We ended up coming to Dothan. Not that there's work here; this is literally the only place with a campground that had openings. Poor Daniel had the hardest time finding lodging right after the storm. And speaking of hell, Dothan has not been my favorite place we've been. I never thought I would rather be in Paducah than where we are now.
The only good thing about Dothan is that it's (relatively) close to the beach. Too bad it's winter...
We've been to the beach twice. The first time was glorious. It was warm and sunny, and we had the best time. I wish I had gotten a picture of what happened while Colt was buried in the sand. A dog ran up and started licking his face. We couldn't stop laughing. The second time it was windy and cold. The kids were having fun, but I was miserable.
We went home for Thanksgiving, then it was time to get ready for Christmas. We made cinnamon Christmas ornaments. They were so cute. We bought a small tree at Hobby Lobby, and it was the perfect size for the camper.
We went to IHOP one morning so the kids could eat Grinch pancakes. We also saw the new Grinch movie at the theatre. It's my favorite of the Grinch movies.
We saw Santa at the mall in Dothan.
Then we went home and celebrated Christmas in TN. It was a fun day.
Daniel surprised me with a trip to NYC for the week of New Years. It was magical. I would give anything to live there. That's the only cold place I would ever be excited to live.
He also surprised me with tickets to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. I was excited, but not really sure if I would truly like it. We got there and our seats were literally on the second row. I thought they would be terrible seats. Boy, was I wrong!! They were perfect! The show was indeed spectacular, and we could see everything perfectly. It was such an amazing show. I would definitely recommend it!
We stayed in a hotel on the Upper West Side about 3 blocks from Central Park. I think it's my favorite place I've ever stayed. I ran in Central Park a few times. And of course I fell in love with the city all over again. This is the Jackie Onassis Reservoir. What an awesome view.
On my last visit to NYC I overheard someone say that the Staten Island Ferry is free, and it goes right by the Statue of Liberty. It was so cool! A great way to see the skyline and Lady Liberty.
We got tickets to Top of the Rock one day. You can pay a little extra and get to go twice in 24 hours. So we went around lunch one day...
And then back again that night. So very pretty.
We went to the 9/11 Museum one day. I'm not going to lie. I was annoyed and really didn't want to be there...I really hate museums. However, it was very interesting, but incredibly sad. We were actually where one of the towers stood. This staircase is the only thing that survived the crash. Just seeing the timeline and all the people who died broke my heart.
I've always wanted to go to Coney Island, so one morning we hopped on the subway. An hour later (yikes) we were there. I knew it's a popular summer spot with an amusement park and the beach, but I had no idea how dead it would be in January! And it was about 80 degrees colder there, too! We did get to eat lunch at Nathan's. There was no line at all, and I can't even imagine how long the lines are in the summer! I don't eat hotdogs, but they make a mean hamburger and the biggest fries I've ever seen!
The ball from New Years in Times Square. We stayed in for New Year's Eve. It was nasty weather up there. I went to a real New York City grocery store for some items to make Dreamsicle Mimosas (yum). Going from shopping at Walmart to this tiny grocery store was a huge culture shock!
There were these screens all over the city with different quotes and things. I saw this one and loved it, and it took me a long time to be able to get a picture of it. Daniel likes to go places and buy tickets for things when we go, but I like just to walk around....everywhere. Most of the times we took the subway, I just would have walked. I just love walking and seeing the city. Three different times we were somewhere downtown and it was time to go back to the hotel. Daniel took the subway, but I always walked. The farthest I walked back to the hotel was 7 miles. And I loved every step. I like looking at my map and seeing all the neighborhoods I'm walking through. The only neighborhood where I felt uneasy and really didn't like was Hell's Kitchen. And I ran through Harlem!
We had to come back to the real world, back to Dothan (blah). It's been hard for me to get back into our routine (of doing nothing). Looking forward to what this new year brings. I saw something the other day that said, "It literally feels like January 74th." Amen to that. Daniel will be turning 40 soon, so that will be fun. My mom, Avery, and I have a fun trip planned in March. And I'm training for a half in April. So a few things to look forward to. The only thing I want right now is some warm weather. Even down here in Dothan it's way too cold. So either give me cold in NYC or send me to Miami!
