A Rainy Day in New York City

It was a rainy blustery day in New York City. We knew it was going to be a rainy day so we slept in. We were in no hurry to get out into the cold and the rain (it actually has not been that cold during this trip 50-40 degree days so far). We made it into a lazy day in the city and our goal was to stay out of the rain as much as possible. 

When we finally did get up and out of our hotel it was closer to lunch than to breakfast. We made our way over to Grand Central and ate Shake Shack for lunch. They had a seasonal peppermint shake that was tasty.

After lunch, we hung around Grand Central. The energy and hustle and bustle are so great. It can be very enjoyable to hang out and watch all of the people coming and going through this beautiful building. 

When we were done people-watching we walked over to the New York Public library. We love this building and have visited it the last few times we were in NYC. Inside the library, there was a beautiful Christmas tree. Next to the tree in a special display case was a beautiful antique copy of the Quran. 

We wandered through the library enjoying the architecture and history of this building. It is inspiring to learn about the commitment NYC and America make to public access to knowledge. We came across a quote we liked by Thomas Jefferson:

“I look to the diffusion of light and education as the resource most to be relied on for ameliorating the conditions, promoting the virtue and advancing the happiness of man.”

Education and knowledge are so important. This library embodies those ideals.

When we were done at the library we braved the rain to head uptown to get some of the world's best cookies found at Levain Bakery. They are 6-ounces of pure happiness wrapped in a gooey warm center. No other cookie can compare.

We had time so we took the subway back one stop to The Lincoln Center. While we were there we walked by the New York City temple. It is a very unique temple. Right outside the temple, the church sponsored some #lighttheworld vending machines. I did not know this was a thing. Apparently, it is and they get extremely long lines at the ones in Salt Lake City. In New York there was no line, so we stopped and made a donation. We also chatted with the missionaries who were stationed by the vending machines.

We then wandered into the American Folk art museum. It was interesting, but also underwhelming. We wanted to stay near the Lincoln Center and needed to spend around 45-60 minutes out of the rain. We hoped this museum would take all of that time. It is really only a couple of relatively small exhibits. We found a place to sit and relaxed for a few minutes, at least we were out of the rain.

We headed back to the Lincoln Center to see The Nutcracker performed by the New York City Ballet. Alison was very excited. She regretted not coming to see it when we were in NYC at Christmas time in 2014. I was not really sure I would enjoy multiple hours of dancing. It turned out that I loved it. It was highly entertaining. Everything was spectacular - the music, the dancing, the scenery, the kids. It could not have been more fun.

After the show, we took a quick jaunt through Times Square. We stopped by TKTS to see if they had tickets to any other shows this evening, but there was nothing. We made our way back to our hotel and on our way, we found a spot to get some quintessential New York pizza. Our favorite things to eat in NYC are omelets, pizza, and cookies. We certainly ate a lot of all of those things on this trip.   

Despite the constant rain we had a great day and stayed mostly dry. Lucky for us this is supposed to be the only day it rains on our trip. Having one rainy day in NYC during the winter really is not too bad.