Shad had a business trip in NYC a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to tag along. I love NYC. At least as a tourist. I say I'd love to live there, and I mean it, but I really have no clue what it'd be like daily. Probably not full of food tours and eating out. = ) But I do love the people, the cultures, the yummy ethnic food, the entertainment, the subways.
A couple of NY trips ago, my sister and I went on a food tour. It was my favorite part of the trip. A walking tour of Greenwich Village, with tastes of so many local eateries, while listening to a history of that particular part of town. So this trip I signed myself up for two different neighborhoods...SoHo and Chelsea. I dragged Shad along on the Soho one. They were both so yummy and fun. I do have to say the original Greenwich one is my favorite though...if you're ever out there.
I finally at at the famous Magnolias. I'm sorry, I may get hate comments, but Shad and I weren't impressed. At all. The cupcakes were sort of dry and flavorless. We went twice during the trip, just to confirm we didn't have a fluke experience.
But the actual food, was amazing in NYC. LOVED IT ALL. We had Indian, Italian, French, Cuban, Russian, multiple times and it was all so good (minus the Russian). They pretty much had to roll me onto the plane to get me back to California. It was worth it though.
We got to go on the floor at the NY Stock Exchange. That was cool. Shad was in heaven. We'd been to the outside before but never inside and actually on the floor. He got to see Maria (?), a newsgirl that he sees on CNBC everyday. When we were watching her, he said, "Liz, this is like you seeing Martha Stewart." = ) We got to see how everything works and the closing bell.
We ALSO got to see all the protesters....against Wall Street. So lame. I'm sorry. But honestly, it's a bunch people out there, NOT working, NOT contributing to our economy, whipping out their iPhones to make a call, complaining about.....honestly, we couldn't get a clear picture of what they had a problem with. They pretty much took anything they didn't like, and blamed it on Wall St. There was one topless lady, that said her beef was that there aren't enough boobs shown on tv. What? Then of course the signs that just piss me off saying that the rich don't pay any taxes. Anything they wanted to complain about, they just put it on a sign and blamed "Wall St." Well, at least those "Wall Street" guys are out working every day, putting in long hours and paying close to 50% of their income back into the system. ALSO, the news makes it look WAY bigger than it really is. It was a very small protest.
We went to Coney Island. Apparently it's "the closest you can get to Russia, without a passport". Shad served a 2 year mission for our church in Russia from 1995-97, and hasn't had a chance to go back since. So he was thrilled to see what it was like, stateside. It was crazy. It was ALL Russian. They made no effort to cater to tourists whosoever, and if you got a greeting it was in Russian. Of course this made Shad love it even more, because he said that's the way Russia really is. Not super friendly. We went in all the markets, bought food, tasted it, and people watched. I felt like I was in a foreign country. Most people walked everywhere, or drove old cars, but then randomly you'd see an incredibly nice nice nice car, that would stop in the middle of the road, blocking all other cars and just walk in the store. I asked Shad, and he replied, "Oh it's the mafia". It was crazy.
And of course I did tons of shopping. Shad is an AMAZING husband when it comes to this. He will follow me into all the stores I want to go into and he never complains.
Something that changed since our last trip out was Canal Street. Every other time we've come to the city, we go down there to buy all of the knock-off sunglasses, watches, jewelry etc. You could find a guy on the street, tell him what you want (sounds like I was purchasing drugs) and he'd go get it for you, show it to you, name a price and you'd decide whether you wanted it. I'm not sure what happened, but the selection was almost non-existent. They didn't have anything I asked for. AND we saw some people sell drugs right in front of us. As in maybe 2 feet away. I'm sure Shad and I looked like idiots, because I know I for one, was staring. I'm guessing that was our last trip down to Canal. Bummer.
It was our first time not seeing a Broadway while we were there. It seemed so expensive this time around. And it meant I had to skip a whole evening of eating out at my leisure. It was a tough decision. But food won out. = )
It was fun, but it's always good to get home and back into the groove of things. And kiss my little ones chubby cheeks.