"These streets will make you feel brand new"

Yesterday, Brett and I finally made it down to the big city! He took me down for my birthday and we had a great time. We drove about 4 hours, parked the car and hopped on a train.


Love trains! I wish I could commute on one every day instead of driving.




We did have some trouble finding the station so we could buy our tickets. We ran around in the 0 degree wind chill to all the buildings near the train tracks and we found a lawyer, a post office, a bus depot, and then finally decided we could buy our tickets from the conductor on the train. Little did we know that on the over pass over the tracks, there was an automated ticket machine. Awesome!



We sped our way along the Hudson river


and saw a bald eagle.

It's the little black speck up there. So on the way to Rhinebeck, Brett saw a bear and on the way to New York City we saw a bald eagle. Neat, right?

We pulled into Grand Central and met up with my college friend Kate at the clock. What a beautiful train station. The ceiling is a ethereal cerulean color painted with the constellations. There's intricate metal and stone work everywhere. Lots of oak leaves.

"Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who funded the building of Grand Central, created his own family crest featuring acorns and oak leaves to symbolize his rise from rags to riches.

We walked down towards Times Square and saw Bryant Park and the Conde Nast building on the way. Stopped for lunch at a cute little pub that Kate frequents. Times Square is pretty overwhelming even on a slow Sunday, with video billboards dozens of stories tall, vendors and all kinds of people.

The best part of the trip was Rockefeller Center where we saw amazing Deco art and stopped in the NBC store. (Who wants a Top Chef apron? I do!) Brett and I bought tickets to go up to the observation deck while Kate waited for us down below. I wasn't super keen to go because it's a little pricey, but it was completely worth it. The first level of observation is mostly inside with a few corner balconies you can go out for another (colder) view. Then there's another floor that's all outside, protected a little by big plexi barriers. But the best view was waaaaaaay at the top on a small patio.

There's literally nothing higher than you on the whole building. We could see Central Park, the Empire State building, the Chrysler Building, and far out the Statue of Liberty. New York City is a BIG sprawling city.

After the Rock, we stopped for tea and a birthday cupcake at Dean and Deluca's then strolled down 5th Ave taking in the beautiful art and architecture. We checked out the stunning Plaza Hotel which smelled of lilies and made me think of An Ideal Husband. Kate and I overheard a young mother with very poofy lips ask a hotel staff member where Eloise was and he replied without missing a beat that "Oh, Eloise is in Paris." I wish I'd had the nerve to take a picture of the box of Kleenex in the back window of the Rolls Royce parked in front of the hotel. Didn't really feel like getting in trouble with the guards though, so we finished with a quick jog over to the Central Park subway station and took it back to Grand Central to take the train back to our car. It was a long ride home, but what a great day!