New York City - Times Square and Broadway

Once back on terra firma, we took the subway to Grand Central. Maybe it was because it was Sunday, but it wasn't NEARLY as crowded and bustling as I've always imagined it to be!

From there, we took off walking again, towards Times Square. THAT'S where all the people were. LOL! Oh MY! It was everything I'd imagined, except for the Naked Cowboy. (I would imagine it was a wee bit too cold for him. Ahem.) I made Darren take a photo of the sewer steam, 'cause it just screamed NYC to me. LOL! (I wasn't even embarrassed. Everyone and their mom's dog had a camera around their neck in Times Square!)

While at Joe and Laura's, Darren mentioned that the TKTS booth hadn't opened until 11. Laura said that she had coupons, and a quick phone call later, we had affordable seats for SPAMALOT! WOO HOO!!! Darren and I are both huge Monty Python and the Holy Grail fans, so we were STOKED!

The show was great! Bawdy, raunchy, and SO hilarious. We thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. We didn't realize until we arrived at the theater that Clay Aiken had made his Broadway debut that week, playing the role of Brave Sir Robin. He overacted and seemed like a high school drama club geek compared to the other actors, but it worked for his role. He was having a blast up there, which made it really fun to watch. Here's a snap of him signing autographs after the show:

Our kids have (I'm a little embarrassed to admit) been raised on the Holy Grail. Aidan and Ian first acted out the Black Knight scene ("It's only a flesh wound!") when they were 4 and 5. Dani's a big fan, too - of both Monty Python AND all things Broadway. So we ended up getting their souvenirs at the show. Dani got a CD of the official soundtrack, and a button/pin that says "I fart in your general direction." (she laughed her HEAD off). The boys got a playset that includes the catapult, the "Trojan Rabbit", and a bunch of farm animals to use in the catapult. They were ecstatic. Do we have the coolest kids, or WHAT?

On a friend's recommendation (Hi, Cris!), we had dinner at John's Pizzeria, which was serendipitously located just across the street from The Shubert Theater, where Spamalot was playing. DEEEElicious! And the most reasonably-priced meal we ate all weekend, too.