Theresa and I had a conversation in November that basically went like this:
'What are we doing for New Year's Eve?'
'I dunno... want to get a babysitter?'
'Sure... I'll see if she's free.'
' Wait, I have a better idea... why don't we drive 650 kilometres to Ohio, drop Aaron and the puppy off, and then drive another thousand kilometres to New York City and spend New Year's Eve in Times Square?'
'Ok.'
I'll be honest, I do not remember who initiated any of this, except that the New York idea was probably mine. Well don't look now, but based on that conversation (and probably one more that sounded like 'Are you sure? Yeah!') we found ourselves driving to Ohio to drop off the boy and puppy and then heading to New York City! :)
We had a blast, and that is an understatement. The gods were smiling on us because the weather for the entire drive (there AND back) was nearly perfect. Theresa found a good hotel for us in Times Square, and for the first time since we met we spent three whole days together alone.
Getting to Times Square on December 31st, however, is not the simplest thing to do... and of course we knew this and planned to leave our car in New Jersey and take the train in. What we did not expect was to be diverted from the train station and have to walk 20 blocks out of our way. Nevertheless we did just that, and the only hiccoughs of the week were behind us.
It should be noted that the New York Police Department get full marks for crowd control. They 
really have it down to a science. Every business within two blocks north and south of Broadway was closed, as were the streets. Because we were staying in the area we were able to come and go... mostly. Seeing the throngs of people crammed into each section like sardines was amazing, but it was just as well that we were on the 
outside looking in. At around 10:30 we went up to our room, from where we watched the ball drop from our hotel room, forty-two floors above the action!
On January 1 we stood in line at TKTS for theatre tickets behind a rather gullible but fun group of college kids from California. We had a blast, and even though we were all the way at the back we still all got tickets to Les Miserables, marking the seventh time I have seen it, the second time on Broadway this year. I was glad for it because when I saw it in May it was lousy, and I really enjoyed this cast. We also bought movie tickets (there are no matinees on Tuesdays) and saw The Water Horse, which was also quite enjoyable. Lunch was at Bubba Gump's and dinner was at Planet Hollywood, and I thought I was in franchise hell, though all the meals were good.
On Wednesday we saw two plays - Curtains with David Hyde-Pierce and Debra Monk was 
spectacular, and it was a thrill to meet Mr. Pierce again (I met him after his performance in Spamalot two years ago). He was very nice, and aside from autographing our Playbill he also posed for a picture. In the evening Theresa wanted to see a non-musical and we decided on Mark Twain's Is He Dead? after dinner at BB King's Lucille Grill. The play was outstanding, and a good time was had by all.
One thing that I cannot understand about the theatre: When did it become acceptable to talk in the middle of a performance? At Les Miz there was a group of French tourists behind us who talked through the first act; at intermission I pointed out to them that it was disturbing us, and they were quiet throughout Act 2. At Curtains there were four people behind us who thought their whispers wouldn't disturb anyone, but ignored my repeated requests to be quiet. They then had the nerve when I stood for a standing ovation to poke me and tell me to sit down. These were topped by the couple behind us at Is He Dead who when asked to be quiet insisted that as long as they were not talking on stage they were not disturbing anyone. Sheesh. I asked an usher at intermission if it was improper theatre etiquette to turn around and pour a bottle of water on people speaking during a performance; she did not say a word, but she smiled.
Leaving New York by train was an issue because the Path trains were down for an hour, but we did get back to Ohio in one piece. Theresa and I both had a wonderful time and although I do not think we will repeat it next year we will certainly have these memories forever!