Summer Vacation Part 2: New York City

After finishing our tour of Washington DC we hopped on the Amtrak and headed up to New York City. The trip was supposed to take about 3 hours, but, there was a bridge fire and we ended up sitting on the track for an extra hour and a half. Needless to say, we got a little bit restless and maybe just a little bit goofy.

Once we finally got to New York, we got into a couple of taxis and headed for the apartment that we had rented. The plan originally had been to get settled into our apartment and then go out for dinner somewhere in the neighborhood. But by the time we got there, it was close to 9:00 at night and we were all exhausted.

So instead of going out to dinner, Steve and I found a nearby grocery store and went out to buy some food for breakfast and while we did that, the kids found a local pizzeria and order us some pizza for dinner. The pizza came from a place called Nick’s Pizza and it was amazing! One was pepperoni and the other was meatball. Both had fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. It was a perfect first meal in New York.

The next day we hit the ground running. We started out by taking our first New York subway ride down to midtown. Once we got off the subway, we walked over to Rockefeller Center. As we were looking around and taking pictures, low and behold, <squeee> Hoda from the Today Show comes walking across the plaza. Nicole, Kelly and I were so excited!! We waved at her and Nicole told her that she was a huge fan (yes, we were those people) and Hoda was so nice, she was on the phone, but she still smiled and waved back at us! Nicole managed to snap a photo of her as she walked away. That pretty much made our whole day.

After all of that excitement, we got on a Hop On Hop Off bus tour. These bus tours are a great way to get a feel for the city and as the name suggests, you can hop on and hop off at any bus stop along the tour. We started the tour near Times Square and let me tell you, it’s crazy down there. There are tons of people, cars and screens and it’s an absolute sensory overload, but it was fun to see in person. The tour took us all the way down to the tip of Manhatten where we went by Battery Park among other things.

As I said, this was a hop on hop off tour, so part way through the tour, we hopped off in the Chinatown, Little Italy area. We were starving by now and so were looking for somewhere to have lunch. We walked through a bit of Chinatown and found our way to Little Italy. We ended up having lunch at a delicious Italian restaurant (we were in Little Italy, after all). In the photos, it looks like we were outdoors, but we actually were in a bright and sunny atrium. I had the most delicious linguine all’amatriciana the rest of the family had some delicious classics as well, like spaghetti bolognese, chicken parmesan and chicken, sausage, pepper and potatoes.

Once we’d finished lunch, we walked back to a bus stop and hopped back on to finish our tour. After we finished the tour, we made our way back to Rockefeller Center to go to the Top of the Rock. The views up there are absolutely breathtaking! The city seems to go on forever. There is also an amazing view of Central Park. It’s amazing to see just how big this oasis in the city is. This was one of my favorite things to do in New York.

As I said at the beginning of the post, we rented an apartment for our stay. We have done this before in other cities and it has always worked out very well. With our family, we need two hotel rooms, which can be quite expensive in a large city. An apartment usually doesn’t cost any more than two hotel rooms and sometimes costs less. You can further save money by doing some grocery shopping and making your own coffee and breakfast, instead of eating out every morning. But what I think we love the most is to be in a neighborhood, instead of a touristy area. It gives you a much better perspective of the city because you get to see the shops and restaurants that the locals frequent. Our apartment was on the Upper East Side and we found some good restaurants that were much more reasonable than those in more touristy areas.

We loved our bright, sunny apartment. We were on the fifth floor and had some great views as well as a little balcony. We enjoyed relaxing on the balcony or in the living room, after a full day of sightseeing.

Another perk of our apartment was that we were just a relatively short walk away from Central Park. I had no idea just how beautiful the park is. It’s amazing that this huge park exists in this big city. Once you’re in the park, it’s like you’re in a different world. It’s truly an oasis in the city. We went there one afternoon with the whole family and then Steve and I went back and had a nice long walk one morning.

For us, a trip to New York wouldn’t be complete without going to a musical on Broadway. Before headed off for the evening, we got all dressed up and we couldn’t resist taking a few pics. As you can see, things may have gotten a little out of hand!

We saw Book of Mormon and it was hysterical. We were so impressed by the level of talent and the overall production. After the show we walked across the street from the theater and had a late dinner. As we were walking out of the theater, Nicole caught wind that the actors were going to be lining up for a meet and greet and would be signing autographs. So she and Alex went back in and met the actors. They were both beyond thrilled!

Thursday morning Steve, Kelly, Alex and I decided to go spend some time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Nicole and Nate decided to spend the morning relaxing at the apartment. The museum is incredibly huge and they have an amazing collection of art. We only had about an hour to spend there, so we focused on looking at some of the paintings. I think it is so cool to see the originals painted by great artists like Picasso, Monet, Renoir and so on.

After the museum, we met Nicole and Nate at the Shake Shack for lunch. OMG! I love the Shake Shack! It was my first time there and I fell in love. If you’ve never heard of the Shake Shack, it’s the same kind of idea as 5 Guys or Smash Burger. The burger was perfectly cooked and the fries were hand cut, skinny fries that were double fried. They were so crispy and delicious!

Once we were finished with lunch, we decided to take another hop on hop off bus tour. This time we started with a tour of Uptown and then transferred to a route that took us up to the Bronx so that we could see Yankee Stadium. This was, once again, a great way to see a lot of the sights of the city.

Friday we decided to start out by taking the ferry to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. This turned out to be quite the process to get out there. We started by standing in a huge line to get tickets. Then we stood in another line to go through security and then finally we got to the line to get onto the ferry. The whole process took about 1 hour. We decided not to get off the ferry at the Statue of Liberty. We really just wanted to get close enough to see it and take pictures.

We did get off the ferry on Ellis Island. It was worth all the waiting. The tour you take walks you through everything that the immigrants had to go through when then landed in America and it was so interesting. Once we were through with the tour, we took some time and wandered around the island. The island is beautiful and it has breathtaking views of the city. It was another highlight of our trip.

Since we were down at the southern part of Manhatten, we decided we would also go to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. It something we all wanted to see. The museum tells the story of the tragedy and also pays tribute to the victims. I’m glad that we went and saw it, but it was definitely a sobering experience.

Our last day in New York was a little more low key that the rest of the week (I think we were just losing steam). Steve and I started the morning by getting Starbucks and taking a nice, long walk through Central Park. Then he and I went with Kelly and Alex to see Chelsea Market. Nicole and Nate decided that they were going to go to Central Park and have a picnic.

All four of us really ended up enjoying Chelsea Market. The market is a collection of shops and restaurants that are all in this really cool, old building. It was bustling with activity and was just a lot of fun. We found one shop that was called The Nutbox. They sold (believe it or not) a variety of nuts as well as dried fruit, granolas and trail mixes. We bought a few things there and while we were doing that, Alex had discovered a tea and spice shop right in the same space. Alex has become a bit of a tea aficionado and so he was in heaven. They had bowls full of all kinds of different loose leaf tea. You chose what you wanted and they scooped it up and packaged it in little tins for you.

Once we finished shopping, we were ready for lunch. We ended up finding this Italian restaurant called Rana (right in the market). We had a great time there and the food was delicious. All of their pasta is made from scratch and it was fabulous. We also had a delicious antipasto platter with a variety of Italian cheeses and cured meats. My meal was a carbonara ravioli and it so flavorful and good!

After lunch we walked around the Chelsea neighborhood for awhile before heading back to the apartment.

That evening we planned on having dinner at an Indian Restaurant in our neighborhood called the Drunken Munkey. But when we got there the place was packed. So we went down the street to an Italian restaurant that we had seen and got right in. I know, we had Italian for lunch, but can you really have too much Italian? Anyways, this place was what you would think of as an old school Italian restaurant. Lots of classic dishes and a cozy atmosphere. But instead of playing Sinatra, they played 70s and 80s, which was ok with us. We ended up having a really great time and a good meal. A great way to end our last day in the city!