New York City, the second week

We spent a relaxing day in Central Park where we ate a picnic lunch on one of the many benches there. We walked around the model boat pond to see Alice and her friends from Wonderland. We walked passed the statue of Balto on our way to the Delacorte Musical clock, where we saw it chime and play "Row Your Boat" while the animals danced around. Then we stopped at the carousel to enjoy its  music while we ate a pretzel , and watched all the kids enjoy the ride on the beautiful horses.  Central Park was such a nice place to relax and walk in.  We really enjoyed our day there.

Alice in Wonderland

Delacorte Clock

We spent another day at Coney Island.  

We had hot dogs and cheese fries at the first Nathan's,


walked to the amusement park and went for a ride on the historic Wonder Wheel, where the view was spectacular.

Just for fun, we had our fortunes told by those silly machines, Rebekah by "Grandma" and me by Zoltar. Then we headed to the beach and went in the Atlantic Ocean, which felt so nice on a hot day.  Afterwards, we sat on the boardwalk and had some ice cream.

 

When we had enough sun (it was 90+ degrees), we headed to the theater district in NYC, and went to a show on Broadway.  We saw "Jersey Boys". It was a great show, and a great ending to a fun day.

The next day we headed to the Doughnut Plant for some tasty sweets to start off the day,

then headed to the Natural History Museum, where we saw all kinds of dinosaurs, people, and animals.

After a fun day at the museum, we went out for pizza at Lombardi's in Little Italy.

On the next day, we visited FAO Schwartz toy store.  What fun!  They have stuffed animals so large you can't even carry them, lego sets big enough to build your own Batman, or the Statue of Liberty, a ton of candy in sizes from small to large, and sections of every kind of toy you can imagine.  And yes, of course we danced on the Big Piano!

Batman made out of Legos

We toured Grand Central Station with its grand staircases and gold chandeliers.  There was a beautiful Mediteranean sky painted on the ceiling, and oak leaf and acorn decorations everywhere.  We went to the "kissing room" where soldiers once said hello and goodbye, and the whispering chamber and spoke to each other from across the way. 

 We stopped at Magnolia Bakery for some delicious cupcakes!

Later that day, we had dinner in Madison Square Park at the Shake Shack. Their burgers were delicious!  I had a strawberry milk shake with mine, and Rebekah had fresh lemonade.

The next day we toured NBC Studios in Rockefeller Center.  While we were waiting for the tour, they filmed a segment for the Today Show with Hoda and Kathi Lee in the waiting area. It was a 4th of July trivia segment.  On the tour we saw the sets of Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and the Dr. Oz Show.  They also had a nice presentation about the history of NBC, and we saw one of the make-up rooms for Saturday Night Live.  The Peacock below is made from M&Ms!

We went to the Top of the Rock and saw New York City.  It was a clear day, and the view was gorgeous!

See Central Park?

We went to a bagel shop for lunch.  This is the Reuben on an onion bagel, and a turkey club on a poppy seed bagel.  Yum! We got several bagels and a bialy to go!

Then we packed a picnic dinner and a blanket to sit on, and headed to Bryant Park to watch "the Wizard of Oz" on the lawn for free.  The people packed in and filled every inch of space, but it was great fun!

The next day we had an art day!  We started at the Museum of Modern Art.  It was so exciting to see some of the originals of great artists and many of the other art works on display.  We really enjoyed our visit here.

An embroidered rug

We stopped for lunch and shared a delicious bagel sandwich and an onion bagel with green onion cream cheese. 

Then we headed over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we visited an Ancient Egyptian tomb, saw Greco-Roman carvings, vases, and statues,

then visited the Knights and Armor area,

visited the Impresionist paintings wing, and finished up in the Grand Masters paintings area.  We had a great day viewing such great treasures of art!

On July 4, we celebrated Rebekah's birthday with breakfast in bed, dinner at a special restaurant, and fireworks over the Hudson River.  It was the best fireworks show, with 4 barges shooting them off at the same time for about 20 minutes. 

The next day we left New York City behind.  I will always remember the bicycles, taxis, and people everywhere, the tall buildings, the delicious food, the bridges, the tunnels under the water, the crazy driving, and most importantly, the fun time we had there.