june 2016: NYC!

Rob's sister, Alisa, invited us to visit New York City this June and we were fortunate to be able to make it! I've been wanting to visit there for years (spending a few hours in the city and Empire State Building as an 11 year-old is a vague memory).  Patti and Sue were so kind to take care of our kids (thank you again!). 

Rob and I took a red eye flight from Phoenix to JFK on Thursday night. To make a long story short, we parked at a sketchy motel/area near the airport (we misunderstood their shuttle services) and I pretty much ended up speed walking/jogging to the terminal...so things got off to a bit of a comical/stressful start. Our flight was full and I wasn't able to sleep. Thankfully things got MUCH better from there. "Get us off of this plane!"

Alisa gave us great directions on how to get from JFK to her garden apartment in Harlem! We took the train/subway and made it to her place before she left for work on Friday morning. We totally crashed at her place and slept for a couple of hours before showering and getting ready to leave. We ate some tuna salad sandwiches at Alisa's and then took the subway to the Manhattan Temple. We barely got there in time for the session (of 8-10 people), but made it. I kept thinking about the millions of people in the city surrounding the temple. It's amazing how many people are in the world and Heavenly Father and the Savior know and love them all. 

After the session in front of the temple:

Looking up at Angel Moroni:

From the temple we walked to Levain Bakery. I had seen the women that started this bakery on a Food Network show and was anxious to try their famous cookies.

They did not disappoint!!! Here is Rob with the chocolate peanut butter cookie. Fantastic!

From the bakery, we walked along Broadway and met up with Alisa after work around 4:15 in Times Square. From there we took to subway to Brooklyn. Alisa and me on the subway:

We ate dinner at Grimaldi's pizza right at the Brooklyn Bridge and walked along the pier.

Then we walked the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. What a view!

 

Rob and me at City Hall Park:

 (closer)

(closest)

Trinity Church:

 We also went inside St. Paul's Chapel (where George Washington worshiped for a time).

Rob by the Charging Bull on Wall Street:

Busy Times Square:

We closed out the evening by eating fresh berries and Levain cookies at Bryant Park. It was a lovely evening--the weather was perfect all weekend. We headed back to Harlem and crashed for the night.

Saturday morning we took the subway to Central Park. I thought all of the different tile in the subway stations was so interesting! I love this one of the Apollo Theater:

  

I had a fairly short list of the things I really wanted to do in NYC and riding bikes in Central Park was near (if not) the top! We rode for about three hours and were able to see so many beautiful places. In the park we saw: The Mall, Bethesda Fountain, Boathouse, Conservatory Gardens, Harlem Meer, Swedish Cottage, Strawberry Fields, and the John Lennon Memorial, among other things. It was awesome!

We found a quaint little bench by the Swedish Cottage to sit and visit. So lovely!

John Lennon Memorial:

After the park we headed toward the Theater District for lunch and stopped for a photo by the Hope Sculpture by Robert Indiana:

Yummy food (I especially liked the noodles) for lunch:

Then FINALLY my first show ON Broadway! Wicked was really great and lived up to the hype:

After the show and looking around the Gershwin Theatre, we grabbed burgers at the Shake Shack which we ate in Bryant Park.  This is one of Alisa's favorite places in the city (and near her work).

Beautiful Alisa sitting in Bryant Park:

From the park we headed to 30 Rockefeller Plaza and went to "Top of the Rock" (also on my short list). We were able to time it to get there before dusk and we were able to watch the sunset from there. Pretty awesome! View of Central Park on one side:

And the Empire State Building and Freedom Tower (among other things) from the other side:

Night Falls:

I had to get a quick photo with my boyfriend, Jimmy, outside of the NBC store...

We got amazing Banana Pudding at Magnolia Bakery and sat with a view of the plaza:

 I liked this model of 30 Rock at the Lego store next door:

On Sunday morning we went to Alisa's ward (Harlem 1st ward) and really enjoyed sacrament meeting (she got a new bishop and the stake president gave some really great remarks). After the meeting, I enjoyed walking through Harlem and hearing music coming from other churches on our walk to the bus stop.  Next, we went to the Frick Collection museum:

We walked around the Upper East Side (went into Serendipity but decided not to stay), and Lower East Side of Manhattan. The three of us shared an enormous pastrami sandwich (Rob's favorite food of the trip) at famous Katz's Deli (I regret not taking a photo of the sandwich or the deli, but here it is):

From there we walked through Chinatown and Little Italy. Here is Engine 55 in Little Italy. Amazing buildings and architecture everywhere!:

Alisa and Rob on Mulberry (name of their childhood street):

I liked Little Italy and the yummy gelato:

Next we walked through Soho/Tribeca (much quieter than other parts of the city!) and spent several hours at the 9/11 Memorial/Museum. What can I say about this sacred ground? I've been wanting to visit this museum since it opened. I've watched many documentaries about the attacks on 9/11 as well as the museum itself (can you believe we are coming up on the 15th year anniversary?). The museum was really interesting and very different for me as it was the first time I've gone to a museum where I already have a good amount of knowledge on the subject matter. We were there for three hours (until closing) and could have spent much more time there.
Outside at the Memorial:

From there we took the Staten Island Ferry and enjoyed the views of Manhattan (and Freedom Tower) from the water:

Lady Liberty at sunset:

We visited the Staten Island 9/11 Memorial (really interesting) before catching the Ferry back to Manhattan:

There was a fireworks show on the ferry back!

We made it back to Harlem after 11pm and had a perfect light dinner at Alisa's (veggies with humus and almond butter, fruit, and leftover banana pudding). We continued to visit (miss you already, Alisa!) and eventually went to bed around 1:30AM.

On Monday morning, Rob and I took our time getting ready and made it back to Levain Bakery for more cookies! I'm telling you, this peanut butter chocolate is perfection:

From there we dropped off our luggage at Alisa's work for a little bit, visited the New York City Library (saw an interesting gallery display on Alexander Hamilton), did some souvenir shopping for the kids, shared a waffle with fresh strawberries in Bryant Park, bid farewell to Alisa, and took public transit back to JFK! Whew! It was a fantastic trip. The cherry on top was sitting next to the most interesting man (originally from Brooklyn, but now lives in Chandler) on the flight home from New York. He told us his fascinating life stories the entire flight home and made the time go by quickly.

Thank you, Alisa, for being an amazing host and guide!
Thank you, Patti, for taking care of our kids and your generous gift!

It was a wonderful trip, but it's always great to be back home.