The next morning we were up early, had our breakfast and boarded the 9:30 train to New York City. The scenery along the Hudson River was beautiful. The fall colors were still so vibrant and the day clear. After less than two hours our train pulled into Penn Station. A cab ride later, we checked into our hotel, The Best Western in Chinatown. Because we had decided to do this trip at the last-minute we were limited as to where we could stay. The hotel itself was nice. It was clean and the staff behind the desk were very pleasant. I felt it was a little out-of-the-way but it was next to Little Italy so that meant I would get a good Italian dinner. After settling into our hotel we took the subway directly to The Frick Museum where we would see the famous painting on exhibit, The Girl With The Pearl Earring by Johanne Vermeer. We had purchased tickets before we left home to make sure we would not miss this exhibit. The painting was stunning. I had read the book by Tracey Chevalier several years ago and seen the movie with Colin Firth who played Vermeer and Scarlett Johansson who played Griet. It was a wow moment. After spending two hours in this wonderful museum, we headed to Neil’s Diner on Lexington Ave to grab a late lunch. Jackpot, we spotted our first famous face. Right across from us sat Sean Lennon, John and Yoko Lennon’s son. Maybe he isn’t a really famous face but his dad was and that was good enough for us. What can I say!! After leaving the deli we headed to Times Square where all the action really takes place. Now this is the crazy NY that I love. There was the Singing Cowboy who was just dressed in his underwear wearing a cowboy hat and boots playing his guitar. There were lots of Disney characters walking around and people just dressed crazy. The lights of Time Square, the people and the energy was contagious. We decided to skip dinner and treat ourselves to drinks and an appetizer at the Waldorf Astoria at The Peacock Alley Bar in the lobby of the hotel. It was a great first day in New York.