Friday - Our first day to explore NYC. We got up and took our time getting ready, enjoying not having a timetable to follow. We walked down to a little restaurant near Times Square and had bagels for breakfast.
Then we grabbed the subway to Chinatown. We shopped for bags for us and something to use for a diaperbag for my niece. We ate lunch at Wo Hop, a favorite little place from the days when I lived here. It was great and we had so much food, we had to bring carryout back to the hotel. On the way back from Chinatown, we walked through Little Italy and enjoyed seeing all the festivities for the festival going on this weekend. We stopped and bought some canolls for a late night snack. Sandy had never had one before, so she also got an éclair as a back up.
We took the subway to Grand Central Station to walk around a little bit. We had spent a little time in there when Sandy and Stacey came to visit me in 2008. I love the building and we enjoyed walking around and gawking like tourists! The weather was beautiful outside so we walked back to our hotel for a little rest.
We met my friend Carol at a restaurant across from her apartment building. I had a really good salad, Sandy enjoyed a wrap (and brought half home for breakfast) and Carol had a great looking burger and fries. It was so good to see Carol.
After our visit, Sandy and I walked a little way into Times Square and stopped at the Skechers store again. I tried on some shoes, but decided not to get any more. After that, we walked back to the hotel, after stopping off at the corner store for some juice & stuff for our little kitchenette. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing on our beds and watching tv and getting on the internet. It was a very good day.
Saturday – Day #2
We got up leisurely and had breakfast in the room (leftovers from yesterday for Sandy and oatmeal for me). We went to the Intrepid Air and Space Museum for the morning. It’s an aircraft carrier that has been made into a museum with all kinds of planes, helicopters, space stuff, even the Enterprise Space Shuttle. We spent about three hours there looking at things and watching videos. It was pretty cool. There was a little health fair going on, so we both got our blood pressures checked (good for each of us) and got some giveaway stuff, including pedometers. Fun!
We made a pit-stop at the hotel to drop off our goodies. We then went to have lunch at Uncle Nick’s Greek restaurant. It was so good! We are trying to explore lots of cuisines and also not eat at all the touristy places. I’m loving visiting my old favorites from when I lived here.
After lunch, we walked back over to the Hudson River area and got our tickets for the New York Water Taxi tour. It’s a Hop On Hop Off kind of thing, so we got on at Midtown and rode down to Battery Park. The tour guide was very entertaining and we enjoyed it. We rode up top in the open, but there were some people standing between our seats and the railing chatting away, so we didn’t have a really great view, but we could see what was going on. From Battery Park we walked to the 9/11 Memorial site and went through the lines and security to visit the beautiful Memorial Park that has been built in honor of those lost on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. It was beautiful and peaceful. I was impressed with the atmosphere and a wonderful tribute to those lives lost.
After the 9/11 Memorial, we walked back to Battery Park and got back on the Water Taxi tour. It stopped at South Street Seaport, DUMBO in Brooklyn, near the Statue of Liberty and then back to Midtown. We sure enjoyed it. It was great to get to sit for a while, too.
We were so tired of walking that we chose to take the bus back towards the hotel. We stopped at an Amish bakery and grocery store. I got food from the hot-bar since Sandy had leftovers in the room’s mini-fridge. We also both got another canoli. Once back to the room, we eat dinner and evaluated the canolis (which were ok, but not as good as Littly Italy – go figure!) and relaxed the rest of the evening.
We both enjoy HGTV and she doesn’t get that channel at her house and I don’t get TV in Nica, so we have been watching that channel a lot these last few days. A very nice treat for us!
It’s been a very nice few days and we are truly enjoying this time away from regular life. I’m so thankful that the Lord is giving me this week of reconnecting to my life here in NYC. I’m loving it!
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