Taking a bite out of the big apple

We are New York City bound tomorrow morning.  I am so excited.  My little sister is visiting me by herself for the first time since she was a little girl.  Neither of us are little girls any more, but I am still her big sister.  She is soon to be an empty nester (both boys will be in college) and I've decided it is time for her to do things for herself.  
So, this is TRIP #1 - New York City.

I've been planning this for months.  The first issue was getting her on a plane---afraid of flying.  She just needs to get on that plane this afternoon and if we can overcome this obstacle, I've got bigger and better ideas for the coming years.  

But for now, it will be the Bolt Bus to Penn Station, an apartment in the East Village, and a Broadway play.  Of course, we must go to Little Italy, take the Staten Island Ferry, and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  She nixed the Empire State Building (fear of heights), but I've been there before so that's okay.  I've got reservations for a night time double decker bus around the city to see the lights, and we will definitely do Central Park.  We have tickets for the 9/11 memorial.  Most of the time, we are just walking the neighborhoods because she said she just wants to get the feel of the city.

It is interesting how as you become adults the age differences melt away.  When I was 23 and she visited me in graduate school, she was 9.  Such a cute little girl and so independent.  Now that she is almost 50 we are best friends and the age doesn't seem important at all.

I am the big sister, but she is my rock.  She is the one of us (six kids) that all of us turn to for so many things.  Our lives took such different directions but we've never grown apart.  Trip Number 1 is the beginning of a new tradition.

New York, New York, what a wonderful town...watch out because here we come.