New York Part 3

Okay I think I am dragging this out too long now so I'm going to wrap it up! I don't have a ton of good pictures left either!

Saturday we went went to Harlem. My dad has a friend, Dennis, that lives there in a brownstone that he has been restoring, and he was going to let us see it! Unfortunately we didn't bring the camera. We have some video, but its not great video. His place was really cool, I wish I could remember all the facts about it. He lives on one floor, and rents out the other 3. He has done a great job with it. It was amazing to see the before photos and be able to see the finished product. Dennis has lived in New York about 20 years and he knew a lot about it. Especially about his neighborhood in Harlem. He took us on a great tour. Except it was SO humid! We ate Fried Chicken at a wonderful Southern restaurant called Spoon Bread (after walking about 100 miles, Dennis knows how to walk!) and finished up with the BEST peach cobbler I have ever had. After that, Michael and I separated from the group and went back to the hotel to cool off. We met up with the fam later to eat at B Bar and Grill- I highly recommend it. Form there we went to Dylan's candy bar- cause who doesn't like candy?! Then of course we went to Serendipity for Frozen hot chocolate and other desserts we did not need. But hey, we did walk A LOT. Our plan was to go to a club that night, my cousin Kelly very kindly gave us some good options. I'm not sure what happened-Oh yeah, it poured BUCKETS of rain from 4pm to 11pm thanks to the hurricanes. And me and Michael realized we are way too old and not hip enough to go to clubs. So we put ourselves to bed.

Sunday morning we woke up and got ready for church. We looked at the building locator online to figure out where the ward was meeting that was in the temple building. It told us where to go and what time it started-11am. We took the subway, barely making it on time, only to find out the building was closed for construction. We were so disappointed! At that point we wouldn't have been able to make it to any other meetings. At least we tried right? We went to lunch at the 5 Napkin Burger on restaurant row. It is very good, nice BIG juicy burgers. Except mine came out mooing and I kinda lost my appetite. We went to Rockefeller Center and St. Patricks Cathedral and then walked by all the fancy shops on 5th avenue. Then Michael and I, and Jeff and Natalie decided to go to Central Park and rent bikes. I got to see all of the things I've been wanting to- Bethesda fountain, Belvedere Castle, Sheeps Meadow. I highly recommend renting bikes to tour Central Park. We got to see everything without killing ourselves walking. It was a BEAUTIFUL Sunday and I think one of my favorite parts of the trip!

Michael and my brothers and Natalie left early Monday morning. I changed my flight so I could stay one more day with my parents! Michael took the camera home, so no more pics at this point!

Monday morning I got to go to the lower east side Tenement Museum. It was very cool. A lot of history there and I love to look at old buildings. We went over to Greenwich Village and of course, got some more cupcakes at Magnolia, and then ate lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. My parents needed to leave- they had tickets to the US Open, so I had the afternoon to myself. Which was great! I would hang out by myself in NYC any day! I went down to Bryant Park. It was Fashion week, so I stood by the tents people watching for over an hour. I was trying to catch a glimpse of someone famous, but no such luck. I went shopping around Times Square, ate some dinner in a little cafe, and then went to see "Chicago". Can't say it was my favorite Broadway show, but it was entertaining. I walked back to the hotel by myself at 10:30 pm, stopping on the way to get some soup. I was so glad I stayed another day- EXCEPT...

We had to wake up EARLY Tuesday morning to get to JFK. Our flight was at 8am. We got on the plane on time and got on the runway. And then we stopped. The captain came on the intercom and said that there was bad weather up ahead and that we were grounded until it came through. We sat for two hours on the plane before it even started raining. We sat for another two hours waiting for it to pass. We were finally getting close to leaving, we were 4th for takeoff, when 1 lady on our plane decided she wanted to get off. After 4 hours the airline cannot force you to stay on the plane. We had to turn around and let her off. People were NOT happy. I was starting to feel hysterical from being cooped up in a plane for 4 hours. We were given drinks and some nasty snacks. It took another 2 hours to refuel, re-stock the plane, and change crews. After 6 hours of sitting on the plane, we left on our 5 hour flight to Phoenix. We arrived in Phoenix, got some food, and drove to Tucson. I got home at 8pm, 11pm NY time, just in time to see the kids before they went to bed. The whole travel experience was AWFUL.

But I LOVED my trip to NYC. And I got some great news in my email inbox a few days later. Jet Blue gave me a voucher worth my round trip flight to NYC!!! Now I have to go back. How awesome is that?! Its time for that girl trip we've been talking about! You know who you are, lets get it planned! Whoever wants to come! :)

Closest subway station to our hotel


B Bar & Grill


Dylan's Candy Bar


Serendipity Frozen hot chocolate