For once, my post is not about my precious boys. Some wonderful friends from church and I went on a girls trip weekend to New York City over MLK weekend. It was an amazing time and truly a much needed break from being 'mom' for just a few days. I am so thankful for Stephen and my family who all helped pay for parts of the trip for my birthday, Christmas, and anniversary presents. It was the best time! (We have yet to all combine our pics from the trip, so I will be adding a lot of group shots later!)
Landing at LaGaurdia
We all piled in a Suburban for our ride to the hotel, group selfie, minus Cindy who was sitting in the front seat.
Our hotel...my friend, Mandy, hooked us up BIG time with her Marriott discount and reward points.
Our first afternoon in NYC was spent exploring SOHO. We had some AMAZING burgers at Brinkley's and browsed yarn and fabric stores with our crafty friends.
The sights of SOHO
A far away view of One World Trade Center
Rachel, Stacey, and I on the subway. It was a little overwhelming at first, but by day 2 we were pro's.
For dinner, we headed to Battery Park, which is the southern tip of Manhattan. We had thought about doing a night boat tour near the Statue of Liberty, but thankfully our NYC-experienced friends told us it would not be much fun in the cold. So glad we listened to them because it was FREEZING! Instead, we had a 'fancy' dinner at a restaurant with panoramic views of the water and Lady Liberty.
A closer view of One World Trade, at night
Our professional photographer friend, Mandy!
The Brooklyn Bridge
The Statue of Liberty
Finally inside the nice, warm restaurant!
Mandy crashing my good-night selfie to the boys
We woke up Saturday morning and layered up for a day exploring the city. It was 9, yes NINE degrees, with the windchill outside. Mandy and Amanda had other plans for the day, so the 4 NYC rookies headed out to see the sights and conquer the subway.
We made our way to Grand Central Station to switch subway lines, it was beautiful!
The dessert case at Junior's Cheesecakes inside the station...heaven! We got cheesecake there later in the trip, but I'm not sure I ever got a picture. It was SO good!
More NYC sights outside of the station.
The Chrysler Building
Our first event of the day was a Double Decker tour of the city. We had a little adventure finding the place to get on the bus, but once we did it was all good.
Rachel and Stacey
me and Cindy
Rockefeller Center, lots more pictures of that coming later.
The NBC Today Show studio
Radio City Music Hall
Times Square
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The Empire State Building
The Met...I think
taxi's!
A better shot of the Empire State Building
Macy's
Close up views of the Empire State Building
The Flatiron Building....our hotel was very close to it.
Greenwich Village
Washington Square Park
NYU
still Greenwich Village
Courthouse and Federal Buildings
"New Amsterdam" the original name of NYC
The Brooklyn Bridge
FDNY
More of One World Trade
An old NYC church
Wall Street
View looking up Wall Street
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The large white monument is Alexander Hamilton's tombstone
The Wall Street bulls
One World Trade....didn't realize I took so many shots of it.
Our tour ended back in Battery Park so we went back down to the waterfront to get pictures of the Statue of Liberty during the day.
Ellis Island
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The Brooklyn Bridge
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Next we took the subway up to Central Park and to hit up some shopping areas near that area.
CENTRAL PARK
We stopped at FAO Schwartz and I took some fun pictures for Jake.
After a busy morning, we ran back to the hotel to charge our phones, grab lunch at the nearby deli, and literally run from the subway stop to make our 30 Rock tour on time. The tour was really neat and we got to see a lot of artwork around Rockefeller Center.
Mosaic above the entrance to Rock Center
This building is now a bakery, but is famous because it is the one building who's owner refused to sell to the Rockefeller family when they were buying up all the property to build the Rockefeller Center complex. The family still owns it today.
The Today Show studios
The are where the Today Show crowd gathers each morning
mural inside one of the Rockefeller buildings
Entrance to Rockefeller Plaza...and Mandy :)
The lobby was incredible
St Patrick's Cathedral
Rockefeller Plaza, exterior
The skating rink at Rock Plaza
Far away view of the Today Show stuido
One of my favorite parts of the trip was after the tour. We bought tickets for "Top of the Rock" and timed it so that we would be up there at sunset (Thanks Rachel for the suggestion, the view was amazing!) We were really high up and the observation deck is totally open-air.
Central Park
Empire State Building
Statue of Liberty
close up of Empire State Building and One World Trade
Brooklyn Bridge
Empire State and One World Trade
Sunset...we were so lucky to have a gorgeous one that night!
Group selfie from the Top of the Rock
The struggle was real for us short people...too many tall people near the best views!
Playing with the panoramic function on my phone.
St Patricks at night
Looking up at Top of the Rock, yes, we had been waaaaaaay up there!
Our next stop was TIMES SQUARE...we walked there from Rock Plaza. I wish one of us had been wearing a fit bit or step counter or something that day!
Times Square was exactly what you would imagine, a TON of people in a little space.
The largest screen in the world...or something like that
Panoramic view
They still had the NYE ball up, it was really cool to see!
Disney Store!
Mounted Police...it was crazy crowded by them.
The famous Broadway restaurant, Sardi's.
After a very long day of sight seeing, it was time for dinner...at 10:30! We asked the front desk for a recommendation for a good pizza place and they did not disappoint, it was delicious!
And that ends our first full day in New York, we were tired, but having so much fun!
Sunday was warmer, but raining. Thankfully, we were going to be inside most of the morning. We had tickets for the 9/11 Memorial Museum. We hopped on the subway and made our way down the Battery Park again. We knew it was going to be an emotional trip, but the museum was beautiful. They did a perfect job of remembering and honoring the victims, but still preserving the history and memories of the day for future generations.
It's hard to believe, but they are still doing construction near Ground Zero.
The remembrance pools
One World Trade
The fire station directly across the street from Ground Zero
we thought it was especially bittersweet that they honored the unborn children who were lost that day
The exterior of the museum, looking over one of the remembrance pools from the Twin Towers.
It was raining, but I like how the pictures turned out from the memorial.
Inside the museum, they did not allow photography in all areas...I could have taken a million pictures.
Original beams
Quote on the wall of the lobby: made by the architect of the Twin Towers
The lobby also had photographs and art work of the Twin Towers. It is hard to believe that one day all the visitors to the museum won't have memories of the buildings.
Entrance to the exhibits. Recorded first hand memories of the day play as you enter.
The audio records also appear on the panels as you walk through the hall.
The final beam removed from Ground Zero.
The museum is literally in the foundation of the Twin Towers, you can see the studs/bolts in the walls.
Original outer support beams from the Towers
The missing posters that were everywhere in the days that followed, were projected onto the walls, rotating to show them all.
Survivor Staircase was found and preserved in the rubble
Overlooking the remembrance area...everyone always talks about how blue the sky was that day...that memory is reflected here. I thought this quote was also perfect. When you go below there is a plaque that informs you that a large portion of the human remains found in the ash and rubble were collected and buried behind this wall, per the request of survivor families.
The original posts outlines from the exterior support beams. The sign stated that the survivors' families specifically wanted these left and displayed in the museum.
There were many displays of the gifts and memorials sent to the city of New York immediately after 9/11.
The ball that dropped on NYE in Times Square that year was engraved with each survivor's name, I never knew that.
more original support beam foundation from the twin towers
This display was one of my favorites, they saved so much of the little details for future generations.
There was a large section of photographic artwork taken by a professional photographer/NYC resident with portions of emails he sent from the days after.
Portions of the top spires, found in the rubble
Just one of the many firetrucks that responded that day
Plaque near the 'blue wall' that I mentioned before
The final beam removed from Ground Zero, view from the bottom
The remainder of the exhibits at the 9/11 museum did not allow photography, but they are truly unforgettable. There was also a large hall of remembrance with a photograph of each and every person lost that day. There was an inner room where audio recordings announced each name, and then several had recordings from family members recalling their memories of their loved one. You could take pictures there, but I just didn't. It felt disrespectful in a way. I just listened and looked at the faces. The pictures went from floor to ceiling, all 4 walls. It was so very moving.
By the time we were done at the 9/11 museum, it was lunch time. We took the subway back to Grand Central Station, thinking it would be a good place to eat. We had seen lots of fun shops and eating spots there the day before....we were so wrong. It was CRAZY crowded! We got some cheesecake and headed out to find somewhere else to eat.
We ate lunch at Annie Moore's, an Irish pub. It wasn't that great, but still a fun time.
After a late lunch, we went back in to Grand Central to catch the subway back to our hotel.
We got to see some fun street dancers.
Sunday night was what I was looking to most on the trip, I was getting to check off one of my 'bucket list' items...we were going to see a show, on BROADWAY. We saw Wicked and it was AH-MAZING....as in AMAZING! I literally had goosebumps several times.
Had to get a mirror selfie while we were all dressed up and pretty.
Wicked at the Gershwin Theater
The set
Broadway seflie
The for really real Broadway
Our best attempts at a pic with the Broadway sign...the restaurant we were headed to is in the background, Ellen's Stardust Cafe
Dinner selfie with Mandy. We ate a late dinner after the show at Ellen's Stardust Cafe. Super fun! All of the servers are aspiring Broadway performers who take turns singing Broadway tunes from a stage in the middle of the restaurant, sing along style. It's like Pete's Piano Bar for Broadway people. It was so fun!
They served diner style food, I got Chicken Pot Pie. It came in its own mini cast iron skillet!
Stacey got a huge bowl of homemade mac-n-cheese. It was so good!
The servers/performers were SO good!
Me, Rachel, and Stacey waiting for the subway after dinner. Cindy had reached her picture quota already for the day ;)
View of the Empire State Building as we walked back to the hotel that night
The next morning was our last day in NYC :( Our plan was to hit anything we wanted to see again/had missed. We were serenaded on our morning Subway ride, poor Rachel!
So our big debate of the trip was whether or not to get up super early to go back Rock Plaza and try to be on the Today show. We would have to leave the hotel, with our bags packed and ready for the airport, by 5:30am if we did it...and we got in after 1:00 from dinner the night before. We decided to be responsible and 'sleep in' but then go to Rock Plaza anyways to shop at the NBC store and just see the are a little bit better, it had been one of our favorite spots. We walked passed the Today Show windows and saw that they were still taping.
Since they were still taping, we went through the security checkpoint to watch and just maybe make it on TV after all!
Tamron, Willie, and Savannah! These are big celebrities to us stay at home moms!
Tamron didn't come outside, but she did come to the window to wave!
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The camera crew came outside and said we 'might' get on tv. We waited and waited and as they broke to go to Hoda and Kathie Lee...WE MADE IT ON TV! It was for 2.2 seconds, but it counts :)
After being outside for so long, we went across the street to Dean and Delucca for some coffee.
My attempt at taking a covert picture ;) We debated about whether or not to go talk to her. We decided to send 2 of us over so that we didn't bombard her with all 4 of us. She was SO friendly, we all went over to talk. We asked her about her recipe that we had been watching and she talked to us about several others. She may not be a 'real' celebrity, but she counted enough for us :)
Next up, the NBC store. Look, we met Matt Lauer and Jimmy Fallon!
Oh Jimmy! We tried very hard to get tickets to the Tonight Show, but did not. The workers in the store said that he comes in the store fairly regularly, but we weren't that lucky.
We went back to FAO Schwartz to pick up a few more souveniers for the kiddos.
It was lunchtime so we decided to walk to the famous, Carnegie Deli. It was a little bit further walk than we thought, but we got to see some cool NYC sights along the way.
The St Regis hotel
A really pretty church
The 'love' sculpture
We finally got there!
The line was SUPER long to dine-in. We decided that since we were near Central Park and the weather was actually pretty warm (mid 40s) we would have a picnic in the park.
Look what was right across the street from the deli...Carnegie Hall! (Guess that's why it's called the Carnegie Deli, duh!) So glad we got to see it.
Sights of NYC
More fun pictures of Central Park
We all split a turkey sandwhich. It wasn't that special, but those pickles...AMAZING!
We had a few hours left before we needed to leave for the airport. Our plan was to take the Staten Island Ferry so that we could get a closer view of the Statue of Liberty. We made a stop by Ground Zero because Cindy had been sick on Saturday and didn't make it to the museum. It was nice to see it again and not have to fight the rain this time.
Last time we had been searching for the panels for the first responders, but couldn't find them. We did this trip.
"Survivor Tree" The tree found completely intact in the rubble at Ground Zero. It wasn't marked by a plaque or anything, we had to ask where it was.
Well, we made it to the terminal for the Staten Island ferry, but since it was a holiday the subways weren't on full service...which meant it took us longer to get around then we anticipated. We got there and knew we just wouldn't have time to ride the ferry round trip and get back to the hotel at the time we needed to in order to leave when we needed to for the airport. Such a bummer!
On our walk back to the hotel, I had to get a picture of Café 28, the deli that we ate breakfast at every morning...and lunch. It was CHEAP and AH-MAZING food! I seriously need these in Texas!
Sending a selife home to the boys from the airplane.
View from the airplane leaving NYC
Brooklyn Bridge
Central Park, the dark rectangle in the middle
It was such a wonderful trip and I would love to go back and explore NYC more one day!
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