In mid-November, my husband and I took a weeklong trip to New York City, and it was fabulous!! We ate at GATO NYC, one of Bobby Flay‘s restaurants. They had a semi-open kitchen and I kept looking for him through the window, but he wasn’t there lol! The food was delicious.
On Bobby Flay’s show, The Flay List, his daughter recommended Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer, where we met a high school friend of mine for lunch. The Black Tap is mainly a burger joint, but they have these EPIC milkshakes. My husband ordered one — cookies ‘n cream — and the sides of the glass were covered in frosting topped with broken chocolate sandwich cookies. Okay, let’s be real — they were Oreos. The burgers were yummy, too.
Afterward, the three of us went to the Museum of Modern Art. We apparently broke some rules by accidentally sticking our noses past the line that delineated how close you could approach a painting. We were also warned not to touch anything, which I feel the need to do with art exhibits, sculptures, and the like because I’m a tactile person. I didn’t touch though, lol!
A trip to New York wouldn’t be complete without visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Our tour guide led us from the ferry to the statue, to the island. We learned a lot of historical facts that we didn’t know, and it was very interesting. There’s a wall-type sculpture in the gardens of Ellis Island that lists the names of some of the immigrants who came to the U.S. through there. I was surprised to see my name, because as far as I know, my parents and I were the first immigrants in our family. Maybe time for a genealogy project?
Finally, we went to the Rink at Rockefeller Center, on which I’ve always wanted to skate — a bucket list item. We had VIP tickets, which meant snacks, free skate rentals (though we have our own), a different entrance from the General Admission folks, and we had an earlier start time for entering the rink. I hesitated about being the first people to go on the ice, but I got over it and we went.
Instead of the grand entrance I’d always dreamed of, gliding gloriously on the ice, I froze. I could barely move; my whole body was tense. And you have to be relaxed in order to skate. I couldn’t lift my legs. I couldn’t bend my knees. It was a nightmare. I was also in disbelief. I’m actually a pretty good skater, when I’m actively playing hockey. I held onto the rail with one hand and my husband with the other. I was determined to skate around the rink once, which I did, though it could barely be called skating. I fell several times. Luckily (?) I’m not afraid to fall on ice. Except for on a sidewalk lol!
The original Carlo’s Bakery (from Cake Boss) in Hoboken, New Jersey, was something of a consolation the next day. The pumpkin spice cheesecake I ate for my second breakfast took my mind off what happened on the ice. Or what didn’t happen.
Last stop was the football stadium on the Rutgers University campus in New Jersey, where we watched my beloved, Ohio State Buckeyes basically…annihilate the home team. Well, a win is still a win.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my New York experience. I can’t wait to go back!
Have you been to New York? Share your experiences in the comments!
