Matt, Cassandra, Tanner, Leif, Tom and I all went up to NYC before the reunion started. We went to Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and spent a lot of time riding the subway and eating really good food. Here are some of our favorite NYC things...
Carnegie Deli -
Like Father, Like Son
(A Pickle Fetish with a HUGE Reuben on the side)
After eating all the Carnegie Deli homemade pickles and a few bites of that Reuben we headed over to Central Park. We went to one of the biggest playgrounds in the park with everything you could imagine (even a water park!) With so much to choose from the first and only thing that Tanner "The Climber" Stewart wanted to play on was the huge rock behind the playground=) Matt couldn't help himself either...
Our play time was rudely interrupted by rain. We ran for cover and found ourselves in the subway and decided to take a trip and explore Grand Central Station. Since it had been at least an hour since we last ate we decided we needed a snack to top up our tummies. Good thing our favorite cheesecake restaurant Junior's is there! Matt was on a strawberry kick all day so we tried the Strawberry Shortcake and got Devil's Food Cake for the Chocoholics.
Even with cheesecake the size of his head, Tanner didn't start out too happy but by the end we couldn't get the cheesecake away from him. Here is Tanner's first attempt at Brain Surgery.
After Tanner scarfed down all the cheesecake and the rest of us were able to get a few scraps we all headed uptown to the Manhattan Temple by the Lincoln Center. We took advantage of the bathrooms in the Stake Center (on the upper floors above the temple) and couldn't help but notice how quiet it was inside. After being on the loud and busy streets of NYC all day it was a complete contrast to be in deafening quiet and peaceful feeling of the church. This temple is definitely not the biggest or most interesting building on the outside - but the feeling on the inside is unmatchable and makes you feel right at home no matter where in the world you are.
From the temple we went back to Central Park and explored the Sheep Meadow, the Dairy, the Mall, Bethesda Fountain, and caught part of a benefit concert.
Andrea went back to the hotel with Tanner and Leif for some shut eye - while Matt, Cassandra and Tom went to check out the night life at Times Square.
The next morning we headed for the Statue of Liberty. Tanner was excited to take the boat to Liberty Island. It was pretty hot so we didn't stay long - especially with Frozen Hot Chocolate calling our name from Serendipity!=)
There was a little bit of a wait at Serendipity so we decided to check out Dylan's Candy Store in the mean time - 3 floors of sugary fun! Our food was good as usual, but nothing beat the Frozen Hot Chocolate on such a hot day. On our way out the door who did we run into but Shawnie, Laurelle, Brandon, Heather and Jeff! The whole time we had been in New York we had been trying to meet up - but could never get on the same schedule until we met up serendipitously at Serendipity! It was fun to see familiar unexpected faces that we hadn't seen in so long!
Since we didn't eat until later in the day our batteries were running low until Matt spotted Bloomingdale's. Matt and Tom got their second wind just by seeing the famous store and spent over an hour exploring the 8 story mega store while Cassandra, I and the kids enjoyed testing out the couches.
With the day winding down we headed home. Our guests were greeted to Maryland by one of our infamous torrential summer downpours - followed by an impressive thunder and lightening show.
Matt thought the best part about our NYC trip was taking in the atmosphere. "You can see all of the landmarks in photos but you can’t really understand it until you have been there and heard the noise, breathed the air and turned around to see sky scrapers in every direction. Of course the cheese-cake was good too."
More to come on the rest of the reunion soon...
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