We spent our Anniversary with a week long trip to Manhattan. It was an overdue trip to visit a couple of very close friends and for Tony to see the city for the first time. Here is a whirlwind recap of our trip (It's a long one, so settle in):
Friday: Took the train up after work. Train hit a deer on the way! We were delayed and got to our friends house well after midnight.
Saturday: Had amazing brunch with M and her husband. New favorite omelet? Spinach and goat cheese. YUM. Hubs was off for a boys day for a fantasy baseball draft. M and I went to scope our Carrie's SATC house and cupcakes from Magnolias. We had a long lunch at Commerce where we enjoyed a bottle of wine and split one of the most amazing grilled cheese sandwiches ever. We then trekked over to Magnolia's for dessert to take home. We met up with the boys for the best dinner of our trip at La Mela's in Little Italy. We had a family style dinner and left stuffed and happy. If you are in Manhattan and want a great italian dinner, grab some friends and head to La Mela's. You'll thank me later.
Sunday: Another great brunch at Fred's on the Upper West Side by M's apartment. M and her husband then bid us a Happy One Year and sent us off to our uber posh digs for that night. I booked one night at The Pierre. A hotel right by Central Park and super close to 5th Ave. Once we checked in we were absolutely floored by how swanky this place was. I took FOUR baths in the amazing tub in the 23 hours we were there. We only left the room when we ran out of wine and had to head out for dinner.
Once we were out of vino, we headed down to the hotel lounge for a couple drinks before our reservations at Peter Lugar's. We had one of many many cheese plates to be enjoyed in NYC. After running up quite a tab, we grabbed a cab and headed to Brooklyn for the world renowned steak of Peter Lugar's.
We had the bacon appetizer and the steak for two along with a couple of sides to share. It was a great way to celebrate our One Year Anniversary!!! We both decided that we would take Morton's or Ruth's Chris over Peter Lugar's any day and don't even have to travel to NYC to get those!
Monday: We slept in and had roomservice breakfast (note to self, check to see if they automatically add gratuity on room service bills so you don't end up tipping the guy 35%, even if he was very nice). Then headed back to M's apartment to drop off our stuff. We then headed out in the rain to check out the shopping on 5th Ave. We got two of the rainiest days in the Northeast that led to flooding all over, including putting RI in a state of emergency! Between dodging raindrops I showed Tony the anniversary bands he could get me from Cartier, Harry Winston, and Tiffany. All of a sudden the once seemingly pricey pieces I used to eye don't seem so bad! ;) We made one final stop at Manolo Blahnik before heading back to M's to meet them for happy hour and dinner.
Tuesday: More rain!!! We headed down to the lower east side in search of famous diners and delis to get a good sandwich. We ended up at Katz's Deli which was SO GOOD. Tony got a corned beef sandwich to definitely write home about!!!
From there we headed in search of The Doughnut Plant to pick up yummy treats for breakfast the next day. After finding the place, then having to search for an ATM since they only take cash, then going back, we were sufficiently soaked to the bone. My feet were drenched and blisters were on their way. I suggested maybe we go check out Macy's in Herald Square to maybe find some rain boots. Our mission was a success! We then went to the NHL Store to check out some new Penguin's gear for the mister. He found a hat and a shirt that he loved and as a bonus their current promotional bag is of Sidney Crosby!!! We immediately emptied the bag and folded it up for safe keeping from the rain. We then went to Tony's DiNapoli for some HH drinks before heading back to M's.
Wednesday: Woke up super early to head to Rockefeller Plaza to the TODAY Show. We got there at about 6:35 just in time to snag one of the last spots right on the rail. We had our cute sign that said "We are celebrating our first anniversary TODAY" (With their logo). There was a girl walking around telling people they were having a segment with their financial experts and does anyone have any questions? We threw out a couple questions about mortgages and second mortgages with little hope of getting picked. About 45 minutes into the broadcast Al Roker's fill in weather guy came out and did a quick weather update right in front of us. I got on TV with our sign, but hubs was blocked. : ( Shortly after we were debating whether that would be our best shot and should we leave when the girl from the beginning came back out with a producer. They came over to us and said they wanted to use one of our questions!!! Our segment was to be shot an hour later, so we hung out at the coffee shot where it would be until then. Here is the link to our segment:
Today Show Segment. Fast forward to the 4:45 point. That was amazing to do!!!! We then went to Times Square to try and snag some discounted matinee tickets. We got tickets to a show called A Behanding in Spokane with Christopher Walken. Since we had a couple of hours, we headed downtown to Southern Hospitality, Justin Timberlake's restaurant. It was excellent southern BBQ but the best part of the meal was the cheesy, chili, tots.
We showed up for the play with high expectations, we (I) was supremely disappointed. It was supposed to be a "dark comedy". I did not laugh once. I was trying to keep myself awake and half way through looked at hubs and told him he owed me several musicals to make up for this one. From there we headed back to M's neighborhood for HH with her.
Thursday: This was actually our busiest day. We left M's apt for Battery Park. Unfortunately my trusty phone/Google Maps let us down for the first time of the trip. The subway stop it told us to get off at was about 1.5 - 2 miles away. Once we got there the line to go to Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty was well over two hours long. We ditched that idea and headed for our next stop, Grimaldi's Pizza in Brooklyn. We took the Subway and waited in the short line outside. Once in we went with a friend's recommendation of a pepperoni pie and were not disappointed (no pic, sorry!). From there we walked the Brooklyn Bridge (we've now probably racked up close to 4 miles for the day) and headed to China Town to look for bags. We got whisked away by a sneaky little Chinese lady who took us pretty deep into China Town where we were able to negotiate for a new bag and wallets for our dog sitters. With a couple of hours left to kill until our hosts returned home, we headed to the Empire State Building. The wait was about 2 hours but the line seemed to be moving pretty quick, so we jumped in to head to the top. I've never waited in a worse line. It kept moving the whole time, but still took just over 2 hours. They would move you from one room to another where there was just one after another super long queue to make your way through. By about the one hour mark I was DYING. I was ready to be done, but we had already paid $40 for tickets. We made it to the top where I made it about 5 minutes before I was pulling Tony back to another LINE to return to the ground floor. It was PAINFUL folks. Don't ever do it. We headed back to M's to pick up our luggage and head out to Hoboken where we would see one of my best friends from high school.
Friday: Hoboken: We were so exhausted from the day before that we didn't want to even attempt going back to Manhattan. We went to Frank Sinatra Park and sat to read for a little bit. From there we hit up lunch and beer. On such a beautiful day we sat outside. Once the sun had moved from our side of the street to the other, we paid our tab and went to search for a suitable place on the other side of the street. We settled on a place specializing in sangria. We got a pitcher and a cheese plate and just lounged until our friends got home from work.
We enjoyed some pizza with our friends and then crashed for the night.
Saturday: It was breakfast at Stack's for some amazing pancakes and then off to Penn Station to head home. It was an amazing trip and we were so thankful that we were able to spend an entire week there to just poke around the city at our own pace.
Things we missed/would do next time in town: I would definitely drag husband to a musical. We didn't make it to Serendipity 3 for hot chocolate. Husband would love to see a hockey game at Madison Square Garden. We would 100% go back to La Mela's for dinner.
Hope you enjoyed the recap and start planning your own city adventures!!!!!
