Good morning!
I’m sitting here enjoying a breakfast I’ll probably regret in about 20 minutes when I run to the gym.
Anyways, backing up to this weekend. I didn’t do much on Friday, but Saturday was great!
Keeping up with the tradition, we went to New York for a day of exploring. [Last year’s trip] We have been spending a day there each year for the last three years, so I was excited to go again this year! New York is incredible year-round, but it’s especially great during the holidays with all the hustle and bustle, the people, the lights, the stores…and the rude police.
Like any trip that this family takes, we got off to a late start, so by the time we got there, we were ready for lunch. We parked and walked through Greenwich Village, stopping briefly at a store that specializes in salt. Yes, salt.
My mom wanted to walk The High Line, which is a former railroad line turned beautiful walking path.
Here is a bit of information about it via the High Line website:
“The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the nonprofit conservancy working with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. In addition to overseeing maintenance, operations, and public programming for the park, Friends of the High Line works to raise the essential private funds to support more than 90 percent of the park’s annual operating budget, and to advocate for the preservation and transformation of the High Line at the Rail Yards, the third and final section of the historic structure, which runs between West 30th and West 34th Streets.
The High Line is located on Manhattan’s West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. The first section of the High Line opened on June 9, 2009. It runs from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street. The second section, which runs between West 20th and West 30th Streets, opened June 8, 2011.”
We wanted food before the walk, so we stopped at a burger joint for lunch. The food was so-so and we all agreed that it was nothing to write home about, but did the trick.
I had a kale salad, which was good, but definitely something that could be made at home.
After lunch, we walked the High Line, stopping to take pictures and marvel at the really cool designs.
Check out the chairs for relaxing:
After the High Line, we walked alllllll the way up to Midtown where it was complete craziness. We wanted to see the tree at Rockefeller Center, but by the time we got there, we quickly looked at it and kept moving.
Blurry iPhone photo:
After quickly passing through, we took the subway to Chinatown for dinner. We had plans to eat at Spicy Village–a little hole in the wall that was featured in New York Times Magazine. When I say hole-in-the-wall, I mean just that. It was a tiny little restaurant with four tables and they give you paper plates and cups to use, but there was a line to the door. We are lucky we got there when we did, because we only had a ten minute wait! The portions were generous, the prices were extremely fair, and the food was incredible.
It was SPICY, but delicious and we ordered a lot (and finished it all!). I love those thick (hand-pulled) noodles! We walked over to Little Italy and purchased a couple (mediocre) canoli for dessert before heading back to the car for the trip home.
We originally planned to see another comedy show, but somehow the consensus became to skip it and drive home before midnight. I quickly fell asleep in the car, happy to be with my favorite people after a really great day. 
Feeling thankful.