Birthday Adventures Cont'd

Last month Snaps & I took our birthday trip and adventured through New York City!  I flew to B'more on a Thursday night and early Friday morning we caught the mega bus up to NYC - plenty of time to chat and plan that certainly beat driving ourselves up I-95.  The only thing we had set in stone was going to see Newsies on Broadway Saturday night so we had 2 full days to explore - and boy did we! 

overcast times square

We had a list of things we wanted to see/do if possible and added to it as we went.  As soon as we dropped luggage at our hotel we were out to Times Square and stopped in at all the best shops: M&Ms, Hershey's, Toys R Us, etc.  There's so much to see aside from navigating down the street and we kept pointing out different things to each other that caught our eye.  After that we headed up to Central Park and the Bethesda fountain that's featured in many films, like Enchanted.  [pretty much everything we saw was related to a movie!]  

While wandering the park we heard a bagpiper, watched a couple try to make large bubbles for an engagement shoot and had a celebrity sighting!  Whom did we see you ask?  None other than Sarah Jessica Parker!  She was shooting a commercial and a still photo is in People magazine about it.  We wandered and stopped often for photos of street signs, buildings, neon signs and just to look around.  Dinner at the Pig & Whistle pub was followed by cannolis from the Cake Boss cafe - delish.

Saturday morning we wandered by the public library and Bryant Park.  Then onwards to Fifth avenue so we could stop into Tiffany's.  Seriously wow.  Every employee wore some sort of accessory in their signature blue and we looked at all the sparkle in the store from mugs and pens to necklaces, pearls and engagement rings.

Our next stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral, which unfortunately for pictures, is undergoing major restorations and is covered in scaffolding both inside & out.  That didn't matter too much though because I was able to meet up with Sr. Ann Catherine face to face for the first time in several years.  So great to see SAC and explore a little bit of NY together.

Sr. Ann Catherine & me!

Our hotel concierge was fantastic and she directed us to John's pizzeria for a late lunch - yumm.  Excellent pizza and definitely hit the spot.  We walked down to see Macy's on 34th street, got caught in a downpour on the way to see the Flatiron building and walked by Herald Square before heading back to get ready for the show.

This was my first show on Broadway.  Ever since I stumbled across the movie Newsies back in middle school I've been (just a little bit) obsessed with it - the dancing, the story, the songs and it stars Christian Bale & Bill Pullman!  How could it not be awesome?  Needless to say, I was super excited to see the stage version, as was Snaps.  Well it was phenomenal and everything I could want and more.  The songs were great, the dancing was amazing and I didn't stop smiling through the whole show it was that good.  Afterwards I stood outside to get my playbill signed by the cast as it seemed to be the NY thing to do.  It'll probably be framed for my wall soon.  [I may already be planning to go see it when it comes to the Louisville/Nashville arenas]  Then we stopped at Junior's (on the recommend of our concierge) for some amazing cheesecake to top off the night.

top of the rock

had no idea this image was from this building!

Sunday morning dawned sunny and warm after all the clouds and I headed to Mass at St. Patrick's, with a short detour by the Today show for a photo op.  Then we ventured to Rockefeller center and took our trip to the Top of the Rock observation deck.  3 levels of decks offered some amazing panorama views of the city and we also got to have the Empire State Building in our photos.  :)  This is the rooftop from the end of the movie Adjustment Bureau and is also the building being constructed in this historic image. 

today show selfie

Then we took the subway down to City Hall to see the Horace Greeley statue from Newsies and walked halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge.  I wish we'd had the time to go all the way across, but maybe next time.  We took lots of pictures and I crossed off a bucket list item - screaming off the Bridge.  :)   We took the subway back uptown to Grand Central Station for a brief walk through & lunch before heading back to the hotel and departing for home.  

wahoooo!

An excellent way to celebrate 30 in an awesome city with one of the bestest friends I could ever want!  Happy Birthday to us Snaps!