NYC/CT Trip, Part One

We traveled to New York City last week to spend a few days celebrating our anniversary before making our way east to Connecticut for my cousin's wedding. We arrived on a rainy, wet Wednesday and after dropping our bags off at the hotel (too early to check in) and trying to brave the elements (forgot our umbrella) we finally caught a subway up to the Museum of Natural History to get out of the rain and into some heat.
We wandered around from exhibit to exhibit, checking out all the animals and fossils they have on display. My favorite part was identifying all of Jax's ancient relatives and finding displays that reminded us of our crazy pup...these prairie dogs (? - who knows what they really are) really look like her, don't they?!

That night, we met up with my aunt and cousin at a quaint little Italian place on Restaurant Row near the theater district. The meal was scrumptious and tasted like "fall in my mouth", as I declared while eating it. After dinner, we headed to the theater to catch "Wicked". It was amazing! Not only a fun story with great costumes, the voices were so amazingly strong and gave me goosebumps.

On Thursday, my cousin Jess took off work and played tour guide for us. We met for a delicious brunch at Sarabeth's near Central Park and then headed through the park to the Central Park Zoo. While on the smaller side, I loved seeing all the animals and especially enjoyed checking out the birds in the Tropical Zone.

Some of the birds were especially brave and moseyed right up to Jess and Ryan. Come to find out later, they were just a fancy kind of tropical pigeon. I hate pigeons! But at least these weren't as gross as the city variety.

Other favorite sightings at the zoo included adorable red pandas, a snow leopard and two sleepy polar bears. We saw penguins, too, but I must admit the smell emanating from their area was enough to knock me over. Yuck!After the zoo, we walked all over the city, through the park and up to the Met. I loved checking out the gorgeous fall foliage and having my dose of autumn since we don't really get the seasonal change in Orlando (it's still in the 80s here).

Ryan, the history buff, guided through the museum to see all the amazing collections they have. We even got to go up on the roof and see an installation on special display. While the art was impressive, I was more interested in the skyline views and more foliage.

If you look hard enough you can see the piece, Maelstrom, in the reflection of our glasses.

We wrapped up the day with a walk on the Highline and dinner at another fabulous hideaway near NoHo and Greenwich Village. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were both ready to pass out from all the walking!
Our final day in New York was spent downtown, complete with a ride on the Staten Island Ferry to catch a view of Lady Liberty. It was a chilly trip back and forth but worth it for the photo opp!

We also hiked across the Brooklyn Bridge on a quest for amazing pizza. There is a place in Brooklyn just under the bridge where a line forms out the door for people waiting to eat the NY staple. With only a short wait, the meal did not disappoint and we all really enjoyed ourselves!

We ended up taking the subway back in order to grab our bags and take the train out to Wilton for the night. My aunt and uncle hosted us for yet another delicious meal and we had a great time meeting up with more family en route to the wedding.

Many thanks to Jess for showing us all the sites of Manhattan during our trip and to my aunt and uncle for their hospitality and the treat of theater tickets!

More to come on the second part of the trip soon...for now, it's time for bed.