Back in November, I was asked to come and
teach some vocal workshops for a couple of churches in Richmond, VA, East End Church and Bon Air. So I packed up Charlie's and my suitcase and flew to Washington DC. I taught
singing lessons in DC for a day and then headed down south to Richmond, taught my workshops, and then headed back to DC. The next morning, Paul, Charlie and I took the Tripper Bus, an inexpensive and awesome way to get from DC to NYC, and 4 hours later found ourselves in the heart of Times Square.
It was a cold day in NYC and Charlie wasn't all too happy to be traipsing around the city in only his little green coat. If he could of had it his way he would have been wrapped in a down blanket and carried everywhere. After lugging our suitcases around for what seemed like a zillion blocks, we found our hotel,
Yotel. Have you heard of it? It is some new hotel in NY that specializes in affordable luxury. I thought it was perfect. We paid $150 for the night and were on the corner of 42nd Street and 10th Ave and could see the Hudson from our window. Plus the staff was fantastic, especially Michelle, about allowing a service dog to stay at the hotel, they were just in love with Charlie. It is always so nice to go to a hotel that knows the ADA laws and I don't have to spend 10 minutes arguing with them about why Charlie can stay there.
Our room was tiny, but what NYC hotel room isn't when you are trying to stay on the cheap. It was extremely clean. The bed was pretty snazzy as it rolled up during the day like a couch and down at night all by the touch of a button. Here is what our room looked like.
The hotel also offered complimentary kitchens on each floor with an awesome and FREE fancy schmancy coffee/hot chocolate machine whipping up a variety of splendid drinks.
While in NY we went and saw Mary Poppins the musical, which was fun but I wish we had gone to see something a little more exciting like Rock of Ages. But I think the highlight of our trip was 2 things.
1. we ran into some old friends from our old neighborhood in Utah. I mean we litterally ran into them. Had no idea they were in NYC and bumped into them in Times Square. How funny. Out of millions of people jammed into that small area, who would have thought we would see someone we know.
2. We went sailing. We took the
Schooner Adirondack and went for a sunset sail. We sailed past Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and saw the Brooklyn Bridge. It was such a fun way to see the Statue of Liberty. The captain passed out wool blankets and served wine, beer, soda, and Champagne, and you could bring snacks, if you'd wanted to. Charlie was freezing and wrapped up nice and warm in his blanket, but Paul and I had a magical time. On the way back to the dock the sun had set and all the lights in NYC were twinkling and it was so magical. I highly recommend it. I think we paid like $60 a person for a 2 hour sail.
I have been to Disneyland twice with Charlie the amazing seizure-alert service dog. Both times have been brilliant experiences. Disneyland
has phenomenal customer service and employee training and I am thrilled to report that every interaction with a Disney employee was amazing. I was never discriminated against
because I had a service dog. I actually saw about 5 or 6 other service
dogs in the park during the 4 days we were there.
