Anyway, we decided months ago that we wanted to see the Christmas lights in the City. So, we set off Thursday morning on the train. We knew it would be incredibly busy and we were right! We had to wait several minutes just to get from the train platform to the main floor of Penn Station.
Once we were outside, we walked toward our first destination- Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Co. We were so disappointed when we moved to Princeton that we were giving up several decent bagel places in Madison (Gotham especially, but I also miss Bagels Forever = you don't appreciate what you have until it is gone...or 1000 miles away), only to find Princeton seriously lacking in good bagels. So, when we go to the City, we like to try different bagel places for a cheap breakfast or lunch that we literally cannot get at home. Brooklyn Bagel definitely hit the spot. Brent had an everything bagel with jalapeno asiago cream cheese and I had a cinnamon raisin bagel with fig cream cheese. Yum.
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| On the High Line |
Then, we decided to walk west toward the High Line. We had wanted to go up all summer just to see this place, but we never made it. It's a park up in the air in the form of a converted railroad bridge. It's about half-way up the skyline on the lower west side. Though I imagine it's more interesting in the summer when the vendors are out and the whole thing is open, it was still really cool to see. Just to be able to walk a few blocks without having to stop for cars was a treat. Plus, it was snow covered, and we are snow people.
After the High Line, we walked down to the waterfront at Chelsea Piers, which we had seen from the High Line. The whole place was completely deserted. Given how busy the rest of Manhattan was, it was cool to sit on a bench and not see anyone! We hung out there for a bit and talked about how we will miss being able to come up to the City, but that we miss Madison and cannot wait to go back there.
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| The view from Chelsea Piers |
We caught the subway and walked up the east side of Central Park all the way to the Met, only to find the tree we had been told of was only visible inside the paid-part of the museum. From there, we took the subway to Rockefeller Center. The one thing I really wanted to see was the tree. It was sparkly and beautiful.
Then, it was time for dinner. I know that some of you will read "vegan" and stop there, but honestly, this was one of the best meals of my life. We went to Blossom which is a 100% organic vegan restaurant that Brent's coworker told him about. Brent had seitan scallopini in a lemon caper sauce with truffle mashed potatoes. I had rigatoni with a porcini mushroom cream sauce garnished with pistachios and onion jam crostini. Holy cow was it amazing! Both dishes were awesome, but Brent's was especially good. Normally, we like vegan food but always think it could be improved with cheese or butter, but for once we didn't miss it. We joked that we wanted to see the kitchen because we didn't believe what we were eating didn't have dairy. We finished the night with tiramisu, because you can't leave NYC without dessert. Oh My. It was delicious.
Being 6 months pregnant and walking all over the city was a bit rough, but we just took it slowly. Oddly, it is my legs that are killing me a couple of days later. Luckily, I needed to return to writing all day yesterday to finish the last bit of graduate work I had left. I didn't need legs for that!
I'm so thankful that we've been able to enjoy the City while we've been here. I'm even more thankful for Brent and the rest of our family and friends for all of the generous support, love, and blessings that have filled our lives over the past two and a half years!
Blessings,
Callie
