A time for everything.

New York City was amazing! It was exactly what I thought it would be. The energy of the city is cranked up to high even on a lazy Sunday afternoon. We got to our hotel around noon on Sunday. David called his friend, Kimi, and we decided that we would take off and see a few things we wanted to see and then meet up with them for dinner. So we walked two and a half blocks from our hotel on 57th and 9th to Central Park. It's still cold and gray so there wasn't much to see, and we had a limited amount of time. So we did a quick walk around and then headed to Columbus Circle Station where we had our first subway adventure! Figuring the subway out took a little bit of time our first trip. We had to ask several people for directions and what we found is that everyone has their own method of getting around on the subway. It's better if you pick your route and go for it. We took the Subway from Columbus Circle Station down to the 42nd street which lands you right in the middle of Times Square. Hayden loved the subway. He laughed and cooed the entire time. Times Square was as busy as I'd imagined it to be. The streets are full of people and lights. We made our way to Toys-R-Us which was on Erin's list. She wanted to see the Barbie house inside which is life size and full of all things Barbie. She loved it! We spent a little time inside looking at the amazing Lego statues, the huge dinosaur, and the ferris wheel inside the store! Hayden decided it was his nap time so he didn't get to see much of the store. We then headed back out into the throngs of people and took in more of the lights and storefronts. We stopped at a bakery for giant chocolate chip cookies and a brownie before heading to Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center where we watched the ice skating rink and got our tickets to Top of the Rock. St. Patrick's Cathedral was next on our list. The outside of the building is spectacular, but under construction. The inside is jaw dropping beautiful! The organ started playing just as we walked through the doors and I think all three of us had to stop and catch our breath. It was that spectacular! David and Erin dipped their hands in the Holy water and did the sign of the cross. I opted to take photos.
From the cathedral we headed to Little Italy for pizza Lombardi's. Surprisingly, we totally had the hang of the subway and didn't have to ask for directions. Navigating the stairs with a stroller was difficult, and I'm sure we looked like tourist, but we didn't mind. When we go back we'll make sure to bring an umbrella stroller. Little Italy evoked a strange feeling because of the obvious mix of old and new. It was like looking at time staked up layer by layer. We met Kimi, Toni, and their friend Bethany, a native to the city, at Lombardi's and experienced the most delicious New York style pizza! The crust was thin and the ingredients were super fresh! After a long day, Hayden got a little fuzzy, but he had done so well the rest of the day that I could hardly blame him. I hope the others in the restaurant weren't annoyed by our fuzzy little man.
After pizza we headed back to Rockefeller Center to visit Top of the Rock. It's the one place Jen said we had to go, and she was right. The view from the 70th story observation deck was indescribably beautiful! It was around 9 p.m. so we got an amazing view of the city lit up. It was freezing cold, but well worth it. By the time we finished a Top of the Rock, we were all tired and ready to head back to the hotel. So we made one last trip on the subway and walked the streets of NYC at night. We made it back to our room and all collapsed almost immediately.
The next morning we said goodbye to Kimi and Toni who had to leave for Penn Station and their bus back to D.C. We took our time getting ready and then said goodbye to The Big Apple, but we're all sure we want to go back. This was a mini trip to test the water, and we all decided we like our little taste of the city. We had planned to visit the Statue of Liberty, but it was so cold we didn't want to take Hayden out. He would have been miserable.
It was a short trip, but I feel like we experienced quite a bit for just a few hours. I feel like we could visit again and not have any trouble finding our way around. My cousin has already given me some great ideas for our next visit and Bethany welcomed us back to her city anytime. She even said she'd show Erin some of the local skate parks. NYC will see us again.