Long Weekend in NYC - Part 1

On Friday morning, Travis and I headed to the airport and had a quick flight to New York City! We arrived in the city around 10:30 or so, and were able to leave our bags at the hotel and start sightseeing immediately! We walked to Times Square, after stopping in Macy's to do some window shopping. I have been to New York before, but I literally could not get over how many people were walking on the sidewalks! I couldn't tell if most of the people were tourists like us, or lived there, or just worked there, but there was barely room to get through that area. On our way back to our hotel we stopped to get lunch, but after seating ourselves and waiting about 10 minutes with no interaction, we decided to eat lunch back at our hotel.

After we checked in, we literally took a 3 hour nap, haha. Travis was exhausted from his business trip, and I was just excited to be free of 'mommy responsibility' haha.  That afternoon, we walked back up to Central Park, had dinner at a cute pizza place, and then walked some more. On our way back we stopped to get cheesecake, and when we walked in, we were offered complimentary pickles and coleslaw...we declined them since we were just getting dessert, but the waiter seemed confused. Our hotel was about 20 blocks from Times Square and 30 blocks from Central Park, so we did a ton of walking that day. It had a beautiful view of the Empire State Building from our window. It was nice to get lots of exercise, but we were tired after the first day.

On day 2, we grabbed a quick breakfast and then went to the High Line, which is a walking trail on an old elevated freight line just a few blocks from our hotel. Tons of plants have been planted along it, so it was actually very nice, and I would definitely run there if I lived in New York. You kind of feel like you are enjoying nature, while still being very much in the city. We walked the entire distance (about 1.5 miles) and then walked back to our hotel through the meat-packing district, and Greenwich village. The area around our hotel (Chelsea) and just south were really some of the prettier areas of Manhattan that we saw, and the streets weren't as crowded, which was nice. There were also trees planted and it was more residential.

We met up with some friends for lunch at Carnegie Deli near Central Park that has been featured on Man vs. Food.  We took the subway, and loved how quickly we got there (as opposed to walking.) There was a line out the door, but it moved pretty quickly. We were seated, and I checked out the menu, but was planning on getting a cheeseburger since I am pregnant (I wasn't super excited to get deli meat at first...) I ordered first, and upon hearing my order, the waiter said "no, you can not get a burger - hold on" and he left. We were wondering if he was coming back, or if I made him mad, haha. He came back with a sample plate of pastrami and corned beef. I ended up ordering a corned beef sandwich, and everyone else got sandwiches too. However, sandwich is an understatement. There was literally about a pound of beef on my sandwich, and I had the smallest one of the four! The guys' sandwiches (if you can call them that) were essentially large platters of about 2lbs of meat and melted cheese on bread. They also cost $27, but Travis said it was totally worth it!! For someone who wasn't a huge fan of corned beef, I have to say it was really good, and worth the experience.

After lunch, we went to Central Park again, and took a carriage ride all the way around it! It was so beautiful, and a great way to see the park without more walking.

Then we went to FAO Schwarz to find a souvenir for Avery, and bought her a cute little bear. Afterward, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for our big night.

For my birthday, Travis bought us tickets to see the Broadway show "Wicked," and it was Saturday night. We made reservations at an Italian restaurant that was recommended to us called Patsy's. When we arrived at the restaurant, the hostess asked if the reservation was for 2 and a half (meaning my baby bump.) I knew I was feeling more pregnant, but wasn't sure if people could tell yet, or just thought that was my normal belly, haha. I was excited that she could tell, but also I'm only 18 weeks, and I'm all of a sudden feeling really big. I know I still have 22 more weeks, so I'm a little nervous about how large I'll be, but I'm trying to embrace my cute little bump while I have it. Dinner was good, but honestly we were still somewhat full from lunch.

After dinner we took a quick evening walk around Rockefeller Plaza before heading to the show. The show was amazing!!!! If you ever get a chance to see Wicked in NYC, I highly recommend it. It was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. Travis even enjoyed it, and he's not normally into musicals. We both thought it was one of the best shows we've ever seen. We headed back on the subway to our hotel, and I really enjoyed our 'dinner and show' date.

The Theater before the Show