We only had a few days in NYC this time around, and our goal was to just enjoy. Squeezing in a bazillion things doesn’t really work with Lucy and we were mostly trying to be flexible with any time we could get with our current New-Yorkers. SO, I love that amidst some “tried-and-true” favorites, we also found my new favorites in New York City.
Hudson Yards and what to do there
Oh my goodness, this relatively new spot captured my heart! Dave and I let Lucy sleep in at the hotel and walk, walk, walked to check it out. It is a redevelopment project using mostly abandoned train rails to expand the Midtown Manhattan business district over to the Hudson River. It’s been in the works for a while, but as we got closer and closer I could just feel the energy of that place. See “The Edge” down there below? We’ll get to that, but isn’t it cool?
The Vessel
I have been fascinated from afar by this huge structure nicknamed the Vessel, which ended up sticking. I was so excited to get there to see it. It’s a 150-foot “sculpture” filled with 154 staircases all joined together.
I was so excited to see it in real-life. It is so beautiful with already a dark history.
It was intended to be an art installation to allow views of the city from all different vantage points, but the stairways are indefinitely closed, sadly due to some suicides.
Even without going up, I chose to think in awe about the engineering that went into that spot and the materials and work that went into building that thing. We were able to view it all from the bottom on the inside.
Here it is looking back from the Hudson River:
Elle and Carson got to come watch the US Open on that big screen when they first arrived in NYC.
We went back to that spot with Elle the next day:
More on that coming in a sec…
The Edge
The weather had called for cloudy skies, but it was SO beautiful that Dave and I couldn’t turn down a chance to go up inside the relatively new “Edge” to view the city.
Yow we loved that place. Loved getting our bearings straight looking out into that expansive jungle of skyscrapers. Incredible.
We sat there and read our first letter from Claire on her mission and took in all the views.
Can you tell there was the cutest lady filled to the brim with exuberance taking our picture for us in this one?
The High Line
The next day, after lots of fun stuff with Lucy that I’ll get to soon, we met up with Elle to ride bikes back to the same spot so we could walk the High Line together.
The High Line is an old abandoned railway that has been transformed into a raised walking area that is SO beautiful!
This picture doesn’t show it very well, but I love how they have designed in, complete with so much cool vegetation that is kept up by volunteers. People are so awesome to come up with ideas like this in the middle of a big city.
I’ve done this walk before and loved it, but there is so much new architecture along that route that we could not get enough of.
Chelsea Market
We had breakfast together at Chelsea Market at the end of the High Line.
Little Island
Little Island is another thing I’ve been fascinated about and dying to see, and it’s a quick walk from Chelsea Market and the end of the High Line.
Can you even believe the creativity of people to build this “little island” like this right on the Hudson River??
Incredible.
And another incredible thing??
Some of our best growing-up/college friends happened to be in NYC the same day and came to meet us on that little island.
How fun is that?
We explored that awesome spot all together with Elle too…
…and then she went to hang with Lucy and get some work done and we got to spend a little extra time reuniting with these friends.
SoHo/NoHo and Greenwich Village
We left the Hudson Yards area and walked through SoHo, NoHo and Greenwich Village including the famous Bleecker Street together in route for the “perfect” dessert. Ha!
Dave is always befuddled by people who spend so much time walking for food, but it was the most gorgeous day and we loved walking and catching up.
Dominique Ansel Bakery
Has anyone been to Dominique Ansel Bakery?
It is a pretty fancy place I tell you.
Funny Face Bakery
We tried some pretty beautiful desserts at that place, but I’m going to let you in on a New York secret:
The best desserts are cookies.
Ha!
I’d take a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie so fast over any of those desserts.
So luckily everyone was game to walk some more with me to try Funny Face Bakery who Max and Abby claimed had trumped even Levain Bakery in tastiness.
And guess what?
They were right. Oh man that thing was so delicious!
Mouth watering right now.
Sure love these friends (one more joined in at the bakery…who would have thought we’d all be in NYC at the same time??)
Loved spending time with these friends that early afternoon.
Absolute Bagel
Meanwhile, Elle and Lu went on a hunt for the best bagels. And apparently they found them at Absolute Bagel.
The MoMA
We went while Lucy slept in and Dave got some work done.
The MoMA isn’t “new” per se. But some of the art we saw there was.
Oh man I love to look at art with my daughter Elle Belle. She loves it about as much as I do. Reminiscent of when she guided us around to the art in Florence.
That Matisse up there?? In love. And Picasso’s avocado-looking still-life? Incredible. I had never seen that Claude Monet up there on the right.
Elle and I both wanted to have that one in the upper left in our homes. So beautiful.
Elle’s favorite on the left, one of my favs on the right (I love Cezanne).
5th Avenue & Rockefeller
Fifth Avenue isn’t new either. In fact, some of our very favorite memories ever are in NYC atop the building my dad found with a view as a missionary. All on 5th Avenue.
But it’s all “new” when you get to go at different ages with your kids. Love that this is “Elle’s place” for a little while. One of my favorites is St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Ran by Rockefeller real quick…
…to get a snack to get us to the financial district to meet Dave and Lu:
I’m definitely not a banana pudding kind of a girl, but I have to say, this brand of pudding is pretty phenomenal. Magnolia Bakery lives up to the hype.
NYC Ferry
One more thing we did from my brother Eli’s recommendation was take the NYC ferry along the east river. We had done the Staten Island Ferry many times before, so this was a fun thing to try out. For a few dollars the NYC Ferry is such a great way to take in the skyline without having to pay for a cruise boat. All you do is download the NYC Ferry app and you’ll find the schedule/map.
Lucy was apparently not overly enamored with this idea.
Ha!
Actually she was a great sport, and we loved those views.
The architecture always amazes me.
So there we go, a list of my new favorites in New York City.
I’ll be back with the tried-and-true favorites soon!
I had no idea you saw and did and experienced all this great stuff in one of our favorite places on earth. I’m so happy that Elle and Carson are now also in love with New York. I can’t believe their time there is almost over! But they’ll be back. As will you all! Such a fun post!