Let’s hear it for New York

I received a text message while at home over Christmas from my roommate and friend, Kallie. “Hey Abby, you wanna go to NYC?”

Well, yes, but it just didn’t seem possible or reasonable to go. Instead of saying no, I told her I would think about it.

I returned to the Springs, and she asked again. “Hey Abby, wanna go to NYC? I found cheap tickets!”

I still need to think about it.

Well, I did…and…

So that was it! Kallie and I packed our bags and headed to NEW YORK!

It was such a fun time! We took a red-eye flight, arrived in the snow-covered city around 6:30 am with about 3.5 hours of sleep under our belts, Kallie navigated the subway system, arrived at my old YoungLife teammate, Lindsay’s apartment, and then hit the road touring! 

We did allllll sorts of things! Kallie had a great trip planned out! We hit up a starbucks first (both of our names are spelled wrong!), then rode the ferry over to Staten Island so we could get a peek at that famous statue!

After that, we found the M&M heaven and FAO Schwarz!

 

Over the next few days, we visited the World Trade Center site, the Empire State building, (and pretended we were Buddy the elf and got escorted out!), Times Square, Little Italy, China Town, the financial district,…and the list goes on and on!

Check out the album for more pictures  

 

 

We also got to go to two shows,which I loved! We saw Avenue Q and Chicago! Fantastic! Shows always make me want to be on Broadway! If only I knew how to dance!

 

 

 

 

 

NYC had recently been hit with some major snow, but we didn’t let the weather stop us! That’s a bike and a car under all that snow!

 

One of my favorite parts of traveling (now, this is going to sound like my father, but…) is the food! We went to so many interesting and fun restaurants!

 

 

1.Lindsay and her boyfriend took us to a place called Kati Rolls. I wish you could see the menu better. We had the option, luckily for those who can’t read, of choosing between a picture of a chicken, a picture of an egg, or a picture of a potato. There menu wasn’t fantastic, but the food sure was!

 

 

 

 

2. Café Roma: I had never tasted cannoli’s before, but I have no idea why!! These things were delicious!

 

 

3. Prosperity Dumpling: I can’t say I felt more prosperous after this experience of Chinese Dumplings, but the visit helped me learn that I never want to eat Chinese Dumplings again!   

 

 

 

 

4. Panni II: Yes, specifically Panni II, not one of the other 3 that surround this restaurant. We had specific guidelines to chose the Panni II, the one on the upper right. There are 4 Panni’s, all of which have older gentlemen trying to persuade you into their Panni. We made a good choice, although I am glad I don’t have seizures! The ceiling of this restaurant was covered in 10000000’s of bright, ugly string lights!

 

5. The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market: Terrible smell, great soup!

 

 

 

 

6. Max Brenner (AKA CHOCOLATE HEAVEN!): This was my favorite place!! Everything was chocolate! Anything you could thing of…in chocolate! They even brought us our own mini-fire to roast the marshmallows before dipping them in chocolate fondue!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Kallie and I started with dessert at Bianca, then followed that with some super delicious Italian food!

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Kallie’s brother, Ryan, told us we HAD to go to a place called Please Don’t Tell. I am so happy he recommended it! It has no sign, in fact, it has no door to the outside. You go into a little hotdog restaurant, pick up the phone that is in the phone booth on the wall, ask if they have room, and if so, they will open the door through the backside of the phone booth into this secretive, dark, quiet bar! Its so crazy! They even have rules (and super expensive drinks!!)

 

 

 

 

9. Alice’s Tea Cup: If I was turning 6, I would want my birthday party here! So colorful, delicious, and full of tea! I am not really a tea drinker, but if I had tea like that around all the time, I might would convert!

 

10. What’s NYC without pizza?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so grateful to Lindsay for letting us stay in her beautiful apartment! She has the most amazing view of the Queensboro Bridge! And her apartment is HUGE for NYC! Not only was it a blessing to get to stay there, but it was incredible to get to see Lindsay! She is one of the most caring, gentle, kind, God-fearing, and not to mention smartest people I know. She is getting her PHd from Rockefeller University in Neurogenetics. She is currently researching one of my biggest questions: why mosquitos bite some people more than others! Love you Linds!!

Lindsay and her awesome boy, Rudy!