New York City Birthday and 13th Anniversary!

After arriving in NYC on a red eye and not getting much sleep, we headed out to celebrate this guy's birthday! 

 

Our trip began with Scott's Birthday!   Typically the flags Rockefeller Center flies are from countries around the world...however, on Flag day since we celebrate when we officially adopted our flag - every pole flew the American flag!!!  Scott's grandpa used to tell Scott everyone flew their flags for his birthday:)  What a  fun surprise seeing our flags on every flagpole in Rockefeller "in honor of Scott!"

Happy Birthday Scott!

We accidently appeared on the Today show behind Kathie Lee Gifford!

That's me waving when I first noticed myself on the monitor and below is after I pulled Scott into the screen:)

This one I pulled Scott into the shot...he's the plaid shirt with hat on to the left of me.

New York Stock Exchange!

Then we headed to Ground Zero.  I had really been looking forward to visiting the new 9/11 memorial and museum.  First seeing the Freedom Tower in it's construction phase was neat...and interesting. Building buildings is fascinating!  Now and a long time ago.  I couldn't get over the Cathedral and how they built it so long ago...and I know the European Cathedrals and buildings are so much older.  How did they do it?

We walked to get passes to view the memorial and were able to walk right next to the fire station across the street. Right as we were in the driveway for the station, they opened the garage and left on a call.  It was so moving to be in the shadows of the new One World Trade Center and seeing these firemen on duty.

Then we got to visit the footprint pools.  So deep. So many names. You can see how at first the water falls over the first edge and it's rushing and loud.  Then on the inside square, the water falls more like a trickle and is more peaceful.  I couldn't help but think about how tragic it was that these people were lost on that day, but how they are in a more peaceful place now...watching over their loved ones, I'm sure.  We really were impressed by this memorial.  The building in the lower right is the museum.

The survivor tree....pulled from the rubble in October 2001...with snapped roots and a burned trunk...branches broken down to standing only 8 feet - now has regrown and stands 35 feet and bloomed for the first time this year since the attack!

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Then we walked the Brooklyn Bridge.

What a gorgeous and romantic Bridge!  I really loved the walkway above the road on this bridge. 

What a gorgeous day!  Let me tell you, we had perfect weather!  Breezy, nice day...perfect for touring!

We loved this view - from the bridge looking at the city.  And thought it was fun with the taxi or fire engine in the shot too. So New York City!

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Then we got some famous NY Pizza at Grimaldis!  It was sooo good!  

We were there on a Thursday afternoon and the wait wasn't so bad.

Later after we showered and cat-napped we headed out to Serendipity for Birthday dessert!  Our walk was delayed about 10 minutes due to the Presidential motorcade...helicopter, tons of motorcyles, police cars, Secret Service, the two presidential limousines, more Secret Service, police cars, ambulances, swat teams, and more motorcycles...headed towards the Plaza Hotel.  Later we walked past the Plaza and noticed dump trucks filled with sand surrounding the Plaza...with cops everywhere...I confirmed the sand filled dump trucks were indeed to protect the President.

So bummer, but Serendipity had an hour wait.  We weren't that patient, so we had dessert at Patsy's down the street.  Some cheesecake and a yummy cannoli.  We both liked our first cannoli.

The next day I ran through central park while Scott was in meetings.

And shopped and explored the city.

Later that night we headed out for dinner. We love the Chrysler Building!  The art deco style is so awesome!
We ate at Rezzo...and liked it - but it wasn't better than Grimaldi's!

And picked up some yummy cupcakes for later.

We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria the first two nights, this clock in the registration room is supposedly, "Where lovers meet" and was build for the World Fair in 1893! The statue of liberty is on top as well as pictures of us presidents right above our heads.

Down the street from our hotel was the Helmsley building.  Which is built directly over Park Avenue.  The two large arches is the road!

And Grand Central Station, another gorgeous landmark, unfortunately we couldn't get a good picture.

We ate at Tony's restaurant off Times Square before our show.  This is our appetizer - Zucchini Fritti - great recommendation from the Holts!

And we had the ravioli covered with meat sauce and lots of cheese!

Check out my new pretty bag I bought from a street vendor!  That was one of my goals and I found a great one!

We loved Newsies!  It was an excellent show!  They adapted it for the stage more than I thought they would, but I thought the changes were great.

The dancing was fantastic...and so fun to see these familiar faces from 

So you think you can dance in the show!

At one point, Jack Kelly the main character sang Santa Fe on his "roof top" directly to me - eye contact and all.  We were sitting on the front row of the mezzanine...and which came up so close to the stage.  We were basically in row 5 - but up higher - which was perfect for this show!

Thayne - Season 4
Evan - Season 5
Jess - Season 8
Alex - Season 7
We attended church in the same building as the NY Manhattan Temple!  It was a huge chapel filled with lots of us tourists...but the locals were cute and lots of young families.  We saw kids riding to church on their scooters...and lots of strollers. In fact, we saw kids all over the city and in Central Park riding scooters.  Such a great way to be a kid in the city!

We enjoyed The Metropolitan Museum of Art!

VIncent Van Gogh - Wheat field with cypresses

Vincent Van Gogh - First Steps

Claude Monet - water lillies  - There were so many Monet!  We just loved them all.

Dancers practicing the barre - edgar Degas 1877  - loved how my husband appreciates Degas as much or maybe more than I do!

Edgar Degas - 1878 Paris Stock Exchange

And thanks to Scott's mom and dad who took care of our four little monkeys so we could go play!

They had lots of fun playing on the trampoline and sprinklers with Owen and Emma, visiting the squirts park, golfing, throwing rocks into a river, swimming in the pool and more!

THANK YOU!

So little time!  Only 4 days.  We have so many things left on our list!
Food especially!  Not enough meal times in 4 days for NYC!  For future reference.....
More time at the Met, We want to go to Lombardi's Pizza. And...Gray's Papaya, Levain Bakery, Billy's Bakery, Bouchon Bakery, Magnolia's Bakery {Scott brought some home last  year and they were super creative and GOOD...I want more.}, Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill, Plant's Donuts, 9/11 Museum, Top of the Rock Observation, David Letterman and Rupert's Hello Deli {I tried to meet Rupert but he was already closed}, more shows {Wicked, Lion King are on my list}, Serendipity, and research more to find more good spots!  I want to take the kids to the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building and they want to go to a Yankees game!  soo much more!!! The Bagel Hole, Morimoto, Blue Fin, La Esquina, Chickalicious Dessert Bar, Eileen's Special Cheesecakes, we'll be definitely adding to our list for the next time and the next time, etc!