Okay so as promised, here are the photos from our New York Trip at Christmas! As I blogged about before,
this post ,shows our experience
on actual Christmas Night.
Thoughts.....
The rest of the photos were taken the days following Christmas. We woke up on December 26th to snow falling outside our window, my first White Christmas ~and it was amazing! We took so many fantastic photos it was really hard to narrow down which ones to include in my blog~ so I just picked my favorites.
Looking back at this now, I really realize what a unique experience it was....and little did we know we would be experiencing the Great New York City Blizzard of 2010 ~the perfect storm, pouring over 20 inches of snow into the city. But it didn't matter to us, we thought it was wonderful.
The Moments....
These next photos are probably my favorite from the trip. As we walked through Central Park with the ground covered in snow, everything just seemed very dream like. I couldn't help but feel such a strong sense of peace in my heart.
Central Park
The snow just kept falling and falling, in fact at times it was wild because we couldn't even tell where we walking, I almost walked right into a lake. We practically were the only ones in Central Park.
Museum of Natural History
We somehow ended up at the museum, and it was incredible. Just the biggest museum I've ever seen, it's nearly impossible to see all of it.
My favorite part of the Museum was the 13 Foot Origami Christmas Tree, a tradition at the Museum for the past thirty years...it was truly mesmerizing in person, I just stared at it forever.
Central Park
And back through the park we go... just unbelievable.
"The Boys"... Trevor, Shannon, and Justin
Heavenly.....
Me and Shannon walking through the silent park.
By the time we made it back to our hotel we were all frozen...
The next day snow had finally stopped snowing, but the city was still. There were no cars driving through the streets, no honking taxis, no big red buses...nothing. I tried hailing a cab with no success ;)
The city was just covered!! We really got a work out... walking was challenging at times, as snow was up to our knees in most areas.
So many cars were stuck... and people were shoveling everywhere, all of these business owners trying to clear pathways up to their stores and restaurants trying to invite all of the holiday visitors in.
Rockefeller Center
So romantic, so classic New York City
Radio City
Wadolf Astrora Hotel
This was one of my favorite moments with my brothers in law and my husband. Per Trevor's suggestion (he's so fancy) we went to Wadolf Astrora Hotel for drinks (this is where the President stays when he's in the city) and although the bartender was the oldest person in city, and moved very very slow, and one round of drinks was over a hundred bucks, we had fun just being together...all fancy like :)
St Patrick's Cathedral
My mom told me that we had to stop by the St. Patrick's Cathedral... and it was just luminous.
We lit a candle for our Christmas Angel.
Over 150 Years Old....
This photo was taken in the middle of the Cathedral, just to give you an idea of how massive it is.
As the days went by the snow begin to melt and the sun came out....
Empire State Building
We waited our turn to see the view from the top of the Empire State Building...
It was quite astonishing... but it was freezing!!!!! The wind was out of control, people's hats and gloves where flying off of them. It was so bone chilling it was almost unbearable, but the boys braved it out long enough for a few photos. It was sadly not a Sleepless in Seattle moment by any means. Next time we go back, hopefully there will not be a blizzard going on and we'll go and sunset, so we can watch the city transform into all the bright lights.
The Soup Man
I actually saw Justin get a little nervous as he ordered.. it was hilarious!! And the soup was delicious!!!
9/11 Memorial Construction Site
It was quite haunting being in this location and thinking of that horrible day. It was weird to see all the several surrounding buildings that still stand and think about all people working there now that were working there on 9/11.
The Statue of Liberty
This was a close as we got to Lady Liberty... it was just so cold and windy...and my boots were soaked at this point, we decided taking the boat over would be a little too much. So instead we got a close as we could and then found the nearest store to buy me some knee high rubber boots.
China Town
Little Italy
We had a cozy little dinner in the heart of Little Italy~one of my favorite NY spots for sure!!!!
Ed Sullivan Theater
Our hotel was right next to Dave's place, we didn't see Dave but we did stop in to Hello Deli.
Ameritania Hotel
We stayed in the Ameritatia Hotel, and over all it was pretty nice... except for one incident...
On our second to last night, I was awoken to the sound of a wrapper being crinkled.
I was half awake and I kept thinking... what is that noise? Is it Justin, is he eating a granola bar in his sleep or something, I tried shaking him awake. Then, it hit me!! I remembered I had eaten a granola bar before I fell asleep and placed it on the night stand ....RIGHT next to my head!!! Once I figured it out, I was too scared to turn over and look my NYC RAT in the face so, I leaped over Justin in the bed and jumped up on the chair on the corner of the room and then once I was safe, I screamed!!! I screamed loud!!
Now Justin wears glasses, so he can't really see much without them... so I'm screaming and pointing in the direction of the night stand, and he's just staring at me like I'm crazy. I can't even get out the words RAT, but eventually he figures out whats going on. Now, I have to admit... I never actually saw the rat, but I know he was there!!! After Justin found his glasses I had him search the room high and low and he never found my little "friend", though he did find a rat trap under the bed!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made sure there was no food in our room anymore, and then I tried going back to sleep complete with my rubber boats on... I just didn't want him to bite my toes!!!
Window Displays
Were just gorgeous, especially Macys!
The last night in the Big City...
Central Park
After breakfast we had some extra time before we had to catch the taxi to the airport, so I talked the boys into one last walk over to Central Park....And we found that the Park had turned into a Winter Wonderland.
Complete with horses, sun shining on the snow through the tall trees, live music.....
Just the perfect ending to a trip we'll never forget.....
Thank you NYC for a true White Christmas Experience...
And these photos wrap up a difficult year, a bittersweet end to 2010.
