NYC

We were fortunate that Chris' Mom offered to watch the girls while Chris, Mario, Elizabeth, and I spent a night in the city. We drove to Poughkeepsie and took a train to Grand Central Station.

 

We had a wonderful hotel two blocks from Grand Central and we dropped out bags off before going exploring.

 

We went to Times Square and did a lot of walking around.

 

We went to the famous red steps near the TKTS booth and were rewarded with a good view as we planned our day. {We put together a puzzle that is of this view a few years ago. We glued it and framed it and it is hanging on our wall}

One thing that was on my list to do was to visit Magnolia Bakery! They have the most delicious cupcakes I have ever had and have been dreaming of them since our last visit 3 years ago!

Chris and Mario were in charge of navigating the subway and figuring out how to get where we wanted to go. They did a great job!

We walked over to Rockefeller center. We weren't quite sure what this floral statue was supposed to be, but we took a picture anyway.

 

While we were people watching, we looked up and saw these two Emmys in the window! I wonder who's office this is?!

We walked down to FAO Schwarz and while we didn't buy Bailey the $8,000 Giraffe, we did have fun browsing the store.

 

After the toy store we walked over to Central Park and had hot dogs from a cart. We wanted to take a carriage ride around the park, but it was a bit pricey so we decided to walk around.

It was a beautiful day {not like last time we were there where is poured rain the entire time} and the park is absolutely gorgeous!

Our friend Tanya came up from New Jersey to spend the day with us!

The new One World Trade Center building. We decided not to go to the memorial museum and Twin Tower site because we went to that area last time. Seeing the building brought back memories from 9/11 and even the new building is a powerful reminder of what was lost.

This is the Eternal Flame in Battery Park.

We took the boat over to the Statue of Liberty and here is a view of the city from the boat.

The tickets to go in the crown and pedestal of the Statue sell out months in advance so we just walked around the base. It's amazing to see in person and listen to the guided tour. The torch really seems to glow in the sunlight!

The city from the Statue island.

 

Mario and Elizabeth!

We took the audio tour and it was interesting to hear all about the process of getting the Statue here and what it represents.

Mom and I watch Project Runway and Mood is the fabric store that they use on the show. When I saw that they were located near one of our subway stops, I had to go find it! We didn't go inside, but I was still excited to get a picture of the outside.

 

Mario had seen a steakhouse on a Travel show that was listed as one of the top five in the country and he has wanted to go there ever since. We had a delicious dinner at Keen's Steakhouse. I highly recommend it for a nice dinner out.

{We all ate a ton of food!}

 

I had the fillet and lobster and it was amazing!  

Mario and Chris cheers-ing their cognac.  

What's a visit to NYC without spotting The Naked Cowboy?

 

We had a great time in the city! We saw everything that was on our list to see and it was really nice to have some time to ourselves.