East Coast Adventure Part 2: New York City, NY!

Us at the Statue of Liberty! Reminder to self: do NOT go on a Sunday in the summer.

I went back and read my post on Philly, and I didn't do that trip justice at all! I think I was tired and jet-lagged so there were a bunch of grammatical mistakes that I went back to edit, but that sad little post is up now, and it will forever be sad because I don't want to delete posts, because it's an accurate portrayal of my life. Because it was so bad, I've been putting off writing this post for a couple days now (also out of laziness and busy-ness), but I think it marinated well and I feel refreshed and ready to tell you all about part 2 of my awesome east coast adventure time.

So on Saturday morning, we hopped on a bolt bus to spend 3 days and 2 nights in the Big Apple. I've been twice before, but it's different traveling with your friends vs. traveling with your family (ahem, more fun + less stress). We stayed at this sweet place I found on airbnb in the East Village and had a GREAT experience. The apartment was spacious (as spacious as NYC apartments get...) and it was cheaper than a hotel! The neighborhood was lively with lots restaurants and young people out and about, and it was very central to all the things we wanted to see in Manhattan. Here are some of the highlights from the weekend!

We ate at Joe's Pizza- the BEST pizza in NYC (or possibly in the entire US). No kidding. There are photos of celebrities all over the walls coming in to get pizza. Leonardo DiCaprio is on the wall like 4 times, each photo looking like a different time in his life (1 after Titanic, 1 after the Aviator, 1 after Inception, etc.) 

John and me at Washington Square Park. I taught Chin and Tomo the photographic value behind the asian squat, so they started doing it. Yay! No shame! Do it for the photo!

And bless Chin! John and I would never have photos together like this if she did not insist we pose together in front of cool stuff.

John and I subway-ed across town to go to the The City Bakery for their AMAZING chocolate chip cookie. The best in my life. Everything is kind of expensive because all their food is organic and locally sourced, etc, but the cookie was well worth my time and money.

Food from The Halal Guys food truck. The line was ridiculous, but it moved quickly. Delicious, and ginormous portions for $6.

We went out to 230 Fifth, a rooftop bar with a great view of the Empire State building. It was super swanky and crowded. And at $12 for a well drink- no thanks. Not really my scene, but it's good to try everything at least once right?!

Grabbing some pizza after going to Times Square late at night.

Chin and Tomo walk slow, so they got a lot of pictures of John an I walking. It's actually a really good photo collection I think. This is us walking through Central Park.

Me and John walking past the courthouse. It was Monday and there were couples every block, the woman in a little white dress and the man in a suit, about to get married at the courthouse. That sounds kind of amazing and simple, doesn't it? Just getting married and having it be just about you two, not family or the logistics of having a wedding.

Strolling across the Brooklyn Bridge. Actually we only strolled a quarter of it and then strolled back.

9/11 Memorial, which was absolutely amazing. The first time I was in New York, the site was complete rubble with a great big fence around it so that you couldn't really see in. The last time I was there in 2012, we didn't make it to the memorial, but I'm so glad we did this time. The memorial itself actually gave me feelings of grief and loss because you're looking down into the memorial, whereas at other memorials you usually look up and feel inspired or proud or some other positive feeling. It was moving to see the names of the victims, especially those of the first responders grouped with their units. 9/11 defined the politics of my childhood. When I think about the events following 9/11, I think about George W. Bush and the search for weapons of mass destruction, and racism against middle eastern people, and the Iraq War, which is now actually in history books. Although it was happening all over the news around us, it was never really clear what was going on partly because adults tried to protect us from it, and also because I think I don't think we had the mental capacity to fully understand it.

That was essentially our trip in a nutshell! I was really sad to go home and get back to real life. I have been busy working, getting things organized for family to come and for Kim's wedding next weekend. Until next time NYC!