Sunday in the City

Last night was so much fun. We were so pumped up after the show we stayed up really late, so we slept in just a little bit this morning. We got up and packed our bags. This weekend has flown by so fast, but we have really had plenty of time to do everything we wanted to on this trip and more. We headed to a nearby deli to get omelets for breakfast. I love breakfast in New York. After getting some food we met up with Alison's cousin, Anna, and her husband, Aaron, at the Brooklyn bridge. They were in New York visiting Aaron's brother, who is in med school at Columbia. We had no idea until yesterday. During the baseball game, Alison posted a picture on Facebook, and Anna saw it. She reached out and we decided to meet up. It is pretty funny we are all in New York at the same time because the last time Anna was in New York she came with Alison's family. It is such a small world, even in the Big City.

It was hot and humid today - more of what I was expecting from this trip. Despite the heat, it wasn't too bad walking across the bridge. Being over the water helps. We didn't take hardly any pictures while we were going across the bridge. Instead, we enjoyed talking with Anna and Aaron and taking in the beauty of the bridge and the city. It was a great Sunday activity. 

We stopped at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn for lunch. We loved it so much in November that we have been dying to go back. It was once again excellent. We got there right after they opened. If you go early there is no line. We got a meatball pizza and a sun-roasted tomato/garlic pizza. Both were so good.

After lunch, Anna and Aaron were headed back to Columbia. We all caught a subway. The subways were unusually difficult to navigate today. There was a lot of construction so many of the trains were not running their usual routes. We heard a lot of announcements about it yesterday and did not think the changes in service would really affect us, but there were a couple times today that it caused us some trouble.  We took the subway over to Roosevelt Island. 

Roosevelt Island is one of those things that has been on our list of potential stops in New York for a while now, but we have never made it out there. Since we had a few free hours we figured why not. We really enjoyed it. Roosevelt Island is a good place to go on a hot day because they have a scenic walk right along the east river. Even though it was so hot on humid there was a nice breeze coming off the river that made it pleasant. There are some great views of the city from the island. We loved that there were places you could see the Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, and One World Trade Center. 

Near the end of the island, there is a park area that is a monument to FDR. It was really nice. I took this picture of Alison standing on a tree-lined walkway. I sure have a beautiful wife. This picture reminds me of the type of thing you would see on Humans of New York. Seriously this whole trip we were hoping we would run into the Humans of New York guy, but we knew it probably wouldn't happen. Instead, I took this photo. Each of the HONY photos gets a caption. Mine would be: We love New York because it has everything. The crowds, the people, the excitement but also the peaceful places. Whenever we visit we always find what we are looking for. New York is like our home away from home.

After a long, leisurely stroll around the island, we took the tram back to Manhattan. It was fun, but oh my goodness it was so hot. We were dripping sweat. 

We ended our trip where I started it at Grand Central Station. It is one of our favorite places in New York City. It really captures the things we love about New York - the grandeur, the hustle, the excitement, the beauty. It is all there. 

We went to our hotel to pick up our luggage and took the subway to JFK. Between the hotel taking forever to get us our luggage and construction on the subways, we were running pretty late. For a minute there it looked like we might miss our flight, but we ended up being fine. Blake and Debbie were kind enough to pick us up in Salt Lake even though our flight did not get in until after midnight. 

As always New York, it has been fun, see you next time.