Dawn and Jake in the Big City!

Last week was our 10th anniversary, and Jake surprised me with a trip to NYC, a place I had never visited before! It was quite the trip - an amazing dose of culture and adrenaline unlike anything I have ever experienced! Here are some of the highlights and reflections from our trip:

Subway System: While this was probably my least favorite part of the city, it was also very fascinating and was a great way to get around. We felt like true New Yorkers! After I got over the initial fear of being underground in a hot stinky place with fast, loud subways whizzing by... I got used to it. We never actually took a cab the entire time we were there (it saved us tons of $$ doing the subway with everything we saw, and a lot of time not being stuck in traffic). Jake once had a near-death experience in a NY cab on a previous trip so he didn't really want to go there! I am still in awe at how much pedestrian traffic there is in the city and glad that I had comfy walking shoes! I only lost my metro card once! :-)

The Arts: This is by far my FAVORITE part of NYC - we got to see 3 shows: Wicked (fantastic plot and writing), Lion King (Great Costumes), and South Pacific (I'm a sucker for Rogers and Hammerstein). South Pacific was my favorite show because I grew up hearing my mom sing those songs on the piano, and also because my Grandpa was stationed in Hawaii during the war. The songs are the type you just can't stop singing afterward ("I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair.") But despite the "cuteness" of it all - there are deep themes that address prejudice and race. I was a bit disappointed that this revival version was risque' - especially given the fact that kids were in the audience, but that's Broadway for ya! We really wanted to also see the Ballet, NY Philharmonic and some jazz but you can only fit in so much. Next time!

Street Performers: I was amazed at how many street performers we saw in NY either on the sidewalks or in the subway system - A women's gospel choir, a string trio, middle eastern band, mandolin, banjo, guitar, keyboard, drums, violin, break dancers, klezmer music, you name it, we saw it! I was also struck by how many children I saw walking around with their instruments on the street. Somehow I gather that little league and soccer practices are replaced by piano and voice lessons in this city!

Lower Manhattan: We spent a good deal of time exploring here (NY stock exchange, Wall Street, Trinity church, WTC memorial site.) We spent a few hours in the 9/11 Tribute Center and it was a very sobering experience. The actual site is just a construction zone now, as the memorial will not be complete for another 10 years. Yet the audio tour alone was enough to bring Jake and I to tears and recall the events of that day. We were very glad we did this tour in the middle of our trip - it would have been a hard way to start out and a rough way to end - also glad that we didn't have a show to go to that evening b/c we were both so affected we just felt like chilling out afterward. One cool thing I never knew before is that St. Paul's church sits right next to the WTC site. Despite the fact that every other building surrounding the collapse had severe damage or most of its windows blown out, this little church had no window broken and a sycamore tree deflected a steel beam from the WTC that could have fallen on the church. It is the place that George Washington prayed after his inauguration. It was a very amazing, historical place to visit.

Brooklyn: I had the pleasure of reconnecting with a childhood friend, Kirsten, who lives in DUMBO Brooklyn. We have known each other since 1st grade and it was so fun to see where she lives and get a walking tour of her neighborhood. We also enjoyed yummy pizza at Grimaldi's and it lived up to its reputation!

Little Italy/Chinatown: A very interesting experience - lots of restaurants and shops... I wish we'd had time to eat a meal there but I did get to taste a cannoli in little Italy and barter for a few souvenirs in Chinatown. The fish market was not open and I was not sad about that - Jake wanted to show me fish heads and stuff (yuck!)

Central Park: We actually did not get to walk through central park until our last few hours there, when it finally started raining! And lo and behold we left our umbrella back at the hotel! We bought 2 umbrellas for $10 with a street vendor and pressed ahead! I wish we could have spent so much more time there - it is so beautiful and amazing that a place with so much foliage can exist in the middle of a city like New York! If we go back - we won't miss doing a carriage ride through the park and eating at the boathouse cafe!

National Museum of Natural History: Again, this was a place that we could have spent an entire day, but we managed to see it in about 3 hours... it is 5 stories tall and has amazing exhibits! The dinosaur bones were our favorite and all I could think about the entire time is how much my kids would LOVE it (thus fueling our plans to take them back someday when they are older!) The building itself is amazing and I'm so glad we got to visit.

Times square: This is a place you have to go to say you've "been there" - and it is a spectacle indeed, but definitely not a place I would want to be when the "ball drops!" I will happily watch it on TV every New Year and now I can say "I've been there."

Food: There is every kind of food imaginable in NY - but my favorite would have to be NY pizza (Grimaldi's and Lombardi's were both excellent) and Rosa Mexicano near Lincoln Center (Guacamole!)

Staten Island Ferry: We chose to take the free ferry across to Staten Island and back to get views of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It would have been great to actually visit Ellis Island but we knew we wouldn't have enough time to devote to it (another thing on our list for next time - it's just impossible to see everything there because there is so much!) Still, it was great to see them and take pictures and realize the history that is behind all aspects of the city.

St. Patrick's Cathedral: I was amazed at how many historic churches and cathedrals exist in the city - in part because when everybody was immigrating to America each ethnic group established their own houses of worship. We got to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral which was beautiful - I was only bummed that I did not get to attend a pipe organ concert on our trip (I searched the entire city for a pipe organ concert!) A few cathedrals/churches had their pipe organs damaged in 9/11 from the massive amounts of dust that swept over the city.

Most Romantic Place: Ok, well there are admittedly a lot of romantic places in NY but we really liked the lobby lounge of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at night - views of Columbus Circle, sparkling moscato and the city skyline! We also learned that just like in the movies, people really do PDA in romantic places of the city, LOL!

All in all - an amazing trip that I had to come home and "recover" from with a few full nights sleep! :-) Looking forward to going back someday!