New York City!

While our husbands were enjoying the warm, sunny weather in LA this weekend at the end of the Plant Trek, my friends, Ana and Rachel, and I decided to take a road trip to New York City. The city is only about 4 hours from Boston, Ana has a car, and we had a free place to stay, thanks to Ana's new and very sweet mother-in-law who lives there! We only spent a day and a half in the city but we squeezed in as much fun as we could.

We started our Saturday early. We took the train from the Bronx into Manhattan and went straight to the theater where the musical "Once" is performed to wait in line for rush tickets. We weren't sure if we'd be able to get tickets or not, so it was a very emotional and stressful 45 minutes of waiting.

But we held strong and stayed positive, and what do you know? We were able to score some $27 standing room only tickets for the Saturday night showing of "Once" - the winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical. We could hardly contain our excitement!

After that, we stopped by a Starbucks to thaw out our frozen toes and drink some hot chocolate. Then we were on our way to a park called The High Line. The High Line is a park built on an old abandoned train rail. It stretches several blocks and there are great views and unique art to look at along the way. We walked the entire thing.

Then we took a little rest on a nice bench.

We did a lot of walking, so at the end of the High Line, we decided to find a place to sit and have a nice lunch. We ate at a place called The Standard and it was DELICIOUS. As an appetizer, we ordered oysters and I had my very first oyster. It was so good. Here's the damage we did to them.

Up next we took the train down to catch the Staten Island Ferry which is great because it's free. The ferry goes to and from Staten Island and has amazing views of the city and the Statue of Liberty. If you visit,  I strongly suggest taking this ferry rather than paying lots of dollars for a touristy ferry ride that basically gives you the same views but for a silly amount of money.

My favorite picture from the trip:

When we got back from our ferry ride, we were back on the train and off to Central Park. By the time we got there, it was dark outside, so we only walked in Central Park for a quick minute. We then stopped at a nice lounge-y bar called Whiskey Park which had a view of Central Park and had a couple drinks before we had to head to our show.

Around 7:15 we headed back to Times Square for our show.

The show was AMAZING. I didn't know much about the musical before the show, but it was so much better than I ever even expected. It's hard to explain in words how good it was... Really. You just need to see it.

When our show let out, we headed back into Times Square but before we got there, got distracted by a celebrity sighting! We saw a big crowd of people, all with their cameras up in the air trying to snap a picture of someone, so we headed over to check it out. We pushed our way up to discover.... RICKY MARTIN! Oh yeah!!! He's apparently starring in Evita on Broadway right now and that show had let out before ours. He signed a few autographs on the way to his get-away car, gave one last wave and was gone. Ricky Martin, still Livin' la vida loca!

We ended our night with a drink in an Irish pub a couple blocks from Times Square and then started the long trek back to the Bronx to get some sleep. It was a loooooong but very successful, fun-filled day.

Sunday morning we woke up and took our time getting ready. Then we headed, with the car this time, back into the city to the Upper West Side to meet some of Rachel's and Ana's college friends for brunch. We ate at a place called "Good Enough To Eat" and it was amazing. There was a line out the door down the street that we waited in, but it was totally worth it. After brunch, we took a little stroll down the street with Rachel's friend Ben. Our initial goal was to find a bakery to get some goodies to bring home, but instead we ended up coming across The Dakota, the apartment building where John Lennon lived and was murdered in front of (lovely, I know) and then Central Park. Since we didn't see the park in the daylight the day before, we decided to walk through the park to get back to the car and then head home. It was a gorgeous day and we felt very New York-y.

 

 

We were very sad to leave the city but had to head home to be there in time for the husbands arrival back in Boston. I think we had an extremely successful trip though. There's not much I would say we missed out on!

 

 

And anything we did miss out on, well, Chuck and I can make up for on Thursday when he and I head back to New York for 2 days in the city and Jersey Boys on Broadway!!!!