New York - Things to see & do!

Here's the next installment of my report on our trip to NYC. Keep reading to see all that we got accomplished in our VERY short time in the city.

Technically, we didn't go to Phillips in New York. It was actually in Baltimore, Maryland at the airport. We had a longer layover, so we stopped here for a late lunch of 4 fabulous crab cakes and 4 beers. Our bill? Just under $80. No joke.

After our layover and a delay, we got into NYC and had a chance to check into our hotel, change clothes & walk about 10 blocks to meet up with Uncle John & Aunt Dinah, Katherine & Bruce, and Reagan for a late dinner.

We had a fabulous dinner at Trattoria Belvedere and our waiter was nice enough to have the kitchen put a small sample of all the things we ordered on each of our plates. It was a small restaurant that had the front doors open so we could see people coming & going late into the night.

We got to finally meet Katherine's fiance (now husband) and catch up with our family, which is always fun! There were drinks ... and lots of them. They may or may not have been the reason we didn't get up for the Today Show the next morning!

After dinner, the "kids" wanted to go out for more drinks. The Bride & Groom joined us, even though they both had to work the next day! We walked for blocks & blocks & blocks to find a place to go, and when we finally got here, we indulged in more beer. Who's idea was this? ;)

Once we finally got up & moving the next day, we had lots of things we wanted to see all over town. First stop was the New York Public Library. It was a must since we were with the twins, who are former librarians. The inside was BEAUTIFUL and we got to walk through an exhibition on early New York maps, which I found interesting, because I teach about early maps and explorers like Henry Hudson (Hudson River & Valley) in my Social Studies curriculum.

Then, we strolled over to Rockefeller Center to see the sights & watch as they took the railings down from that day's Today Show summer concert.

Then we took the subway to get across town faster & cheaper than walking or a cab. The man in the subway booth was VERY helpful & told us the most economical way to buy passes for 5 of us. It was a nice break for our feet, too!

When we climbed the stairs out of our subway stop in Soho, we saw the Prada flagship store across the street. Aunt Dinah insisted that we walk inside, because you don't often see stores like this ... especially coming from Overland Park, Kansas. I was thrilled, because I'm always happy to drool over gorgeous & pricey purses!

We also went to the Pearl River Market to see what sort of neat things they had. Molly walked out with the cutest pair of panda shoes for Ellen. I got Japanese erasers for my students. I should have purchased this tote, "First Lady of Fabulous" ... I agree 100%!

We kept on strolling after some yummy lunch at Porchetta to go to 3 John Derian stores that were all along one street. They had GREAT housewares and lots of things that were WAY out of my budget, but fun to look at! Isn't this display of simple black paintings fabulous?

We walked for what seemed like miles & miles. It was way more than I've ever walked without a dog attached to the end of a leash. And in flat sandals, no less. Feet. Killing. Me. Need. To. Rest.

So that we did. We went back to the hotel and enjoyed sitting out on Uncle John & Aunt Dinah's 15th story terrace. Well ... some of us enjoyed it more than others. Molly & I were antsy to take pictures from the terrace and Mom spent the majority of the time thinking we might accidentally jump over the 4ft wall on the edge and fall to our death. Here she is crying, and here is Dinah laughing at her. Hilarious!

Around 5:00, Erik convinced us to head out on the streets again to get a 1st dinner, since the dinner for the Bride & Groom wouldn't take place until 9:30 or so. He assured us if we went with him, we would get a cab and forego any more walking. Little did we know, the cabs change shifts around the same time, so we walked for probably 20 minutes just looking for a cab. I thought Erik was going to cry. Mom & I almost gave up. It was a good thing we didn't!

We headed to The Pony Bar, which Erik read about on a friend of a friend's blog. It was a tiny bar, but we were lucky enough to snag a few seats to take in the people watching, make some new friends & enjoy fabulous food & beer.

I had lobster rolls for the first time (AMAZING) and an apricot wheat beer. Can we go back, please?

That night, we went to Pasita for an engagement party for Katherine & Bruce and we got to meet some of their friends, and Bruce's family for the first time. The food & wine was excellent (can you believe how much we've had to eat & drink in just 1 day?) and we made friends with a former coworker of Katherine's and her Neil Patrick Harris look-alike boyfriend. It was a fun night! The only bad part of the evening was walking around from 12-1:00am looking for a cab to take us home. I was thisclose to cutting my feet off. Erik was thisclose to kicking the next cab he saw that wouldn't take us home. We couldn't believe how many people were out doing the same thing we were! That city never sleeps!

When we finally got up & at 'em the next morning, we used Erik's iPhone to find a bagel place for breakfast. So, we walked to Ess-a-Bagel ... and my whole wheat bagel with walnut raisin creme cheese was a perfect way to start the day. Erik had TWO bagels, because he knew he's regret it if he didn't order the two things he really wanted.

Next we walked to Bloomingdales to browse around a bit. The time limit we gave ourselves went by VERY quickly, when I realized that we'd been walking around the housewares floor for a whole hour & came away with nothing! A few floors down we found a Vera Wang couture wedding dress display. Each one was more amazing than the last, but this one was my favorite. It was laser cut leather. Unreal!

After a small lunch with the Bride, we walked to see her apartment! Katherine & Bruce's street was so nice & their place was great! It's amazing to see how New Yorkers live. Kind of makes me feel selfish about filling all 1500 square feet of my condo ... by myself. Yikes.

They even have a rooftop patio, which they use for entertaining, dining, (now) puppy playground, and relaxation. Left to Right: Me, Katherine, Caroline, Aunt Dinah, Molly.

After we left there, Mom & Dinah went to have their hair done & get ready. Molly, Erik & I went a bit further down the street to Central Park.

We saw a fashion photo shoot happening.

And sat down long enough to watch the roller-skaters and street performers.

And then walked a bit further to see the sight! This was just like every movie I've seen that takes place in Central Park. BEAUTIFUL!

If we had more time, I would have liked to sit in the park and do some more people watching. I'll plan on it for my next trip.

They spent a lot of time doing this! We then had to find our way out of the park and attempt to get to the last few stops we had planned.

But ... we happened upon Mister Softee as we exited the park. We HAD TO get a couple sprinkle cones to walk with. It was pretty hot that day, so it was the perfect mid-afternoon snack!

Then we got lost trying to find our next stop, but we did walk past Trump Tower. Just as gaudy & obnoxious as you would think.

When we passed Trump Tower, we were on our way to momofuku, a cookie & milk bar. We split three amazing cookies and were sorry we didn't take some home to the rest of the family. Quite an experience!

Our last stop was to M&J Trimming, which was a crafty girl's dream store! Buttons, ribbon, lace, sequins, tassels, beads GALORE! We walked away with empty hands, but I think if we weren't dragging Erik along with us, Molly and I might have spent some more time there.

Okay ... part 2 of 3 is finally done. It only took me about 2 hours to write! See why I stalled so long? I hope you enjoyed reading ... and maybe found some fun things to do on your next trip to the Big City!