Meet The Early's: New York, New York!

Oh my after a lot of planning, Andy and I departed for New York last Friday morning. We have been so excited about this trip, and maybe a little nervous about hoping it all went smoothly. This post is going to be long because I don't want to forget a moment!
On Friday we arrived in New York that afternoon, and took a taxi to our hotel which was on 23rd and Madison. It was called the New York Edition. We had heard so many wonderful things about this hotel so we couldn't wait to see it for ourselves. I can't explain to you how heavenly this hotel smells. They have a signature scent that is infused into the air, the sheets are washed in it, the toiletries are made with it. You can smell the hotel as you near it. Andy and I spent the first day smelling each other because it was just that good. They sold the candle for the small price of 75.00 so I decided not to get it, but we did hide our toiletries each day so they would leave more. My souvenir was a large plastic bag of travel sized soaps, shampoo, and conditioner.
We were there before check in, but they took our bags and told us it would be ready in thirty minutes. We were both hungry for lunch so we walked across Madison Square Park to Eatly to get paninis. This was a cute little Italian food market that was busy. We took our sandwiches outside to eat so that we could just take in all of the hustle and bustle. After we were done, we went back to see about our room. We were in room 2404, and since we stayed for free on Andy's points, we really didn't anticipate a good view. They actually charge more for good views, and we did not pay the extra. To our surprise, we looked out our window to see the Empire State building. So very cool!
We took a few pictures, and took off for the subway. We went up to Central Park first. I really wanted to walk around there because I knew we had a lot of rain in our forecast for the entire trip so that was our first stop. We went to Strawberry Fields(John Lennon memorial), Bethesda Fountain, Central Park Zoo, and the Boathouse.
We walked around, and then we went to the Museum of Modern Art. It is free on Friday nights so we took advantage of that. There was only two floors that I wanted to see, and I think even Andy thought it was cool to see these paintings. There was an Edgar Degas exhibit that just opened up, and being a dancer, I had to see these. I did get in trouble for taking a picture(no flash) at one painting. Each painting had a sign next to it saying whether you could take a picture or not, and I looked at the wrong sign. He then started following me, and I got in trouble again for getting too close to another painting. I then told Andy we needed to get off that floor because he was following me. We made our way down to the fifth floor to see paintings from Picasso, Matisse, Seurat, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and the finale was Starry Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh.
We left the museum, and it was raining so we went to John's on Time Square for pizza. After we ate, we took a look around Time Square, and then we got back on the Subway. We got off at the wrong stop, but it wasn't far from our hotel so we walked. Along the way we ran into a little bar I had wanted to visit called The Old Town Bar. It opened in 1892 so it has a lot of history. It was once a speakeasy, and also has dumbwaiters that they still use. A lot of movies have been filmed here too. We got a drink, and then we were on our way back to the hotel. We were so exhausted from getting up at 3:30 for our flight.
The next day we were up early to go to the Statue of Liberty. We were told we had the golden ticket to the crown. The guy said that it is sold out through August. We walked up 354 stairs(20 Stories) to the crown on a winding narrow staircase. My legs felt like jello by the time we got to the top, but it was very neat to do. After we left the Stature of Liberty, we went to Ellis Island. I had all the information about my Great Grandpa so I was able to look up his records. My Great Grandfather came over on the Kroonland in 1907. Hard to read, but my Great Great Grandmother came over with her children in May, and my Great Grandfather joined them in September on the same boat. Her name was Emilie, and his was John.
After we walked around, we made our way to the ferry back to Manhattan. We ate at a little Italian restaurant that was recommended to us. From there we decided to take advantage of the only beautiful day we were going to get. We walked all the way from Battery Park to our hotel! We passed by the charging bull, walked down Wall Street, visited Trinity Church where Alexander Hamilton is buried, winded our way through Chinatown, got Gelato in Little Italy, walked through Noho, and finally made it back to the flatiron district for a nap. 12 miles of walking!
That night we went to Greenwich Village to a comedy club called Comedy Cellar. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard. I think this was really the highlight from our trip, and we wished we had time to go another night. I highly recommend it to anyone going to NYC. After the show we went back towards our hotel. We grabbed a late night dinner at Shake Shack, and ate it in our room. Another exhausting, but fun day.
Sunday was a rainy day that was pretty much miserable, but we did not let that stop us. We went to Church at St. Patrick's Cathedral with Cardinal Dolan leading mass. The mass was beautiful, and we enjoyed a break from the rain. When we were done we made our way to Radio City Music Hall for the Stage Tour. I'll be honest, it was neat to see the theater, but we didn't feel like our guide knew what he was talking about half the time. Oh well, we weren't getting wet outside so that was good.
After the tour we went to a long lunch, while the rain came down outside. After awhile we decided to head back out to make a few more stops before going back to our hotel. We made our way to Grand Central Station and the Morgan Library and Museum. Andy and I kept laughing as we walked through the library. We couldn't find the books, but it was a cool building. The reading room was closed for renovations so that was a bummer, but we did go to the children's part to see the display of Mary Poppins. P.L. Travers donated her umbrella and doll that inspired the book. When we finished, we made our way back to our hotel to rest, and get out of our cold wet shoes.
That night we went to dinner at a little BBQ/southern food joint called Blue Smoke. On our way we saw a 4 alarm fire in a church building across the park from our hotel. I have never seen anything like it, and so sad that it was happening on the Orthodox Easter.
When we walked in to the restaurant there was a wait, but they said we could eat at the bar which is what we did. After we got done eating, a waitress came over with a piece of key lime pie for us. We told her we didn't order that, and the bartender came over and said it was from her because we were so nice, and looked like we were enjoying ourselves. Very sweet of her, and goes to show that New Yorkers are not as rude as they say.
After we left, we went to a speakeasy in Chelsea called Bathtub Gin. There was a guy out front that asked our name, and then we walked into a coffee shop. The lady inside opened a hidden door that led to the bar. Very cool! All I can say about this place is that it takes you back in time, and the burlesque show was interesting;)
Monday was supposed to be our day to not have a lot of plans, but it actually ended up being pretty busy. We went to Chelsea Market for breakfast where I got Sarabeth's lemon ricotta pancakes with berries. So good. After we ate, we walked the high line which is an old train railroad system that has been closed down. They turned it into a very cool park. We finished the park at the Hudson yards where we then walked to the Intrepid Museum. This museum was neat to see, and we know Baylor would have loved it. We bought him some Astronaut ice-cream and a space shuttle for his souvenir. Once we were done, we walked through Hell's Kitchen to the Stephen Colbert Show to stand in line. They gave us our ticket and told us to be back at 3:45. We went to Junior's for lunch, and then it was time to head back for the show. We did run into Cameron Mathieson, but unless you were an All My Children fan, you probably wouldn't know him. After waiting in line again, we were taken into the Ed Sullivan Theatre. We sat in the seventh row so we were pretty close. Stephen Colbert came out before the show to so a quick Q andA before it began. The first guest was Bill O'reilly which was entertaining. After him was Morris Chestnut, and then a very weird band called Deerhunter. This was a great experience to do.

We really couldn't get enough of taking pictures from our room.

After we got out of the show we went back to our hotel to get all dressed up for our fancy dinner at Keen's Steakhouse. This is a New York establishment that opened in 1885. It had a pipe club where men could leave their pipes so that they wouldn't break in their saddlebags. The ceilings and walls are lined with them. Several famous people were a part of this club such as Theadore Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Will Rogers, Albert Einstein, and so many more. It is the only original establishment still standing in Herald Square from that time.

Tuesday was our last full day, and again it was rainy. We made our way down to the 9/11 memorial for a guided tour before heading into the museum. Our guide was super sweet, but Andy and I felt that we didn't really gain anything from the guided tour. I think we knew so much about it that there really wasn't a whole lot she could tell us that we didn't already know. The museum was amazing, and we spent about two hours in it. They did such a wonderful job honoring those that lost their lives along with those that survived that awful day. The only thing that bothered us was that they had these huge open spaces as you entered, and then you went into a cramped small space for a majority of the museum. It was hard get close enough to see many of the items. We also felt people did not give it the respect it deserved. I had always heard that you could hear a pin drop, but that was not the case the day we went. There was actually people on cell phones, toddlers screaming, and like I said the space was tight.
After we left, we were supposed to then go up in One World to the observatory, but unfortunately there was zero visibility. They switched our tickets to Tuesday so we went to get lunch at Brookfield Place, and then on to Macy's for souvenirs for Finley and Atticus. After that we walked back to our hotel to rest for a quick minute.

This is the original escalator at Macy's that is wooden. It is still in use today.

That night the fog cleared up so we hurried down to Rockefeller Center to go up to the Rainbow Room for a drink before the show. We had enough time for a quick picture outside on the deck before making our way to the Book Of Mormon. I will say this show was hilarious and so very inappropriate, but we both enjoyed it. It's kind of nice to go to an adult show once in awhile. When the show ended, we made our way to Carmine's for dinner. Again, it was a very yummy meal.

Wednesday morning was our last day in NYC before flying out that night. We really took advantage of it. We went back to One World, and it is something everyone should do. As you get in the elevator to head to the 102 floor, the walls turn into a screen that begins with NYC in the beginning as just an island, as you make your way to the top, it goes from decade to decade how the city has changed until you reach what it is now. Very cool presentation. We then watched another fun video at the top before they lifted the screen to reveal the windows looking out over the city. It kind of reminded us of the Soarin ride at Epcot.
We left the tower, and made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked across it and then took the subway to the East Village for some Katz's Deli. Very yummy, and fun to see. After we ate, we walked, walked, walked our way through Greenwich Village, Soho, and on up to our hotel. We got one last drink at the bar in our hotel while we watched it begin to rain. We grabbed our bags, and headed to the airport.
This trip was crazy busy, but Andy and I had so much fun. We decided it was the best trip we have ever gone on together. The weather was crummy, but it never stopped us from getting where we wanted to go. So many new experiences that I can't wait to go back and do again. We ended up walking 55 miles in six days!