Epic Road Trip — Part 2

We stayed in a sketchy hotel room in Wilmington that night and stayed up way too late drinking and telling stories. Our late night resulted in a late start the next morning.

We tried to stop somewhere to get decent clothes to wear to see "Phantom of the Opera" and we got a little turned around — set us back a couple of hours. Between the traffic and endless tolls we had to pay, driving up North is not something I would ever recommend. We found a parking lot in the city and started walking around the city. It was just like I remembered it — except Time Square was a mess with a bunch of construction. We grabbed some drinks, ate a ridiculous meal at Carmine's Italian restaurant. We were so full with chicken marsala and scaloppini afterward.

We took a quick walk around Grand Central Station before heading back to Majestic Theatre to see Phantom. We had nosebleed seats all the way at the top and made it to the top balcony just as the lights were going down. We had to literally walk on people to get to our seats. But it was worth it. Phantom was amazing — not sure if dad and Matt appreciated it as much as I did.

Knowing it was the only day we had in New York, we walked 10 blocks down to the Empire State Building determined to see the best view of the city at night. Considering it was almost 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night, we couldn't believe the line of people waiting to get to the top. I wouldn't want to be in that line on a Saturday! But it was worth it. The view was unbelievable. What a great day it had been.

After a long day of driving and walking around NYC, we were getting pretty exhausted. We spent the night in Newark, where we learned we could have taken a shuttle into the city from there instead of paying almost $50 to park! Anyway, we stopped to see Leilah again in Wilmington the next day and got to tour her school and dorm. The we drop back to Virginia. We found a hole in the wall town to stay at close to the entrance of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.

The next day dad let me drive down Skyline Drive while he enjoyed a six pack in the back seat! LOL! It was a beautiful peaceful ride but when we reached the end 100 miles later, we still had six hours to go back to Asheville.

We got home Thursday afternoon. It was a whirlwind vacation but I was glad to get back and still have a few days to recover at home. I was glad to do some traveling with my hubby and also spend some quality time with my dad. Can't remember the last vacation we took together. I'm proud of my little sister making it on her own in Wilmington. And I can't wait to plan our next excursion.