chinatown Chinese, Koreatown Korean, Little Italy Italian, gourmet everything. . .restaurants dedicated to one specialty, i.e., Rice to Riches (nothing but rice pudding!), Empanada Mama (yup, all empanadas), and cupcake stores galore! It was pure heaven for them. They ate their way from the financial district all the way to the Upper East Side - more than once. Burp. Their top honors go to mine and Katy's steakhouse on 71st Street with our melt-in-your mouth filets followed by Brooklyn Blackout fudge cake. . .fantastic!

There is simply too much to do in New York - and they did a lot! They can not possibly begin to tell you all of the ground that they covered, so here are a few of their favorites from this trip:

* Museum of Natural History - incredible exhibits, huge, overwhelming. . .they could have spent weeks here but had to settle for a few hours of appreciation. Then their brains were full. Paul finally found the elusive moose he had spent the summer searching for in Colorado.

* Central Park - picnics with a few hundred thousand close friends, NFL kickoff concert with Keith Urban, Duke softball tournament, and K&E frisbee freestyle olympics!

* NY Public Library - this should be one of the seven wonders of the world! Jeannie's favorite place in all of New York, hands down.

* Brooklyn Bridge - the South Street Seaport on one side, Bodies exhibit (gross), a brisk walk across the bridge, and Grimaldi's Pizza on the other side. How can life get any better?

* Staten Island Ferry - mesmerizing views which encompass the Manhattan skyline, Brooklyn, Ellis Island, and the powerful Statue of Liberty. Pictures don't do it justice.

* Hudson Boat Basin & Riverside Park - a uniquely designed area where they spent many hours walkin, and walking, and walking. . .they sure were thirsty when they got to the restaurant!

* Financial District, Wall Street, NY Stock Exchange - who knew that this would become the center of world news for the past couple of weeks?! "We were there!" is what they say every day when the news begins.

* Washington Square Park & Greenwich Village - or, if you live here, like we do, it is just 'the Village'. Very eclectic, cool, unique, trendy. . .just like Jeannie and Paul! (stop laughing)

* Chinatown & Little Italy - unique, fun neighborhoods to wander the streets. And eat. And eat some more. Burp. And wander the streets. And eat.

* Times Square & ABC Studios - Good Morning America - this was probably worth Jeannie dragging herself out of bed before dawn to stand in line to get int he studio audience to watch the early morning news to get a photo op with famous people. . .probably.

* World Trade Center / Ground Zero - Jeannie and Paul visited this exact location three months after 9/11. Although the construction has begun and the area is undergoing development and rebirth, the feelings of sadness, loss and heartache are as strong now as they were 7 years ago.

* My office building!! Somewhere waaaay up there is where I work. They don't know what I do. They don't have a clue. I have patiently explained it to them a dozen different ways. . .they still don't know what I do. But I met them for lunch several times, introduced them to 'street meat', Bryant Park, Margon (Cuban lunch counter), and Junior's! They think that is my job - finding great places for lunch. And something to do with investors.