It's Up to You New York

Sunday was Scott's birthday! It was my favorite day we spent in New York.  

We left early and stopped for a bagel right by our hotel.  Then we ubered over to church.  

The highlight of our trip was attending Hillsong church.  It was AMAZING! I cried the entire service.  We had to wait in line outside and then go to security just to get inside.  It was completely packed with people.  And everyone was so friendly and kind!! We had so many come and talk to us and I've never felt so welcomed.  It was such a diverse church and we LOVED that.  I couldn't quit smiling.  The worship was amazing and so was the sermon.  We couldn't stop talking about it.  When we left church, we walked to lunch and talked and cried the whole way about the experience.  

Us in church

We had reservations at Tavern on the Green for lunch.  It's so beautiful and the food was good but we were totally distracted and frazzled because about this time, we found out Scott's mom (who was keeping our kids) had to take his dad to the ER.  We were trying to help her find the hospital and it was SO LOUD in the restaurant and Laurie and Steve came over to keep our kids.  Thankfully he ended up being fine but we were so nervous.  

When we left Tavern we wanted to walk around Central Park.  It had been nice weather the first two days we were there but Sunday was FREEZING and so windy.  We decided we would take a pedicab around the park so we could see it all quickly.  Of course we nearly passed out after we got on and the driver said he would give us an hour ride and it would be $300.  Scott talked him down to a quicker, cheaper ride. ha! (That still wasn't cheap) 

The mall of Central Park - it's so pretty.  

I need to go back on a warmer day and wander all around.  

After central park, we walked back to our hotel to grab Scott a warmer coat and get gloves and hats and just warm up for a bit.  

We went by Magnolia Bakery and got banana pudding! It was delicious.  

Then we took the subway down to the Brooklyn Bridge.  

We had fun walking on the bridge.  We would have loved it more on a warmer day. ha! 

After the bridge we decided to walk down by the financial district.  

I had to take a picture of my Milk and Honey tee.  I took over their insta stories this week! 

Scott had to get a picture with the bull.  

The stock market 

 It was Sunday night and Wall Street was pretty much a ghost town.  We were loving it.  We had several streets to ourselves and we enjoyed the quiet.  New York is amazing but SO LOUD! All the honking and sirens and every restaurant is so loud we nearly had to text each other to communicate.  

We had dinner at the Smith that night.  It was really good but I didn't take any pictures except the one Scott got of his burger.  

Monday morning we had brunch at Sara Beth's near Central Park.  I was so excited about this meal but I wasn't feeling great that morning.  Scott got pancakes and all I could eat was a bowl of fruit.  And I only half ate that.  I hate I missed out on the lemon ricotta pancakes.  

We did a little more walking after this and then had to head to the airport to come home.  It was such a great get away.  Scott and I hadn't been alone for more than a couple of hours in five years.  It really didn't matter where we went - it was just good for us to be alone.  

Next week I will blog how I planned the surprise and how I planned the trip.  And I will answer any questions you want to ask!!! :-) 

Eating our way through NYC

Saturday we had a full day in New York! 

We had gorgeous weather this day.  We left our hotel early.  We were right next to Grand Central station.  

I decided between going to the top of the Empire State building or Top of the Rock.  I have been on top of the Empire and the wait can be really long and I had read that the Top of the Rock is a better view AND you can see the Empire so I went with that.  I wanted to get tickets early in the day before it got too crazy.  

This was a really neat experience.  I am SO afraid of heights so it stressed me out.  We went to the top and then you can go 2 floors higher and then there is even a higher deck.  Even just walking around the city looking up at the top of buildings made me dizzy.  

BUT WOW - what a view!!! It helped us realize just how big the city was.  

You could see all around - from the statue of liberty to central park to the Brooklyn Bridge! 

We came down and walked around Rockefeller plaza. 

I loved this part of town.  

Scott and I jumped on the UBER train on this day.  We had never used an uber before but it quickly became our favorite form of getting around (besides walking).  

I have had several friends who have gone to NYC recently who did a walking food tour of Greenwich village and have loved it so I thought that would be fun.  

We did a tour with Nice Guy Tours.  We had a group of 13 and we went to seven places and got to try things at each spot and also see sights in this area.  It's a cool area.  

We started at a Falafel place.  We had never had falafel but I liked it.  

We walked through Washington Square.  This is Larry the Bird guy.  

On our tour was a couple from England (I told them I had been watching "The Crown" and they had never heard of it.  ha!) ,  a large family, and then a couple from NW Arkansas!!! I actually sort of knew of Caroline even though we had never met.  It was totally random that we ended up on the same tour but we share a lot of friends who had been on the tour.  ha! We had a lot of fun hanging out with them.  

I was so excited to see the apartment from "Friends".  One of my all time favorite shows! 

One of the things I loved most about NYC was just all the history and architecture in the buildings.  This is the oldest house in Greenwich village - built in the 1700's.  The one on the left is the skinniest house.  It's only 9 feet wide!!!

We had artichoke pizza which was good but SUPER buttery.  

Every place we visited in Greenwich was literally the size of my closet.  TINY restaurants.  They each had maybe 2 tables.  Or less.  So we ended up taking our food outside at each spot.  Thankfully it was a beautiful day.  

Another shot of Washington Park.  

 The famous arch in Washington square

We took a picture in the same spot that Bob Dylan had an album cover taken.  

These apartments behind us used to be servants quarters.  Now they are 1100 sq ft apartments that sell for FOUR MILLION DOLLARS.  

Bleeker Street Pizza - it was really good! 

We also had Pomme Frites, a cupcake, Rice Balls (which Caroline and I kept thinking our guide Dante was saying Rice Bowls until he brought them to us.  Apparently we Arkansans need interpreters).  ha! 

Dante holding the rice balls. ha! 

I highly recommend this tour if you go to NYC.   It was about 3 hours long and it was fun and relaxing and a great way to try things and see sights.  

After our tour - we had tickets to ride the double decker bus around the city.  I did this before and it was so fun.  It was such a nice day so we decided to walk to the place where we had to pick up our tickets.  I had bought them ahead but it said we had to go to a certain place to get them.  It took about an hour to walk.  When we got there, we had to wait in line a while to get our tickets.  Then when we went out - the two busses parked outside pulled away right before we got to them.  So we waited and waited to get on another bus and it never came.  So we walked a few blocks to try and meet one and we waited and waited and a bus FINALLY came when there were only 30 minutes left before it shut down and the driver got out and said we had to wait for a new driver and it would be 15-20 minutes.  So we gave up and left.  We just lit that money on fire.  I'm disappointed that it didn't work out but that was the only bad experience we had and it was partially our fault for not trying to find a bus earlier I guess.  

We walked back to our hotel and saw Bryant Park. 

 And the New York public library 

We rested and refreshed before going to dinner.  

We took a taxi since they were right outside our hotel.  Traffic was insane Saturday night and we had a minor wreck on the way.  Scott and I were stressed out.  Our driver just exchanged words and kept going.  

We ate at Carmines and it was delicious.  The food is served family style so portions are enormous.  We shared lasagna and we needed about 4 other people to share with us.  But we enjoyed dinner.  

We were near Times Square so we walked over.  It was crazy town.  These creepy, sketchy characters starting swarming Scott and I.  

Before I knew what was happening they were taking pictures with us.  I know we should have avoided them but it all happened so fast.  Then they started asking for money and Minnie Mouse INSISTED we give them $20.  

 Times Square at night is always interesting 

We walked through Grand central station on our way back to our hotel.   It was a busy but crazy day. 

We did manage to walk 11 miles on this day.  My feet were dead.  As much good food as we ate - I still somehow lost 2 pounds on vacation! There were so many places we wanted to go - like Levain Bakery and Serendipity but we were either too full or just ran out of time.  You can only eat or walk so much!