The Big Apple

A few weeks ago, I traveled to New York for work, and planned the trip so that I could also stay in the city over the following weekend.  I've been fortunate to travel to NY once every quarter or so for work, but haven't been in the city in probably ten years so I'd been looking forward to this visit ever since we put it on the calendar!  I asked my mom and sister to fly up from South Carolina and DC to meet me for a girls weekend, but when my dad heard our plans, he wanted in on the fun too! 

After work Friday afternoon, my coworker and I took a train from White Plains into Grand Central Terminal. I was so thankful she was there to help me navigate public transportation....  This SC born and bred girl here has not had much experience with the metro or trains!! Everything was going smoothly until we got to Grand Central Terminal and my coworker and I parted our separate ways.  I could not hail a cab for the life of me.  Being that I was only about 8 blocks from our hotel, I just started walking... with my huge (and albeit hardly) rolling suitcase, heavy briefcase, and purse while trying to navigate the streets of NY in the dark with my smartphone.  I had a hard time reading the GPS on the phone and started walking the wrong direction, my rolling bag's straps were awkwardly low to the ground so I was hunched over trying to carry it, dodging people, oh, and my briefcase and purse straps were cutting into my shoulder so hard I thought I was about to start bleeding.   Thankfully, my dear father took sympathy on his teetering-on-the-verge-of-a-meltdown daughter and met me halfway to carry my luggage.  I cried tears of joy when we finally met up on the street.  Talk about being a fish out of water, haha!!

We were going to see Jersey Boys that night, and since we weren't sure what time everyone would be able to meet up, we decided we'd order a pizza in the room and have a glass of wine before the show.  When we first made those plans, I stuck my lip out a little bit as I wanted to go out and eat at one of NY's finest, but after my experience trying to get to the hotel, I was SO happy to kick my feet up and relax for a minute.

Jersey Boys was AMAZING.  I would absolutely recommend it to anyone going to a Broadway show, it was highly entertaining from start to finish... the music, set, plot, dancing... it was all incredible.  I couldn't believe how many songs I knew, and our entire family has been singing them since.  I would go see it again in a heartbeat.

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Saturday, we spend the day, exploring the city, shopping, and walking around Times Square, Fifth Avenue, and down to Chelsea Market.  Chelsea Market, basically an enclosed urban food court with retail space and restaurants, was so cool.  

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We let our feet and stomachs dictate our lunch plans, and as soon as we stumbled across the Lobster Place in the market, we all knew we had to stop.

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Inside was some of the freshest looking seafood and sushi we had ever seen, and the four of us split a ridiculous amount of sushi that was out of this world.

That night we had dinner reservations at Alta in Greenwich Village.  I could not rave more about this quaint little tapas bar.   If you are looking for a spot with an intimate atmosphere and excellent food, go!!  

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The four of us split 10 tapas including seared sea scallops, shrimp, pionnini mushroom risotto, rosemary crusted lamb tatiki, spaghetti pepperoncini, and braised beef short ribs (y'all, I was in foodie heaven), but the hands down, take the cake, home run was the crispy brussel sprouts.  You guys know I am a big, big fan of brussel sprouts and these were the best I have ever had in my life.  I am dying to recreate the dish, with caramelized with fuji apples, creme fraiche, and pistachios.  YUM!

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We waddled out of there, somehow, with room for coffee and dessert and stopped in Magnolia Bakery for some sweet treats before tucking in.

Sunday, the day got away from us way too quickly but we did manage to squeeze in a walk on the Highline, the one mile linear parkway and greenway, and a delicious lunch at the Grey Dog before heading to LaGuardia.

While I certainly loved being in the city, what made the trip such a memory was the wonderful time I got to spend with my parents and sister.  I hate that Lash was unable to join us and we certainly missed him, though I loved the time we had together.  I've already told my dad I want this to be an annual trip... Fingers crossed!!