The Big Apple

We planned this trip on short notice. Andrew had the idea of going to New York about 2 weeks ago and I was excited when he mentioned it! We are used to doing our own thing but thought it would be fun to take our really good friends Heidi and Jordan with us. Andrew got us two hotel rooms in nearby Dover, New Jersey, and the trip was officially on the calendar.
We planned to meet at our house on black Friday morning. Driving went fine and we made it to the hotel by 2:30. We realized it would be 1.5 hours to Times Square from the train station nearby. We figured it would be quicker and a cheaper to drive to the Journal Square subway station in Jersey City and leave the car there. Finding the correct parking garage for the station took a view minutes, but figuring out the subway was a little easier than we had anticipated. We were on 33rd street by 4. At the subway exchange things got a little complicated. We had no idea where we were going and only had maps from an AAA catalog to help. We got on the right track thanks to a kind stranger and arrived in a packed Times Square.
It was incredible to see the sun setting on the buildings while the people hurried around. We had our obligatory photo shoot and explored surrounding streets. We found a little café type place and had dinner. From there we walked toward Rockefeller plaza and enjoyed some coffee to warm us up. The Christmas tree was in place, but not lighted yet. We checked out a few stores and the ice rink. By around 8 we were tired and ready for the hot tub waiting for us back at the hotel. We made our way to a nearby subway and took it back to 33rd street. It was here that our subway experienced went south. Me and Heidi made it off the subway and turned back to realize that the doors closed on Andrew and Jordan. It was kind of stressful until we all met up again 30 minutes later. It turned out they had taken the first subway back but we didn’t see each other right away. Andrew finally caught our eye and we met up back on the upper level. We were home safe just in time to enjoy the hot tub for about an hour.
After the pool area closed around 11 we went back to our rooms for the night. After changing out of our swimsuits we got a text from Jordan saying that they were hungry. We ended up going out to a diner and enjoying a late night meal and some funny conversation. The diner was only 5 minutes from the hotel and we were back by 1am. We agreed to be ready by late morning and see the rest of the sites all day.
We met up around 11 the next morning and made our way back to the diner for breakfast. We took our now familiar route into the city but this time went further north to 72nd street. Once there, we were able to enjoy over 2 hours in beautiful Central Park. More coffee to keep us warm as we walked around the gorgeous landscape. I never how large this park really was; we could spend a whole day there. From central park we had decided to see the Serendipity café (as made famous in the movie) and took another train. The wait time ended up being several hours so we stopped at a nearby Starbucks instead. Next, we were onto Central Station and more photos. It was time to eat again, and we made our way towards China Town and Little Italy.
The streets were lit up for the season and the walk around the towns was awesome. We passed by rustic traditional Italian restaurants and fresh cannoli bakeries. We entered into China town and experienced fresh fish markets and handmade goods from central Asia. We were getting really hungry and we had made plans with Heidi’s cousin, Rebecca and her husband Stephan, for dinner at a restaurant they recommended. The place was called Da Gennaros, and the food was unbelievable. It was the best Italian meal any of us had ever eaten. We also enjoyed some authentic Italian beers before saying our goodbyes. The next stop was ground zero. We spent some time learning about the upcoming memorial opening next September 11, 2011. There will be two reflection pools that located in the foundations of the world trade center towers. Check out nation911memorial.org
After another fun morning of sleeping in and trying a different place for breakfast, we were on our way to catch a ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We made it to the parking lot and walked to the port where the boat was docked. It was only about 5 minutes to Ellis Island and we were soon exploring the old buildings. It was incredible to realize that most of the buildings rested on a manmade extension of the island. The ferry departed at 330 and we rode over to the statue and got our last photo ops as the sun was setting. It was a great experience to see those two pieces of our history. We got back to the car after it all and ate a quick meal on the way home. Great weekend!