2 DAYS in NYC

Finally an update on our trip to New York from a couple of weeks ago.  Josh and I flew into NYC to spend a couple of days site-seeing before meeting up with my family to take a cruise from New Jersey to Bermuda.  We were so excited to take advantage of some time in the BIG APPLE.  We stayed in a hotel near Times Square which is of course a very touristy area, but it was very easy to hop the subway and get to wherever we wanted to go from there...

On DAY 1 we did a lot of walking from times square through mid town and up to central park.  We visited Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral and FAO Schwarz.  

 Preggo in Grand Central Station

 In front of Rockefeller Center

 30 Rock?

 Josh with Leggo batman in FAO Schwarz

For lunch with were able to meet up with Tasha - my college roommate and our good friend.  Tasha's parents still live in Jax as well and so we occasionally get to see her over Christmas Break when we are all home.  Tasha works and lives in Manhattan (fascinating, I know!)... We live vicariously through her :).  She took us to this really nice sandwich place a couple of blocks from the Plaza.  While inside, we saw Patrick Duffy (from Dallas and STEP by STEP) eating lunch in the corner - I took an awkward stalker picture of him that I will not share... we were all excited to see a celebrity!

After lunch we took a walk through central park (remembering just how big it really is...)

 Bridge from Enchanted??

 Lovely afternoon in the Park...

That night we went to see The Lion King on Broadway.  It was amazing.  We loved the sets, costumes, puppets and of course, the music!  The theatre was literally one block from our hotel (very convenient).  

On Day 2 we headed downtown to the Financial District to check out the new World Trade Center buildings.  The main tower is massive.  It is now all framed out and they are finishing with the exterior glazing.  It was unbelievable to see stand under it and see the scale.  We did not realize that you had to sign up in advance to be able to tour Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial... we were only able to walk the surrounding blocks.  

From there we walk to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty across the water... there she is pretty small in the picture below...

After lunch we decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge - it was beautiful!  I must say, it was pretty tiring and hot to make it to the top, but the whole other side was downhill and so it got better.  One request that this pregnant woman would like to make: a bathroom at the top.  

This is definitely something that we were excited to do and can now mark it off of Josh's bucket list!

On the other side of the bridge, we landed in Brooklyn Heights.  We absolutely loved the neighborhood, so we decided to walk around a bit.

On Sunday morning (day 3) we went to a local breakfast place around the corner from our hotel and then packed up and met my aunt, uncle and cousins to catch a van to New Jersey and board the ship to Bermuda!!  I will update soon with our actual cruise to Bermuda...