Books, Bloggers, and Blisters: NYC

So you know how I was NYC & BEA bound? Well, I went! It’s over (weh)! My feet are still recovering!

After a fantastic surprise of being bumped up to business class, husband arrived in New York bright and early on Wednesday, May 30. We had 5 days before BEA madness began, and we spent them doing All The Things. Or, As Many Things as Possible Before Our Feet Fell Off. I had been to New York once before for a 2-day work trip, but for all intents and purposes, this was the first trip to the Big Apple for the both of us. So we wanted to do and see as many things as possible.

We took it pretty easy the first day; napping, picking up metro cards, sightseeing passes, and groceries.

We ended day on by going to a fantastic album release party. Actually, we ended it by getting supremely lost on our way back to the apartment we were staying at. But album release party sounds better.

On Day Two we did a 3hr food & cultural walking tour of Greenwich Village, as recommended by a member of my book club, and it was a highlight of of the trip. If I go back to New York, I would for sure do one of Foods of New York’s other tours. I may have to go back to New York enough times to do all of them.

The afternoon of Day Two was spent shopping in SoHo, including a stop at the Scholastic store, and then we had a delicious dinner in Little Italy.

On Day Three I made the mistake of wearing the shoes I bought on Day Two and we had to make a pit stop at Wallgreens half way through the day for bandaids.

But we did do fun things, too. Like the Empire State Building and Times Square. And standing in line for 1/2 off Broadway tickets. I had wanted to see Newsies, but they weren’t selling any tickets for it that day, so we saw Mary Poppins instead and it was wonderful.

By Day Four we were aching all over from all the walking, so we skipped our brunch plans and just slept in instead. Once we were up and ready for the day, we headed uptown and spent a couple hours at the American Museum of Natural History. Which, fyi, you should enter on a full stomach, because the place is huge. Okay, yes, you can buy food there, but I had my heart set on having lunch in Central Park. Which we did, after flying through the last bit of the museum.

And guys? I love Central Park. The place is magical. We spent 2 1/2 hours there, only seeing the south half, and I could have gone back every single day.

Day Five! We headed downtown in the morning and checked out the 9/11 memorial. Then we wandered over Wall Street and, it being the weekend, hung out with hoards of other tourists taking pictures of the Stock Exchange.

In the afternoon, I went to the Strand (love), then husband and I meandered down St. Mark’s Place and ate frozen yogurt in a sudden downpour in Union Square. All around, fun times. That evening we went to Top of the Rock and watched the sun set from high above New York. Afterwards we met up with some bloggers for dessert, and thus began my BEA madness.

Check back in a couple days for Books, Bloggers, and Blisters: BEA!