Day 2
Directions had been written and the day was planned close to my work so that my mom and sister could be close to me in case there were any issues. The full New Yorker experience was in full force that morning too! Crowded subway and all!
Destinations for the day were as follows:
5.) Times Square
Once we made it off the subway I took my family to my office and drew them a little map with the nearest Starbucks, Cafe 28, and the Empire State Building. They only had about a 5 block walk to the ESB and the good thing about it is it’s huge so I knew they couldn’t miss it! When visiting New York I would definitely suggest going to the top of the ESB or Top of the Rock in Rockefeller Center. It is a whole other experience to see the city from above than the view you get while walking in the streets.
Once they checked out the top of the ESB I took a little break from work and walked them down through the Flat Iron District to see the Flat Iron Building and Madison Square Park. After they got a little view of the area my sister wanted to go to the Macys (largest in the world and somewhere I still haven’t been). They ended up staying in that area until I was off work.
We headed back uptown for some dinner at my apartment and to add a couple of layers before heading back downtown to Rockefeller Center, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and Times Square.
Rockefeller Center was definitely hopping with people everywhere capturing photos of the iconic Christmas tree and ice skating. I must say, after having a Christmas in New York the decor and atmosphere is going to be pretty hard to beat. After Rockefeller we took a quick detour through The Palace Hotel, where I stayed in the city when I visited with Kathy. The hotel was decorated to a T and they had the most beautiful Christmas tree on their patio. It was definitely a deju vu moment taking photos in front of the tree that faces Saint Patricks Cathedral. Flashbacks of taking a photo in the same spot two years previous that not sits on my mom’s nightstand in her room.
Across the street we went and into the cathedral. I absolutely love cathedrals. Even if you aren’t Catholic their beauty is enough to take your breathe away especially during the Christmas season. Because I am Catholic though the view of tourists taking photos inside the church is a little unsettling. Personally, I think things of sacred nature, while beautiful, should remain internal memories than printed. This is my personal opinion though whether you agree or not.
From the cathedral we headed to Bryant Park for a peak at another ice skating rink, a pit-stop for a soda, and onto Times Square. It was pretty cool because Oregon’s football coach Chip Kelly has won coach of the year from AP and it was circulating on the news feed in the square! Check out the photo too! I was pretty excited. We walking through all of the flashing lights and advertisements. Times Square is a pretty remarkable and iconic part of the city that you tend to go to as a tourist, but once you live here not somewhere you really hang out at. You can guess I will not be one of the millions of people huddled around the square for New Years either. We headed to McDonald’s was a quick snack before heading back uptown and to bed. For, Wednesday was going to be an early morning for all of us because I got my mom and sister tickets to check out Good Morning America!