Back story: Laney, my youngest sister, greatly enjoys all things 'city'...aka having to do with Atlanta, Manhattan, or the like. Our family went to New York City back in 2011, and the past year she had been telling me that we should take a sister trip and go back. So, I finally came to my senses and agreed! At the end of June, myself and Laney, along with Mary Beth, spent a long weekend in NYC. It was so much fun!
We flew out early on Saturday morning and came back Monday evening. Courtesy of my father's generosity with his Marriott points, we stayed at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. Next time you are in New York, if you are able, I very highly recommend you stay there if possible. For tourists like us, the location is perfect: smack dab in the middle of Times Square and which makes it easy to find when you are walking to/from various places. And the elevator is pretty amazing. Seriously! There is a master control panel for all 15 or so elevators. You enter your desired floor number, and it tells you which elevator to go to. You get in, and it automatically stops at all the desired floors. And only those floors. And most of them are glass and overlook the lobby all the way up/down. Pretty cool in my book!
We started out the weekend by eating lunch at this amazing place I had read about online: The Cranberry Deli. The reviews were 100% correct...the food was terrific, there was a huge variety, and the prices were quite reasonable. I had the best tuna melt of my life! They had sandwiches, hamburgers, pizza, salad bar, fruit bar, pasta bar, yogurt, ready-made fruit salads and lettuce salads. It was really convenient to Times Square/the hotel also which was really nice. But was I liked best was that it wasn't totally a tourist place...there seemed to be a good mix of tourists and locals. After that, we went to see Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater. There were several departures from the movie, but I really enjoyed it and thought it was a very well done production. After going back to the hotel to rest a bit, we went to the "Top of the Rock" aka the top of the Rockafeller Center. This was definitely one of my favorite things. You could see Central Park, the Empire State building, the river, and points beyond. Plus, we went at sunset which was a fabulous time of day to visit; both for pictures sake, and it was cool seeing the lights of the city come on. We ended with a late night dinner at Olive Garden.
Day 2, Sunday: Mary Beth and I started off the day with a great walk to Central Park and then a great walk around Central Park. She also went on a short run, which was one of her highlights of the trip. Central Park is wonderful. On the edges of the park, it is so cool to see the high rises peeking through the tree branches. In the middle of the park, you can totally forget you are in one of the world's largest cities. There were people reading, sleeping, walking, jogging, riding bikes, painting, playing music, playing baseball, playing with their kids, etc. I loved the peaceful but vibrant atmosphere. After the park, we went back to the hotel to get Laney. We had lunch at the Cranberry Deli again and spent the afternoon shopping...which ended up being a whole lot more browsing than buying, but it was fun. My two favorite stores were the M&M store and the Hershey's store. I had no idea there was a whole store (3 floors no less) dedicated solely to M&M candies. The Hershey store was significantly smaller but still mesmerizing. Both stores smelled so very wonderful and chocolaty! We ended the day by taking a Taxi to Ground Zero and visiting the 9/11 memorial. I didn't mention it earlier, but our previous trip to New York was a mere 17 days prior to 9/11/2001. One of the things we did was go up to the top of the World Trade Center. At the time, most of us weren't too thrilled about it, but now I'm so thankful my dad was persistent that we do so! All of that to say, it lent some perspective to seeing the memorial. The museum was still under construction at that time, but we were able to see the two memorial pools/fountains. They were beautiful and very well done; the whole atmosphere was very contemplative and reflective. From there, we walked down towards Battery Park because I wanted to at least lay eyes upon the Statue of Liberty; it was a very cool little park. Kids playing, parents watching, people eating in a quaint restaurant, people fishing, etc. I can see why these parks are so full of life...there's so much business and sky-scraper-ness and people-ness that the people who live here really appreciate the green spaces around them. Definitely made me appreciate all the trees and flowers I see on a daily basis more! After wandering around unsuccessfully looking for the subway, and me possibly having a little freak out moment of ever getting back to our hotel (you can ask Beth or Laney about that), we found a taxi and soon arrived at hotel sweet hotel.
Day 3, Monday: We got up early and went to the Today Show. The whole operation is very well run...down to free coffee and bagels/donuts for people waiting in line. Once we were able to go in, we stood in what I thought was the best place, but turned to not be. But, we still got on TV for a brief second! Sadly, it soon started to pour and they moved operations inside. We stayed a while hoping it would stop raining but finally left. Of course, after we were back at the hotel drying off, it stopped and they moved back outside. Oh well! After that, we did some more shopping and went to Macy's...which is conviently enough close to the Empire State building so we got to lay eyes upon that as well. Would you believe that store has 3...yes, THREE, Starbucks inside? And Ben & Jerry's? And Auntie Anne's Pretzels? And a bakery? And 2 "real" cafe/delis? Well it sure does. And tons of floors of clothing. That place was like no other store I've ever been in. Mary Beth found us a great deli for lunch. That is one thing about NYC the rest of the world could learn a little bit from...absolutely amazing, reasonably priced, deli/cafe type places. I mean I really like Panera, but now I know there is so much more out there! Anyways, we then stopped by the NBC store then off to the hotel to get our luggage and a taxi to the airport. Side note: that rain at the Today Show? Turns out there was a big storm system that caused lots of flight delays. Our plane arrived about an hour after we were supposed to take off. And then we sat on the runway for about an hour in line with every other flight that had been delayed. But we arrived safely!
I won't speak for my sisters, but I had an absolutely fabulous time! I loved getting to spend that time with my sisters, especially since it was the first time we've taken a trip together without our parents. Each of us had our favorite parts of the weekend, things that we had specifically requested to do, but I think ultimately everyone ended up enjoying everything!
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