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This past Sunday Lucas I decided to head into the city after church. Earlier in the week Lucas looked at the forecast and saw that the rain was going to go away and a bright fall day would be surrounding us by Sunday. Turns out the forecast was right and with perfect 60 degree weather we headed into the city.
We didn’t have much on the agenda besides enjoying the day together. First we headed over to the library so Lucas could take some pictures of the woodwork in the study areas. He already has dreams for his study in the new house although his dreams might have to be a little less intricate than the NYC library.
From there we headed up 5th Ave and I snapped a few shots of St. Patrick’s Cathedral…
Our destination was Serendipity on 60th & 3rd and as we headed that way we passed the Friar’s Club. Lucas got really excited when we saw this place although I had no idea why he was so excited.
*10 bonus points to the person who can guess why Lucas was excited about it :)
As we were walking along we also stumbled upon a movie being filmed! We were coming up to Park Avenue and as we tried to cross the street they asked us to stay back because they were getting ready to shoot a stunt. After a few minutes of waiting we finally heard “Action!” and a black SUV started driving the wrong way down the street with a man laying on top of the car. It was pretty exciting for the 10 seconds that it lasted. :)
Finally we made our way to Serendipity where we were going to enjoy some frozen hot chocolate. I had never been there before but Lucas thought I would like it. We had decided that we would put up with a wait of 30 minutes but no more. When we got there Lucas stepped inside and found out the wait was an hour to an hour and a half…on a Sunday afternoon around 3:00! Ugh! So no frozen hot chocolate. But thankfully just down the street was another place I’ve been wanting to go to…Dylan’s Candy Bar!
With some candy in tow, we headed to the park to enjoy the fall colors. We sat on a bench and enjoyed our candy.
After the park we headed down to Little Italy for dinner. Lucas picked the restaurant which once we stepped inside was set up kind of like cafeteria style seating. We were hoping for something a little more private. After a quick attitude check for me we settled in to enjoy some fine Italian. We were enjoying our meal when one of the staff turned on a karaoke machine and started singing along! Granted she was singing Little Italy type songs…”When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s amore”…but it was ridiculously loud and she wasn’t that great. We ended up just laughing about it and chalking it up to another experience in NYC.
Some after dinner strolling finished out the evening. We hopped on the train and were home by 8:30. It was a great day in NYC and I can’t wait until Christmas when we head back to enjoy the holidays with just the two of us. Until then…bye, bye NYC.
-Shannon
Recently my parents came to NJ for their summer vacation. I was excited for them to come but we’ve had so many visitors and I’ve been so tired with pregnancy stuff that it took me a little while to get good and excited for their visit. However, once they were here it was great. The day after they arrived we spent the day in NYC…
We decided to take a bus tour around the city and we were able to see lots of different places and enjoy riding instead of walking. First we went through midtown…
We made our way to the Village and hopped off the bus to enjoy some cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery. I think I’m slightly obsessed with them but since I’m not too close to the bakery I’m able to keep myself under control. We enjoyed the cupcakes in honor of my dad’s birthday! After our quick stop in the Village we hopped back on the bus and headed downtown to Battery Park. We decided to take the Staten Island Ferry to enjoy some views of the city.
After the ferry we stopped off at the South Street Seaport area. I had actually never been down here before so it was nice to explore a new area. We wandered around and decided to enjoy dinner at the waters edge overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge.
We hopped on the bus one last time and made it up to Rockefeller Center…
After hailing a cab we made our way to the Empire State Building where we had to twist my dad’s arm to go up to the top. We knew he would be disappointed if we didn’t go up but after waiting in line for 1 1/2 hours and being surrounded by a 1,000 of our closest friends at the top, we realized we probably shouldn’t have gone to the top at sunset on a Saturday night. Hindsight is 20/20. However, I was able to snap a few shots that make it feel like it was serene and nice when in reality we all just wanted to get the heck out of there.
Still we had a great day in the city and now my dad can say he has been to NYC. Although I don’t think he’ll be visitng again anytime soon. :)
-Shannon
After our little NYC getaway I rushed back home to prepare for the arrival of my friend Alexandra…or Allie, as I like to call her. :) I first met Allie through our church in Springfield because I helped out with youth group and her dad was the pastor. During her high school years I taught Allie the guitar and everything she needed to know about life. :) She is now a Junior at Missouri State and has turned into quite the amazing young woman. It was so great to see her and spend time with her.
She arrived on Thursday and we spent most the evening playing guitar and singing together. On Friday was headed into NYC to enjoy the day together. First we had lunch at Bubba Gumps on Times Square…Allie had never been and I can’t turn down shrimp…plus we had a great view…
After lunch we grabbed some yummy cheesecake and then headed to Central Park…
Then off to the Brooklyn Bridge…
On Saturday we enjoyed the day by staying around Princeton. We had a picnic in the park and then walked around the town and university. On Sunday Allie joined us at church and even helped out with worship by adding her wonderful voice to the mix. It was so great to have her visit us and I can’t wait to see her again!
-Shannon
Last week Lucas and I spent a couple nights in NYC using the free apartment that his summer internship provided. It was so nice to stay in the city and it was especially nice for Lucas who was able to sleep in since his commute was cut from an hour and a half to 20 minutes. On Tuesday Lucas headed off to work and I followed him in that evening. We spent the evening wandering around Central Park and enjoying the apartment. On Wednesday I walked around the Upper West Side on my way to meet Lucas for lunch.
I was surprised to stumble across this…
Lucas works right by Columbia University so I thought I should take a look around…
After lunch I spent the afternoon in Central Park laying on a blanket staring at this…
After Lucas got off work we went back to the park to explore it some more. We had never been on the north side of the park so it was nice to see some new sights…
We spent the evening with Bruce and Kathy who are former missionaries to Afghanistan who now work for the General Board of Global Ministries where Lucas is interning. It was a wonderful evening with great food and even better conversation. We are so thankful for our NYC getaway…
-Shannon
Awhile ago when my Aunt and Uncle treated us to the wonderful evening in NYC they told us about a great tv show called New Amsterdam…
“In 1642, John Amsterdam, then a Dutch soldier in the colony of New Amsterdam – later to become New York – stepped in front of a sword to save the life of a Native American girl during a massacre of her tribe. The girl in turn rescued Amsterdam, weaving an ancient spell that conferred immortality upon him. Amsterdam will not age until he finds his one true love.”
Lucas and I were both enthralled with it because they do a bunch of flashbacks of NYC through the years and the main character weaves his way into a lot of history. Unfortunately the show was one a little over a year ago and only survived through 8 episodes. But thanks to the powers of hulu.com you can watch all the episodes for free. So if you need something new to watch during the dire tv situation called summer programming, try out New Amsterdam. Ok now I feel like I’m pitching a product to you but really it is just a good show that has some interesting history/stories to it. Enjoy!
-Shannon
I promised I would share some pictures from our afternoon in the city so here they are. Lucas wanted to take me around the village and the area he stayed at for almost a week. I loved poking my head around the neighborhood and these narrow streets with little traffic are definitely my kind of NYC.
Here is the building that Lucas stayed in. His room was on the back side of the building and his window looked out onto a little garden…
When Lucas came home from his time in the city last Wednesday, he brought with him a present…cupcakes from this wonderful place…
We grabbed some dinner at a little Middle Eastern restaurant and headed down to Hudson River Park to enjoy it. Thankfully it only sprinkled a bit during dinner and then stopped for the evening. After dinner we spent the rest of our time walking along the water’s edge making our way from 14th street to Battery Park.
We ended our journey with views of the harbor and then headed back home. Hopefully this Saturday we will have good weather because we plan to head back in and spend the day exploring some new neighborhoods.
-Shannon
P.S. Katie won 10 bonus points for guessing “Summer in the City” by Regina Spektor. :)
When my Aunt and Cousin visited we spent Sunday morning exploring Ellis Island. Even though I had recently visited I decided to check out places I hadn’t seen before. So here are some of my favorite pictures from the day…
This was in the display room that is mainly for kids but I enjoyed this American flag that as you walk past it changes to become the faces of America…
More views from the inside…
And a few from the outside…
Most of Ellis Island has not been renovated and so you see it just as it has always been. I loved poking around the old buildings and thinking of all the history that surrounds this place…
I find that I am simply amazed by Ellis Island. I don’t know of any of my family that passed through these walls but I love imagining the lives that these people were leaving and starting by coming to America. I actually find the entire history of NYC to be really fascinating. I am captivated by the brave people who journeyed so far to find a land they could call home. And even though this poem is more closely associated with the Statue of Liberty, I love the words that Emma Lazarus wrote in
The New Colossus…
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A might woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. ”Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddles masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I life my lamp beside the golden door!”
-Shannon
This past week my Aunt Shirley and cousin Carrie visited us as part of Carrie’s high school graduation trip! Neither one of them had ever been to NYC so I had fun showing them around and they even headed into the city on their own for a day. This past weekend the three of us girls stayed in the city at the New York Helmsley Hotel while Lucas enjoyed a weekend at home by himself. We all enjoyed dinner out on Friday night followed by the amazing experience of seeing The Lion King on Broadway.
On Saturday we headed out for the day and quickly came upon a little street fair…
We made our way up 5th Avenue stopping at the Library…
…St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Tiffany’s and eventually making our way to Central Park…
On Sunday morning we headed off to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. And even though I had just visited these places with Lucas’ parents I still enjoyed looking around and catching new views…
After our weekend in the city we headed down to Philadelphia for the afternoon on Monday.
After our quick stop at Independence Mall I dropped them off at their hotel for the night and then they flew back home to Missouri yesterday. It was such a great visit and I’m so glad I got to spend some extended time with them especially as Carrie heads off to Williem Jewell College this fall. I love you two!
-Shannon
This past weekend my Aunt Dodo (her real name is Gloria but we call her Dodo…long story) and Uncle Mike came into town to visit NYC. They lived on Governor’s Island (right beside Manhattan) for two years when my uncle was in the Coast Guard. They have always enjoyed the city and hadn’t visited in quite a long time. So after a conference in Maryland they headed our way and treated us to a night in the city! We stayed at the Marriot Marquis (seriously, check out the website) on Times Square and our room was A-MA-ZING! I arrived before Lucas and enjoyed a little down time in our room…
Here was the view from our room…
We spent our evening eating and drinking the night away by enjoying the Broadway Lounge overlooking Times Square followed by dinner at The View, the only revolving restaurant in NYC. Our food was wonderful and we leisurely enjoyed our three course dinner over some bottles of wine. Both of these place were in the hotel so we spent most of our time there. However, after dinner we did enjoy a quick walk over to Rockefeller Center…
The next day Lucas headed back to a retreat he was on for his summer field education so I spent the morning wandering around the city by myself. But not before taking a few more shots from our wonderful room…
This is inside the hotel…
What a wonderful treat! Thanks Aunt Dodo and Uncle Mike!
-Shannon
Sorry it has been so long since the last update but we’ve been having more fun in the city and I will share about that in an upcoming post. But for now I need to finish up our days in NYC with Lucas’ parents.
We headed into the city and after making a bee line to Times Square (Larry couldn’t go any longer without seeing it) we headed down 6th Ave to Bryant Park and the NYC Public Library. We were surprised to find 6th Ave having a street fair instead of the normal traffic cruising along…
We made our way to Bryant Park…
This poor guy has been taken over by pigeons…
NYC Public Library…
Random Thought: So there is a tv show on PBS called Between the Lions and it is a kids show about books. I always thought it was a play on words for between the lines like the lines of a book. However, after visiting the NYC Public Library a million times it finally dawned on me that it probably means between the two lions outside of the library. As you enter the library you pass between the lions! Ok this may have not made sense to anyone else but oh well. :) Just enjoy the lion…
No reading books for me…I only stopped to take some pictures…
Well I did look at one book…
After the library we made our way up to Rockefeller Center…
And to St. Patrick’s Cathedral…
We spent a good chunk of the afternoon in Central Park…one of my favorite places ever. We explored new areas that I had never seen and it was great to be surrounded by such nature in the middle of the city.
We headed uptown to the place Lucas will be working the summer as part of his field education for PTS. It is right by Riverside Church and Grant’s Tomb…
As the day began to wind down we headed back to midtown to do one more thing…
…head to Top of the Rock. Lucas and I had both been to the top of the Empire State Building but we had never been to Top of the Rock. If you haven’t figured it out you go to the top of Rockefeller Center. And I have to say I loved the views because you could actually see the park and the Empire State Building itself. What a way to end the day…
-Shannon
