For our anniversary, Todd got us a couple of nights at the Marriott in downtown NYC so we could FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY go ice skating in Central Park!
It was a LONG drive in the rain down to lower Manhattan, but after we arrived, we were able to get a seat at O'Hara's Irish pub where we couldn't stop yelling out names of towns on all of the police and fire patches on the walls. Some of them (quite a few, oddly) were from Germany!
Hilariously, we emerged from O'Hara's to find that the rain had stopped and we had a great view of One World Trade Center, which nobody believed was ACTUALLY One World Trade Center because they declared it looked too small!
After a good night sleep, we headed out in the morning toward the WTC subway station, stopping briefly to see the World Trade Center Memorial. You can see the fog was back!
We took the subway up to Central Park and walked over to Wollman Rink. The rain had stopped and the temperatures were actually very mild!
These new buildings really weird me out. We moved to Germany in 2015 and when we came back, these were here and it gives me creepy sci-fi futuristic vibes. Central Park Tower on the right is the second tallest building in the US (after One World Trade) and 111 West 57th Street on the left is the 4th tallest building in the US.
WE FINALLY DID IT! We finally went skating in Central Park! So the lore goes like this: In 2003, I flew up to New York to visit my friends and meet up with this handsome guy (and to see Cary Pierce in concert!) I had told him that I wanted to go ice skating in Central Park - only, the weather that weekend was BITTERLY cold with wind chill temps in the single digits. I flew in from Atlanta, and I don't even think I owned a hat or gloves back then, and I certainly didn't know the meaning of layering! So we scrapped that idea. And before you knew it, it was spring and then summer, and then he moved to Washington D.C. so we did not spend any more winters in New York.
Fast forward to February of 2005 when we went for a winter visit to NYC. Little did I know, Todd was going to propose to me! He wanted to finally take me ice skating in Central Park (and that is where he was going to propose!) but I had had the flu the weekend before we went and although I was feeling better, I was still feeling weak and didn't really want to exert the energy to go ice skating. Don't worry, he proposed anyway - on a horse and carriage ride!
So we finally did it! He finally took me ice skating in Central Park - almost 21 years later! (And hey! 432 Park Avenue is the tall building behind me which is 6th tallest in the US!)
But really, the biggest surprise of the day was THIS! Well, Todd and I knew about this surprise, but the kids didn't! Every December, Todd's brother Steve and his kiddos go to NYC for a day and it just happened to be the day we were there! (Why does this keep happening with my nieces and nephews!?) So as we were walking through Central Park and approached the rink, we spotted Steve - and I turned around and looked at Natalie who could NOT process that her uncle was standing there. She thought, "Wow, that guy really looks like Uncle Steve!" But it was really him!
Hannah and Ryan made a few loops around the rink and that was about enough for them, but the rest of us kept skating with Megan and Mackenzie!
Girl cousins skating in Central Park 💗
After we went skating, we walked all the way across town to where we were having lunch but we passed so many iconic things on our way - like the Plaza Hotel!
And of course, Saks Fifth Avenue (featuring Ryan's super tall head!)
Let's not forget Atlas, who stands in front of Rockefeller Center!
And of course, we finally got to see the iconic Rockefeller Center tree!
Ahh there it is!
We passed through Times Square on our way to lunch and it was insanely busy, as usual.
Our lunch spot was across the street from the Richard Rodgers theater!
Our big family lunch was at Bond 45, a really good Italian place where I got this beautiful drink called the Queen's Cup!
I love that we have cousins just having a good time here, but I especially love Natalie's face ha!
Steve, Hannah, Megan, Ryan, Mackenzie, Natalie, Grant, me and Todd at lunch at Bond 45 in NYC!
After a really fun lunch (Natalie said it was her favorite part of the weekend) with the Maryland Bailey's, we bid our family adieu and sent them off for an afternoon of shopping while we headed over to Times Square to see if we could get any theater tickets.
We did indeed get some theater tickets - to see Chicago!
After we got tickets for the evening performance of Chicago, Nat and I went over to the Line Friends store to see about some BT21 Merch. Why is Shooky always being so extra!?
Inside the store, there is a Van statue that is autographed by all of the BTS members!
And there is a little back room dedicated solely to BT21 characters that were all decked out for Christmas. Not sure what Mang is doing over there ha ha. BTS members signed these guys, too!
We all know Shooky is my favorite! But only because he and I both hate milk!
Nat and I also went into the photo booth and bought some ridiculous photos.
After we left the Line Friends store, we met back up with Todd and Grant and we needed to find a bathroom. We went into St. Patrick's but there were not any public bathrooms open at the time, so we took a few pictures and then left.
So Nat and I walked around trying to find a public bathroom. We stopped to ask some police officers who were literally NOT HELPFUL AT ALL. They were just standing around, not doing anything and even acted annoyed that we even asked them. They told us to just "find a hotel" - even though just literally steps behind them was Rockefeller Center that has public restrooms downstairs!
We considered skating at Rockefeller Center, but skating on a Saturday before Christmas is $73 per person. Um, no thanks.
The line for the bathroom at Rockefeller was literally a MILE long. No joke. So we went to one of the restaurants and asked if we could buy a drink at the bar just so we could use the restroom. They said we didn't need to do that - we could just use the bathroom for free. Which was really nice, and kind of surprising. Another surprise? Seeing the Naked Cowboy on our way back to find Todd and Grant!
Our next stop of the evening was the Empire State Building. I don't think the kids remember too much about our first trip down to New York City in 2015 (just before we moved to Germany) but we wanted to recreate this picture of them - look how cute they were/are!
I've never been to Macy's in New York - let alone for the holidays but here it is, in Herald Square just down the street from the Empire State Building. Is that true, Macy's? Is this the World's Largest Store? That's a great superlative!
The Empire State Building was pretty all lit up at night.
Welcome to the Empire State Building! Thankfully we had purchased tickets in advance and were able to skip the huge line that was waiting outside.
There is a museum dedicated to the construction of the ESB, so Todd stopped to have a chat with these hard working men who were having their lunch.
That MIGHT be a self imposed superlative - but I like their enthusiasm.
It's really fascinating to see how quickly this building was constructed. They literally built this in just over a year. It was the tallest building from the time it was completed (1931) until the World Trade Center twin towers were topped out in 1970.
WHAT OH MY GOSH. MY BOYS!!!! They were here! The most surprising thing about this photo is the random people who don't even know who they are just walking up the stairs on the left ha ha.
The views are night are really cool - I hadn't really ever thought about visiting at night but I'm so glad we did. It's really a much different perspective!
We had a nice view of the Chrysler Building (Todd used to live in that direction!)
Don't forget to look up, there's so much to see!
Because it's Christmas, and because the Empire State Building was featured in the movie Elf AND because it was the 20th anniversary of the film, they had Buddy (aka: Will Ferrell) up at the outdoor observatory!
My kiddos looking down at Times Square from the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building.
When you leave the ESB, you go through it's very famous Art Deco lobby.
But we had to get going because we had tickets to see Chicago at the Ambassador Theater! Did you know that Chicago is the LONGEST running American musical in Broadway history, having started here on November 14, 1996? Superlative, check!
You have to take a picture of your Playbill in front of the stage - it's required. But you can't take pictures during the show, so this is all you're gonna see from this musical!
We had to head home in the morning, but not until after we had a big breakfast at a New York City diner. We opted for Zaza which was pretty good!
This might be the best American cappuccino I've ever had. The rock candy sugar stirrer was what put it over the top!
We went back to the hotel to gather our bags and retrieve our car. I was a bit surprised they let me take this picture! Grant always looks so thrilled.
Until next time, NYC! You know we'll be back! It's the greatest city in the world!
