Since Patty didn't want my son, Josh, to have to be driving us to the airport in the wee hours of Monday morning, it was decided that we'd spend Sunday night in a hotel. Around 6pm, Josh dropped us off at the Portlander Inn, which is part of the Jubitz Truck Stop in Portland, Oregon.
The plan was to settle in, try to relax and get some rest for our trip the next day. That was the plan, what happened, not so much.
We'd gotten special t-shirts made by Phil and Lyssa Davidson, of Davidson Specialty Printing, to wear when we met Taylor Swift; as well as one for Taylor. I'd given Patty hers the previous Friday, so she had time to wash it first. However, at the hotel Sunday, I'm looking at the two shirts that were the same size as Patty's and both said "I Met Taylor Swift...". That wasn't right, one of them was supposed to say, "I M Taylor Swift...", which was the shirt for Taylor.
Come to find out, I'd given Patty the wrong shirt, and neither of us had noticed! ACK! Thank goodness we were staying at Jubitz; since it's like a little city all it's own. We ended up taking two shirts, and Patty's jacket to the laundromat on site. While the things were washing, we went for dinner at the Cascade Grill. Part way through dinner, time to put the stuff in the dryer. Dinner done and time to retrieve the laundry; crisis solved!
During our ventures between our room, the laundromat and the restaurant, we'd been talking with the guy working the front desk of the hotel. DeJuan Sanders is one of the nicest hotel staff members you'll ever meet! Funny, and friendly, and interested in everything going on during his shift.
As far as the "getting a good night's sleep" goes; let's just say that was the intention. Excitement however can cause good intentions to go out the window! Needless to say, 3am came very early! We did it though! Got ready, got everything together, and hopped on the shuttle to the airport. Got to the airport, through security, and to the gate we needed; no problems...so far.
Time to get on the plane; made it. Time to take off; problem! Seems there was something wrong with the fuel pump filling the plane with fuel, so we couldn't leave until it was fixed, and the plane was fueled up. That set us about 30 to 45 minutes behind schedule getting to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, which presented problem number two. It was almost guaranteed we'd miss our connecting flight to New York. Long story short, we did miss it; however we didn't know it until after the woman at the gate in Texas told us we "might" still be able to make the flight. She sent us to the original gate we were supposed to have gone to. Nope, not a chance; the woman at that gate was very apologetic, and said the other woman should have known the plane was already gone. She felt bad for what had happened, especially since Patty is still walking with a cane a lot of the time; (due to fracturing her ankle in February). The woman headed us in the right direction, explaining we had to ride the Skylink to get to the gate we needed. Talk about a HUGE airport! You know it's big when you have to ride a little train to get to your gate, and it's in the SAME terminal! WOW! We made it to our gate and on to the plane though, so another crisis avoided.
During this time, I had called Christine Drexel, from Big Machine Records, to let her know our flight was late. Then it was just a matter of another plane ride, before we got to New York. Thankfully the flight was uneventful.
Landed in New York, went to baggage claim, per earlier instructions, to find our ride to the hotel. Lots of people holding signs; none that say "Big Machine". Another call to Christine. In the meantime, one of the other girls helping Christine, called, asked where we were, and said she'd come get us. None of us had ever been to New York before, so that in itself was an adventure! Another phone call, and letting each other know what the other was wearing and we did finally find each other and make it to the van!
On the ride to the hotel, everyone introduced themselves and where they were from. Also found out that there were approximately one hundred contest winners that were coming into New York, and they all had to be picked up and taken to the hotel. Christine and her team had been in New York since Saturday, getting everything set up and ready.
One of the funniest moments of that ride was when Lauren, (one of the Big Machine interns), was talking with someone named John from Grand Avenue Transportation, (the company hired to pick up people for Big Machine). The driver of our van asked her if the person she was talking to was John, something, (I don't remember), and Lauren said yes. The driver then said, "tell him Bill pay says hi". Lauren asked if he said "Tate"; no, "Pate"; no. Turns out, this guy is a true New Yorker, with a thick accent! While we all were trying to figure out this guy's last name, all he'd really been saying was "Bill P."! It made everyone laugh, and the guy said he felt like he was driving the Clampetts around!
Made it to the hotel finally, beautiful place; the Millenium on Broadway. Get inside, set our stuff down, and go check in with Christine and another woman, Mandy, to get our instructions and wristbands for Tuesday.
That done, we get checked in to our room, and head for the 23rd floor. Whether it was my warped sense of humor, lack of sleep, or both, upon entering the hotel room, I couldn't help but laugh. Here we are on the 23rd floor of this deluxe hotel in the middle of Times Square; what's the first thing you see when you open the hotel room door? The bathroom! Seriously! You almost walk right into it, unless you take an immediate right into the room instead! Too funny!
Found food, wandered around a bit, then headed back to the room for some sleep, since we had to be ready and in the lobby of the hotel at 5:15 the next morning. Alas, still no solid sleep in sight; dang all the excitement anyway!
Once again, up early, get ready, and head to the lobby. 5:30am, head the half block over to the Good Morning America studios. Stand in line with everyone else. Cross the street, go through security, go back across the street, wait. Final okay, cross the street again, go through the entrance that's set up by the outdoor stage. Stand in the massive crowd of people, all waiting for Taylor Swift. Probably walked a good two blocks just crossing and recrossing the street! Worth it though!
Once again though, Patty and I hadn't eaten, or drank anything before heading out. Too early, and also, no way to use the restroom if needed; too compacted standing in the crowd!
Those of us with black "Taylor Swift" wristbands were told to stay where we were, while the rest of the crowd was cleared out. We were then taken inside the Good Morning America studio where we were to meet Taylor. Those in charge explained that Taylor was on vocal rest, except for performances and interviews; therefore she wasn't able to talk with anyone that day. The person said Taylor really wanted to talk with everyone, but wasn't supposed to, so if she did try to talk, we were supposed to tell her to stop!
There were no autographs that day, however Taylor had previously signed photos for everyone in Nashville. Unfortunately the photos were left in Nashville, so everyone will be getting them mailed to their home instead. Again though, little sleep, no food or drink, and five hours of standing outside...Definitely worth it!
Once the meet and greet was through, everyone was on their own for what they wanted to do until it was time to head home the next day.
For Patty and myself, we hit the nearest Starbucks first. It also happened to be the Starbucks next to where the Good Morning America side door is. We're in this tiny Starbucks, crowded with people on break, those of us just leaving the set, and a lot of teenage girls. The teenage girls are all in one corner of the store, waiting to get a glimpse of Taylor as she's leaving. It wasn't hard to tell when that moment came, since they all started screaming hysterically!
It seems that some of us who had never been to New York before October, 2012, could be easily confused about Subways. I mean, I'm a Pacific Northwestener, born and raised; you say "subway", I think "sandwich".
Patty and I did experience both types of subway though. After eating at Subway, we went to the New York City Visitor's Center, to find out how to get to Staten Island. While there, we also wrote on scraps of tissue paper, and added them to the rest that others had written on. All these scraps will become part of the 10,000 pounds of confetti that will float down on Times Square when it hits 2013. It'll be cool to watch the ball drop, and know that somewhere my little scrap is out there.
We'd both decided it was okay if we didn't actually go inside the Statue of Liberty; that if we got to see it, we'd be happy. And that's what we did. We took the ferry over to Staten Island, taking pictures of the statue along the way.
We then took some time wandering around the building at Staten Island, before getting on a ferry back to the subway. Another "must see and do" crossed off our list!
With having such a short amount of time in New York City, we decided what we had to see, and what we'd have to skip. The Statue of Liberty was at the top of that list.
When we got back to the Times Square area, we decided to explore a bit outside of it to see what we could see. Saw some interesting things, like the Fox News Building, CBS studios, and the thing that made me the most excited; Radio City Music Hall!
I know a lot of people probably don't think it's a big deal; I've always thought it was a cool place though; with a lot of history, including the world famous Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. So when we found it by accident, I was happy!
A bit more wandering, then it was back to Times Square.
I've always been a big kid at heart, so there was no way I was going to miss three specific places in Times Square; M&M World, Hershey's and Toys R Us! Yes, we made it to all three places, and had a lot of fun. Patty and I even rode the ferris wheel at Toys R Us; very cool to do!
We were getting tired, and hungry by that time, so we decided to get something to eat and take it back to our room. The whole time in New York, I kept remarking how sometimes Times Square smells just like a county fair. Every corner has different food vendors, primarily hot dog stands. We decided that was going to be our final thing to eat while in New York; great idea, and bad at the same time.
Great idea, because you get a lot of food for the price. Bad idea, because now that we've had authentic New York hot dogs, all others will never be as good! We still haven't figured out what made them so good, we just know they are!
With the majority of the excitement behind us, Patty and I finally got some good, solid sleep that night. Then it was up, get ready, pack, and be in the hotel lobby by 11:15am for our ride to the airport.
Sure enough, it is the Donald's, though it's his old one. According to what I read, Trump upgraded to a newer jet. This one is a 1968 model, and used to be run by American Airlines. That explains why it was sitting on the tarmac where American Airlines flies from!
Fairly uneventful flights back, both from New York and Dallas/Fort Worth. I did take a few pictures from the windows of the planes coming and going on our trip. The last picture I took however was unintentional, yet, pretty well sums up how Patty and I were feeling after our whirlwind adventure.
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