Traveling with my mom is always interesting, but always good, in the end. We didn't have much planned for this trip, in terms of things we just had to see. My gift to my mom was tickets to see 'Newsies' the Disney musical. And her bucket list item was tickets to see the 'Rockettes Christmas Spectacular'.
Getting to NYC was not bad, we had no delays due to the weather or anything like that, which was great.
This is what went down.
1. We landed and went to our hotel and we couldn't check in, because our room wasn't ready. So, we dropped our bags off and then walked around the city and ended up at the Nederlander theater where we saw the Newsies. A very good show. The guys did some great dances and songs. As an avid Newsies movie fan, I wasn't too excited with how they changed the story line. Especially, by changing Bill Pullman's character into a woman and making a small love story. I don't think it really enhanced it as a whole. Nonetheless, it was pretty exciting!
2. Christmas Eve. I am a huge fan of the guys that started the bakery 'Baked' in NYC. The last time my mom and I were in NYC, we were unable to go to the bakery, to check it out. So, we made it a point to go there this time around. The only thing is that they were doing construction on the subway stop that we needed to use, so we got off on one several blocks below that one. My mom and I were thinking, "We've been to Brooklyn before, there is no reason for us to be concerned about this adventure." So, we started out our walking journey, using google maps. It was supposed to take us 31 minutes...
We walked for nearly an hour through some really sketchy parts of Brooklyn. We passed some crazy people talking to themselves. For most of the trip, my mom was the only White person around. My mom was nervous about our current situation, so I walked faster. I must state, that we did not ever feel threatened, or that our lives were in danger, but being there after dark may have been a different story. Any way, we finally made it to Red Hook and walked into Baked. It is a nice little bakery and the service was alright. I wish the owners were there, they might have appreciated our journey a little more than their workers did. My mom had an egg nog bar and she really enjoyed it. I got the salted caramel bar. It also was pretty good and a pretty big piece. They are not too expensive either, which was really nice.
Luckily we could catch a bus on the way back, because we had some Rockettes to see. The Rockettes were great. They even included what Christmas is all about... being with friends and family, spending time with those who are important to you. Not getting the newest, latest, and greatest _____. They even included the Nativity at the end. It was really great. The venue is fantastic as well.
We ate at Ellen's Stardust Diner. The waitstaff are Broadway hopefuls and they sing the entire time they work (one to three at a time).
We later met up with one of my students and her family. What are the chances that we would be in NYC at the same time? It was pretty cool. They had just come in from Canada and were hungry, so we took them to the Stardust Diner. They enjoyed it and we had good conversation. A neat experience.
3. We wanted to eat food, so we tried to find a bunch of places we hadn't eaten before.
The Shake Shack- People try to say it is better than In-N- Out... sorry, never going to happen.
The Redhead - hand made pretzels, with beer cheese! Soooo goood!
Junior's- Great service, delicious food, not too expensive.
Serendipity 3- Foot long chili dogs, peanut butter frozen hot chocolate. Need I say more?
Pershing Square Central Cafe- Not the best service, but the food was really nice and this was also not pricey at all.
Jekyl and Hyde- We had eaten here before and enjoyed it. We were trying to find their bigger location, but it has closed, so we just went back to this location and had another good experience.
Ellen's Stardust Diner- We had a dinner, a dessert, and a breakfast here. I think we liked it. Food= Excellent.
The Hobbit was suggested to me by a friend, because he wanted to see the movie. So, I decided that I would give it a shot. I really enjoyed it. I wasn't too happy with the ending, but I do realize that it is the beginning of the 'Lord of the Rings', so I won't be too upset about that. I am going to see the movie this week and I am pretty excited about it.
I would suggest that you read the book first, because they are breaking the film into three parts and you might not be motivated to finish if you see the movies first.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
2013 has come! How do you feel? I got to hang out with a good friend and her husband. The husband went to a party and I stayed at the apartment with my friend and we just talked and then it was time for the ball to drop. In the morning we walked a few blocks up to see the Tournament of the Roses Parade. It was my first time seeing it in person. I believe it is a five mile course. Can you imagine carrying a tuba for that long? Me neither.
After that, I came home and enjoyed the calmness of the new year. I watched Jurassic Park on vhs and went to bed early.
I hope that your new year is off to a good start as well!
