Last week Mom and I flew to New York to meet Brian and Diana who were attending a conference there. I have always wanted to go to New York so I was really excited! After a long day of travel we arrived in Newark and Brian was waiting to help us navigate the train/subway to New York. He got us to our hotel which was quite nice and then we ventured into the neighborhood and found a yummy Mexican restaurant.
The next morning we had a bagel in a nearby restaurant and then headed off to catch a ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Monday turned out to be a nice day but overcast so the ferry wasn't overly crowded. We had booked a 1p ferry but got down there early and were able to get right on an earlier trip.
Watching the New York sky line as we sailed out to the Statue of Liberty. The two tallest buildings are the new Trade Center towers.
Once we got to the island we walked around and found some guided tours to listen to.
Brian and Diana in front of the Statue of Liberty.
We had a great time and learned a lot. For instance, I didn't know the copper making up the statue is only the thickness of two pennies. Lucas would have really enjoyed this tour!
The statue is really quite remarkable and it was amazing to see up close!
Next we got back on the ferry and headed over to Ellis island. We wandered around and then watched a movie (unfortunately I slept through most of this!).
Once we got back on land we wandered through the financial district where we came upon the New York Stock Exchange. We also went to the 9/11 Memorial center but didn't actually make it to the new waterfall memorial. After wandering around all day we were hungry so we found a delicious Chinese restaurant followed by delicious gellato.
Tuesday we got up, found a nearby coffee shop for breakfast and then made our way to Levain bakery. This bakery was on my must see list because I saw a show about it on the Food Network a few years ago. They are famous for their chocolate chip cookies and since those are my very favorite dessert I had to check it out. They did not disappoint. They were delicious! Probably the best thing I ate all week. I wish I would have picked up more than one!
After our bakery visit we went to Rockefeller Center.
The ice rink is set up with tables in the summer but it was still fun to see.
We had a good time exploring the area and even considered returning for a Today Show taping but ended up running out of time.
Next we made our way to the Plaza hotel where we found lunch and took it to a park nearby to eat picnic style.
Mom wanted to have tea at the Russian Tea Room but once we went inside we changed our minds (it was expensive and dark and dreary).
That afternoon we had tickets to The Daily Show so we had to wait in line to see the show. It was fun to be in the audience and see Jon Stewart live. A couple of Brian's friends met us and we all had a good time. After we got our tickets and were waiting for the show to start we went to a nearby bakery and that is where we had our first celebrity sighting - Christian Borle who plays Tom on Smash.
After The Daily Show we went down to Time Square.
We made our way to Lombardi's which was America's first pizzeria. They are famous for their New York style thin crust pizza and it was delicious!
On our way back to the subway we passed a crepe store and Diana and I couldn't resist. Mine was banana and nutella and it was delicious!
Time Square at night is pretty impressive and a little overwhelming. It was fun to see it in person and we saw the famous New Years Eve ball.
Wednesday morning we walked through Central Park and made our way to the MET.
Diana and I left Mom and Brian at the MET and went down to Greenwich Village for our own Friends/Sex and the City tour.
The Friends fountain.
Carrie's door? This area definitely looked like where they filmed her living.
We stopped for lunch at a French restuarant called Tartine. It was yummy. Next we made our way over to SoHo and did some window shopping.
Eventually we met up with Mom and Brian in the theatre district where we tried to win tickets to The Book of Mormon. No luck, so we bought rush tickets to The End of the Rainbow instead. We got seats in the 8th row for only $32 each.
We went back to the hotel, had a snack and got our nice clothes on for the play.
It was an amazing show! The actress did a great job of becoming Judy Garland and we really enjoyed it!
After three days of walking 8-14 miles while sightseeing Mom was worn out so we left her at the hotel and wandered through Central Park. It was a hot day but it was fun to see Central Park firsthand.
This fountain is shown in lots of movies shot in New York.
Central Park is really beautiful.
We were also surprised at how quiet it is inside the park.
After wandering through the park we went back to the hotel to grab Mom and change into nicer clothes. Then we made our way back to the theatre district to try our luck at winning tickets to The Book of Mormon. This time luck was with us and they pulled Mom's name! We were so excited! We got front row center tickets, normally $477, for $32. It was amazing! Unfortunately we only got two tickets.
While Mom and I went to the show Brian and Diana wandered around the city. The show was amazing! Loved it!! While at the show we had our second celebrity sighting - Alice Cooper! He was 8 seats from us and Mom stood right next to him in line for the bar. After the show Brian and Diana met us and we went for a nice dinner at Eatery, which was a delicious farm to table restaurant.
After dinner we got back on the subway and made our way back to the hotel. It was a busy and fun week. It went by fast and we saw a little bit of everything. By the end my feet were worn out but it was great to be in the city with Mom, Brian and Diana. So glad we got to go!
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