Catching up?
I believe we left off in the midst of our adventurous Friday afternoon, exploring some of Manhattan’s main attractions. After taking a peak at the chaos that is Times Square, we muddled up the energy to walk to the south end of Central Park. It was a cloudy day – with intermittent sprinkles – but we were prepared with our rain coats and umbrella. A little drizzle was not going to rain on our parade.
We considered a horse-drawn carriage ride to chauffeur us through the damp foliage, but at $50 for one-third of an hour, we made the smarter, budget-friendly choice of exploring on our own, tired feet. We covered most of the lower half of the park. If and when I make it back to New York City, exploring the other half is top on my list. Central Park was undoubtedly one of my favorite activities from our entire vacation. Perhaps it was the immediate contrast from the bustling bus and billboard frenzy of Times Square that illuminated the park’s beauty and calm demeanor… oh, Central Park, be still my heart.
We made stops at the Bethesda Fountain and John Lennon tribute/Strawberry Fields, soaking in all of the breathtaking fall colors and peacefulness in the middle of a restless city.
At the conclusion of our park loop, we stopped at the popular Sarabeth’s for creamy tomato soup and grilled cheese; it was the ultimate lunch for the chilly day. Theme of our trip: eat, walk, eat, walk, continue…
Believe it or not, by this time, is was merely mid-afternoon; we had some time to kill before the pre-wedding appetizer/cocktail party with my family. Nap? No thank you! A $10 New York manicure sounded more like it for two girls who couldn’t possibly walk a mile more. Plus, my injured hand needed all the prettiness it could get.
>> A couple blurry-ish iPhone pics were thrown into the mix to complete the story.
<<Central Park>>
<<SoHo>>
We finally got to “sleep in” on Saturday… until 7:00am, that is. Kendra and I had a date with my cousins (including the groom and my cousin’s 4-month old) for a run. We altered our bucket list item of running along the East River to running across the Williamsburg Bridge with family I see seldomly.
Our slow, 3-mile jog was followed with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and infants alike stuffed into my cousin’s Brooklyn abode for fluffily pancakes, hot coffee, and o.j.
Kendra and I were obviously carb-loaded for a day of shopping! The groom-to-be escorted us on the subway into SoHo. Oh, boy — did he drop us off in the wrong spot! ;)
Lululemon, Lucky, Dean & Deluca, and more. After swiping our cards a time or two, Kendra and I hunted down the one and only Chobani SoHo for an afternoon snack. Please check out their menu… can you guess which combo I had?
After roaming up and down a couple more of SoHo’s cobblestone streets, we headed back to Brooklyn to get ready for the main event!
View from our condo — not too shabby.