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After our visit to the Intrepid, we debated whether to have dinner first or to go ahead and take the Big Bus tour. We wanted it to be dark so we could enjoy the lights of the city, and it was still a bit early.

We walked toward the bus pickup area, which was right outside the M&M’s store in Times Square. We figured we would just grab dinner on the way and catch a later bus. When we got to the store and saw how long the line was, we decided to just get in line. It was a good thing we did, as it got really long, really fast.

The Big Bus is one of several companies that operates open-topped double decker busses that haul tourists around the city, while a tour guide shares details about various historic landmarks or notable events. During the day, you can hop on and off the bus at certain locations, but in the evening it’s a two-hour loop that starts and ends in Times Square.

We were excited to get good seats! And also to be sitting down.

I put the rest of the pics into a gallery, which hopefully makes viewing easier. Also, I didn’t remember all the names of the buildings, so if I wrongly identified something and you notice, please let me know and I’ll fix it. Also-also, pardon the blurriness and general lack of artistic quality to many of these. It was dark and we were in a moving bus, so it was not that easy to get decent pics. 🙂

First view from the bus, before we started going anywhere.

Possibly the most recognizable feature of Times Square. Did you know the ball stays up there year round? (See it?)

A little blurry, but this is the Chrysler building.

The Empire State Building was decked out for Easter

The Flatiron Building – Completed in 1902.

The blue-green spire is the Bank of America tower and the white building in front is the Museum of Natural History

Greenwich Village with the Empire State Building and the Met Life Tower lit up in the background

Zeckendorf Towers (Yes, I had to look that one up!)

The Ghost Ship hanging off the New Museum

This was in Brooklyn but I forget what it was.

A blurry attempt at capturing One World Trade Center from the Brooklyn Bridge

This was at the bar at the Hard Rock Cafe. I want lights like these in my house.

A very tall crane on our way back to the hotel.

Next up – the 9/11 Memorial

Yesterday morning I said goodbye to the pretty fall colors (and my pretty little Mazda) and embarked on a two-flight journey to Las Vegas, Nevada to help out with a trade show for work.

I think fall colors look brighter on rainy days.

My flight to Chicago was uneventful. Like, really uneventful. It was cloudy so there was nothing to look at out the window, and they didn’t even offer snacks with the beverage service.

When I landed in Chicago I had just enough time to run to the bathroom before I had to board the next flight, so I couldn’t grab any lunch. Luckily I had trail mix and a huge bottle of water, but I was still so hungry. I bought a snack box on the plane. It had about 5 chips and this difficult-to-open hummus.

At least on the second flight I was next to a petite woman and not a massive dude like I usually get stuck next to. She even got up to use the bathroom as we were flying over the Rockies, so I got some cool pictures.

When I got to Vegas, one of my coworkers was waiting for me at the gate, so that was nice. We shared a taxi to the hotel. I felt somewhat crappy at this point because I hadn’t had much to eat, and even though it was 4pm Las Vegas time, my tummy time was 7pm.

We checked in and then went to the trade show floor to see the state of our booth. I grabbed a slice of pizza on the way, but it was too late. I wolfed down the pizza as we were walking. We spent about a half hour rearranging the booth that our other colleagues had attempted to set up.

That evening, there was a welcome reception at the Chateau nightclub. I went back to my room to change and I was feeling so awful. I knew it was from not getting enough food and from being stuck on a plane most of the day. The pizza was just lurking in my stomach undigested.

I made an attempt to do the nightclub. I got dressed up, I went all the way there and met up with more of my team. The pulsing lights and the smells of the food and people’s perfumes and aftershave was definitely not helping my headache, and by now the nausea was making its presence known. Luckily I made it back to my room just in time to toss my cookies (or pizza, in this case). Ugh.

More times than not, flying makes me feel like death when I get to my final destination. It doesn’t even matter that I drink like 10 gallons of water on the way. This is why I don’t like to have any plans for the night of my arrival. I just need time to purge and sleep it off.

Anyway… Today I felt better, despite tossing and turning all night worrying that I was going to forget to do something before the show started.

After the trade show, I had a quick dinner with one of my coworkers, and then I headed over to the Bellagio because I heard that there was a conservatory and botanical garden. I was a bit disappointed because it wasn’t really a botanical garden but a fall harvest display.

I did enjoy taking a gander at the Chihuly sculpture that hangs on the ceiling of the reception area.

I also caught a couple of the Bellagio fountain shows. The first one I saw was set to the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. That was cool. The second was set to some opera piece and I was cracking up because all I could think of was Adam Sandler as Opera Man.