Summer Trip: Part IV

 We started this day off with breakfast at Stardust Diner. This is a unique cafe on Broadway where the servers sing Broadway songs while they are serving. It was a fun experience.

Following breakfast we walked around Times Square and did some shopping.

We got to see the famous Times Square naked cowboy. Of course I had to take a picture.

We then headed to see & Juliet on Broadway. This was such a cool show. Andy was not interested in seeing a Broadway show while we were there but he agreed afterward that it was a good show. Stella picked the show out and she did a great job of selecting one that everyone could enjoy. If you have a chance to see & Juliet, I highly recommend it.

After the show we headed to Top of the Rock for 360 degree views of NYC and to do the photo where we are sitting on the beam over NYC. You are basically recreating the famous picture from way back when of the construction workers enjoying their lunch on the beam.

We stopped by FAO Schwarz for a bit since we had time to kill and Max got to play the giant keyboard just like in the movie Big. This is located at Rockefeller Center and I will say that Rockefeller Center is MUCH SMALLER in person. I thought it would be bigger, but it's not. I honestly don't even know how they fit the ice rink in that small space in the winter.

Dinner was at a good Italian restaurant. We were all hot and a bit sweaty from the day and the restaurant wasn't that much cooler. That's ok because the food was pretty good and my Prosecco helped cool me off. Max ordered the fettuccini alfredo that was prepared table side via a giant cheese wheel. That was the highlight of his dinner. 

It was another hot and sticky day in NYC, but most of our activities on this day were inside so it wasn't too bad. The theme of our trip is hot, humid and a lot of walking...but tons of fun!  

Summer Trip: Part III

 In the morning we headed over to the Tribeca neighborhood to a restaurant that has won a Michelin star for their pancakes. Once Max heard that he was super excited for breakfast and he already knew he was going to order the pancakes. 

Once we got off the subway and started our walk to the restaurant, we turned the corner and saw the firehouse the recent Ghostbusters movie was filmed at. Max freaked out. He was super excited to see that especially since it was a surprise and we didn't know we would pass it on our walk.

After breakfast we had a tour of Central Park via a pedicab. My niece's husband, Batu, hooked me up with his best friend who runs a pedicab business in NYC. I contacted him ahead of time and we arranged to meet in front of The Plaza. We arrived a bit early and wandered around. Max was excited to see where Home Alone 2 was filmed and they had a showcase displaying items from the movie.

It was so great to meet one of Batu's best friends. He was a really nice guy that gave us a tour of Central Park and lots of great information. 

Max was able to see the Spiderman bridge and where another Marvel movie was filmed. He was excited about that. 

The pedicabs gave us a ride through Times Square and dropped us off at a pub for drinks, snacks and the soccer game that was playing.

That night we went to a Yankees game. This was fun to see all the New Yorkers really get into the game. I have never seen so much passion over a baseball game before. I thought it was fun to see. What I didn't like was trying to get back to the hotel via the train. Everyone gets jam packed on the train. Everyone is smooshed in like sardines. Everyone is touching everyone. It was my worst nightmare. I think we had to go three stops before we could breathe. It is something I am not used to and was probably my least favorite thing from the whole trip.

Other than the train ride back, the Yankees game was pretty fun. Max got himself a Yankees hat while we were there. This was another exhausting day in NYC. Every day was hot, humid and exhausting.

Summer Trip: Part II

 The first morning in NYC we did a walking food tour and we took the subway to our meeting place for the tour. This was Max's first time taking the train and he thought it was cool.

The food tour was fun for everyone. The guide even tried to get some food for me to try since all the food on the tour was not gluten free. He did his best and I enjoyed the tour. Max really liked it. First, they had bau buns and then dumplings in China Town. We then walked to Little Italy and they group had pizza and cannoli's. We stopped at four different restaurants and the guide even got me a gluten free donut from somewhere else in China Town. It was a different taste, but I really appreciated his effort since he really didn't have to do anything for me. 

Max put some kind of spicy honey on his pizza. I guess that's a thing to do in NYC. He really liked it and I believe everyone in our group that did the honey thought it was good.


After the food tour we decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. This was something I really wanted to do and thought it would be fun. Max did not like it and complained most of the walk. It was really hot and humid that day, but the walk was not that bad. Once we got across the bridge we stopped into a local brewery for some drinks to cool off.

After the brewery we wandered down to a park where we rode a 100 year old carousel. 

We ended the first full day in NYC with the Macy's fireworks. Now, this was very cool and was probably my favorite thing from the whole trip. We ended up getting a table on top of a barge right under the fireworks. You seriously couldn't get any closer. We had a table, food and drinks included. It was totally worth it. The fireworks show was amazing. At the end of the fireworks it started to rain so we all had fun walking back to the hotel in the rain since there was no way we were going to get an Uber ride in that area. The rain actually felt really good after a long and hot day.

The first day was so fun, and exhausting. I would absolutely do the food tour, bridge walk and fireworks from a barge again next year!

Summer Trip: Part I

 We took a "framily" summer trip to Niagara Falls and New York City. I call it a trip and not a vacation because it was not relaxing. It was a great trip and a lot of fun but there was nothing relaxing about it.

First, we flew to Buffalo and then drove a rental car over the border into Canada and stayed on the Canadian Falls side. When we first arrived we walked around to check out the sights. 

Looking at the Falls from the railing it was a bit underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful sight but I thought it would be much bigger than it actually was...from atop.

Here is a view from our room. This was an amazing view to wake up to everyday. 

The first morning we went on a behind the Falls excursion. We took an elevator many feet down. According to the map in the elevator it was so deep into the earth that I started to get anxious. We exited the elevator into a tunnel that was filled with people. This tunnel started to make me have a panic attack knowing we we so far underground and the tunnel was tightly filled with people. It was such a crazy feeling and I had to focus on happy thoughts to prevent it getting worse. I didn't start to feel better until we turned a corner to see behind the Falls that provided fresh air. The picture behind the Falls didn't turnout that well, but right behind us is the Falls and it was very loud from the water crashing down behind us.

We then ventured through the tunnel to a path that lead to a deck right next to the Falls. It was an amazing view. It was so beautiful and we definitely got wet.

Later that day we went on a boat ride right up to the Falls. This was not my favorite thing due to how many people they crammed onto the boat. Besides all the people, it was still pretty cool to see get up close to the Falls and feel the enormous power of the water. Once we were up close you really couldn't see anything from all the water and mist.

That night we went to a nice restaurant that was up high overlooking the Falls. It also rotated so you got to see all the views during dinner.

At the restaurant we did some fun and cheesy photos. We ended up buying these ones because they were just too corny not to.

The next day we headed over to the American side of the Falls to check out that view before we headed back to Buffalo and caught our flight to NYC. I will admit that I felt the American side was more beautiful than the Canadian side. Both sides were beautiful, but I felt the better views were on the U.S. side.

We headed to Buffalo to catch our flight but not before Andy and Max had some Buffalo wings from the restaurant that started it all.