NYC in a Day

My best friend from college, Becca, came to visit last week for about 36 hours! She had never been to NYC before so we planned to just walk as much of the city as we could during her 1 day here. We actually got a lot done and it felt like the longest day ever...something I had specifically prayed for - I cherish the small amounts of time I get with sweet Becca these days (or years would be more accurate). The day was truly refreshing to my soul...there's just something about Becca and our friendship that is like no other. So, what did we choose to do in Becca's quick intro to the city??

She got in on a Wednesday night and although it was late, we both needed dinner, so we strolled along the Upper West Side until I decided that the Shake Shack would be a great NY place to take her. I haven't had shake shack in so long and it was so good! It's just burgers and fries, but some of the best burgers in the city! She was impressed.

I took Thursday off work so I could enjoy the day with Becca. We started the day with breakfast at Alice's Tea Cup. Why don't I go here more often?? It is so cute and yummy, too. Becca and I split a delicious pot of Alice's signature tea..yum. I had eggs and a scone that was simply to die for. I can't wait to go back for another!

Breakfast was followed by walking, and walking, and walking. We walked through and around the park, ending up on 5th Avenue. We briefly went into The Plaza and looked around for a while, but mostly we just wanted to use their bathrooms! We did a little shopping on 5th Ave and ended up at Rockefeller Center so Becca could pretend she was in an episode of "30 Rock". From Rockefeller, we hopped on a subway and went to Greenwich Village for more strolling. We stopped for a quick bite...a Sabrett hot dog from a cart and a Magnolia cupcake...yum. We wound up near the river and Becca wanted to check it out. We ended up on a Pier I've never seen before...I loved it! Well, for the most part. I did not love the mobs of people laying out...many guys stripped down to their tighty-whiteies. Weird. The views from the pier were so pretty though and the breeze that came through there was glorious on such a hot day.

That would be Jersey behind us

The 2 guys on the far left are stripped to their undies!

The view of Manhattan from the pier's end.  That's the Empire

State Building in the middle.

Upon leaving the pier, we walked up the boardwalk along the river all the way to the Meatpacking District. We strolled along the Highline for a bit and then did a little shopping in the Chelsea Market.

After all that walking, we headed to Times Square where we waited for a while in a long line at the TKTS booth, but we scored good tickets for half-price to the musical "Next to Normal". As soon as we got our tickets, we jumped back on a subway that was Chinatown bound. Becca wanted to see it and eat there. We went to Joe's Shanghai (the only option in Chinatown in my opinion). It was really good. We started with their dumplings, of course. Becca wanted to be adventurous so she got the Peking Duck and it was a full duck they brought to our table! I stuck to my usual sesame chicken, which is usually so good there, but didn't seem up to par that night. After dinner, we had a little time so we strolled through Little Italy and into SoHo where we had time to pop into a few more shops.

Finally, we rushed back to the theatre district for our show. "Next to Normal" was sooo good! I thought I had heard it was about teenagers and I thought it was going to be a fun, cute musical (I'm thinking Glee, of course). Turns out I was wrong. Although there were teenagers in the show, it was really more about the adults and it wasn't a very fun/happy story. It was very good though and the singing was excellent. We loved it!

Becca was on a plane back to West Texas the next morning. So, it was super short trip, but I am still amazed at how it seemed much longer than that.  The day could not have been more perfect.