New York City (2012)

I just wrote almost a complete post and then the computer froze.  Ah!

Here we go again…

I went to New York City yesterday with my family, Russ and my brother’s friend, Noah.  It was so much fun and just as amazing as I was hoping it would be.  True to fashion, we didn’t end up leaving home until around 9:30 am, so by the time we got there, it was lunch time and we were hungry.  All bundled up in multiple layers, gloves, scarves and hats, I ended up looking like a character straight out of the game, Clue. We quickly made our way through Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center.  We snapped a few photos, soaked up the sights and got out of there because it was completely packed!

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We meandered over twenty blocks and through Central Park to Gray’s Papaya for lunch.Image

Eventually, we made it to Gray’s Papaya.  It’s literally a hole in the wall joint that was completely packed with people yelling their orders and trying to fight their way through the masses for some counter space where they can stand and eat!
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We all had the “Recession Special”- two of their famous (salty) hot dogs and a cup of their awesome Papaya Juice.  I opted for the Coconut Juice, but both were great! Image

The hot dogs were good, until they made me feel sick the rest of the day.  Hot dogs never were my thing-lesson learned.

After lunch, we had plans to walk around and do a bit more exploring, but with impending toe frost bite, we decided to head to the Museum of Natural History.  Well, every other tourist and their mother (literally) had that idea, as well.  The option to pay what you can also draws in many people.  It was completely packed.  After getting tickets and walking all over to find the hidden coat room, we all split up and explored some of the exhibits for a little over two hours.

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After the museum and a bit of thawing, we made our way to Cafe Evergreen, a Chinese Restaurant.  Between 6 people, we split 5 dishes and it was plenty of food!  Despite feeling sick from lunch, I still ate.  After dinner, we walked a few blocks to Dangerfield’s Comedy Club.  Russ, my parents and I went there last year and had a great time!  The comedians were great and kept us laughing the whole time, so when we saw that it was on Groupon, we decided to go again.

Once again, it did not disappoint!  I believe two of the comedians that performed were there when we went last year because I remembered some of the jokes, but they were still hilarious!  We were all cracking up the entire time!  I didn’t take any pictures, but we all split New York cheesecake, triple chocolate layer cake and tiramisu.  All were great!

When the show let out, it was almost 11:30 and we were pretty exhausted from walking around all day.  We walked twenty or so blocks back to the car, only stopping to take a couple pictures in Times Square. ImageImage

You can see how cold we were in that picture.

Four out of six of us fell asleep within minutes of getting in the car.

We all had a great day and I can’t wait to do it again next year.  Thank you to my amazing parents for giving us wonderful opportunities to see the world and experience new things!

Happy New Year 🙂