Traveling with E&A is awesome. Not only do they do all the planning work, but we get to hang out with members of the other cities. I had such a great time! For many of us it was our first time in New York City. I got to experience the city with friends not only from Dallas but also Minneapolis, San Jose and Vancouver. I met a bunch of new friends from other cities too. I love that E&A scheduled the best stuff for us. Carnegie Deli, Radio City and the Rockettes, Hop on & off bus tour, boat tour around Manhattan Island with a fabulous narrator that knew, well, everything about the city’s history. The holiday lights are awe-inspiring. We had time to do our own thing, too. We got discount tickets for Broadway shows. Spiderman Rocked! Visited the Empire State & Rockefeller buildings-WOW. Sat in the audience of my first TV show. Really cool. We ate all kinds of delicious food (think I’ll be paying for that for a while). How can you stop when it’s EVERYWHERE? Thank you so much for a great trip! I’ll remember it forever!>

Flying in from all over the country… we’re finally here in the Big Apple!! Imagine meeting someone for the first time… in New York… for your first time in the city! If the distraction of the traffic isn’t enough, what about the buildings and architecture, the buzz of Times Square, the roar of the night clubs, or even the scents from the food trucks lining the street? For most of us, it was our first time here… as we walked to our dinner location this evening, I loved hearing the “OMG’s” and “Look at that!” from the group behind me, as I led them down 5th Avenue, then over to 7th, through Times Square… the light was enough to want us to put our shades on, but standing in the middle of the glowing lights, I saw the awe in their faces… as people surrounded us, walking about, not caring that it was our first time here… we took pictures, we looked at our maps… we were tourists tonight, and we were ok with that! As we walked, we thought about our feet and possibly questioned the shoes we wore today, but when we finally hit the famous Carnegie Deli, got seated at our own table and got right to ordering, we knew the walk was worth it! As we look at the menu, we see other plates going out to other tables… “Woah” and “Is that the size??” is what came out of their mouths… but as we got our own plates set in front of us, we couldn’t help but take some photos! And don’t forget the New York Cheesecake for dessert… I have never tasted anything like it… as we talked about what we wanted to see and to plan our next day of adventures, I couldn’t help but think about how great an opportunity this was to meet some fellow E&A friends from our clubs around the country, let alone, check off a New York City visit on our bucket lists! And on only day 1, all I have to say is… “Oh New York… we have only just begun!”