Hi Everyone! Sorry we didn't blog yesterday, but we didn't make it back to this end of town until very late. So here is a recap of what was keeping us so busy...
Aaaah, vacation! What can I say? It is so nice to sleep in and not feel rushed in the morning. And that's exactly what we did! I think it was almost 11:30 a.m. before we finally made it out of our hotel. We strolled a bit and found a place for brunch, The City Grill. When we get home, I am going to make another blog called Jeneric Reviews, where I will describe all of our dining experiences in more detail.
From brunch, we just started walking. We made our way to Times Square - which is crazy chaos and tourist trap hell! It was such a contrast to go from the quiet of the Central Park neighborhoods to the billions of people in a few block radius. But, we were able to get some theater tickets for tonight. We are going to see Mama Mia! which comes highly recommended by Eric's parents. We also visited the Hershey's Store. I tell you, it is advertising genious to let a reality tv show film in your store! I had seen the Hershey's Store on an episode of Project Runway, so I wanted to go in. And guess what? All the Project Runway fans will know what I'm talking about....they had 5 of the dresses from that episode in the store - including Romi's and Jillian's. I had a lot of fun seeing those (and we heard many other people commenting on the show while we were there.)
From Times Square, we wandered down to the Empire State building. It was a beautiful, clear (but very cold!) day, so we thought it would be perfect to go up to the observation deck. And there didn't appear to be a line.... Ha ha ha! were we fooled! The line is now inside the building and snakes its way up several floors. But we didn't mind, because we didn't have any real agenda. Once we made it up to the top, the views were incredible! It was so worth the wait to be able to see all of the City from this vantage point. We loved it!
Then we made our way to Washington Square in Greenwich Village. They are doing a lot of construction in this area, but there were still lots of people milling about. We found a bench a rested for a little while. We called Eric's parents to wish George a very happy birthday and to also check in about our niece Alesia. They seem to think that the worst is over, and now it's just a matter of how she responds to the treatment.
We continued our walk with a little side trip to Harold's restaurant (from Top Chef.) Poor Harold. Retail space must be extremely expensive here! His restaurant was around the corner from all of the xxx shops! His street looks nice and quaint, but it was funny to see where it is located.
We then made our way to Ground Zero. On the way there we unexpectedly passed the fire station that the movie Ghost Busters was filmed in. So that was a neat treat and fun to see. Ground Zero was very moving, and of course I cried. Lots of people were moved to tears, how could you not be? They have a very tasteful memorial, and they operate under the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words. On the wall that said "Remember" they only had a few pictures, but they were so powerful and full of emotion. They had a list of all of the people who had died. And then they had an area that I think was supposed to be hopeful, about their plans for rebuilding, etc. A homeless man was playing Amazing Grace on the flute, so this really added to the whole experience.
At this point, it was almost 6 pm, so we made our way over to the Brooklyn Bridge and had an amazing twilight stroll across the bridge. It was so cool to watch the lights come on in the buildings that make up the Manhattan skyline. Very cool.
At this point, we had walked 6 miles, and were tired, so we took the subway to Grand Central Station, where we stopped for dinner. I had a monstrous coney island hot dog, and Eric had a pastrami sandwich. Feeling, rejuvinated, we walked the rest of the way home, another two miles, passing through Rockefeller Center.
It was a lot of fun and we had a great day. Today is cold and grey, but we are going to try to wander through Central Park. We'll write more tomorrow. Hope you are all well!
Aaaah, vacation! What can I say? It is so nice to sleep in and not feel rushed in the morning. And that's exactly what we did! I think it was almost 11:30 a.m. before we finally made it out of our hotel. We strolled a bit and found a place for brunch, The City Grill. When we get home, I am going to make another blog called Jeneric Reviews, where I will describe all of our dining experiences in more detail.
From brunch, we just started walking. We made our way to Times Square - which is crazy chaos and tourist trap hell! It was such a contrast to go from the quiet of the Central Park neighborhoods to the billions of people in a few block radius. But, we were able to get some theater tickets for tonight. We are going to see Mama Mia! which comes highly recommended by Eric's parents. We also visited the Hershey's Store. I tell you, it is advertising genious to let a reality tv show film in your store! I had seen the Hershey's Store on an episode of Project Runway, so I wanted to go in. And guess what? All the Project Runway fans will know what I'm talking about....they had 5 of the dresses from that episode in the store - including Romi's and Jillian's. I had a lot of fun seeing those (and we heard many other people commenting on the show while we were there.)
From Times Square, we wandered down to the Empire State building. It was a beautiful, clear (but very cold!) day, so we thought it would be perfect to go up to the observation deck. And there didn't appear to be a line.... Ha ha ha! were we fooled! The line is now inside the building and snakes its way up several floors. But we didn't mind, because we didn't have any real agenda. Once we made it up to the top, the views were incredible! It was so worth the wait to be able to see all of the City from this vantage point. We loved it!
Then we made our way to Washington Square in Greenwich Village. They are doing a lot of construction in this area, but there were still lots of people milling about. We found a bench a rested for a little while. We called Eric's parents to wish George a very happy birthday and to also check in about our niece Alesia. They seem to think that the worst is over, and now it's just a matter of how she responds to the treatment.
We continued our walk with a little side trip to Harold's restaurant (from Top Chef.) Poor Harold. Retail space must be extremely expensive here! His restaurant was around the corner from all of the xxx shops! His street looks nice and quaint, but it was funny to see where it is located.
We then made our way to Ground Zero. On the way there we unexpectedly passed the fire station that the movie Ghost Busters was filmed in. So that was a neat treat and fun to see. Ground Zero was very moving, and of course I cried. Lots of people were moved to tears, how could you not be? They have a very tasteful memorial, and they operate under the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words. On the wall that said "Remember" they only had a few pictures, but they were so powerful and full of emotion. They had a list of all of the people who had died. And then they had an area that I think was supposed to be hopeful, about their plans for rebuilding, etc. A homeless man was playing Amazing Grace on the flute, so this really added to the whole experience.
At this point, it was almost 6 pm, so we made our way over to the Brooklyn Bridge and had an amazing twilight stroll across the bridge. It was so cool to watch the lights come on in the buildings that make up the Manhattan skyline. Very cool.
At this point, we had walked 6 miles, and were tired, so we took the subway to Grand Central Station, where we stopped for dinner. I had a monstrous coney island hot dog, and Eric had a pastrami sandwich. Feeling, rejuvinated, we walked the rest of the way home, another two miles, passing through Rockefeller Center.
It was a lot of fun and we had a great day. Today is cold and grey, but we are going to try to wander through Central Park. We'll write more tomorrow. Hope you are all well!
2 comments:
Sounds like you're having a delightful time. We'll be praying for your niece.
How can you jam so much into one day? I am exhausted reading about it. Sounds like fun especially the eating. I will provide any updates on Alesia when I hear something. Love, MOM/Fran
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