New York!

 

It’s been four years since Ben and I got away together (London 2018) and it was definitely time for a trip! For years I’ve wanted us to do New York City together and it finally happened! This was Ben’s first trip tot he city, and my first trip back since I went in 2006. It was simply wonderful!

For a few hours, I didn’t think this trip was even going to happen. Delta airlines was going through something weird and was canceling flights all over the place. The night before our flight it got canceled! We spent three hours on the phone with delta trying to get rebooked and finally got booked on a red eye the next night. It delayed us about 14 hours (and we really hate red eyes!) but we did finally get there! I was so stressed the whole day- worrying about them canceling the flight again, worrying about leaving the kids, worrying that maybe this was all a sign the plane would crash leaving our children orphans, but once we were in the air it all melted away and I was able to just fully enjoy our time there together!

We were really able to pack a lot into our 3.5 days there! I’m always amazed whenever we travel without children just how EASY it is! Getting from one place to the next is so fast and easy. Walking around the city was so easy. Getting into a restaurant was so easy! So we saw and did a lot- and it still felt relaxing and rejuvenating! 

 

Once we landed a got a few hours of sleep, our first stop was to visit our favorite New Yorker! My cousin Erin lives in NYC and met us in Chelsea for a delicious lunch on the water. We had the best time with Erin that we stayed at lunch for like 2.5 hours! Then we walked the Chelsea Highline, which was super cool, and then decided to just walk the 1.5 miles back to the hotel. I love walking a big city- it really gives you a feel for it and I loved understanding the layout of the place!

I loved our hotel and it’s location. We in Midtown, right by the New York Public Library and Bryant Park. The library is so beautiful and had a really cool free exhibit we enjoyed. The architecture is just stunning and so ornate. And I thought Bryant Park was so charming. We also found our favorite bakery right on the corner by the park and stopped by a few times.

We had tickets to see Wicked that night. We walked to the theater by way of Rockefeller Center, just so we could see it, then found to most delicious pizza place, and then on the to the show. It was a serious highlight fo me! The stars were incredible and even though I’ve seen Wicked before, it blew me away again. Ben was a good sport, even though theater really isn’t his thing. 

 

Sunday our first stop was the 9/11 memorial and museum. The memorial is so beautiful. The sweetest elderly woman who lived on our street growing up was killed on 9/11, she was in the first plane that hit the North Tower. We quickly found her name (it’s right behind us in the photo). I noticed beautiful white roses on a few names and later learned that the memorial places them there on each person’s birthday. That touched my heart, it made them even more real. Real people who lost their lives that day. We went into the museum, which I think is a must see for everyone. They have real recordings of first hand accounts of people who were actually in the towers and the pentagon that day and as you walk through the events you can listen to their memories. The preserved fire engines, shoes, name plates- everything burned and mutilated, really helps you understand the chaos and destruction and devastation of those events. I teared up several times as we went through the museum. This experience was the highlight of the trip for Ben- while it’s not necessarily “fun” it’s definitely important and sobering and also healing.

After all that we walked over to The Battery and sat on a shady bench and chatted all about our feelings from 9/11 and now while looking across the water at the Statue of Liberty. We found Levain cookies on our way back up to Midtown. We went to Koreantown for dinner that night, passing the Empire State Building on our way (it was only a few blocks from our hotel). We walked around Midtown for awhile that night and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and the people watching. We remarked on this trip how fun it was to hold hands again! Almost everywhere we go we are usually toting our whole crew of children and we always have our hands full of kids!

Monday we crossed another item of my bucket list- seeing Starry Night. It’s at the MoMA. It was worth the visit just to see that for me, but there were other famous pieces of art there that were really fun to see. We stopped in St. Patricks Cathedral for a bit and then headed on to Central Park. We spent a couple of hours exploring the park, found the Bethesda Fountain and chatted with some locals. We finished the day exploring the Upper West Side and having dinner at Carmine’s. 

Our last day was super chill- we had a leisurely brunch and checked out the Harry Potter store. We walked along 5th avenue and bit and checked out the beautiful Grand Central Station. And then we were headed home to our kids! I missed them so much! But also, was so grateful that we got this chance to do this beautiful trip together. We promised ourselves we’d do it more often!