Fred & Kirsten go to New York

 May 8th- May 12th, Fred and I were able to go to New York for Best of the Best. It was so fun to experience New York with him and awesome to go back after just being there with Ethan in April. I'll break it down, day by day...

Day 1: We flew into New York and got to our hotel around 4:30pm. Since there is a 3 hour difference, the day flew by. Our flight was at 7am so we said goodbye to the kids the night before. Once we got to our hotel via Uber, we quickly changed for the cocktail reception. After the cocktail hour, we went to dinner with all of the Chief's and Executives at an Italian place near Times Square. After that, Fred and I veered off and check out Times Square. We were pleasantly surprised that our room had a gorgeous view of The Empire State Building! 

Day 2: We went to get a NY bagel and it was everything I said it would be. Fred loved it. Then we spent ALL day at Central Park. This turned out to be my favorite day. We were there all day and only saw half of the park. That place is HUGE! It is such an oasis and when you're in the center, you can't even hear the city anymore. It's wild. It was so beautiful. We rented a boat and rowed around the lake (well... Fred rowed while I watched). We saw "the castle", the fountain, street performers, statues, gardens and people watched. We met up with one of Fred's employee's for a NY slice that turned out to be whatever... then we quickly saw St. Patrick's Cathedral and walked by Rockefeller. After that, we got ready for another cocktail hour and the awards night where Fred was a presenter. It was a lovely evening and it's so fun and awesome to see Fred shine in his element and be respected by his peers. He's so humble but he really is such a big part of the success of the company. Since we were all dressed up, after the awards night was over, we went to a bar right around the corner of our hotel that turned out to be this amazing Alice in Wonderland bar!! We had some food and drinks and it was so much fun being all dressed up, looking fancy. By the time we got back to our room, it was 12:30am!!

Day 3: We grabbed another bagel at a different bagel place. We determined that the first bagel place (Liberty Bagels) had better bagels than (Ess-a Bagel) but Ess-a Bagel had better coffee than Liberty Bagels. After that, we took the Subway for the first time. We were so nervous and scared but we did it! It saved our legs so many miles!! We took the Subway downtown and took a boat to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a little rainy, cloudy and chilly but thankfully we brought rain jackets. It was fun to do a touristy thing. It was all so different than what I remember. I think they remodeled/refurbished Ellis Island because it didn't look familiar at all. But, to be fair, the last time I was there was 20 years ago. After that, we took the Subway to a Deli called Katz's Delicatessen. It was a must do according to so many people when I asked for suggestions of things to do. The line was around the corner! Once we got in, it was a nut house! It was so packed! There were so many little lines which seemed to take forever but also at this point, I was hangry. I found a little table while Fred waited in line. We got a matzo ball soup and pastrami lunch combo. It was THE best sandwhich I have ever had in my life. It was just so good. The deli has been there since 1888!!! It was featured in the movie When Harry Met Sally and the walls were filled with pictures of famous people that have come there. It truly was a NY must do. I'm sure it was filled with tourist but also had so many locals!! It was one of our favorite things we did the entire trip. After, we walked a little in SOHO and The Village which was lovely. If we ever go back to NY, we want to spend more time there. Then we took naps at the hotel because we were exhausted. Around midnight, we did another NY staple. We went to Joe's Pizza. The line was around the corner too. It was delicious pizza and again, the walls lined with pictures of famous people who eat there. It's in the heart of Times Square. It was fun to try lots of different kinds of pizza at midnight!

Day 4: We took a break from bagels and did a diner. We sat next to someone from Jersey who was very kind and had a thick accent. After that, we took the subway downtown again and rented bikes. Then we biked across the Brooklyn bridge and took the famous picture in Dumbo then biked back on the Manhattan Bridge. It was so difficult and made me realize I am so out of shape! But it was still fun. Then we went to the One World Trade Center and 9/11 memorial. We didn't do the museum but walked the grounds. It was so surreal and hard to imagine what once was. After that, we went to dinner at a yummy Italian place and went to see Hadestown. Dinner was great. The show was mid. Ethan had suggested it since he saw it when he was in NY and said he liked it. Fred and I didn't really. The messages were so mixed and forced. The music wasn't anything amazing... and the leads were all the understudies which sucked. But it was still fun to see a show on Broadway. 

Day 5: We packed and headed home. We called our moms since it was Mother's Day but it was mostly uneventful since we were flying the whole day. We got back into the house at 5:30pm so my Mother's Day surprise which you can read about in the other post. 

We already miss New York and want to go back. It was so much fun being away, having the kids take care of everything back home and not have to worry. Even though it was busy and we were doing so much the entire time, we hadsuch a lovely time exploring, reconnecting and having fun together. Best of the Best is one of the best perks of Fred's job and we're so lucky he gets to go and I get to tag along!!