Morgan, Rebekah and I flew up to NYC on Friday, checked into our hotel which was conveniently located two blocks from Times Square smack dab in the middle of the Theatre District and proceeded to dominate the city- or something like that. We had lunch and shopped on 5th Avenue and waited for G to catch up with us. We spent Friday night exploring knock-offs in Chinatown, eating pasta in Little Italy, and playing with toys in the Times Square Toys R' Us. We also had ridiculously excellent cannoli:
Saturday morning we woke up, grabbed breakfast at a cafe around the corner and set out for Lower Manhatten. We explored NYU for a bit (after getting a little mixed up on the subway) and headed back to the hotel around lunch time. Greg and I packed up for the evening (I fit everything I needed- makeup, brush, FORMAL DRESS, and accessories in a messenger bag and was very impressed with myself!) and headed by taxi to Grand Central. We missed our train and spent an hour killing time at the UN (which made me SO happy because I had been wanting to see it!!) eating authentic NY pizza and exploring outside the embassies.
After a BEAUTIFUL 70 minute train ride we arrived in Garrison, NY which is a small town about 20 minutes from West Point. We spent the afternoon visiting with his friends, touring the campus with his cycling coach- Colonial Bastianelli- and me taking a ridiculous amount of pictures of the architecture and views of the river:
After being blown away (literally) by the gusty bitter winds, we retreated inside to his barracks where I got to meet his two roommates and hangout with another girl who is friends with them. I was completely intrigued by their life in a military school. I have a tremendous amount of respect for my friends who make the commitment to such a disciplined yet difficult lifestyle. But seriously, they were all so cool that it made me feel lame for going to a state school (not really, I take it back! Roll Tide!)
After finally kicking all the boys out of the room 10 minutes before we had to be at dinner, I was able to get dressed and do minimal makeup then we headed out.
Dinner was served in Washington Hall which is pretty much what I would picture Hogwarts is like but without ridiculous starry sky yet BIGGER and BETTER. We toasted to the President, to the country, and to West Point. At the end we also toasted to those who were serving overseas and those who have died in service. I loved how tradition driven everything was there. The class president spoke briefly about the achievement of their time at WP so far and then a 4-star General addressed the class. I was, literally, hanging on the edge of my seat. Dinner was delicious and conversation was excellent. We shared a table with 3 of Greg's classmates, their dates and a Major and his wife. After the banquet, Greg and I toured around Washington Hall a bit and mingled with his classmates at a reception in another building. It was INCREDIBLY COLD and my toes were a bit frost-bitten after we walked back from the other building. We both changed and headed back to the City via the train (my new favorite form of transportation) and crashed at the hotel after waking up Rebekah and Morgan in the wee hours of the morning.
Sunday we all got up and packed our bags before grabbing breakfast and heading to the airport. We left Greg and headed back down south to the warm 45 degree weather- it's a breeze after you deal with 12 degrees and wind whipping through the sky-scrapers in the city.
So pretty much, this was one of the best weekends I've ever had. I fell in love with WP. The entire time I was there, I felt like I was in a dream. The history and tradition of the place is astounding and it was so special to get to share this event with a dear friend and a great way to finish up my time in the states.
Doesn't he look so dashing?
Also, I would like to extend a formal apology to my twitter followers for my excessive tweeting this weekend. I was excited and felt like sharing a lot.
Till later,
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