A taste of NYC

NYC is a place of variety. There are choices for everything from entertainment to religion to food. And there are many good eats. Before we left, I scoured sites like yelp.com, about.com for New York and Brooklyn and other places by neighborhood and wrote them in a little book that I carried in my purse. In that book, I also had places of interest by neighborhood, and when I could, I had subway directions. It was a really handy thing to have that we pulled out often.
There are markets all around, so if you want a fresh salad or piece of fruit, they are easily attainable.

There are also food carts everywhere during the day (by evening, these folks want to go home, but some were still out in Times Square in the evening). As you can see, a lot of fruit and veggie cart were set up, so if you wanted to eat an apple in the Big Apple, you can. There were carts and trucks for everything you could think of from burgers to kabobs to bagels and pastries.

We started out our first day in Macy's on 34th street - because I love the movie "Miracle on 34th Street." We found a Starbucks on one of the upper floors. Starbucks was all over NYC, so if that is your favorite place, you will be happy. There are several other coffee houses around as well, so if you don't like Starbucks, you have a choice - after all, it's New York.

There are well known places like the Soup Man - do you remember the "No soup for you" quote from "Seinfeld?" We didn't eat here, but if we had more time, we probably would have tried it....or the corner diner that they use to hangout in.
We did end up at this place on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. This is a street that isn't as touristy as other places in the city. And there are really cool shops that you can get great things like vintage records, cute fashion...and food. 

We ended up here at Faicco's. I was in heaven.

We ordered the $10 Chicken Mozzarella cutlet sandwich with pesto to go and grabbed some drinks there too. Then, we headed to Washington Square Park to share our picnic. I wish I had taken a picture of the gigantic sandwich. They put four chicken breasts on my half! (No, I didn't eat it all, my husband ate three for me).

Some of my favorite moments come from just buying random food from vendors. I bought two churros from a woman with a cooler in the subway. They were a deal for $1 considering that up on the street with the carts they were $3 for just one.

 (Music in the subway)

I also had to have a pretzel from a cart. It tasted funny....like smoked pork rinds? I couldn't wrap my head around the taste because I kept having to tell myself that it was a pretzel.

On our first night, we ended up at an Irish place. The waitress was the only kinda rude person we encountered in the city. I wouldn't recommend going to this place. The portions were small and the food was just okay.

 But then, we went out to the street and found a bakery and got dessert!

The best dinner we had was off the beaten trail, but a very famous place. Katz's is known for the "When Harry Met Sally" scene where she proves that women fake...well, you know. And the woman next to them says, "I'll have what she's having."

And this is what I had...Matzo ball soup and knish. YUM! I also had a chocolate egg cream. It was...different. I'm glad I tried it, but I don't think I want another. Or maybe I will have one, but not with this kind of soup?

One of the most memorable food moments was at the Chelsea Market in the Chelsea neighborhood. I had a small hot chocolate and it was like molten chocolate without any milk. I didn't like it at first, but it soon grew on me. It was sort of pricey, but it was made with high quality chocolate and a small one was the perfect amount.

So, when in the city - taste everything. Try new things. It will just add to the memory of your time there.

Getting around NYC

I grew up near Los Angeles, so big cities are exciting to me. I looked forward to going to NYC for several months. Yes, the main reason for the trip was to see one of my best friends and her family, but this was going to be a biggie too.
NYC is vastly different from LA and yet they are very similar.
I love that there is a variety of people, food and experiences in both. I love that there is something for everyone in both places.
But in NYC, people walk or take the subway everywhere. In LA, people drive. Maybe because things aren't really close together and there are mountains?
Anyway, I digress.
I LOVE NYC- LOVE. LOVE. LOVE! And surprisingly, my husband who left Atlanta one summer to be a cowboy in Montana because he was tired of the craziness of the city, loved it too!
Day 1 discovery:

Rainy and foggy. We decided to go on a tour bus that you can get on and off to get around the city and get our bearings. We've done this in several other cities and it's a great plan. But the bus tours offered in NYC really didn't cover what I had hoped. They didn't point out movie and TV locations. And they didn't offer as many stops or choices that I had hoped. We would get off at one point and walk around the area, then have to hoof it back to another point to get on the bus. We did A LOT of walking. And the tour that we used didn't mark it's locations well. You had to have the map that they give you and try to figure out the street address.
If you have a hard time getting around or are easily overwhelmed, do the tour. And stay on the tour for the whole loop. They offer one that doesn't stop. They say it takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I think it would take longer because of the traffic.
We did part of the tour over the course of two days, but ended up figuring out the subway system and just did that instead. It's faster and pretty cheap to get around.

A few times, Gerald and I were completely lost. We had several New Yorkers come up to us and offer to help give us directions or help us learn the subways. We never did come across the "rude" New Yorker. 

One of the best deals in NYC is the Staten Island Ferry located at the South end of Manhattan. It's free! Yes, that's right. It's like one of the only free things in NYC. It goes past Lady Liberty and Ellis Island. You can ride over, get off and get on another ferry to ride back. I think it took about 20 minutes to cross. And it takes some time to wait for the ferry to show up. But it is a really neat experience. 

If you do the ferry, try to do it during the day and then return for a night ride. Both are amazingly beautiful. 

And finally, since it is a place where you do a lot of walking (visitors often remark that they never see overweight New Yorkers), head over to the Brooklyn Bridge. It's a pretty bridge. There are nice views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. And I liked hearing the musicians and watching the artists along the way. If you do walk, stay on your side and watch out for bicycles. 

On the go

I have put a lot of thought into what I want to say and do on this blog. It has been a long time since I wrote anything on here. Last time, my husband use to laugh that I was taking pictures of food that I made or things I did with our son. It became sort of a projects blog. But that's really not much of who I am. Yes, I am a stay-at-home mom, homemaker and wife, but there is so much more to me than that. Do you ever feel that way?
My favorite things are traveling, taking pictures, serving at church, shopping, simple crafts, and -of course- being Mom and Wife. I do a lot of volunteering too. They say you should write what you know. (I don't know who "They" are, but "They" usually have great advice). So here we go!

Above is a picture of our dog Maggie. I think she is making sure we pack her for our next trip. Most of the time, she goes to my parent's house. It's a great place for her with a front porch that she loves to hangout on.

My husband and I just got back from New Jersey, New York City and Philly. I'll be writing posts and opinions about that trip soon.

Marco! Polo?

Friends, sorry I've been M.I.A.  It's been a very busy summer.  The picture here is of me at our Shake It Up Cafe VBS.  It's a long, tiresome week that I compare to sorority RUSH.  We're in and out of town a lot too.  But perhaps the biggest reason why I'm not on here blogging is because I'm back to writing for the paper.  And when I write for work, the last thing I want to do in my free time is write some more.  I'm also reconsidering the direction of this blog. What do I want it to look like, feel like and be?  Perhaps you can give me feedback and let me know what you enjoy the most?
I probably won't be around much, so I wanted to let you know, just in case you missed me :) I hope you have a great rest of the summer. I will probably return when football season starts back up.  That's when I become a football widow (wink).
Until then, God bless you!