Imagine Dragons concert in Toronto!

My mom proposed this crazy idea to go see Imagine Dragons in concert in Toronto two days before my surgery since the Detroit date at Pine Knob sold out and lawn tickets were being resold for some crazy amount.  Scott had work so I decided yes, the boys and I would join my parents and go.  We left Monday morning around 10:30am to start the 4+ hour drive.  A stop for gas and a stop for lunch and the bathroom before the border and we were finally into Canada around 1pm.  We made it with just enough time to quickly check into the hotel room and freshen up before meeting Kristen and her girls for dinner at Jack Astor's just outside of downtown at 4:30pm.

It took us close to an hour to drive from the restaurant to the arena since there was crazy traffic.  My dad decided to park in a parking garage and it seemed like we got one of the spots.  By this time it was absolutely down pouring!  My dad had to run back to the car and get the two umbrellas my parents had.  We ran to the Rogers Centre and made it through security quickly.  Everyone was given a wristband that would light up when Imagine Dragons played.  We had to walk a bit around the arena to find our seats and one of the warm-ups, Macklemore, started performing.  We got some drinks and some popcorn and water for the kids and watched a few of the songs by Macklemore.  Then the kids wanted to go get concert t-shirts.  

A half hour after Macklemore finished, Imagine Dragons came on.  We had listened to what we thought was the set list for a couple of weeks and they were supposed to open with "It's Time".  Instead they opened with "My Life" (my favorite song and one they weren't supposed to play at all).  It was incredible!  The wristbands made it even more cool to watch them perform.  It was probably one of the best concerts I've been to!  The kids loved it and they played for close to two hours straight.

It took us close to an hour to get out of the parking garage and we didn't get back to our hotel until 12:30am.  We then got up at 8 to go to the hotel breakfast and pack our bag to head home.  The ride home was very smooth and we were home early afternoon after a stop for lunch.  I'm glad we went!  It was such an awesome show and I'm glad we did it at the arena instead of an outdoor venue.  

Evan's 10th Birthday Trip to NYC Part 2

Thursday morning we were up and moving early!  We grabbed breakfast at Pick a Bagel and Evan got to experience a true NYC bagel sandwich.  They were tasty!  Once again we figured out the subway and made our way down the red line all the way to Battery Park (the last stop).  We had 9am tickets for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  It was a little tricky figuring out where to go once we got off the subway, but then we were in line and on the ferry ready to go!  Evan loved the ferry ride and we made sure to be on the right side of the ferry to get the best views of the Statue of Liberty.

We arrived at the Statue of Liberty, walked around and took some pictures.  We had tickets to walk up the steps to the pedestal (the crown is still closed because of COVID), but we had to get a locker for my backpack and water bottles.  After that we checked out the museum and read the history of the Statue of Liberty and climbed our way up to the pedestal.  It was fun!  We then took the ferry over to Ellis Island where we walked through the museum and paid $10 to use a computer to research my grandma who immigrated to the United States when she was 3 from Germany.  We found her name and bought some commemorative things to send to my dad back at home.  Evan hit up the gift shop and we took the ferry back to Battery Park.

We took the subway over to Tribecca to go to the Ghostbusters' Firestation.  It was really cool!  We of course had to take some pictures.  Evan was hoping the garage would open so we could see the inside, but no such luck.  After that we took the subway again back to Times Square, went shopping at the MLB Flagship store, grabbed a slice of pizza and went back to the hotel to rest and change.

I made a last minute booking to do a horse carriage ride through Central Park early evening before our dinner reservation at Serendipity 3.  I had planned for us to walk through some of Central Park, but it was going to be a lot of walking from our hotel, through Central Park, and over to the restaurant.  I'm so glad we booked it!  We had so much fun!  Our horse's name was Dennis the Menace and we had a great driver who was born and raised in Greece.  He showed us famous spots where movies have been filmed, gave us two stops to get out and walk around, and took pictures of us.  We even got to feed Dennis carrots and Evan got to hold the reins.

We walked over to Serendipity 3 and had a delicious dinner!  Evan had chicken fingers and I had a giant salad with chicken.  We split the famous frrrrrozen hot chocolate and it so just as good as I imagined it would be!  Back to the hotel and I was ready for one more cosmo on the terrace while Evan rested and watched TV up in our room.

Friday was our last full day in NYC.  We got another relatively early start and decided to be unhealthy and get breakfast at Krispy Kreme.  Evan had never had one of their donuts, so we enjoyed a tasty treat to start our day.  We then took the subway over to the Harry Potter Flagship Store.  This place was awesome!  We shopped for a while, did a scavenger hunt on an app we had to download, and then it was time for our VR experience, Chaos at Hogwarts.  It was us and another couple.  We had devices on our hands, feet, and head.  We had to help Dobby with lots of tasks as there was "chaos at Hogwarts".  It was pretty cool!  Afterwards we had a butterbeer in glasses we got to bring home and made our purchase on some giant chocolate frogs, a mug for me, and a reusable shopping bag.

We took the subway over to the World Trade Center not realizing we would be in the "Oculus" building.  It was so weird!  It was kind of like a mall.  We made our way out and found a deli to have lunch.  Evan had chicken noodle soup that I had to pick every single carrot, piece of celery, and piece of onion out.  I had a chicken Caesar wrap and some chips.  We rested for a bit and I charged my phone.  Then it was time to head over for our 1pm reservation at the 9/11 Museum and Memorial.  This was an absolutely breathtaking museum.  There was a huge exhibit that had every single name of the people who were killed that day along with their picture.  

There was another huge exhibit that was very crowded, but had all of the artifacts and displayed them along with audio clips, video clips, photos, and more in order of the events of 9/11.  It was very moving.  Not long into the exhibit Evan had to go to the bathroom.  It was so hard to move through the exhibit so I gave him his phone and told him to wiggle his way through and out and then come back into the exhibit when he finished.  He was gone 10 minutes, I called him 4 times and he didn't answer and I started to panic.  I turned around and there he was.  He burst into tears saying he couldn't find me.  It was the first time that happened the whole trip.  He forgot his phone was on silent so he didn't hear my calls.  We went back through the exhibit together (skipping one part that showed the people who jumped off one of the towers - there were warning signs on some of the exhibit so you knew whether it was especially difficult to hear/see).  

We had tickets to the One World Observatory next door, but not until 6pm.  It was only 3pm.  So, I went to talk to someone at the front desk and they let us up 3 hours early, thankfully.  Evan was all about getting tickets to this, but once we were there he wasn't really into it.  Truthfully, I think the Empire State Building was better and more fun.  The One World Observatory is the 3rd tallest building in the world and has 360 degree views.  It was a nice clear day.  We stayed for a bit and then decided to go back to the hotel.  We grabbed dinner at Shake Shack and called it a night after I did some packing.

Saturday morning we went out to get bagels again at Pick a Bagel after sleeping in and man, there was quite the line!  We decided to walk around Rockefeller Center again going to FAO Schwarz and the Nintendo Store, along with 2 bakeries that were on my list of must-visit.  We had left our luggage with the bellhop at the hotel since we had to check-out, so it was easy to grab our bags and go back to relax in the lobby until we needed our Uber ride to the airport.  We had some pizza, again, for lunch and ate some of the treats from the bakery.  And just like that, our trip was over!  Our flight took off on time and we got home around 7pm.  So long, NYC!