Central Park and Good Bye Big Apple: NYC Part 3

We packed so much into 6 days that we were ready for a leisurely day in Central Park. But walking through Central Park can be a daunting adventure. It encompasses 840 acres of land and is packed with things to do. We started out with an uptown bus tour covering the upper east and west side of the city as well as the lively and diverse borough of Harlem. We passed Museum Row but due to our limited amount of time, we did not visit any of them. On a side note: the Metropolitan Museum of Art or The Met, the MoMA, and the American Museum of Natural History are my favorite ones.  Once in Harlem we stopped outside of the famed Apollo Theater to hear music from years gone by.  

The Apollo Theater in Harlem

The Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

*****
We had reservations for lunch at The Boat House in Central Park which is located on The Lake and is quite the place to dine among New Yorkers. The lunch menu was about half the price of the dinner menu, so we opted for lunch. In the summer the restaurant is open air (weather permitting) and our table was located as close to the lake as we could get. The food was scrumptious!

Our table by the lake at The Boathouse

The Bethesda Fountain in Central Park
featured in numerous movies and television shows

The Mall in Central Park runs through the middle of the park from 66th to 72nd Street. The canopy of trees offered us some shady relief from the sweltering humidity and 90 degree temperatures that plagued us all week.

My favorite picture of the entire trip!
8 great friends spending time on a once in a lifetime trip!

This mosaic located in the 2.5 acre section of Central Park known as Strawberry Fields, is dedicated to the memory of Beatles member, John Lennon

The sweeping stairway in Tiffany's

My purchase in the famous blue bag!
 I bought the least expensive item that I could find.   

Inside Trump Tower on 5th Avenue

Columbus Circle

The famed Plaza Hotel along Central Park South and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan home to the adorable children's book character Eloise.  You can stay in the Eloise suite

for a mere $995 a night!

*****

Outside view of our home away from home for 6 days

Our private shuttle to the airport offered door to door service

View of the East River after take off from
 LaGuardia Airport with Manhattan in the background

A great view of Manhattan, Central Park, and the
Hudson River
Good bye city life, Indiana here we come!

What a wonderful time we had together in NYC. Even with one of the hottest summers on record, we still experienced the trip of a lifetime. We will forever treasure this time we had to laugh, talk, and reminisce.

Look out Nashville, the GEMS are about to
 invade your city this summer!

A Date with Good Morning America: New York City Part 2

Our second day in New York City, 6 of us got us early and walked to Times Square to be apart of Good Morning America. Sarah, a first grade teacher and super scrapbooker, made a sign(and hauled it all the way from Indiana) so that we might be picked out of the crowd for TV.  Her sign worked, because we were featured on TV several times. Thanks Sarah! She also brought along stick on mustaches which  brought us a lot of laughs. That morning we saw Barbara Walters, Laura Spencer, George Stephanopoulos, and Sam Champion up close and personal.  It was a morning to remember.

Good Morning America at Times Square

The day was still young and we had an agenda to adhere to

The heat was taking its toll on our mustaches

Next stop, Macy's at Herald Square

One of the only wooden escalators left in the
 United States is in Macy's at Herald Square

Taking a break from shopping.  Waiting for our table at
 Rosa Mexicano

Rosa Mexicano located in Union Square has the best guacamole made right at your table

The Strand Bookstore in the East Village of Manhattan is home to 18 miles of new, used, rare, and out of print books

No trip to NYC is complete without a stop at Max Brenner's chocolate and ice cream shop

Pre-show dinner at the world famous Camine's in the Theater District

We saw The Lion King at the Minskoff Theater. The show was spectacular! This is the second time I've seen it on Broadway and the second was better than the first.

*****

The next day we continued touring the city by subway, on foot, and our hop-on hop-off bus

 Federal Hall where George Washington was inaugurated  as the first president of the United States

Trinity Church on Wall Street and The Flat Iron Building in Manhattan are just a few of the architectural wonders we saw on our tour of the city

The Empire State Building and a beautiful cathedral on

5th Avenue

St. Paul's Chapel across from the the World Trade Center became a relief center during the rescue effort of 9/11

One World Trade Center 

North and South Pools at the WTC Memorial

New York Stock Exchange

The United Nations and The Chrysler Building

We ended the day with a dinner at The Crooked Knife, a charming restaurant located in Manhattan's West Village

Walking back to our hotel at Times Square.
Tomorrow, Central Park!

The GEMS Arrive in The Big Apple: Part 1

This past July, seven of my very best friends headed to New York City for a week of sightseeing, shopping, and of course, eating.  We call ourselves the GEMS, which is an acronym for Girls Embellishing Memories through Scrapbooking. Our group of GEMS began as a group of swim moms who found a common interest in creating memories for our children through scrapbooks. All of our children are grown now, most with families of their own, shifting the focus of our group.  We waited many years for this "Girl's Get-a-Way", but it was well worth it. Little did we know that July would be one of the hottest summers New York City would experience in decades.  Despite the sweltering temperatures, we still managed to have a great time!

Our first view of "The Big Apple"

First "official photo" at LaGuardia Airport 
Our hotel at Times Square

Getting ready for our first subway ride

We bought a Metro card with a week's worth of rides  

Grand Central Station celebrating 100 years

Rockefeller Center at night

The 8 of us overlooking the ice rink at Rockefeller Center but in the summer it is an outdoor cafe

View of Manhattan from "Top of the Rock" 
(Empire State Building and One World Trade Center 
in the background)

The Brooklyn Bridge at sunset

Arriving in style in Times Square

No visit to Times Square is complete without a trip to
 M&M World!

Macy's at Herald Square at night

Times Square

Electrified Old Glory at Times Square

42nd Street with the Chrysler Building in the background

Cupcakes at the famed Magnolia Bakery were heavenly!

The Naked Cowboy in Times Square
 (2 of the GEMS are on the right not sure about his outfit)

World's largest ferris wheel inside the Toys R Us store located in Times Square

Last stop of the evening, Radio City Music Hall

We had a 2 day pass for the City Sights tour bus for a
hop-on hop-off city experience

After a long day, we were ready to walk back to our hotel and call it a night. We had a full agenda for the next 4 days!