The Trip of All Trips: The End

This is the last trip post. I'm not kidding. Like all good things, it has to come to an end. The trip was good, I mean. I'm not so sure about the posts. Ha! But, don't worry, this last one will be short.

We went to brunch at a lovely little place called Le Pain Quotidien. It was a fairly quick stop, since we had to be sure to make it to The Frick before we headed to the airport to go home.  Do we look tired? :)

The Frick is an amazing museum-- I just can't believe it used to be someone's home! Seriously such a cool building. I almost found myself admiring the architecture more than the fabulous art housed within. I guess Henry Frick was quite a dastardly chap, but his NYC "house" was cool. :)

Our plan originally called for Art to head to the airport by herself since her flight was quite a bit earlier than ours, and the rest of us would find a way to kill a few hours before going to the airport. Then we decided maybe we'd just all go together and play some cards at the airport while we waited. It's a good thing we did! There was some construction on the subway line, so we had to take a totally convoluted route to get there. Luckily Martha was there to decipher the confusing directions of our new route and get Art there on time. She barely made it! Phew!

The trip home was pretty uneventful, except for when we got to the car park and found the car dead as a doornail. Awesome. I guess leaving on a dome light really sucks the battery. Luckily the nice guys at the car park were able to jump the car and get us on our way. Considering all we did over the 4 days of our trip, I'm really glad that the only real bumps came at the end. 

It was seriously the most well-planned, fun-filled vacation I could have imagined. Thanks for making it happen, Mom! 

More Fabulous Trip Stuff! Don't Quit on Me Now!

So, we're on Saturday by now. You're not going to believe what we did on this day-- we not only went to 2 Broadway shows, but we went to the Empire State Building TWICE, Times Sauare, AND we managed to fit in Grand Central Station and Rockefeller Center, too! I know, crazy amazing.

The first stop of the day was Levain Bakery; we needed a few 10-pound cookies to fuel our bodies for the day. A little nibble here, a little nibble there... 

A shot of us on our main mode of transportation:

So cool to be at the Empire State Building!

The audio tour was so informative. The Empire State Building is truly an impressive structure, and I'm amazed at how quickly it was erected-- it took just under 15 months! Another amazing fact is that only 5 people died during construction (compared to 22 when the Brooklyn Bridge was built). After looking at all of the cool photos of the workers walking around on the skeletal frame of the building with no harnesses, that fact is astounding to me!

We left the Empire State Building with plans to return that night to see the city lights from above. 

Our plan was to hit Shake Shack for lunch on our way to see Matilda. Shake Shack was A LOT more crowded than we anticipated. Amazingly, with all of the things we've been managing to do every day, this was the ONLY time I felt rushed. And, boy, were we rushed. I could feel the mostly-unchewed chicken and apple sausage floating around in my stomach during the performance like a little canoe on the water. It all turned out okay, though. :)

After Matilda (really cute, by the way, my kids would love it), we took a little stroll in Times Square. 

Then we went to dinner at this little dim sum place. So super good. 

After the yummy dim sum, we realized that we could squeeze in a visit to Grand Central Station before our second Broadway show. It was so bitterly cold by then that we just needed some place to be in out of the cold. What a cool space to be warm in!

Okay, so Matilda was cute and really fun. Wicked, on the other hand, was PHENOMENAL! Seriously so good. I wish I could take the three older kids. They would absolutely love it. 

After Wicked we made a run to Magnolia Bakery for their must-have banana pudding. Everyone else got banana pudding, I got a hot drink. Then we went to Rockefeller Center, which was beautiful, but I didn't even take any photos because it was so cold I didn't want to take my hands off of the outside of my hot cup. Getting the hot drink was a bad idea, though-- the rapid temperature fluctuation between my super hot drink and the biting cold wind made one of my fake front teeth crack. Oops. But, man, did that hot liquid hit the spot. Brrrr!

It was after midnight by the time we got back to the Empire State Building, but there was no way we weren't going to get our nighttime view of the city from up in the stars. 

Hello, again (cool floor)!

We thought it was cold at ground level, but it was nothing compared to the intensity of the cold out on the observation deck of the Empire State Building that night. So cold! We were out there just long enough to run around to all 4 sides to snap photos and notice that there were tons of bats overhead eating the bugs attracted by the lights. Super quick, but so worth it. I mean, look.

So beautiful, don't you think? We spent a few minutes browsing the gift shop on our way out. I bought a small gift to take home-- a set of playing cards with pictures and facts about the Empire State Building. Just the right thing for my game-playing family.

This day was so super long, but I wouldn't have changed anything about it. What a blast!

...and Continues... (aka Museum Day!)

After another hearty breakfast of steel cut oats, we were ready to head out for Museum Day! I call it that because we visited 3 major art museums in one day. Yes, three. And we didn't even feel rushed. For real.

I hope I remember correctly where all of these photos are from. Luckily I have people in my family who know better if I'm wrong. :) 

First up-- the Guggenheim! 

As we left our temporary Harlem home that morning, I snapped a quick photo as we walked. 

Art took one as we were walking down the sidewalk toward the museum. It was such a beautiful day.

We were allowed to take pictures in the lobby of the museum, but nowhere else. I'm okay with that. Amazing!

I love the way the exhibit is set up in an ongoing spiral so you never have to wonder where to go next, or if you've already been in a room or not, like happens in a lot of museums. The main exhibit in the Guggenheim was that of an artist named Alberto Burri. None of us had ever heard of him before but, WOW. His work was amazing. It just breathed life and emotion. I wish I could go take another look.

The Guggenheim was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Yeah, you know who I mean. (He rocks. Good job on the museum, Frank.) We decided to eat lunch in the museum's restaurant, The Wright. It was this really cool retro space located in the museum's underbelly. Such a cool atmosphere to enjoy some excellent food. Seriously. One of my favorite meals of the trip (aside from the steel cut oats, of course). I wouldn't mind having the cannellini beans that were nestled in the juices from my chicken and grilled endive hooked up as an IV drip. Delicious.

After lunch, we headed to The Met! What a humongous building housing an incredible amount of art. We could have spent a lot more time there than we did, but we saw what we really wanted to and managed to stay within our schedule. (We had to make it to MoMA within the free Friday admission hours!)

The view from the rooftop was gorgeous.

And there was so much cool art inside. Some of it creepy!

And I had to take some pictures of parts of art, of course.

We made it to MoMA with a little light left in the day so we could enjoy the sculpture garden. I loved it. Such cool stuff on display.

And here Art caught me taking pictures of parts of art yet again.

It was really such a great museum day. To cap it all off, we grabbed a quick dinner at Hale and Hearty and then headed to Opera's performance. Probably a good thing to do, since that's why we were telling people we were there and all. It was great to see Opera do her thing. I'm so glad she is getting a chance to pursue what she loves. It's what I wish for everyone. 

Phew! Another fun-filled day in the can. Next stop...Empire State Building and Broadway!

The Epic Adventure Continues...

I put together some steel cut oats in the crock pot before I collapsed into bed that first night, knowing that it would be great to wake up in the morning to an easy, yet sustaining, breakfast to start off our big day (seriously, I really should break this day up into 3 separate posts). I was right-- it was perfect. We knew we had to get out of the house fairly early to be able to make the ferry. That's right, we were headed to the Statue of Liberty! I was seriously so excited about this.

The weather was beautiful, just perfect for the day's planned activities. I can't even explain how much I loved using the subway and walking a ton to get around. It really fed my inner urbanite and made me realize how much I hate using a car to get around all of the time. But, I don't really like lots of people and the thought of having a little land excites me, too. What to do?? Clearly, the answer is just to visit NYC often. 

One of the things I loved about the city was all of the fabulous older buildings tucked in amongst the ginormous modern high rises. My sister, Art, thought it would be fun to capture pictures of me feeding my addiction to capturing pictures. I love it. I had to take this shot on our way to the ferry from the subway.

We loved the name of our ferry; she was like a pageant queen, minus the sequins. Art's extra-long arms sure did come in handy on this trip. She was our very own human-selfie-stick. 

You can tell how much fun we were having. I mean, just look at our faces!

I took a few different photos as we were making our approach to the island, both of the Lady and looking back to the city skyline. I can't believe I was there and got to take these photos. So very cool.

It seemed pretty unreal, all of it. But so fantastic!

We didn't get tickets to go up to the crown (we tried in August and they were booked until November!), but being able to go up to the pedestal was good enough for me. 

Just inside the museum, they have the old torch. Can you believe they used to let people up in it?? With only a single 54-rung ladder leading up to it, and just that little waist-high railing to keep you from falling? Yikes! Overcrowding became such a huge issue that they closed access to the public in 1917. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be on that little thing when it was overcrowded. 

The museum was fascinating and I learned a ton. The construction process amazed me. But, I think what stuck with me the most was when I learned that women weren't invited to the ribbon cutting ceremony when Lady Liberty was dedicated, even though they'd been involved in many aspects of making the whole thing happen. Suffragettes rented boats and circled the island during the dedication in protest. Awesome. Just think where women would be today if our predecessors hadn't stood up for our rights that way. Super cool.

There was a long line for the elevator up to the pedestal, so we decided to take the stairs. As we entered the stairwell, there was a sign that said, "Pedestal: 195, Crown: 354" My sister, Martha, who was trailing behind me and the others asked what the numbers meant and I told her it probably was the number of steps we had to climb. She responded, "I certainly hope not!" Well, it was. I think she grumbled something about wishing we'd taken a vote on whether we should take the elevator or the stairs. Ha! I think the stairs made it more of an adventure. :)

Sisters!

I took a ton of photos of the statue, but for me it's also about the little details I see. I loved the green tinge everything has because of the water run-off from the copper.

We ate a fabulous sack lunch (lovingly packed by Opera and Art the day before while they were waiting for us to arrive) there in the shadow of the statue before we caught the ferry to our next destination. Even the seagulls that were stalking our food seemed cooler in a place like that. Or maybe it was just their NY attitude shining through. 

Next up...Ellis Island!

More photos on the ferry ride, of course. This is me, after all.

I've learned the general stories about Ellis Island, but taking the audio tour and learning the details really brought it all to life. So, so fascinating.

And, I mean, look at this:

I'm just really glad that no one used a hook to peel back my eyelids to look for trachoma when we arrived. Look it up. Eeeek!

We weren't sure about our ability to fit in our next stop, but Opera wanted to show us the location of her very first job when she moved to NYC and also give us a look at Wall Street. I was kind of ambivalent about whether we went to Wall Street or not, but boy am I glad we did. It was nothing like I expected. At. All. 

It actually ended up being one of my favorite places. I know I'm weird, but it almost felt cozy. And, oh! The Trinity Church. Fabulous.

Maybe it was because my brain was trying to process all that we had seen and learned at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island earlier in the day, but this stop really felt like an oasis to me. 

I know you probably won't believe it, but we had one more big thing scheduled for the day. And I mean big. 

Yup. The World Trade Center Memorial and Museum. Talk about heavy. And overwhelming. But so good and important to see. We headed in with some daylight still hanging on.

I read some firsthand accounts of 9/11 in the month leading up to our trip. That, coupled with the things to see and learn at the museum made the whole thing so much more real to me. It wasn't just something I had seen on the news from afar anymore, it was something that I felt much more deeply. So sad. So moving. So uplifting. I can't really describe all of the emotions I went through while we were there. Exhausting, I know that. 

I even reached the point where I stopped taking pictures. I just needed to absorb it all. Wow.

After the day we had, it was definitely time for some good food. We lost Opera, who had to go to rehearsal (bummer), but the rest of us forged on toward sustenance. We found just the thing in a delicious meal at Maison Kayser.

It hit the spot, but we still felt in need of more emotional support. What to do? Where to go? Why, to Big Gay Ice Cream, of course, so Martha could get herself a Salty Pimp!

Seems like enough for one day, doesn't it? So amazing, I know that. Okay, next up...museum day! But first I have to get some more steel cut oats ready for the morning...