NYC

After a successful 24 hour vacation to New Hampshire the previous weekend, we decided to give it a try in New York City this weekend. With $1 Megabus tickets each way, how could we say no? After a small delay, we departed Boston around 11:30PM en route for NYC. We arrived at 3:30AM to a cold, yet still somewhat active NYC. To start off our epic adventure we filled up on breakfast at nearby Tick-Tock Diner. Then it was off to Times Square, Battery Park, Wall Street, the World Trade Center site, and Soho...all before our second breakfast at 9:00AM. At 10:00AM we were patiently waiting in line for tickets to a Broadway show. After successfully securing tickets for The Fantasticks, we resumed our sightseeing at Central Park, FAO Schwarz, Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, and NBC studios. We next headed to Kati Roll for a delicious lunch. With full stomachs, we made our way to the warm, dimly-light Snapple Theater to watch The Fantasticks and fight off the urge to sleep. Not only was it our first Broadway performance, but it was also an entertaining show to watch. We were even able to get a snapshot in with the star actress after the performance. With a few hours remaining, we saw more of Times Square, did some shopping, visited the Macy's store, and ended the trip with a delicious Mexican feast. We boarded the bus at 10:30PM and arrived back to our beloved Boston apartment around 3:00AM. It was an exhausting, whirlwind tour of NYC, but we had a truly enjoyable time. As always, we took pictures.

Monadnock

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but within a few hours we were in a ZipCar headed to Monadnock State Park. The combined factors of October being peak season for viewing New England's fall colors and both of us having Columbus Day off made for a perfect opportunity for a camping trip to New Hampshire. The drive to the park on various scenic roads was beautiful with the red, yellow, and orange leaves. After a campfire and then a chilly (28 F) night's sleep, we headed up the trail to Mt. Monadnock's peak. It was a 2.2 mile hike, which gained 1,815 in elevation. We were basically climbing over boulders for the majority of the hike. We were rewarded with breathtaking views of New England from the mountain's "bald" peak. Our trip was made complete with a stop at a roadside farm stand to buy fresh Fuji apples and apple cider. Yum! Due to having only a 24-hour ZipCar reservation, our trip was limited in time; however, it was an enjoyable outing from the city. As always, we snapped some pictures along the way.

Another Movie

Our neighborhood has been quite the spot for filming this week.  Today we watched part of the filming of a new movie, The Town, only a couple of blocks from our apartment.  The movie is directed by and starring Ben Affleck.  Although we did not spot Ben himself, we saw some pretty fancy action scene moves: helicopters flying (one as part of the movie, and one for filming), Boston Police cars speeding around corners, 12 cars simultaneously squealing to a stop in traffic jam-like fashion, and FBI agents shooting at the culprit (is it Ben?).  Considering that the scene was so expensive to shoot, we are expecting that it will make the cut and get into the final production, which is released on September 10, 2010.  We look forward to seeing our neighborhood Hollywood-style!

Movie

There we were, innocently walking home to our apartment on a cool October evening. As we approached our neighborhood we noticed several bright lights beaming down on some nearby buildings. We made our final turn down the street to our apartment and to our surprise the quaint, tree-lined Boston street we reside on had been transformed into the bustling set of a Hollywood movie. Apparently the producers of the movie Zookeeper thought our street was the perfect set for a scene in their upcoming movie. We even had a chance encounter with stardom when actress Rosario Dawson walked right by us. Who would have known we would live on such a famous street. The movie is set to be released October 8, 2010, exactly a year from today.