A Little Vacation

I spent a few days in NYC with my oldest son and his wife. It was a great trip!


Sights
They made sure to show me everything a first-time visitor would want to see - 5th Avenue, Park Avenue, Madison Avenue, Times Square, Union Square, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Lincoln Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Cathedral of St John the Divine, Time Warner Building, Grand Central Terminal, Chinatown, SoHo, The Plaza Hotel, Rockefeller Center, and Ground Zero, to name a few. St. Paul's was amazing to see with all the memorabilia of the rescue efforts. We took the Circle Line Ferry and I saw so many other places, including, of course, the Statue of Liberty.

Food
The kids live in a quiet little neighborhood in East Harlem. They are a very short walk from the original Patsy's Pizza and a bakery that makes cheesecake for the fanciest NYC restaurants. I sampled both! YUM! The kids are great cooks. The night I arrived we had a chicken and pasta pesto that was as good as any I’ve had at any restaurant. Saturday we went to the Union Square Farmer's Market, something they do often, to get fresh produce, cheeses, and herbs. Later we visited a big flea market in Brooklyn where we had lunch. I sampled a hot dog topped with Asian cole slaw. I was introduced to many wonderful eating experiences. In Chinatown we had Dim Sum and Bubble Tea. I sampled a wide variety of dim sum which was all delicious. Bubble tea is a sweet tea that has tapioca balls in it. It’s a multi-texture drink. The first day we had lunch at a Fig and Olive on 5th Avenue. This restaurant uses olive oils of all types and flavors in almost every dish. I had a refreshing watermelon and cantaloupe gazpacho and a Rosemary Chicken Panini with Mediterranean Fries. I wish I could recall what I had at the delightful little Israeli restaurant we visited one evening. It was good, I know that! We bought delicious red velvet cupcakes at the Magnolia Bakery made famous apparently by Sex and the City.

Museums
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum was touching and inspirational. We toured that after seeing Ground Zero and before visiting St. Paul's. It was very emotional for me, but I'm happy we went. The American Folk Art Museum was so much fun. I loved reading about the various artists and seeing the wide variety of work. I'm not sure I can even describe the Natural History Museum. I think we were there for about three hours and saw most, but not all, of the first two floors. It's an amazing place.

The Circle Line Ferry ride was a lot of fun even if it did rain. We decided to sit on the top deck. I’m glad we did because that’s where the guide was. He was very entertaining and informative. The rain wasn’t really so bad. It was more of a sprinkle and didn’t last for the entire trip.

We also attended a dance performance by a Japanese artist. It was unusual but he was quite good.

I’m so happy I took this trip and am very grateful to the kids for everything they did for me while I was there.