After years of dreaming, I finally took a bite out of the big apple. The allure of prominent skyscrapers and breathtaking skylines, million-dollar businesses, night or day entertainment, and blocks of cultured metropolis makes the Empire State a fantasy for city girls like me. This year I was thrilled to spend the 4th of July in illustrious New York City.
Rockefeller Center
Visiting the Lego store was a must. Lego has always wowed their customers with impressive structures created from their tiny plastic blocks. NYC, of course was no different. Aside from the gigantic lego apple in the core of Rockefeller Center, they also recreated the Atlas Statue that faces 5th Avenue in Lego form. We spent way too much time in this store considering our age, but I did get some fun pictures and in the process scored a great birthday present for Joel!
What is a visit to NYC without a trip to Times Square?
The Empire State building was one of our first stops. What better way to see New York City than from the top of one of the tallest buildings around? This building has always been on my list of must-sees. 'Sleepless in Seattle' has lended the building an air of romance, and 'King Kong' has made it one of the most recognized buildings in the country. To me, the Empire State building is a symbol of success and victory. This renowned tower took only 410 days to complete, in the middle of the depression. What an achievement.
At the entrance, my heavy planning allowed Jason and I to pass the long line for tickets. I skipped ahead, feeling proud that I had outsmarted the people in our dust. I was in for it, however, when we approached the rear end of a beastly line. I learned quickly that a quick ride to the top doesn't exist in this building. 86 floors and an hour or so later, Jason and I were rewarded with a birds-eye view of the skyline.
You can see Macy's far below...
I love the picture of the shadow of the summit cast over the other buildings.
The lego replica of the Empire State had a little monkey on the spire. :)
I'd heard enough good things about the food in Little Italy to convince me to seek out Italian Saturday night. When I asked our tour driver for directions to Little Italy, he said, "Take this street down through Chinatown. When the words change to Italian, you're there." We followed his advice down the street, past markets of rancid fish and foreign vegetables until we did indeed run into Italian scrawled across banners and buildings. Twinkle lights were strung across the street, and restaurants overflowed into the road in the shade of oversize umbrellas.
Focaccia bread with red balsamic vinegar, and our delectable pastas.
We relaxed outside where we could enjoy the ambiance of Little Italy itself.
Friends recommended we take the Grayline busses for an excellent tour of the districts. Since NYC is incredibly overwhelming for first-comers, I was more than willing to shell out the cash for a day-long tour of the city. Rather than fight the traffic and navigate through unknown streets, I was happy with the double decker that allowed my camera full access up above where all the beauty is hiding.
Grand Central Station on the left
If nothing else, our tour bus allowed us a well-rounded tour of the layout of the city. Because we saw NYC with no driving distractions our first day, we had a basic knowledge of direction, and were able to easily navigate the streets our second day. Since I've heard so much grief about nonexistent parking, crazy cab drivers and terrible traffic, I had it worked up in my mind that driving our rental into Times Square would be a nightmare. I was pleasantly surprised though, that we didn't encounter any problems! Parking from noon to midnight was $14 on the 4th of July, and we were more than happy to pay it.
You don't get the full NY experience until you ride the subway. Jason was excellent at making sure we were taking the right loop and knowing where and when to get off. Alone, I'd have ended up who-knows-where. Good thing I had him to look out for me!
I was SO excited to see Wicked. I literally woke up and went to sleep singing Wicked for weeks on end. It was either playing on my laptop, in the car or on my ipod. Any other guy would have gone crazy with my fanatical passion for this musical. But Jason sang along with me. :)
In middle and high school I was absolutely obsessed with Phantom of the Opera. I thought I loved Phantom at Capitol Theater in Salt Lake, but Wicked at Gershwin Theater on Broadway was incredible.
When my mom asked me what the best part of my trip was, I responded without hesitation, "WICKED!" I could see this show again and again. And believe me, I will.
You don't get the full NY experience until you ride the subway. Jason was excellent at making sure we were taking the right loop and knowing where and when to get off. Alone, I'd have ended up who-knows-where. Good thing I had him to look out for me!
I was SO excited to see Wicked. I literally woke up and went to sleep singing Wicked for weeks on end. It was either playing on my laptop, in the car or on my ipod. Any other guy would have gone crazy with my fanatical passion for this musical. But Jason sang along with me. :)
In middle and high school I was absolutely obsessed with Phantom of the Opera. I thought I loved Phantom at Capitol Theater in Salt Lake, but Wicked at Gershwin Theater on Broadway was incredible.
When my mom asked me what the best part of my trip was, I responded without hesitation, "WICKED!" I could see this show again and again. And believe me, I will.
After the show we went exploring the town. NYC nightlife is no joke- around every corner is some kind of party. We were happy to accidentally stumble across Central Park, Julliard, the Manhattan Temple, the New York City ballet, and Papaya Dog- the hot dog place J-Lo eats at in her latest movie 'The Back-up Plan.' Jace had been wanting a hot dog all day, and I had put him off in my paranoia of the street vendors. We stopped at Papaya Dog though, because I figured if J-Lo can eat it, so can I! And once I tried it, I'm sure glad I did!
On the 4th of July our good friends Cody and Sara joined us for more fun in NY. That's when we went to Rockefeller Center and NBC.
Jace was excited to see Radio City Music Hall, and I was probably just as excited to get mango gelato from a little street vendor.
Sara's only request was to get our caricatures drawn in Times Square, so we posed while a young girl from Russia drew each couple. While our pictures don't look much like us, it was a fun experience and a good souvenier.
In Times Square Sara and I negotiated with the street vendors for NY artwork. But later we experienced real bartering of New York City when we discovered gorgeous designer bags and perfume on Canal Street. Jason and Cody probably enjoyed the experience more than we did because of the wild cop chases and undercover bargaining that went down. Sara scored a Louis Vuitton, I grabbed a Chanel, we both got matching Coach bags and Vera Wang smell-good. :) We were very happy girls.
A trip to the Statue of Liberty took a little bit of effort. A couple subway stops, and a few blocks of walking got us to Rockefeller Park at the southern tip of the island. We grabbed a few sweet peaches on the way and watched the sailboats in the distance as we continued on.
After our subway ride and walking, we shared a taxi and eventually got to the Ellis Island Ferry. Since it was a major holiday they were completely sold out of tickets. Weeks prior to the 4th I attempted to buy 4 tickets online, and instead ended up with 12. Apparently when I was refunded the money, I was also forfeitting the tickets. I was bummed, to say the least.
After so much traveling to Ellis Island, we splashed around in the fountains of Battery Park to cool off. Leave it to me to plan a trip in the hottest weather since 1995. The heat wave didn't stop us though. We bought faux Ray Bans and "I love NY" shirts. We'll see the Statue of Liberty next time.
When it was time to track down grub we followed recommendations to Peep, a hole in the wall Thai restaurant in SOHO. I never would have chosen this place on my own, but man were we SO glad we did. Peep was quiet, empty and dark, making it different from many of the places we usually go. But our service was awesome, the atmosphere was terrific, and the food was excellent. We all said more than once that the curry was the best $10 plate we've ever had.
I know it's weird, but I have to mention the bathrooms. There was no light switch, but a flat screen TV playing old movies over the sink left a dim glow. The wall was see-through on the bathroom side, so you could see the activity of the restaurant as you're well, doing your business. Coolest bathroom ever I think.
At last it was time for the Macy's firework show. We returned to Rockefeller Park and watched the beautiful sunset over the skyscrapers. Our friend McKay invited us to his brother's apartment for a roof-top firework show, but we preferred the park instead. It was so nice to relax in the grass after such a long day on our feet.
To conclude our long day, we ventured off to find Tirimisu at another recommended spot. When we found it closed Sara suggested Serendipity, another place I'd been dying to try. Serendipity's famous frozen hot chocolate lived up to it's name, and it was big enough to share. The beautiful chandelier and quaint furnishings added such character to this tiny place. No wonder Kate Beckinsale visits this place for her own frozen hot chocolate in the chick flick 'Serendipity.' Later Jace and I netflixed the movie to watch together.
What a great 2 days in New York City. As cliche as it sounds, it was everything I imagined it to be, and then some. We were constantly in the company of new and exciting adventures. The 4 of us decided that a week or more would be required to truly experience what Manhattan has to offer. I can't wait to visit the big apple once again. Because to a girl at heart like myself, New York really is a "concrete jungle where dreams are made of."
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