(Throwback of a Blog I forgot to Write)

Our trip to New York City was such a pivotal one for us in our travel journey, so I’m not sure how it got skipped in my blog writing! This was the first time we flew away for a vacation. First time I went to a large city, to the East Coast, as a tourist. It was outside of my comfort zone of the West and all the states I had been to already, so in my mind, this is when we started traveling. We went just after Thanksgiving so all the the Christmas hubbub was in full swing and it was extra magical!

I really wish I had wrote a blog about it, or was journaling at the time. Time is a thief of fine details. I remember we stayed in Midtown East but could not tell you what the hotel is. A few blocks from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, it was not a chain. It was very affordable for the area so I was excited to see it was also very nice! And very under construction! I believe we stayed 4 nights in NYC and went non-stop the whole time! We walked over 13 miles the first day and I was kicking my self for not wearing more comfortable shoes! Yes there is a metro, but everything was “just 10 blocks” or “just a 15 minute walk!” By the end of the day, we had to take a taxi from our dinner reservation 10 blocks back to the hotel because I simply could not walk! But I loved nearly every minute of it!

I usually like to start at the beginning, but we are about 15 years down the line now, so I don’t have a firm idea of where the beginning is. But I will do my best! We did a large loop in Upper Manhattan one day, then a loop in Lower Manhattan the next, followed by a day catching whatever else. We had purchased the CityPass and I had a long list of must see’s, so there was really not much time for anything else. We started bright and early at 30 Rockefeller Center trying to see Al Roker on the today show. We got there later than I would have liked so it was packed with people already and freezing! We just took a picture of the Christmas tree and continued our day. We took the metro up to General Grant National Memorial. If you know anything about our travel interests it should be 1) we like national parks/monuments etc, and 2) We are all about the Military History.

From Grant’s Tomb, the plan was to walk down to Central Park and criss-cross it a few times, hitting up the museums as we did so. We crossed over to the East side north of the Reservoir and then walked down to the Guggenheim. Gorgeous building- boring museum. Next was the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I loved it! LOVED it! I’m not sure how long we spent in there, but it was a lot! Exiting he Met, we wandered Central Park back over to the other side and the American Museum of Natural History. The only reason I can think of that I have no pictures of this magnificent museum is that my camera battery died. It is also incredible and definitely worth stopping!

We ended this day walking back across Central Park, yet again, and stopping to snap the Plaza hotel, and shop at the FAO Schwartz that was on 5th Avenue. Sadly, that store has closed and appears to now be a large Apple building. We did a carriage ride though the park wandered down 5th Avenue, looking at the Christmas displays in the windows and all the magic! Dinner in Times Square and a much needed early night!

Our second morning was another early one. We planned to see the Nascar Victory Lap in Times Square and needed to get up early for that. We then walked over to the Hudson and hopped on the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise. It was so nice to sit! But it was open air and freezing! Still, we got a great view of the bridges, The Statue of Liberty, and Ground Zero. After the cruise, we walked over to Ground Zero. We were 6 pears post 9/11 at this point and one of the buildings was till being torn down. the site was a huge hole in the ground that was surrounded by chainlink fence wrapped in tarp. You could only see in through small holes in the fabric. There was a small 9/11 Memorial Museum in a building a few blocks away that we went to visit. The profound sadness of the site is one I will never forget.

We then walked down to Battery Park, through the financial district and over to the Brooklyn Bridge. We only walked about a quarter of the bridge and spent a good chunk of time just people watching and taking pictures. Heading back north we saw the NYC Public Library, China town (where some swindlers were trying to get us to follow down a narrow alley for some designer purses) and headed back to the hotel. Our plans to attend the Tree Lighting at Rockefeller Center that night were seriously derailed when we discovered we could not even get close enough to see the tree! It was packed! So we skipped it and just went to dinner.

The following day was the Museum of Modern Art, the Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, and some shopping. I loved the MoMA. I remember saying at the time that I was glad I did it last, because it would have ruined the others for me! We did the Top of the Rock that evening and wandered through all the glorious lights of Rockefeller Center! If you know me, you know how I love Christmas movies, and Home Alone in particular, so being in NYC at Christmas was an incredible moment for me. I still tell Jeremy I need to go back!

Update: we did revisit NYC in 2015 and saw One World Trade Completed. It will be included in another post.