In a NY Minute

We took a vacation day last Thursday to walk around NYC and every single spot we hit was completely new to us, which gave me a sense of accomplishment by the end of our long day.

Our first stop: The High Line. The High Line elevated park begins at Gansevoort Street in the meatpacking district where the smell of sausages is ever present; by no means am I complaining here. The park is impressively renovated with flowering plants everywhere, flanking long concrete planks that seem to maintain the integrity of what was once the rail yard, along with selectively situated wooden benches and loungers that feel organic and inviting.

The walk was quite lovely with interesting and different scenic views along the way. Plus we got gelato and gelato makes everything a bit more pleasant.

Perhaps one day we’ll go back for the sunset.

After some Boylan’s Pure Sugar Cane Cola and dumplings from a food truck, we made our way to the subway and serendipitously found ourselves at a street corner staring at B&H. We were exuberant considering we’ve been trying to get to this store for two years. While Hal walked in awe of all the electronic eye candy around him, I was amused by all the bowls of actual candy everywhere. Their colorful cellophane wrappers instantly caught my eye and I eventually made a beeline to one of the bowls, hoping to remain inconspicuous as I plucked one out of the pile. Assuming Hal was behind me, I gleefully turned to show him my newfound treasure when I noticed two salespeople staring at me. Like a kid with her hand caught in the candy jar (literally) I looked guilty and apparently confused since one of them asked me if I needed help finding something (other than candy). I just told them I needed help finding my husband and quickly went on my way, red faced but triumphant.

There were no photos of my candy caper but the enjoyment I experienced drinking this cola made up for any embarrassment at B&H.

We subwayed (yes, I make up words) up to the northern most area of Central Park since neither of us had ever explored that part. This was of course after an inebriated man in the subway station introduced himself to each of us, chatted Hal up and then asked my husband for $1.85. I wanted to ask Mr. Buggy-eyes what he could possibly buy for a $1.85 in this city but figured I shouldn’t prolong this encounter. He eventually left us alone much to our relief and I immediately took out the hand sanitizer.

The upper part of Central Park is definitely a quieter area that sans all the camp kids is probably serene most of the time. Hal informed me along our walk that George Washington once stormed these hills back in the day. In flip flops with sore feet, I was hoping we weren’t about to reenact this moment. Fortunately we ended up leaving the park headed towards the Museum of the City of New York. But I have a feeling we’ll be going back one day and I’ll be required to wear sneakers.

We arrived at the museum to find that half of it (the good half probably) is under construction. We toured what we could anyway, our favorite part being the Stettheimer Dollhouse. Besides being visually intriguing with its detailed rooms and décor, the dollhouse features miniature works of art by famous painters of the day. How cool is that?! I kept trying to get a closer look at everything forgetting that it’s incased in glass until my nose hit the pane, leaving a smudge I’m sure; this happened multiple times.

We finished up our day in the city with a long-anticipated stop for some frozen hot chocolate. Yes, we went to Serendipty 3, famous for its cold and delectable elixir of cocoa, chocolate, milk and ice topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. It was worth the 45 minute respite outside the restaurant watching and commenting on passersby. And while we’ll probably never endure that kind of wait time again, we enjoyed every ounce of that sweet goodness.

This photo was taken with my iPhone hence the graininess. But I think you can easily see the bliss on Hal's face, which was unmatched by any other moment of the day.

So I lied. This is not a summary done in a NY minute. It certainly took more than a minute to write and it takes more than a minute to read unless you’re a turbo speed reader – props to you if you are. But really, who can do NY in a minute?

PS, did I mention that in addition to the frozen hot chocolate we shared a banana split? We couldn’t finish it even though I was almost certain that Hal had a bottomless capacity for ice cream.