FRIDAY
We arrived on Friday to our hotel - the Royalton 44 -and weren't quite sure what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised to see that our hotel looked identical to pictures on the internet and was quite swanky (albeit very dark in the hallways as we read on tripadvisor.com). I can't say enough about this hotel - wonderful staff, clean and quiet rooms, 2 blocks off Times Square. Definitely somewhere I'd stay again!
We headed straight for two of our favorite places in NYC - Chinatown and Little Italy. While I was looking for this Chinatown...
...we actually got off the subway in a location I'd refer to as the "real deal Chinatown", complete with grocery stores selling raw chicken (let's hope) and fish right there on the sidewalk. The smell was truly disgusting and I was beginning to wonder if I would find my beloved cheap shopping mecca. Finally we rounded a corner and "AAAAHHHH" (angels singing) there were the "name brand" bags and jewelry in all their glory. We had been encouraged to stop in to snack at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, which boasts flavors such as pumpkin pie ice cream, and green tea ice cream. We weren't disappointed at this three scoop chocolate oreo/pumpkin pie/pineapple treat! Not exactly a combination we planned to order, but we wanted to try all those flavors!
If you are in the area, I'd make it a definite stop!
We headed west a few blocks to check out City Hall Park and snap a picture at the court buildings where they film Law & Order. We are L&O groupies so that was cool to us...maybe not to all.
Then we were off to explore an area of NYC that I had never been in before - SOHO. Oh. My. Goodness. Why have I never been here before??? I could spend an entire day in this little part of Manhattan. Oh the shopping - our favorite being a store called Daffy's. Definitely somewhere I'll schedule more time next trip...We ate dinner in our favorite place in the city - Little Italy. We love the comfortable atmosphere, dining alfresco along the street - and the Italian food is to DIE for. I love that I have to really work to understand the waiter through his REAL Italian accent.
Our night ended with a subway ride to the upper east side for the New York Philharmonic Concert In The Park series on the great lawn of Central Park. We didn't realize what a mega event this was until we arrived - think Auburn football tailgating party in Central Park. Thousands of blankets spread around, food and wine abound, candles scattered on the blankets, symphony music in the background, a planned fireworks show after the concert...it was a really neat experience. Until the rain started and they had to call it off in the middle of the final piece! Surprisingly it wasn't chaotic getting out of there, but we were pretty wet once we arrived back to the hotel to collapse for the night! What a day!
SATURDAY
On Saturday, we slept in and made our way to a bakery on the lower east side that we heard about on the Food Network. We were watching Bobby Flay's Throwdown show one day and he went to the Clinton Street Bakery to challenge the owner to a Throwdown of blueberry pancakes. We figured this bakery was worth a shot if it was good enough to compete on the show....so did the 30 other people who were waiting OUTSIDE to get in when we arrived. The wait was an hour and a half...so we decided to try to come back another day. And this little interruption in our plan led us down the street to Katz's Deli (the sight of the famous scene from When Harry Met Sally) and the most delicious and gigantic sandwiches we've ever had. We highly recommend the brisket open faced sandwich. YUM.
We next ventured south to Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty, not realizing that the lines to get on the actual ferry to the statue were at least 2 hours long. Again, an interruption in our plans that turned out to be a wonderful surprise. We found something called the NY Water Taxi which basically took you out on a water tour of the harbor with breathtaking views of the Statue of Liberty, ground zero, Ellis Island, and the Brooklyn Bridge. I have actually been to the Statue of Liberty before and I honestly feel like the views we got on this boat far surpassed the views you get standing directly below Lady Liberty. We LOVED this - the tour guide had immigrated to this country at age 6 with his Greek family and his perspective on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in our country was unique and compelling. He lost friends who were firefighters on 9/11 - but yet he insisted that rather than using the term destruction to describe it, we must look at the construction (see the cranes in the picture below) representing our move forward past that sad day. When they started playing Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" as we sat there in front of the Statue of Liberty I seriously almost choked up (silly I know). It was a really neat experience - honestly probably one of our favorites from the entire trip. Something we'd HIGHLY recommend.
If you look closely below I think you can see a crane to the left of this builing. The twin towers were located in the large expanse behind this building. The green glass dome to the left was destroyed on 9/11 but was rebuilt within a year or so to represent resillience in the face of tragedy.
While I am recommending things...let me share something I wouldn't recommend:1. Letting your "hub" (fleshy part of your derriere just above the back thigh) hang out of your pants. In public. And you don't care. And you are with your CHILD - who is dressed more appropriately than you. Shame.
2. Purchasing and wearing pants that are made for someone at least 5 sizes smaller than you. Perhaps an 8 year old?
As we left Battery Park we saw some street entertainers and I took the opportunity to try my photography skills at some quick action shots. These were neat.
We wandered northward through the financial district, catching a glimpse of the New York Stock Exchange and a quick walk through of Tiffany's. When I spied the $75,000 watch (that's not a typo) we decided it might be time for us to head elsewhere. Chinatown is more my speed!
Saturday night we caught our first musical of the trip, one I have wanted to see for years, The Lion King. I really enjoyed it. Mark didn't. And to be honest, I think I had blown it up so much in my mind (and probably to him) that there was no way it could ever measure up. I loved the movie so much, therefore I enjoyed the musical. This brought on the conversation about the movie, and Mark confessed he'd never seen it. That sinner! I saw it three times in the theatre!! Then he reminded me that while I was a middle schooler when it came out, he was in college....oh yeah. Guess that might not have interested him then. Oops. :) Anyhow, it was by far the most amazing spectacle of costuming and special effects that I have ever seen, and the music was great.We capped off a late evening with dinner at a nearby restaurant, Cafe Un Deau Trois. Delicious food and good service - definitely somewhere we'd go again after or before a show. Location is right in the theatre district.
SUNDAY
Sunday morning we got up early (confession: Mark actually got me up early) to attend church at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. My small group at church sings lots of their music so I was really hoping that the choir would perform at the early service. When we arrived I was pleased to see people filling the choir loft. We took a seat on the lower level, not realizing we must have stuck out like sore thumbs - SEVERAL people stopped by to welcome us which impressed me at such a large church. Then the service started and for the next two hours we had CHURCH. The music service lasted over an hour - and I think I cried through a good portion of it. Then the choir sang one of my favorites for the offeratory and I almost jumped out of my skin with excitement. Then the preaching started and it was evident that Pastor Cymbala was following the leading of the Holy Spirit in what he said and did. The altar call was still going on when we left as people were filling the pews for the next service. The people sitting in front of us turned around to and said they felt led to pray for us and asked if that would be ok...um...yes. It. Was. Amazing. We won't ever go to New York again that we don't purposefully schedule a Sunday so we can attend. I really don't have the words to explain it. Just go.
We had lunch at a charming cafe in Brooklyn called the Clover Club. Mark hated it and I loved it. My ricotta pancakes with strawberry dipping sauce were DE-licious. I recommend it! :)
Oh and the day just gets better and better from here...we headed back into Manhattan to see our second musical of the trip, In the Heights. GO SEE THIS MUSICAL. I heard it is coming to the Fox Theatre in Atlanta soon, and Mark and I are considering going again. It was THAT good. Powerful story, fantastic choreography, rocking music...what musical theatre should be about! Muy Bueno!
We were on a musical high and decided to grab some discounted tickets at the TKTS booth in Times Square to see another musical that had garnered our interest, Rock of Ages. This musical features Constantine from American Idol season 4 and is a love story told through the songs of 80's hair bands. It seems strange, but it was incredibly entertaining! (Another reminder of the age gap between my hubby and me - these songs I loved in middle school and he in college.) Nevertheless, we both enjoyed it and would recommend it also! Before the show we grabbed a delicious dinner at Trattoria Trecolori which was on my list of places I wanted to eat and just so happened to be located next door to the Rock of Ages theatre. High praise for this restaurant!
MONDAY
On Monday we decided to try Clinton Street Bakery again and boy are we glad we did. I cannot even describe how good these blueberry (wild from Maine) pancakes are, but they pale in comparison to the delicious liquid in that little cup - warm maple butter. Otherwise known as crack. I seriously would have licked the bowl if it hadn't been slightly inappropriate. By far the most delicious breakfast I have ever eaten. Thank you Bobby Flay!
After breakfast we rode back into midtown and waddled through a tour of Madison Square Gardens, where Mark was lucky enough to have his picture made with a New York Knicks dancer.
After the tour we headed to two shopping spots I wanted to see, ABC Home and Century 21. Two completely different experiences there! ABC Home didn't last long, as we don't pay $300 for soap dispensers in our house. (Target is more our speed?) Century 21 was my kind of shopping (designer stuff marked way down), but it was so crowded and borderline hostile that I couldn't take the insanity!
We decided on the spur of the moment to go back to Little Italy for dinner, just one last time. We ate at another restaurant - Postrino - and it didn't disappoint - perhaps the most delicious lobster ravioli and shrimp pasta I have ever eaten. High praise from the Armstrong family.
Our final event of the trip was a Yankees game in the new Yankee Stadium - talk about something that doesn't disappoint? While we are Cubs fans, and we don't like to give credit to the Yankees for anything, they did this stadium WELL. It is absolutely beautiful, very clean, with tons of food options (Thai anyone? An in-stadium farmers market?). You couldn't have asked for more perfect baseball weather, nor a more perfect ending with a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 9th sailing about 30 feet over our head! Such a fun way to cap off the trip!
We walked through Times Square one last time and I had to share these pictures of what that's like right now...they've closed off several streets running through that area and it has the feel of a block party, with people sitting in provided plastic chairs all over the streets. It was a very homey, family oriented feel to a normally very busy and chaotic area of New York.
And we just so happened to run into a very familiar face around our house....couldn't resist this picture! Turner thought it was really wild!
And finally, a picture of Mark's nightly routine of finding a Duane Reade drugstore and purchasing a quart of milk. He says he can't go a day without it...so he drank the whole quart each night. Crazy man!!
As you can see, we had a fun-filled and action-packed trip! We enjoyed EVERY moment of it and I am so thankful that I have a hubby that enjoys this city and takes me there every few years. He knows how much I enjoy it! Next post I will devote to showing you a glimpse of what Turner did while we were gone...I think she probably had as much fun as we did!
2 comments:
And I'm jealous. I'm so proud of you for having the patience to take us on a recap of your trip. I would have been overwhelmed and just avoided it altogether (which is probably why I haven't posted any pictures from July...) I am now inspired to blog...maybe tomorrow;) Looks like it was a marvelous trip!!!
Oh, Sarah, I am so envious of your concert in the park and brooklyn tabernacle experiences. I also must tell you that I, in teenage texting terms, LMAO at your "what not to wear pictures." I showed Patrick, and he died laughing too!
Post a Comment