Vacation Recap Part III: New York City

I am recounting our vacation from a week and a half ago and am onto Part III. To catch up, see Part I and Part II.

For the final leg of our trip we visited the Big Apple. We left early Friday morning from the house on the river in Pennsylvania and set out to New Jersey. There we were dropping off our car and getting picked up by a van to take us into our apartment in Midtown Manhattan.

I'll just begin with that none of us, maybe excluding my one brother-in-law and my mother-in-law, are really "big city folk." The minute the van crossed the bridge into the city you could see my father-in-law's grip on the seat tighten. It was quite the experience in the van with the driver weaving in and out of traffic and honking, pedestrians dashing across the street with no obvious fear toward cars racing toward them, construction everywhere, huge buildings, etc.

We made it to our apartment, dropped our bags off and headed out to brave the subway. The subway is awesome. It is so amazing to be able to get from point A to point B so quickly and efficiently. We made a stop at a pizza place that Hub and I had seen on TV. Yummy New York Pizza.

Brother-in-law waiting for the Subway

Me with one of my all-time favorite foods!

We jumped back on the subway and headed to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty.

The park and kids playing in the fountain

There she is

Wow, it fits right between his finger tips!

We then meandered through the financial district and saw the New York Stock Exchange.

We then headed to Ground Zero. I must say it was definitely strange being right in that area. Obviously it was almost 10 years ago {wow, that is even more strange to say} and I was a junior in high school when it happened but honestly I remember it like it was yesterday. The actual spot is a construction zone but there is a memorial on the wall of the fire station. Which we also saw a fire truck come out into action.

We stopped off at Grand Central Station on the way back to our apartment. It is absolutely beautiful and it is really interesting to see things in real life that we have only seen in movies or on TV. It is pretty amazing to stand on the stairs in the middle of the station and see everyone going their own which way. Almost like a movie in fast forward.

We headed back to the apartment for a little bit to wind down and then head out to dinner. We came across a restaurant called Ali Baba's Terrace which had a neon sign. To me, neon signs can be somewhat of a warning but everyone was convinced! And guess what we found? More Turkish food that we loved! After a nice dinner we walked to Times Square. All I have to say is, "Wow." 

Hub's company

On the walk back from Times Square we saw these attractions:

We love 30 Rock :)

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The next day we awoke and headed to The Empire State Building. It was pretty cloudy and a little misty so we didn't go to the top. The lobby is really beautiful though. 

We then headed to the New York Public Library. Hands down my favorite sight to see. It was absolutely beautiful. I can totally see why Carrie Bradshaw would want to get married there. Not only is the lobby beautiful but all of the book rooms are equally as gorgeous. The ceilings are so ornate and there are so many details. I feel smarter just for having visited.

After the library we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral to go inside. Another beautiful building. 

Here's where lunch time came in. And what an event it was. We went to Carnegie Deli. Yum and yum. I have never seen sandwiches or desserts like this before. I had a hot pastrami sandwich and it was delish. We all split the New York Cheesecake with strawberries for dessert. Best cheesecake I have ever had.

We continued onto the Guggenheim and into Central Park. It is crazy that in the midst of a busy city there is just a beautiful park. 

We made a quick stop into the Natural History Museum. It was under construction so the outside wasn't much to look at. 

We continued on and stopped at FAO Schwartz on the way back to the apartment. What a fun toy store!

We headed back to the hotel for a bit and then headed out to our final meal together. It was a really yummy Indian restaurant. Hub and I flew out in the morning.

Our trip to New York was a definite whirlwind but we got to see quite a bit of sights. It was really interesting staying in an actual apartment and feeling like we were immersed in the city for a couple of days. Hub and I both agreed that we didn't think we would be able to get past the crowded nature of the city and actually enjoy it but we both did very much. I am so thankful to my in-laws for bringing me along on this adventure. It was a very fun vacation and a good one to have before the baby comes!

Vacation Recap Part II: Dauphin, Harrisburg & Gettysburg, PA

I am continuing on our recap of our vacation last week. If you want to, you can catch up on Part I.

We arrived at our vacation rental at about nine or ten at night on Sunday night. It was an interesting entrance because it was on a river, down a river road, in the dark and everything looked a little creepy. {I'm pretty sure we all thought this, not just me.} We figured out which house was ours and low and behold, the owners popped out from where they stay in the converted garage guesthouse. My mother-in-law knew that they would be close by and normally would not be okay with this, but she seemed fine. They greeted us, told us a few things about the area and about the house and then we went about settling in for the night.

The next morning we got up to go grocery shopping. Each of us had a part of the list and grabbed what we needed. My brother-in-law was instructed to buy wine and I had never seen anything like this before. The wine was in a thing that looked like a giant vending machine and he had to put in his driver's license, take a breath-a-lizer and pay for the wine all at this machine. And there was a video there watching him. It was very strange.

We headed back to the house to relax for the rest of the afternoon. On family vacations we can be found doing a lot of this:

And this:

We are playing poker in these pictures even though it is hard to tell. We also play Monopoly. {Which, cough, cough, I won this time.}

Everyone went out in kayaks one day. I stayed back but they had a great time and discovered a rope swing and decided we would float the river one day, which we did and loved.

The second full day in Pennsylvania we went to the National Civil War Museum. It was really interesting and we spent about a half day there. We toured the Harrisburg, PA because a couple of weeks before we had arrived, there had actually been a tornado on the river we were staying on. There was quite a bit of damage and a lot of huge trees had fallen through homes. Very scary. The owners of the house we stayed in were very thankful to not have much damage to their home or property.

On Wednesday, which also happened to be my birthday, we headed to Gettysburg. The owners of the house let us borrow their audio tour CD to listen to in the car. This was definitely ideal as it was going to be about 97 degrees that day. That might be everyday normalcy to our San Antonian family, but to us Washingtonians, that is foreign! Anyway, travelling around in the car the narrator chronicled the battle of Gettysburg and where what happened. It was a pretty cool way to see the vast space that the battle took over.

Entering

Some battleground

Battle monument

Hub acting like he can shoot a canon

Gettysburg was a pretty overwhelming place to think of all this land that was just being fought on and all the deaths and Americans that fought in the Civil War. Seeing the space definitely put things into perspective.

We headed home after Gettysburg and got in the river a little bit since it was so hot outside. After that we all kind of relaxed and my brother-in-law made us barbecue chicken pizza. We celebrated my birthday where I got a couple of Kindle giftcards from my brothers-in-law for my Kindle that my parents got me and a Nordstrom giftcard from my parents-in-law. Very great!

Thursday was a really fun day where the owner of the house took us up river and we floated down. The float took about three hours which was just enough time for us all to get some color. It was really relaxing and a great way to spend the last day of our time in Pennsylvania before we hit the Big City...

Stay tuned...

Vacation Recap Part I: Washington, D.C.

Last week Hub and I trekked across the country to meet our family on the east coast. The first stop was The Capitol. I had never been there before so it was really interesting to see where all the "important" stuff happens and things I had only seen in pictures. We were in a rented mini-van with the fam so that always makes for fun times. My husband, his parents and his two brothers. There are always a lot of laughs.

The first night we were there we tried to find some seafood before hitting the monuments at night. Hub "Yelped" a seafood place and it brought us to an interesting situation. Let's just say it was a place where we felt extremely out of place and did not end up finding dinner there. We then found another area and ran into a small bar/restaurant that served small plates. The food was Turkish and delicious. We all got to sample quite a few items and many things we had never tried. Always a fun time.

With full bellies we headed to visit the monuments which was pretty breath-taking. I am glad we got to see them at night all lit up as opposed to during the day.

Washington Monument

The Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

Korean War Memorial

The second day we were in D.C. we woke up at the Embassy Suites Hotel and took full advantage of the FREE buffet breakfast complete with made-to-order omelets. Seriously, what better way is there than to wake up to that?! We then headed out to Arlington National Cemetery, a couple of the war memorials and The Simithsonians. Ben, his dad, two brothers and I went to the Air and Space museum and his mom went to the American History Museum.

Arlington National Cemetery

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Air and Space Museum

After this day, we headed out to Harrisburg, PA where we would be staying for a few days. We stopped in Baltimore and ate a a seafood restaurant in a cute little area of the city. Stay tuned for Part II in Pennsylvania!

Music to my Ears

Wow. I have heard friends talk about hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time but there is nothing like the actual experience.

I had my 12 week appointment today and the Hub had to miss it due to travelling for work so my parents came. We did all the routine stuff and then we got to listen. To the musical sound that is our baby's heartbeat. We even got to call Hub and he heard it over speaker phone. Loved it.

I will update more on the ins and outs of what has been going on and how we are using a mid-wife at a birth center instead of going to the hospital but I just wanted to jot down and remember how I felt on this day.

Elated.