And I Would Walk 500 More....

So, you remember those boots I told you about in the last post? Yeah, by the time we got to Central Park, I could already tell that my feet were going to be very very sore. Oh well, live and learn.

When I first looked at the map and saw just how far we had to walk to get to the Museum of Natural History, I doubted whether or not we could do it. Once we got to Central Park, I couldn't believe how fast we actually got there. Every travel book I read said that walking is definitely the fastest way to get around in New York City and now I see why. The blocks aren't spaced too far from each other and it goes a lot faster than you realize because you're looking at everything around you.

Central Park was amazing. I could have taken 100 pictures of just the trees in the park alone. I loved walking down through the center of the park because when you looked up you could see all the branches from the trees intertwining with each other above you creating a canopy almost. I bet Central Park is BEAUTIFUL in the spring with all the flowers blooming. We saw just a tiny preview of what it would look like in just a few weeks and I would LOVE to go back sometime and see it all. What a gorgeous green refuge in a city full of mostly concrete, brick, and glass!




While we were in the park, we were treated to some fabulous dancing by some Michael Jackson enthusiasts. I love me some old school Michael Jackson songs and those of you that know me know that I am absolutely infatuated with people that can dance, since I can't at all! I was most impressed with the girl in the dance troop, who must have been a Cirque de Soileil dancer in her past life. She was really good at all the balancing acts.










We made our way through the twists and turns in Central Park and finally saw the entrance to The Museum of Natural History. I was starving and so was Josh, so we decided to indulge in a New York City dog, hotdog that is! I'm usually not a hotdog person (I accidentally watched a documentary once of how they were made and it completely grossed me out), but "when in Rome....." So, we each ordered a hotdog and, I must say, it was pretty tasty, or maybe I was just really hungry!




After lunch, we made our way into the museum and spent about two hours in there, but could have easily spent an entire day! There was SO MUCH to see! My favorite exhibits were all the animal exhibits. I loved, loved, loved the dinosaur exhibits! It was so neat to see how enormous these creatures were when they roamed the earth. If you do go to the museum, make a game plan because there is no way you can see the entire museum in one day. Pick your favorite exhibits that you want to visit and go see those. It would take multiple trips to see everything this museum has to offer.







This was the last picture that my camera took. I was so forgetful and forgot to charge my camera batteries. I wasn't a happy camper until my wonderful hubby started taking pictures for me with his iPhone! Just another reason why I love him!










We left the museum to walk back to our hotel and took a picture of the outside of the museum and after we took the picture, we noticed that they replaced all the "U's" in the name with "V's". Can anyone tell me why?? Neither one of us had any idea!

And I Would Walk 500 Miles...

One of the things I was most looking forward to about going to New York was getting to sleep in and not have to worry about getting up early in the morning. Josh and I did just that! It felt so good to be able to sleep in until 9:00 AM. WOW! I can't tell you the last time I did that!

Our plan was to explore the city and travel uptown to Central Park and the Museum of Natural History, about 30 blocks or so. We got dressed and yes, I'll admit it, I was slightly vain. I was told to bring comfortable shoes when you go to New York, like tennis shoes. Well, to begin with, I almost never wear tennis shoes even when I'm home. Second, tennis shoes aren't exactly what I'd call fashionable, comfortable, maybe, but not fashionable. Third, I needed shoes with a slight heel because I'm so short and if I don't have a heel, then the hem of my pants will end up dragging the ground. So taking all that into account, I indulged my inner diva, and decided on my boots with a heel. Very comfortable, at least for the time being, and they went with everything I was wearing.

Our first stop was Starbucks, there was one on every single corner in New York, for some java therapy and a raspberry scone. Yum :) Then after a couple of pictures in Times Square, we were off! It was so neat to see how different Times Square looked during the day compared to at night. You felt like you were standing in a completely different place during the day.




The Hershey's store was next. Tim Welch had told us the night before about the world's largest Reese's peanut butter cup that was here and I had to see it in person. A full pound of chocolate and peanut butter, each cup weighed 8 ounces, for only $14.99. That's only about $7.50 for each peanut butter cup...not bad!



We kept walking and saw all kinds of neat signs and billboards. We ended up at Rockefeller Center again and took some more pictures of this neat building. I loved all the art and sculptures around this plaza. I could have taken 100 pictures of this center alone. I also loved seeing all the flags from all the different countries flying. They were so pretty blowing in the wind.









As we kept walking we came to one of the most amazing churches I've ever seen. I didn't know it at the time, but after reading through my New York travel guides again, I found out it is St. Patrick's cathedral, the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States. This cathedral had some of the most ornate and beautiful architecture that I had ever seen. You'll see this cathedral several times over the course of our trip and that's because I loved photographing it. I think I took a picture of it every time we passed close to it.


We made our way up 5th Avenue to the famous shopping district. We saw all the famous fashion stores-Gucci, Armani, Hermes, Jimmy Choo, Prada. I was going to buy something at all the stores, but I knew we were on a tight schedule, so I opted not to this time...HA HA HA HA!!

I did find the H&M store though where I purchased a coat. No more cold New York nights for me! The next time I go there though, I'm going to buy so much more than just a coat. I could easily have spent 2 hours in that store looking at all the clothes. The best part is that everything was so reasonable! My coat was on sale for $40.

I wanted to go to THE toy store in New York, F.A.O. Schwarz, and it didn't disappoint. It was such a neat store! Three levels of nothing but toys, stuffed animals, books, games, dolls, and every toy imaginable. If I had been a kid, I would have gone crazy in there. I wanted to pick up something little for Eli and I decided on Elmer the elephant and a matching book. Once again, I could easily have spent hours in this store, just perusing the shelves, but I knew we needed to hurry if we were going to make it to the Museum of Natural History.