Tuesday, April 15, 2008

East Coast Trip

Soon, I will be going on the first business trip I've been on in over 4 years. The itinerary is packed with working a conference booth and customer visits. I was completely overwhelmed when I saw I would be flying into Philadelphia, driving to New Jersey, staying in New York, and back to New Jersey for more meetings and then flying home, all over 3 days.

This California girl doesn't know much about East Coast living and got a little upset by the packed trip. My husband, who grew up in Pennsylvania, has assured me that my trip won't be as crazy as I think it'll be. That really, all of the places I'm going to visit is completely reasonable in a few day period.

After closer inspection of the itinerary, my co-worker and I will actually have the night we are staying in New York free of planned meetings and this has definitely lightened my outlook on this trip. I've only been to New York once, and that was the last business trip I was on. I had to work the entire trip, and my only sightseeing adventure included going out on my own at 11pm with my now husband on the phone telling me where to turn on my guided walking tour, assisted by Internet Maps. My hotel overlooked Ground Zero and I pretty much just walked around that area.

I just checked the website of the hotel we are staying at on our night in New York. It is located near the Southwest end of Central Park. I've never seen Central Park! I'm totally going to go for a walk in Central Park!

When I first found out about the trip, all I knew was that I'd be going to Philly, and I said I would be fine as long as I get a cheesesteak sandwich (which I better still get!). Now, I have a whole night in New York to experience. Even if all I get is another phone assisted walking tour, I'll take it.

Any suggestions?

Also, since this California girl is also an engineer in a tech company she also doesn't have any business attire to wear (got rid of all of that stuff ages ago), so she will be going shopping in the next few days as well. Look out closet! You will get to house more then t-shirts, jeans and tennis shoes soon. Hope its nice because I don't think I'll be able to find cold weather clothing in these parts at this time of year.

7 comments:

Tracy said...

You are staying in a fantastic area of NYC! Walking distance to Tiffany, FAO Schwartz and Barney's. I recommend going to see a show on Broadway that evening. There is so much quality theatre there! Call me if you want to talk about it more. I lived there for 3 yrs!

Beenzzz said...

Even though the trip is short, I'm glad you get to walk around NYC. You'll enjoy it. I wish I could take Zoey there right now. She's been begging to see "Wicked."

Angie said...

Cherry - this sounds really fun! When we lived in Connecticut, we used to head into New York at least 4 times a year.

A walk in Central Park is a must!

Have a great time.

Autumn's Mom said...

Yay you! I would have been overwhelmed too, being a country girl. But NY is so awesome! Central Park is HUGE. Have fun!! Can't wait to hear about it :)

Ted said...

Eric's right...Philly, NJ, and NYC in three days is doable. Plus, you'll be working for the most part, so you'll probably have your evenings free.

For cheesesteaks, I think this site got it right:

http://www.bestcheesesteaks.com/ordering.htm

Have fun!!!!

J said...

I would follow Tracy's advice, since she's lived there the longest. I hope you have a fabulous time, and Py is right, be careful how you order your cheesesteak. Don't try to ask for chicken at a 'real' steak place, because..."No STEAK FOR YOU!!!" :)

Karen MEG said...

Lucky you, Cherry, I used to go to Manhattan for work quite regularly, and we've even taken the kids there on vacation when G was 1. They loved it too; can't wait to go back.
You're in a great area of town; what I love about NYC is that you can walk and get to major sites/ attractions/ restaurants, shopping, in a very short time - the blocks are so short!
Do check out Central park, and if you can, as Starshine suggested, a show is a definite must!

Philly can be quite a nice city too; been there a few times for work - lots of history. But I passed on the philly steak after the first time. Maybe I had a bad one!

Have fun, and don't work too hard ;)