It all started with a simple conversation over lunch last June. My mom had invited Natalee, Rebecca, and me to join her for lunch in Bellevue one day while the kids were still in school to celebrate all three of our birthdays since they all fall within a few weeks of each other in May and June. While we were at lunch, we stared discussing the travel points that Rebecca earns each year charging all of her work expenses to her work, credit card. She then offered to "donate" some of these points to pay for a hotel for a ladies' trip if we decided to go on one together. I then mentioned that my friend, Wendy, had just returned from a trip to NYC with her mother-in-law and all of her sisters-in-law. With that said, everyone got excited about trying to plan a trip for the five of us to to to NYC and by the end of the summer, our hotel was booked and our plane tickets were bought. We were really going to do it! We intentionally decided to go over Veteran's weekend in November before the holiday season swung into full gear and when all of the husbands had an extra day off from work to watch the kids.
So after waiting several months, the trip finally arrived this past weekend. My dad kindly agreed to watch Logan, Lia, and Ella for one school day and Ron took off another school day in addition to the 3-day, holiday weekend he had from work. Rebecca, Natalee, my mom, and I all caught the same direct flight from Seattle to JKF on Thursday, November 9th. When we got off our plane, Susie was already waiting for us at our terminal since her plane from Missoula had landed an hour or so earlier. We then all took an Uber into the city and arrived at our hotel around dinner time. We then spent the next 3.5 days touring all around this enormous, amazing city with endless amounts of things to see and do and eat! Although it was in the high of the 30s and 40s the ENTIRE time we were there, we managed to brave the cold and have a fabulous time walking (and taking the subway) all over this city. We saw shows, went to museums, ate amazing food, did some shopping, and visited many of the "must see" tourist spots. Unfortunately, I had some health complications before leaving, so I decided to take it easier than I normally do while on a trip. As a result, I went back to our hotel room all three afternoons after our morning outing to take a break and get off of my feet. I also did the same thing Monday morning while everyone else went out on their final adventure before we left for the airport later that afternoon. It actually worked out just fine as I was in the midst of reading one of the most engrossing books of my reading career,
The Nightingale. I enjoyed several quiet hours in the hotel room taking a nap and reading this page turner of a book over the course of the weekend which was a nice break from my nonstop life back at home as a mother of three, busy children.
After arriving in NYC on Thursday night, November 9th, we checked into our hotel and then headed out for the evening. Rebecca was able to reserve a hotel in Midtown right off of 6th Avenue and 41st street which was walking distance from so many great places. We set out on foot to find a place to eat dinner and to check out Times Square. We ended up eating at a delicious, Irish pub called O'Lunney's before heading out for rest of the evening.
A shot of the top of the Chrysler building that we could see at one point while walking to Times Square. I kept on thinking about the line from the musical, Annie, when Miss Hannigan threatens the orphans that they will stay up cleaning until the orphanage shines like the top of the Chrysler Building.
We soon walked into the brightly lit, simulation-overload landmark of Times Square. There are simply no words to describe how out of control this place is. It is so BRIGHT from all of the gigantic, gaudy, brightly lit signs that it honestly feels like the middle of the day when it is totally dark outside. We wandered all over the square trying to take it all in. Here are the five of us amidst the chaos, crowds, and lights.
One shot of some of the large signs advertising some of the Broadway musicals performing in the city.
And another shot.
After walking around the square for awhile, we decided to stroll through some of the flagship stores. First off, we visited the M&M store which is huge! Three stories of wall-to-wall M&M candy and paraphernalia.
A giant, M&M Statue of Liberty.
We next had to visit the huge Disney Store. Here are Natalee and I posing next to the life size Storm Trooper since our 5-year old boys are both in love with all things Star Wars.
We set out on the morning of Friday, November 10th, by taking the subway to the Chelsea district to walk a portion of the High Line. Here is a shot of one of the many side streets we walked by on our way to the High Line. It just reminded me of so many scenes I have watched in TV shows or movies over the years that are set in NYC.
A beautiful doorway of one of the many apartments we walked by.
The High Line is a 1.5 mile section of elevated, train tracks that had been unused for years. The city decided to redesign this abandoned section of railroad into a walking park. It was very interesting to walk and also fun to have an aeriel view of the Chelsea district.
We stumbled across an amazing, multi-level, parking lift parking garage while walking the High Line. We unfortunately did not get to actually see it in action, but it was still amazing to look at. This city is so crowded!
A shot of my mom and sister-in-laws from the High Line.
Another group shot.
After walking a section of the High Line, we went to the Chelsea Market to walk around and buy some lunch. The Chelsea Market is a food hall and shopping mall located in the old, Nabisco Factory building where the Oreo cookie was invented and produced. It has a really cool, rustic feel to it and the amount of food for sale and restaurants to choose from are endless.
Although we split up for lunch, Natalee and I ended up buying the same lobster roll with soup and chips from a seafood store. It was delicious!
After walking all morning and early afternoon, I parted from the group in the subway and headed back to the hotel for the afternoon while they went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We then set out for dinner at an Italian Restaurant before walking to the infamous, Radio City Music Hall to go to the 8 p.m. show of the Rockettes. Here is the outside of the music hall with the large, Christmas tree on top. When we booked this trip back in August, I didn't really realize how fun it would be to visit NYC this time of year when so many of the Christmas decorations and lights are already up!
All five of us inside the beautiful lobby.
Just by chance, the opening night of the Rockettes Christmas show was the night we went. So we were the first audience to see it performed this holiday season and it did not disappoint. It was so much fun to watch this legendary group of dancers do their thing with a Christmas twist! Here is Santa (lower, right corner) at the beginning of the show.
The Rockettes entering the stage dressed as reindeer pulling Santa in the sleigh.
The Rockettes in their candy cane-themed costumes.
The Rockettes dressed up as toy soldiers.
Performing in front of a large, double-decker bus that actually drove on and off of the stage.
In the politically correct world that we now line in, I was surprised to see that a living nativity is still performed at the end of the Christmas show. It was beautiful to watch--especially with all of the living animals that came out onto the stage including camels! My mother said that she remembers seeing this over 50 years ago when she last saw this show.
We headed out on another cold morning on Saturday, November 11th, to visit the 9-11 Museum and Memorial. We had 9 a.m. reservations for the museum tour, so we were up and at it pretty early. We started off the tour by watching two, different, 15 minute videos before we began our walk around the museum. Here is a picture I took of a large picture on the wall of the NYC skyline before the Twin Towers came down.
We walked through the Main Hall of the museum first which displays both small and large items found from the 9-11 wreckage. This picture contains the original, slurry wall on the left and the "last column" in the center which was the last piece of steel to be removed from the wreckage of the Twin Towers in May 2002.
A damaged, fire engine truck that was recovered during the clean-up.
One of the twin, reflecting pools built in the footprints of both of the Twin Towers.
My mom and I standing in front of some of the names of the victims from the 9-11 attack.
Rebecca, Natalee, Susie, and me sitting in front of two of the many Swamp White Oak trees planted on the grounds around the reflecting pools.
We then took the subway from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. We first ate lunch at a fabulous pizzeria before walking to the Empire Fulton Ferry State Park to see the famous, Brooklyn Bridge up close and personal. Although it was so cold, the sun was out and shining!
Natalee, Susie, and I with the bridge in the background.
All four of the daughters standing next to the Hudson River.
We then wandered around this adorable area of Brooklyn and stumbled across the most delicious and authentic French bakery, Almondine, that I have ever found in the U.S. We enjoyed eating some delicious French pastries before I headed back to the hotel for some well-needed rest time. My mom and sisters-in-law went on to Battery Park to see a view of the Statue of Liberty before heading to China Town and Wall Street.
After the group returned to the hotel, we decided to split up for the evening. All three of my sisters-in-law decided to catch a Broadway show and bought tickets to see "House of Rock." My mom and I opted to do our own thing which ended up being my favorite evening in NYC. From our hotel, we walked down the famous, 5th Avenue for almost 20 blocks taking a gander at all of the amazing, flagship stores. We then headed over to Rockefeller Plaza to visit the brand new, American Girl Doll store that had just opened that day! It was so much fun to be there on its first day, but also it felt so wrong to be there without Lia at my side. Since this is one of American Girl Doll's three flagship stores, it is much larger than our local Seattle store. As a result, there are many more displays to look at and a larger selection of items for sale. Here is a beautiful display of most of the historical dolls ever released. It was fun to see Lia's retired, historical doll, Caroline, in a store again!
American Girl recently teamed up with Mega Bloks (a company like Legos) and now sells several American Girl-themed, Mega Bloks sets. The store has a large, Mega Bloks section in the store and this is the awesome display there.
Since I had a $20 off coupon and the store was also offering a $20 off your purchase promotion to celebrate the opening of the new store, I decided to buy the Logan doll for Logan's upcoming birthday. There's nothing like getting $40 off these overpriced dolls! Here I am posing next to one of the beautifully decorated Christmas trees in the store after finishing my shopping.
The beautiful, window display outside the entrance to the store. It totally reminded me of the large, store front displays used in toy stores in the 1950s.
Some of the dolls moved in and out of the Christmas packages they were placed in. I so wished that Lia could have seen all of this!
After visiting the American Girl Doll store, we wandered around Rockefeller Plaza. We got to see the ice skating rink, the Christmas tree (which was about to be decorated), and the Today Show Studio.
We walked back to our hotel on the other side of 5th Avenue which allowed us to look at the stores on the other side of the street. We stopped and walked into the beautiful, St. Patrick's Cathedral which is located right on 5th Avenue and surrounded by skyscrapers and large buildings. It reminded me of every cathedral I have ever seen in Europe. The organ began a concert while we were in there which was amazing to hear. My mom and I then stopped at a Lebanese Restaurant a few blocks from our hotel and ate the most delicious, Middle Eastern dinner I have had in a long time. The food really is delicious everywhere you go in this city!
We headed out bright and early again on Sunday morning, November 12th, to attend church at 9 o'clock. We were all very excited to go church here as it shares a building with the temple which is something none of us have ever seen before! Here are the five of us standing outside of the church/temple.
The entrance of the church and temple. This is only the second "high rise" temple to be dedicated after the Hong Kong Temple. The entrance to the temple and the church are on the main floor, church offices are on the second floor, the chapel and all of the classrooms (for Sunday worship) are on the third floor, and the temple occupies the remaining fourth, fifth, and sixth floors.
A shot of Angel Moroni on top of the temple spire.
I had no idea that the Manhattan Temple was right across the street from the renowned, Juilliard School and Lincoln Center. After Sacrament Meeting, we had to walk past both of these NYC landmarks. Here are Rebecca, Natalee, my mom, and me posing in front of the gigantic, Lincoln Center.
After church, we spent the morning at the Museum of Natural History. It was fun to be in this place where such an iconic movie was once filmed.
The incredibly large, dinosaur skeleton in the museum's massive foyer.
My mom and I stuck together and only spent a few hours in the museum before throwing in the towel. We thoroughly enjoyed the extensive, dinosaur exhibit and I kept on wishing that Logan was with me. He would have loved seeing all of these skeletons! Here I am standing behind one of the massive dinosaurs.
The awesome T-Rex on display. Logan would have flipped out seeing this one.
After a few hours, we decided we needed to rest our feet and get some fresh air. Luckily, Central Park is right across the street from this museum! We ended up grabbing our lunch from one of the many street vendors and enjoyed eating our gyro from a bench with the museum in front of us and the park behind us.
We then spent most of the afternoon walking around Central Park which is huge! Since the autumn colors were still on most of the trees and the sun was shining bright (although it was super cold), we enjoyed a wonderful walk through the park.
We walked to the top of the Belvedere Castle and enjoyed stunning views all around.
The view of the park and the NYC skyline from the castle.
My mom and sis-in-laws from a top the castle.
We then walked over to Bethesda Terrace and fountain. This terrace iss so large and beautiful and was full of people--especially brides getting their pictures taken on this beautiful, fall day. Unfortunately, the fountain was empty, but it still didn't stop us from getting a picture in front of it.
As we were exiting the park, there were multiple bubble performers blowing the largest bubbles I have ever seen. My kids would have loved seeing this!
As we exited the park, my mom, Natalee, and I decided that we were done walking because our feet hurt so bad! So we hired one of the many pedicab drivers to take us back to the nearest subway entrance. We happened to ride past Rebecca and Susie on our way out of the park who snapped our picture before we pedaled on! After a late, afternoon break in the hotel room, we met back up with Rebecca and Susie for a final dinner a delicious, American-style restaurant.
On Monday, November 13th, I decided that I needed to just stay in the hotel for the morning. Although I had taken a break every afternoon while we were in NYC, my body was still exhausted from the issues that I was having and so I took a well needed nap that morning and read a lot of pages in my book. Rebecca went off on her own to go to the Museum of Modern Art (also knows as the MOMA) while Susie, Natalee, and my mom took the ferry to Staten Island and back so that they could get some stunning views of the Statue of Liberty. With the exception of Susie (who went straight to the airport), we all met back up at the hotel and walked around Bryant Park which was right across the street from our hotel. We grabbed some lunch while we were there and enjoyed walking by all of the vendor's booths. It was a nice way to end our stay in NYC before taking an Uber back to the airport to catch our flight home.
