New York City – Book Expo America – May 29-31, 2009

Okay, so this San Antonio native traveled to the big city of New York for the BookExpo America! While this was my first visit to the Big Apple, San Antonio, Texas is still my home! Now I’ve traveled to Europe and Rome, Italy was, up until now, the largest city I’ve ever visited. Simply put, there is way too much to see in New York City that five days cannot allow for a thorough tour. My daughter and I did manage to cram as much sightseeing in as possible.

Day 1 - Thursday: We spent an extra two hours at the Houston airport waiting for approval for our flight to leave for New York City. The entire NYC area was socked-in with rain and low cloud coverage. After arriving at our hotel, we took a walk-about in Times Square. Very interesting and VERY crowded!

Day 2 - Friday: The first day of the BEA was Friday, May 29, 2009, and was said to be the least crowded day (HA!), we took a taxi and spent most of the day visiting the tables and booths of the publishers, book buyers, sellers, marketers that were showing off their wares. In addition, there were numerous authors signing and promoting their books. For the first time, I was able to meet the people representing the AEG Publishing Group. Eloquent Books, my publisher, is a subsidiary of the AEG Publishing Group. I can’t express how nice it was to finally put a face to the people I’ve worked with via the internet. By the way, we picked up a dozen or so goodie bags, ballpoint pens, book marks, key rings, brochures, and advance copy books. By the time we ran out of energy, we were each carrying about twenty pounds of books! (My shoulder is still sore!) Our day ended with the Broadway musical, The Lion King. We’ve seen several plays and musicals, and this is one that should be seen again!

Day 3 - Saturday: While I was sore from all of the walking and carrying heavy loads, we took a three-hour harbor tour on the Circle-Line Sightseeing Cruise Boat at 42^nd Street. The weather was glorious and the best part was that we were able sit for most of the tour! As we waited to board the boat, I kept hearing the theme song from Gilligan’s Island in the back of my brain. Another great aspect of the cruise was that we were able to take great photos of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and about twenty bridges including the Brooklyn Bridge. After the cruise, we walked to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to visit the BEA one more time. After lunch, we took a three-hour bus tour of Manhattan Island followed by a nighttime three-hour bus tour of Manhattan Island.

Day 4 - Sunday: The day began with Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. What a beautiful Cathedral! Saint Patrick’s is more beautiful than some of the glorious basilicas in Europe. We walked, and walked, and walked before taking a carriage tour of Central Park. Then we walked some more! Although it was exhausting, it was well worth the effort!