Two Days In One

Alright, since I forgot (or rather was too tired) to blog last night, here's two doses worth of our lastest adventures in NYC.

TUESDAY:

Took the 1 train down to Battery Park and went out to see old Lady Liberty. It was our first venture into the Subway and except for the really awful smell, it wasn't that bad. I was armed with hand sanitizer so we felt clean afterwards! The Statue really is impressive. We got monument tickets, waited in line for about 45 minutes and climbed the 163 steps to [almost] the top of the base. Great views for the city skyline from up there! The ferry then took us to Ellis Island where we thought about searching for family members before we realized it would probably take us five hours. So we wandered around then headed back to the main land. We were starved by 2 PM so we grabbed an OUTRAGEOUSLY over-priced lunch at TGI Friday's. We both remembered why we'd only been there once before in our lifetimes. Not worth $15.95 for mediocre fish tacos. They also had the tip pre-calculated for you and tailored to how well the server did.

We then walked up to see Ground Zero. They're doing some major construction work trying to get Freedom Tower up, so we had very limited views. I took the pictures I could, walked by and watched the men of Ladder 10 decorate their Christmas tree and then headed up to Greenwich Village. We ambled around tyring to find the "Friends" apartment building. However, it's a well-kept secret amongst the crew so we enjoyed the view and made our way to Magnolia Bakery. EXCELLENT cupcakes. I had the hummingbird with cream cheese icing. Brad had pumpkin cheesecake.

After making our way back to the apartment for a brief nap, we UrbanSpooned (through the iPhone) our dinner choice. Delta Grill at 9th and 48th(?). They had some really good blackened tuna and shrimp creole. Not to mention sweet cornbread and jalapeno dinner biscuits. We weren't quite ready to turn in so we took a mid-evening stroll up Broadway to Columbus Circle and back.

WEDNESDAY

This morning, we woke up to light rain and a high of 60* while all the Texans were enjoying 34* and snow! Go figure. So we decided to make it a museum day. We took the subway to Central Park west and walked through to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Some of our favorite things? Picasso in real life (not the painter, just the paintings); rooms made to look like hotels from France with furniture, drapery, etc.; the REAL wood floors throughout the museum; arms and armor (they had many full suits of armor, but the highlight was Henry II's); musical instruments from then and now; the American Wing (I'd love to see this again when all galleries are complete) -- real Tiffany lamps, jewelry, etc., more rooms from older homes, etc. The Met is just one of those things you have to do while in New York, even if you aren't an art buff.

At this point, we were hungry, so we walked a good 6 blocks to Gray's Papaya for their "recession special" -- two hot dogs and a fresh fruit drink for $4.45, including tax. I recommend WITH sauerkraut and onions and having the pina colada (alcohol free). Yum! We then walked right back across Central Park to Serendipity. There's a minimum per person so we ordered a Frrrrozen Hot Chocolate AND the coward's portion of the banana split. Our honest opinion? Both were fabulous, but the banana split got more of our attention.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

It's a good thing we're doing most of our getting around on foot because I think we've eaten out enough so far this week to feed an entire family of 10. We stopped in at Bloomingdale's before headed home to change. Another 7 stories of shopper's delight!

Had dinner at a humble diner before heading to "Wicked". After that stunning performance of ALL the characters, we're going to try the TKTS booth tomorrow and see about catching another show before we leave!

Three more days and lots more to do!