Jeff and I joined a few good friends of ours two weeks ago for a child-free 4-day vacation in New York City. I better get something down before it completely fades from my failing memory. It was one of those vacations where we were out of our hotel room by 9:00 in the morning and back no earlier than 11:00 at night. It's amazing how much you can take in when you don't have 2 toddlers in tow.
We got into the Big Apple around midnight Thursday and met up with our friends. Our hotel was just a couple blocks off of Times Square, so we grabbed a midnight snack at a New York deli and then took in the barrage of bright lights and advertising.
(Case in point. We just saw KFP for the first time the other day, by the way. It was actually really good! What a nice, refreshing suprise.)
The next day started with some breakfast in Bryant Park. We walked passed the NYC Public Library on our way to the Empire State Bldg, which turned out to be a quick stop too because visibility was zero that morning. Our next site was Grand Central Station. I can spend hours just sitting there on the mezzanine and watching the crowds ebb and flow, but no time. We got our subway passes and made our way down to the Statue of Liberty. Like I mentioned before, the weather sucked, so we got to see the grand dame without any lines. The ranger collecting entrance tickets made it a point to ask everyone whether or not they had reservations. We didn't, so he made it clear that we lucked out this time and then begrudgingly let us through. Ahhh...New Yorkers. We walked up through the pedestal of the statue, but access any further up has been permanently closed since 9/11. Fine by me. The stairs up and down the pedestal were enough. I'm glad I finally got to see Lady Liberty, but it was windy and rainy and ultimately I just wanted to get somewhere dry and have a bite to eat. Once back on land, we visited Ground Zero. I've never seen the WTC in person, but the physical and emotional enormity of their absence was palpable. At this point, we parted ways with the rest of the crew for the evening. Amy, Matt, Ardie & Jen went off to see Wicked. Jeff and I went to Williamsburg to visit our friend, Melissa, her hubby Drew, and their bear (I mean, bullmastiff). Melissa took our wedding photos back in the day. She still does amazing work with her camera, but now she's all about dogs. They treated us to some yummy grub at a place called Relish. I've never had steak and fries so good. Not bad for our full first day in New York right?
Jeff and I got up bright and early on Friday so that I could check out the Union Square Greenmarket. What can be better than a farmer's market right in the middle of Manhattan? For me, not much. My booty from the market: organic carrots, heirloom winecrisp apples, and a hunk of pecorino fresco. I was giddy. Then I finally got to try the pretzel croissants at The City Bakery, which was well worth the anticipation. By this time, it was becoming painfully clear that I needed better shoes for the remainder of the trip. We walked around (ouch) Soho until I found some very utilitarian doc martens, and then we joined the rest of the group at Central Park. We only had a couple precious hours to see the Met before closing, so Jeff and I decided to peruse the Egyptian and American Wings. No regrets, except we needed much more time. We later got a couple hot dogs from the Papaya King and people-watched the elite of Manhattan go about their evening in the Upper East Side. For dinner that night, we got some pizza at Lombardi's. The real deal when it comes to NY pizza. Then we got some dessert from Rice to Riches, a place that exclusively serves any possible variation of rice pudding.
We took the train to Long Island on Saturday to visit the parents of a friend of Ardie's. They own Lia's Pizza in Oceanside, and they treated us to a feast. We all sat there for a good hour eating all the pizza they served us, but in the end we still couldn't finish. Too much delicious food, too little stomach space. We also got to see their home and look at baby pictures of their son. I love that kind of stuff. When we got back to Manhattan, we also saw the Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center (and The Tree not yet blinged out), Saint Patrick's Cathedral, and so on. It's all getting to be a blur. We spent a good deal of Sunday shopping in Soho. We had a little scare in Chinatown when Ardie & Jen, and Matt & Amy disappeared with a small Chinese woman behind a locked door in their search for some black market coach bags, but they evetually resurfaced without apparent harm. The only thing on my list that we didn't get around to was catching a ride in the Cash Cab. Ben Bailey, where were you???
Here are some recent pictures of the kids doing their thing at Jamba and at home, respectively.
Thanks, Aunt Heather!
Grrrrrr. This goes from cute to annoying very very quickly.
But cuddly sleeping baby is ALWAYS cute.
We got into the Big Apple around midnight Thursday and met up with our friends. Our hotel was just a couple blocks off of Times Square, so we grabbed a midnight snack at a New York deli and then took in the barrage of bright lights and advertising.
(Case in point. We just saw KFP for the first time the other day, by the way. It was actually really good! What a nice, refreshing suprise.)The next day started with some breakfast in Bryant Park. We walked passed the NYC Public Library on our way to the Empire State Bldg, which turned out to be a quick stop too because visibility was zero that morning. Our next site was Grand Central Station. I can spend hours just sitting there on the mezzanine and watching the crowds ebb and flow, but no time. We got our subway passes and made our way down to the Statue of Liberty. Like I mentioned before, the weather sucked, so we got to see the grand dame without any lines. The ranger collecting entrance tickets made it a point to ask everyone whether or not they had reservations. We didn't, so he made it clear that we lucked out this time and then begrudgingly let us through. Ahhh...New Yorkers. We walked up through the pedestal of the statue, but access any further up has been permanently closed since 9/11. Fine by me. The stairs up and down the pedestal were enough. I'm glad I finally got to see Lady Liberty, but it was windy and rainy and ultimately I just wanted to get somewhere dry and have a bite to eat. Once back on land, we visited Ground Zero. I've never seen the WTC in person, but the physical and emotional enormity of their absence was palpable. At this point, we parted ways with the rest of the crew for the evening. Amy, Matt, Ardie & Jen went off to see Wicked. Jeff and I went to Williamsburg to visit our friend, Melissa, her hubby Drew, and their bear (I mean, bullmastiff). Melissa took our wedding photos back in the day. She still does amazing work with her camera, but now she's all about dogs. They treated us to some yummy grub at a place called Relish. I've never had steak and fries so good. Not bad for our full first day in New York right?
Jeff and I got up bright and early on Friday so that I could check out the Union Square Greenmarket. What can be better than a farmer's market right in the middle of Manhattan? For me, not much. My booty from the market: organic carrots, heirloom winecrisp apples, and a hunk of pecorino fresco. I was giddy. Then I finally got to try the pretzel croissants at The City Bakery, which was well worth the anticipation. By this time, it was becoming painfully clear that I needed better shoes for the remainder of the trip. We walked around (ouch) Soho until I found some very utilitarian doc martens, and then we joined the rest of the group at Central Park. We only had a couple precious hours to see the Met before closing, so Jeff and I decided to peruse the Egyptian and American Wings. No regrets, except we needed much more time. We later got a couple hot dogs from the Papaya King and people-watched the elite of Manhattan go about their evening in the Upper East Side. For dinner that night, we got some pizza at Lombardi's. The real deal when it comes to NY pizza. Then we got some dessert from Rice to Riches, a place that exclusively serves any possible variation of rice pudding.We took the train to Long Island on Saturday to visit the parents of a friend of Ardie's. They own Lia's Pizza in Oceanside, and they treated us to a feast. We all sat there for a good hour eating all the pizza they served us, but in the end we still couldn't finish. Too much delicious food, too little stomach space. We also got to see their home and look at baby pictures of their son. I love that kind of stuff. When we got back to Manhattan, we also saw the Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center (and The Tree not yet blinged out), Saint Patrick's Cathedral, and so on. It's all getting to be a blur. We spent a good deal of Sunday shopping in Soho. We had a little scare in Chinatown when Ardie & Jen, and Matt & Amy disappeared with a small Chinese woman behind a locked door in their search for some black market coach bags, but they evetually resurfaced without apparent harm. The only thing on my list that we didn't get around to was catching a ride in the Cash Cab. Ben Bailey, where were you???
Here are some recent pictures of the kids doing their thing at Jamba and at home, respectively.
Thanks, Aunt Heather!
Grrrrrr. This goes from cute to annoying very very quickly.
But cuddly sleeping baby is ALWAYS cute.
1 comment:
I am extremely jealous. Both of getting to go to NYC and getting time away from the kids. I went to NYC once when I was 17 and it feels almost that long since I have had more than a few hours without kids. Not that I don't love them, but time away is always a good thing.
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