New York - Last Day, Day 5

Day 5 was our final day in New York, and we still fit in all we could.

We headed down toward Greenwich Village to see what we could see.  We wanted to stop at the Forbes Gallery to see the antique toy collection, and also decided to have lunch in Greenwich Village.  After finding the Forbes Gallery, however, we found out they no longer had the toy collection, so that was a bust.  We did walk through the Union Square Farmer's Market on the way down, though, and that was nice.  We also enjoyed walking through Greenwich Village, and lunch was great!

I love this statue of the elephant standing on his trunk.  The wall behind was also interesting, with steam coming out on the right, and a really cool clock on the left.  (It was 10:54 when I took this picture - the other numbers are milliseconds.)

The Friends building

The Cosby stoop

The Spotted Pig, where we had lunch

The quirky decor in The Spotted Pig

Jamie's beer

The Spotted Pig

The Chrysler Building

The Fashion District

 

In the cab heading to the airport

Heading to the airport

The sweet sign welcoming us home

We really had a fantastic vacation.  It was a great way to celebrate our first decade of marriage!

(Sad to think of all the devastation in the city right now due to Sandy.  Prayers heading your way, NYC!) 

New York - Day 4

On Day 4, we didn't have tickets for a show, and decided we'd try instead to get standby tickets to see Jimmy Fallon.

Leaving our hotel to get coffee and head to NBC Studios

Waiting in line for standby tickets to see Jimmy Fallon

We got the tickets, but realized timing would never work for the show.  We had dinner reservations for our 10-year anniversary dinner at Gramercy Tavern, and we wouldn't be able to make it on time if we went to see Fallon.  That meant we would have a night in New York without a show!  But we were going to have an amazing dinner, so that made it okay.  We decided to catch the subway down to the Ellis Island ferry and spend some time there for the morning.

NY subway

  

New World Trade Center being built

Waiting to board the ferry.
  Being in the tightly-packed crown makes you feel just a smidgen of what the immigrants must have felt so long ago.

New York, as seen from the Ellis Island ferry

 

The Statue of Liberty, as seen from the Ellis Island ferry

 We didn't get off the ferry at the Statue, as we had no interest in going up or seeing it any closer-up.  We did, however, get off at Ellis Island.

People disembarking at the Statue of Liberty

Jamie on the ferry

Ellis Island

   

Me on the ferry

Inside the reception hall at Ellis Island

 

Ellis Island

After the ferry returned, we walked a bit and had a fabulous pretzel croissant at City Bakery, followed by a life-changing toasted marshmallow shake at Stand.  YUM.  Then it was time to make our way back to the hotel to get ready for our anniversary dinner at Gramercy Tavern.

Before we left, champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries were delivered to our door,
courtesy of my awesome boss and his wonderful wife! 

Times Square, seen from our cab on the way to dinner

Dinner at Gramercy Tavern was something I don't think will ever be rivaled in our lives.  We had the Chef's Tasting Menu, and it was amazing.  I didn't get pictures of everything, and I will forever regret that I didn't get a picture of the menu itself, since I can't remember what everything is!

I forgot to take pictures of the amuse-bouche and the 1st course.
This is the 2nd course.

3rd course

4th course

5th course

Coffee and sweets (6th course)

Forgot to take pictures of the 7th course, but here's part 1 of the 8th course!

Part 2 of the 8th course

part 3 of the 8th course

enjoying our dinner

9th, and final course

Better view of the chocolates & macarons

Should we count this as a 10th course?  They sent us home with muffins for the next morning!

We were so stuffed that we saved the muffins to have (along with the champagne and strawberries) for breakfast the next morning.  The entire dinner was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

End of Day 4.  Wow.

First Boyfriend

Gisèle has her first boyfriend.  She told him yesterday that she wanted to marry him when they were grown-up and he responded favorably, so she told him he was her boyfriend.  And then they held hands all the way from the lunchroom to the classroom.

But when another boy told her that she should kiss her boyfriend, she said "Nuh-uh, 'cause kids should only kiss people in their family, not at school, 'cause only grownups kiss people that aren't in their family."

Whew!

New York - Day 3

Day 3 was all about Central Park.  We left the hotel and headed north, stopping on the way for breakfast just south of the Park.  We wanted to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art and had decided to walk there, even though that meant making our way through at least half the length of Central Park on foot. 

About to cross into the Park

 

Alice in Wonderland in Central Park

The Met

We enjoyed the Met, but it was crowded and huge.  We only stayed a couple of hours, and then decided to leave for lunch.  We found a great deli not too far away and had a yummy lunch.  I don't remember what Jamie had, but I had excellent waffles - exactly what I needed.  We decided not to go back to the museum, and headed back south through Central Park, instead.

Bethesda Terrace from across the lake

 

Bethesda Terrace.  (See the wedding photos being taken?)

 

Bethesda Terrace

Horse & carriage in Central Park

Everything was blooming!

After Central Park we were absolutely, completely exhausted.  We went back to the hotel for a bit to rest, and then went out for that night's show - our favorite out of the three we saw in NY - "One Man, Two Guvnors."  It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life, and we both loved it!

Another fabulous New York day!