For our one-year anniversary, we spent a night in New York
City! It was such a great little trip! I must confess, I dream of living in
NYC. I know a lot of people never want to live there, but I just love the idea
of it. It’s so bustling, and I am so fascinated by how life would be.
We hopped on a bus early Thursday morning… We would have
gotten on REALLY early, but the bus driver of our original bus just skipped our
bus stop and went straight to New York. Thanks, Peter Pan busses. After a three
hour bus ride, we ended up in the heart of NYC. It was raining and cold, which
was kind of a bummer, but not too terrible.
We found our hotel, Park Central, on hotels.com. I did a lot
of research to make sure most of the reviews were good, and that the hotel was
in a good location. After the bed bug fiasco of 2009, there was NO way I was
taking any chances. Fortunately, this hotel was affordable, close to Times
Square, and clean!
We got to NYC around lunch, checked into our hotel, and then
went to lunch at Carnegie Deli. Honestly, we were not impressed. It was so
expensive and not very good. But that is just our opinion. For dinner, we went
to Hurley’s Irish Pub and Saloon. It was delicious! Then, we were off to the
theater! We saw Wicked on Broadway! A dream come true! I had seen Wicked in Dallas,
but Nick had never seen it at all. Gershwin Theater is so lovely, and the show
was just incredible.
The next day, we got up and headed to Central Park. It was
drizzly and cold, so there was basically NO one around. We stopped at a French
café in the park and got some hot chocolate because I was so cold I thought I
would pass out. Then we walked over to West Elm, Urban Outfitters,
Bloomingdales, and then Serendipity for some nachos and frozen hot chocolate. I
loved exploring all the different parts of Manhattan.
After Serendipity, we had our first subway experience! I
have to admit, I was pretty terrified but also very excited. I feel like
television makes the subway look so nasty, and going underground just is not
ideal for me. But we went in at a station that was actually pretty nice, and
was playing music. I was pleasantly surprised! We rode the subway to Ground
Zero and saw the new World Trade Center. We couldn’t go in, but were able to
see the building. Then, we walked to the water and took the Staten Island
Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty from the water. Ferries are another thing I
do not like… Totally freaks me out. To express my feelings, consider the Friends episode when
Ross is like, “A FERRY!? My baby is going on a FERRY? Do you have any idea how dangerous those are?!” “Are we talking about those big
boats that carry cars and go like five miles an hour?”
Anyway, the ferry was a lovely experience. It was so big, and even had a little
coffee shop/concession stand on it. After a couple ferry rides, we walked to
the Brooklyn Bridge… We didn’t walk all the way across, just about half way.
It’s so gorgeous!
We walked through Chinatown and by the government area. I
recognize the building that Dev on Smash works in! We walked by it! Then, we
took the subway back to Times Square. We visited the Disney store and XXI.
Then, packed up our stuff and headed back to the bus station. But we had to
fulfill a final dream before leaving town. We got hotdogs from a street
vendor!! It was so exciting! Nick was actually shocked that I wanted to do it…
Really, I was too. They are kind of nasty if you think about it. But so New
York! I felt like a local.
That was our getaway in the Big Apple. I loved it so much,
and can’t wait to go back, hopefully this summer! Living three hours away is
pretty awesome.
