Our New York Trip: Day 3

Our third day in NY was Sunday.  We had a number of places to see: Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building, and Central Park.  We also had plans to eat dinner with one of the McHusband’s oldest friends.

After a breakfast that cost more than a dinner and drinks would here at home, we headed toward Grand Central Station.  On our way, we remembered, as we passed the area, that oh yeah, we also wanted to see Rockefeller Plaza.

It was neat to see in person where The Today Show takes place.

After that lucky detour, we made it to our first planned destination.

Grand Central wasn’t what I was expecting.  I think maybe I imagined it would be darker and dirtier and maybe the cops would be chasing someone through the crowds.  No such luck.

I didn’t imagine that Apple would have a store on the opposite balcony.

Or that there was a cute grocery store with a crazy light fixture in there.

There were, however, trains.  Phew!  I was beginning to think Grand Central Station was just for us tourists.

Next stop: The Empire State Building!

Forgive me while I inundate you with views from the top.

As you’ve probably guessed, the big green area below is Central Park.

Do you see the Statue of Liberty?  She’s almost all the way over to the right halfway down the picture.

Okay, how about some people you know?

We were surprised the Empire State Building wasn’t more crowded.  I mean, there were a lot of people in a small area, but it wasn’t nearly as busy as we thought it would be, especially considering how beautiful the day was.

After we got our fill of the breathtaking views, we headed back to our hotel, stopping at the main branch of the New York Pubic Library on the way.  We just saw the outside, but that was enough for me.  See, this building features prominently in The Day After Tomorrow (and, apparently, also in some silly 80’s movie) so it was cool to see it in person.

After a pit stop in the hotel, we got some lunch then rented bikes so we could see all of Central Park.  We actually rode halfway back around it accidentally so we ended up walking our bikes through the middle, which was a happy mistake because we got to see some of the more interior parts.  If you visit up there and want to see the whole park, I highly recommend doing it by bicycle.

The McHusband and I agreed that Central Park was our favorite NYC thing to see/do.  I think we could’ve spent a whole day there, just wandering through it and taking it all in.

I finally got a shower that day and then we met the McHusband’s friend, Eric, for dinner and drinks at an Irish pub not far from our hotel.  We met at 7:45 and didn’t leave for almost four hours.  What can I say, we had a lot of catching up to do.

So there you go, that’s our NY trip in a nutshell – or three.  I’m so glad we decided to make a whole weekend out of it.  I had a wonderful time, and I really appreciate the McHusband and his travel-planning efforts.  It was definitely a vacation that I will always remember.  I hope I get back to NYC at some point but if I don’t, I’m really happy that I at least saw it once.

PS  Happy birthday to my brother-in-law Nate today!