Friday Favourites

Phew, what a week!!! We returned from our New York holiday to be thrust into a high school open house, the US election results, and darker evenings due to the time change. I was also quite busy at work, I take all of two and a half days off and things fall apart!! Haha, not quite, but almost. I am looking forward so a somewhat quiet weekend. 

You may read through my full New York recaps Part 1 and Part 2, but this post is going to be a summary of my favourite things about that trip:

Our Hotel - I love a boutique style hotel, but I also love a chain.  The Moxy Chelsea was a Marriott property but had the feel of a boutique hotel.  I love the little extras like free coffee in the morning, free cold pop and water in the afternoon, and a cool onsite rooftop bar.

The Lego Store - I am always amazed at what they can do with Legos, so creative! It's so fun in there. 

The Emily Burger - Yes, the rumours are true, that burger is amazing! And so are the waffle fries.

The Marathon - Not that the city needs anymore energy, but the marathon just added a whole other level.  You could spot marathoners all weekend - at the airport and the days before, the runners all seemed to be in past race shirts or carrying their bib pick up bags, the day of in their post-race ponchos and medals, and then the next day, still wearing their medals.  50,000 ran the marathon and most of them brought an entourage.  

9/11 Memorial Pools - This was the defining event of my youth, and I think about it often.  Being at the site brings so many emotions, and it helps to see others knowing they are feeling the same way. 

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge - This is my third time in NYC but the first time doing this, I would highly recommend it. 

Happy Hour at Osamil - Half price oysters, negronis, martinis, I love it all!

Geocaching - I always feel like a bit of a nerd when we are looking for geocaches, but the kids love doing it and it really is a wholesome activity.  We found 11 (and had to give up on one).  

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

New York Part 2

Here is the second part of our trip to New York City that we took last week, you can click here for Part 1.

On Sunday morning we were treated to an extra hour of sleep with the time change, and then hopped on the subway for our brunch reservation.  We actually thought we would get off the subway at Columbus Circle and then walk up through Central Park to our restaurant.  However the NYC Marathon was happening (something we did not know about when we booked our trip) and the Southeast part of the park was all blocked off since that is where the finish line was.  We started walking up Columbus Ave. but then realized it was way too far to walk and it was cold so we got back on the subway.

We ate at Sarabeth's.

Pancakes and French toast for the boys.  I had the smoked salmon eggs and Dave had avocado toast with burrata.  All was delicious.

We then stopped in for breakfast dessert at Levain Bakery down the street as we waited for the museum to open.  They were offering free cookies to marathon finishers after the race.

Then our plan for the morning - The American Museum of Natural History.  We are big fans of the movie The Night at the Museum, and actually watched it the night before so we could refresh our memory of it. 

Robin Williams!! I mean, Theodore Roosevelt.

In the Planet Earth section, there was a plaque about Kidd Creek Mine in Timmins. I've actually been in that mine!!  There was also a rock from Hemlo Mine in Northern Ontario. 

This whale makes an appearance in the movie. 

And if you know the movie, of course you'll remember this guy! Q was mostly excited to see this.

We got through pretty much all of the museum, ending with the dinosaurs.  Real impressions - the museum is just okay, the displays are neat, but there is not much opportunity to interact with them, and I think that aspect could use some updating.  Kids are probably going to be more interested if they have a scavenger hunt or quiz or something to do.  Maybe that's just me.  Worth the visit but I don't think we need to go back. 

After the museum we went to Shake Shack for lunch and ate it in a school playground and enjoyed the sunshine for a bit.  The northern part of Central Park was still open so we went there and started tracking down some geocaches.  We had thought of renting bikes so we could cover more ground, but with the marathon going on, we didn't see where that was an option as the rental companies were all displaced with the closures at the south part of the park.  

It was nice to explore this part of the park, I've only ever been in the southern part.

The Jackie O Reservoir.

I was impressed by this building. 

More views of the reservoir.

You know I love those fall colours!!

The marathon was coming down 5th Avenue so we watched it for a few minutes.  I love seeing people run the marathon, especially near the end, they had about 3 miles to go at this point.  

Our first geocache attempt was unsuccessful, but we did find the next one.

There was one more geocache we could get on the way to the subway.  Q found it right away!

We decided not to go back to our hotel before dinner as we may not make it back out, but we did pick somewhere close by.  We went to The Smith in Midtown.  It was a good vibe and there were lots of marathon runners there.  

On Monday, our last full day in New York started out with a quick stop at the Ghostbusters house. 

With a quick detour for another geocache, we then grabbed some breakfast at Grandaisy Cafe, and walked south the 9/11 Memorial Pools.

One World Trade.

A very moving spot.  I get choked up when I see the flowers they put out for those victims whose birthday it is that day.  That someone has those records and then goes out everyday to place those flowers, it's a nice tribute to everyone throughout the day. 

This is the Survivor Tree.

Then we went over to the Occulus and found these cool statues. 

Quick pit stop at the Apple Store and the bathrooms. 

Old Downtown New York is so cool. 

We searched for a geocache in City Hall Park for quite awhile but had to give up.  It was a high difficulty one.

Luckily we had no problem finding a slice of the best pizza in New York at Joe's.  Pizza at 10:30 am is always a good idea. 

This is the John Wick building that Dave spotted. 

We grabbed the ferry over to Brooklyn.  This was no cruise though, the boat whizzed over the East River and we were in Brooklyn in no time!

After we disembarked, we walked toward Pier 6 for, you guessed it, another geocache. But as I said yesterday, it is a good way to keep the kids walking and engaged. 

And we found a playground along the way.

I had picked a Montreal style deli for lunch, Mile End.  It was kind of funny to be surrounded by Canadian stuff.  I had latkes, E had a poutine, and Dave had a smoked meat sandwich. 

Classic Brooklyn.

One more quick geocache and then we walked back to Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge.

So cool!

Remember the geocache we had to give up on? Well E was able to message the owner of the cache and ask for an additional clue, which he got, so we went back to City Hall Park and were successful this time!  Then we did another cache that was a two-parter, first we had to find some words and decipher a code and then find the actual cache.  It was at a library, a book on the shelf!

Then it was back on the subway to our hotel and I was ready to sit down, but the boys decided to find yet one more geocache. It was in a churchyard. And bonus they walked past a Milk Bar and picked up some delicious cookies that we enjoyed later.

For our last night out we wanted something a little different.  Since we were basically in Koreatown we picked a Korean inspired restaurant, Osamil. It hit the spot. Really cool vibes and happy hour oysters and drinks!

This is the Korean fried chicken, so good!! (and Q had plain white rice *eyeroll*).

We got some Korean gelato at Sundaes Best. I should have stuck with mint chocolate, since my coconut didn't have much flavour.  

Our flight home was early on Tuesday morning so we ubered to the airport and enjoyed the Maple Leaf Lounge there before take off.  It was Election Day that day and we also saw people still wearing their marathon medals! (Is it just me, or is just wearing the medal on the day you got it sufficient?)

I am so glad that we put this little trip in our calendar.  It's always nice to get away for a few days and nothing beats New York City!  The kids did great, and aside from our one hiccup of Q being sick on the first day, I think we can say it was pretty successful! We did do pretty much everything I wanted to do given this was a trip with the kids.  Restaurant hopping in the Village and shopping in SoHo is for another type of trip :)