Shelley, Mike, Anne, and me on the Red Steps!
The next day Mike had some morning meetings so Shelley, Anne, and I decided to explore the best parts of Central Park. We made our way up from Columbus Circle, through Sheep Meadow, up The Mall, to the Bethesda Terrace and the Angel of the Waters fountain. There was an amazing choral group performing in the Terrace arches and we spent quite a while listening to their angelic voices. I love all the performers here! From there we went over the bridge, through the Ramble, to the Belvedere Castle to see the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond. It was so fun to tromp through the Park! Sometimes you forget you're in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world.
Anne and I at "The Mall"! Parts of Enchanted's "How Does She Know" song was filmed here!
^ The Angel of the Waters Fountain ^
^ The view from the top of Belvedere Castle ^
Clark and I were also extremely excited to share our favorite foods with his family, so first up on our list was Eataly for prime rib/brisket sandwiches! The best part about lunch was we got to meet Clark to eat in Madison Square Park. From there we had to race over to the Theater district to catch a matinee performance of Newsies. It was such an amazing performance! Newsies is a musical I can easily watch over and over again. Such a classic!
And if seeing one musical wasn't wonderful enough, Mike got us tickets to see Cinderella as well! I have always been a huge Cinderella fan. I loved the Disney Cinderella, the Cinderella 2 and 3 movies, The Slipper and the Rose (live action Cinderella movie), as well as the Brandy version. But this broadway Cinderella takes the cake! She was a real live princess! The plot was clever, and the songs were adorable, and the staging and costumes were fantastic. There were some pretty unbelievable special effects as well. It was an absolutely magical performance! It is definitely on my Broadway favorites list.
^ Cinderella's Magical Shoes ^
Apparently it was a hard concept for everyone to try to get the Cinderella sign in our photo...
...so Mike grabbed one for us!
On Thursday Shelley had to catch a flight to London (fun sibling vacation for her!) so before she left we had to go to the Manhattan Temple. It was gorgeous! I love this temple, because the contrast between the chaotic world and heavenly peace is so dramatic. And there is a new temple video! It was so powerful. For those of you who have temple recommends and have not attended recently, please go. It's marvelous.
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I sure love my wonderful in-laws!
After the temple trip, we met up with Clark for lunch at Dorado Tacos & Quesadillas. I am going to miss this place! I've always just liked Mexican food, but at this place, I love it! I'm going to miss those delectable steak quesadillas! After lunch I had to show Shelley the Chelsea market. She and Anne loved it! It's such a fun location, with lots of tasty food, cool crafts and souvenirs, and it's right next to the highline park. The only real bummer was the water section of the highline was closed for some party, so we weren't able to see it. And it started raining, but hey, that's New York for you!
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^ Delicious Doughnuttery ^
^ The Highline ^
After our trip to Chelsea we had to drop Shelley off. I was sad to have her leave us, but we all know she's having a blast in London! Once we said bye to Shelley we hopped over to the movie theaters to see Monster's University and Wolverine. I loved Monster's University! It was such a fun movie with a great plot. I usually like superhero movies, but I did not really like Wolverine. And I was surprised I didn't like it, but I guess I couldn't get into it this time. It was really fun to see both movies though! And Clark was able to join us for Wolverine because it was his last day of work! AND he got an offer at Credit Suisse! So we will most definitely be moving back to New York next summer! YAY!
Friday morning/early afternoon was a little rainy so we decided to go to Strand bookstore. Aka bookworm heaven. I think we spent an hour in there, just perusing our favorite books. It's a great place to lose yourself in, especially on a rainy day. After Clark finished his last few items of business at work, we met up at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I love big old churches. The architecture and stained glass are always so breathtaking. From St. Patricks we made our way up to Central Park to go row-boating on The Lake. It's one of our favorite things to do here in New York.
^ There were tons of these little guys everywhere ^
Exploring the "nooks" of the lake! This one had a cool cave that totally belonged in Indiana Jones.
It started raining, so of course Anne and I took advantage of the opportunity to use our "parasols".
After enjoying a lovely boat ride we grabbed dinner at John's Pizzeria. It's located on 44th, right across the street from the Phantom of the Opera. It is such a fun restaurant. Honestly the food is pretty good, but the main reason we go to John's is the atmosphere. When you first enter the restaurant it looks like every typical New York pizza place: small, narrow, and crowded. But you walk through an archway and BAM! You're in an old theater! It has been remodeled with a huge mural where the stage should be, and tables in the theater seating. Plus they have this really neat stained class dome in the ceiling. It's definitely worth seeing/trying. After a tasty and very filling dinner, we ran off to see Jersey Boys. It was such a fun and unique play! I loved the narration and was so impressed by the number of songs the Four Seasons composed. There's definitely at least one you've heard, and the audience was constantly singing along. It was such a fun casual musical. Be warned though, the language is "real authentic Jersey language". AND to top off our fun evening, we got cupcakes from Baked by Melissa. Those cupcakes are absolutely delightful! So moist and flavor packed! I am so happy Baked by Melissa shops are popping up all over the city.
^ John's Pizzeria ^
^ Oh what a Night ^
Saturday turned out to be a warmer day in the city, so I showed the Peterson's my favorite place to escape the heat. They loved Coney Island! We grabbed lunch at Nathan's along the pier and relaxed at the beach. It was a perfect day too, just breezy enough to keep the sun from being too hot. On our way back from Coney Island we stopped to see the 9/11 memorial. It was really amazing to learn about the plans they have to further beautify the memorial. If everything goes according to plan, the buildings, museum, and landscaping will be completed while Clark and I are living New York! I can't wait to go to that! After our trip to the memorial, we went to Top of the Rock to watch the sunset. It's one of my favorite views of the city. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves - they really are amazing!
^ 9/11 Memorial ^
^ Top of the Rock ^
On Sunday we went up to New Canaan, Connecticut to visit the Rosdahl family. I really love Connecticut! It is so green and the houses are all so beautiful. I especially love how almost every house has shutters around their windows, it's so picturesque! I'm so glad they live so close to the city, so we're able to visit them so often! Unfortunately Clark and I had to be back in New York Monday morning, so we weren't able to stay up and explore more of New Canaan. But Clark and I did have a lot of fun in the city on Monday! We walked to Bryant Park, which is one of our favorite parks in the city. They have a ping pong table, a French version of bocci ball, board games, books, and even juggling lessons! Clark and I were inspired by the book section to head over to Strand bookstore and pick up some books to read by the end of the summer. I grabbed "North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell and Clark bought "Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (two more of my favorites). I'll be sure to review North and South as soon as I finish it, as well a couple other books I've read recently. After our trip to the bookstore we went to the Chelsea Market for dinner. One of the stores in the Market, the Lobster Place, has a pretty good deal on whole steamed lobsters. So we treated ourselves to a lobster dinner, followed by gelato from La Arte de Gelato!
Quick word of advice: we were total newbies at eating a whole lobster (we had both only had lobster tail). When you get a whole lobster, just eat the claws and the tail. Don't try to open up the body because there will be nothing but green mushy goop that totally makes you lose your appetite. We learned that the hard way.
^ love the Highline ^
^ Our tasty crustacean friend ^
For our final full day in NYC (SO SAD) we went to Shake Shack, the East Coast In-n-Out, for lunch. Totally hit the spot, especially their amazing fries. And their pretzel/chocolate concrete. That was super tasty too. From there we went to the Met! I just had to show Mike, Clark, and Anne all my favorite exhibits/paintings. I'm going to miss that museum, especially cause there is still so much more for me to see there! Thank heavens we are moving there for a full time position next summer! After our trip to the Met we walked through Central Park to Magnolia's bakery so Mike and Anne could try their amazing banana pudding. Luckily I won't have to suffer through cravings, because I have their recipe! I'll try it out and post about it sometime soon.
^ Hatshepsut's statue ^
^ Temple of Dendur ^
^ Just chillin' with a Sphinx ^
^ Van Gogh ^
^ Favorite painting in the Met ^
^Tiffany & Co. Stained glass ^
Anyways, after having banana pudding for dinner (oops) we ran over to see... MATILDA! It was so great! Mike got the last 5 tickets in the whole theater, so we were all spread out... and my ticket was in the 3rd row! I couldn't believe my luck. It was such a fun performance, and totally captured the feeling of Roald Dahl's books. My favorite song was "Naughty" and "When I grow Up". The stage and costumes were so fun. My favorite character, aside from Matilda, was probably Mr. Wormwood. He was hysterical! He seriously reminded me of a grasshopper with his long legs and the way he walked around. The music was so fun and creative, it was just such an amazing show. I'm so so happy I got to see it! It was delightful. And it was the perfect musical to end our summer on.
^ Sneak peak at the set for Matilda ^
^ Psych! We actually ended our New York summer with a trip to Ellen's Stardust Diner ^
*sniffle* I am going to miss NYC so much. I have enjoyed every description of your adventures! What fun to have Mike and Shelley and Anne there with you and Clark. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletePatti - I miss it too! Thank you for reading :)
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