On Saturday we were finally able to sleep in just a little. The only plans we had were not until late afternoon, so the day was ours to do with what we may. Erin found a great place for breakfast called Friedman’s. They have several locations but we thought that going to the one in Chelsea Market seemed to be the best idea. Purchasing the unlimited rides on the subway was probably one of the best things we did because it allowed us to go wherever looked cool without having to worry about cost, time, distance, or anything really. To Chelsea Market we went. It required a transfer and a short walk, but the market was really cool. Located in the old Meatpacking District, they have done a great job of making the place really inviting. There are tons of restaurants, shops, and being New York, people. Friedman’s was great. I had the chicken chilaquiles, Lucy had a great looking chicken sandwich, and Erin had an eggs benedict not made with english muffins. The food and the Bloody Mary’s were fantastic and I highly recommend this place. After we ate, we tooled around the market a bit. I bought some hot sauce at a neat little shop, and then we decided to head to 23rd Street where Lucy had been told there was great shopping. There was not. I expected this to be the case, but I had to let her see for herself. I did notice on the walk that in the Gramercy part of town lots of the little bars were having quite the competition with the holiday decorations. But since I as with the kids and my parents, I saw the decorations from the outside and in passing.
23rd Street was a bust and to try and salvage the shopping day we headed to Herald Square and to Macy’s. I mean, no. Just no. The entire area was swamped with people and the only store that was not overly crowded was a store with local artists. I don’t know the name or if it will be there in a week, but we all had great success there with some cool little purchases. We took the train back to 42nd Street and headed up 5th Avenue. We visited the North Face store and made a few purchases and then went back to the hotel. The girls took a rest and Erin and I went to a place called Via Brasil next to the hotel. The bartender was great, Erin had a Brazilian beer that looked good, and I went with the Caipirinha. Two of them actually. We changed and then went to our dinner at Ocean Prime. The food was wonderful. Erin’s Sea Bass was great and my scallops with risotto could not have been better. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food and off we went to Radio City Music Hall.
Ok. The Rockettes. We have all seen them and are familiar with them. If given the chance to seem them, I would recommend you go see a Broadway show instead. Radio City Music Hall is a very neat venue. The Art Deco architecture is cool and the sight lines and sound quality are wonderful. The show though. There was no flow to it. It hopped all over the place. Once the little people came out for their only appearance as Santa’s elves, I knew we were in trouble. The only living creature more confused than I was, was the poor live camel. I can only imagine what he was thinking. If camels think. Also, did you know it snowed the night of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem? Well, it did. The Rockettes say so. Seriously, save your money and go see something else. Anything else.
The show ended and we headed back to pack up for the trip home. Erin and I visited our pub once more and had a quite pleasant chat with some of the staff, all of whom are from Ireland. Too quickly the night came to an end and we headed upstairs. On Sunday, we were up early and off to LaGuardia. Every leg of the trip home was flawless. There was no traffic, security lines were non-existent, and the flight was early. Soon enough, we were home.
Would I recommend going to New York? Sure, if you’ve never been. There are lots of neat things to see but it rivals Disney World for exhausting trips. We saw historical sites, sites of great tragedy (the Rockettes), visited Ground Zero, and ate some wonderful food. It is not an inexpensive place to go. Many places had trouble making change when we tried to pay with cash. In the end though, it is not always about the location of our trips. So much of it centers around being able to share in these experiences with my family. We won’t always buy the latest hot item, but I will always make sure the girls get a chance to have experiences. The memories of places visited, sites seen, and laughs shared will carry us and will make us smile years from now.
