Thursday, August 16, 2012

A Big Apple Weekend

After all the traveling we did in July you'd have thought I'd be ready to settle back into normal life and just enjoy some carefree days before summer ends, but ha! ha!-- you'd be wrong. I still had one more big trip up my sleeve before school and the new baby tie me down. While my mom flew into Newark, NJ, I drove up solo to Richmond to meet Whitney and Sarah P. so we could all spend the weekend in NYC. Here's the scoop!

Although we didn't manage to pick my mom up until around 1 a.m. (it's about a 6 hour drive from Richmond, plus the 4 I had from Pinehurst), we still rallied for an early start to head into the cement jungle. We got to Chelsea around 10 a.m. Friday morning and started our day at Chelsea Market, where many of the famous Food Network shows (their studios are right above) are stocked with groceries and supplies.
It was an AMAZING market! Anything and everything food-related could be found, including French, Italian, and Asian specialty markets. We got to sample a few things here and there and probably could have spent all day, but time was ticking!
We then walked over to the newly developed High Line, which is a public park built along an old freight rail line elevated above the streets of Manhattan's West Side. There were some pretty cool views, lots of vendors and food carts, and some local musicians to add to the flavor.
Whitney had made lunch reservations for NYC Restaurant Week at Tom Colicchio's famous CraftBar, where we got to enjoy a $25 three course tasting menu. I started with the fondutta with honey and pinenuts and was blown away! YUM!
I have watched Tom judge on Bravo's "Top Chef" for years, so it was fun to see HIM put his money where his mouth is. His food was really good. I got the burger with onion jam for my main course, and the peach cobbler for dessert.
We decided to head over to Lexington Ave. and try out a famous "Sprinkles" cupcake from Cupcake Wars judge Candace Nelson. We got there around 4 p.m. and the line was still out the door!
There were lots of flavors to choose from, but we finally decided on Dark Chocolate, Red Velvet, Pumpkin, and S'Mores. SERIOUSLY. Best cupcake I ever had!
My mom enjoying her dark chocolate cupcake in Central Park!
We then headed over to the Museum of Modern Art, which is free on Friday evenings, so we got to check out some pretty famous paintings from Salvador Dali, Picasso, Van Gogh, and Monet...and sit down. My pregnant feet were T-I-R-E-D.
Whitney posing outside Rockefeller Center, while we tried to sight-see and kill time before our Broadway show.
My mom had purchased tickets to see Mary Poppins at 8 p.m. and having heard good things from people who had already seen it, we were expecting good things.
And Broadway certainly didn't disappoint!! The music, the singers, the dancing, and especially the cool sets were everything you'd hope for and more from a Broadway show. It was a blast! We didn't get to our hotel in Queens until about midnight, and according to my mom's pedometer, we figured we walked about 13 miles that day. And let me tell you, I was feeling EVERY single one of those miles! I was exhausted.
Luckily we slowed it down Saturday morning and got a late start heading over to Battery Park around 10 a.m. As I learned the hard way the day before, Me + 7 months Pregnant + 95 degrees + Humidity = Unpleasant Swelling so I was determined to take it a little bit easier and insisted on using the subway instead of walking everywhere. We ended up taking the free ferry to Governor's Island which is only open to the public on the weekends.
After a quick trip there and back, we decided to get lunch at Cafe Habana-- a little Cuban Mexican dive with tons of personality that my cousin had found years back while living in NYC.
W-O-W-S-E-R. They have AMAZING food-- including the Mexican style grilled corn with cilantro and lime. Totally hit the spot!
We also tried the Cuban sandwich which had ham, pulled pork, Swiss cheese, chipotle mayonnaise, and homemade pickles. Again, WOW. Definitely one of my all-time favorites!
After lunch we walked a few blocks over to Little Italy and bought some mini-cannoli off the street. Not my favorite treat, but Little Italy is SO unique and fun to walk around we had to try something.
All four of us finally slowing down to pose for a picture. Boy am I regretting all of these unflattering pregnancy pictures!:) I felt like the Jet-Puff marshmallow man all weekend. Cheese!
And then the pies de resistance: Chinatown. I love shopping in Chinatown for knock-off goods. I got a super cute Michael Kors bag thanks to Whitney's bargaining, plus some sunglasses, and some souvenirs for the kids. So fun! We then got a late dinner at a hidden little Indian restaurant that we basically had to ourselves the whole time. I hadn't had Indian food in over a year, and it was DELICIOUS!
The next morning we got up bright and early (hence my lovely puffy face) to head back to Richmond at a decent hour, so I could then drive the additional 4 hours home before it got too late, and decided to get some chicken and waffles for breakfast in Harlem at Amy Ruth's.
Last time I ate their ironically I was pregnant with Zach, and I just remember craving that exact meal for 9 long months. They know their soul food, and the fact that we were the only white people in the neighborhood proved it. We got back to Richmond around 5 p.m. and I started on my way back home. Although I don't think my tailbone (or feet) will forgive me anytime soon, it was well worth the drive-- an excellent Babymoon for me.:) **And THANKS to my super amazing husband for taking off work and watching the kids all weekend so I could go. Love you!!**