10 Year Anniversary Trip

Michael and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary on 8/2/13 and we decided to do a really fun trip just for the 2 of us. We've always wanted to go to New York City and finally did it! The kids got to stay with Nana and Papa while we were gone and had lots of adventures without us.

We decided to rent a car for a couple days when we first got there and drove up the East Coast and went to a total of 8 states (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont). It's so crazy that we went to that many states because if we'd covered the same ground on the West Coast we'd have stayed in Oregon and Washington. Anyway, there is a ton of history in those places and here are some of the places we went. 

This is in Quincy, MA, where President John Adams and his family lived. 

There are rumors that he is a relative of mine. We love genealogy! 

Boston, MA, site of the Boston Massacre

The "other" Portland - Portland, ME

A beautiful picture in Central Park, NY. This was the first place we went to in NYC.

Another iconic place in Central Park.

Beautiful! 

I love the park with the blue sky and skyscrapers in the distance.

"Imagine all the people..." 

This is the Strawberry Field Memorial in Central Park, 

the place where John Lennon was killed.

Ellis Island...it was closed because of damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. 

Sooo bummed we weren't able to go!

Lady Liberty. So cool!

Freedom Tower during the day.

One of the hotels we stayed in was right next to the 9/11 Memorial.

And the Freedom Tower at night. Do you see the red, white and blue lights?

One of the reflecting pools at the 9/11 Memorial. 

Going here was more emotional than I thought it was going to be. 

Definitely made me proud to be an American 

and so thankful for those people who serve our country.

Brooklyn Bridge

The picture speaks for itself :)

Grand Central Station

Times Square at night. This place was packed night and day. 

This picture was taken at 10 or 11 at night.

And this is Times Square during the day. 

 

 This is Highline Park. It's an old elevated railroad that they turned into a walkway/park. Another piece of greenery in the middle of the city.

Let me introduce you to Shake Shack! We didn't eat at this location 

but went to the one by Yale University and it was awesome! 

Burgers, fries and custard. Yum! 

Definitely worth going to if you're on the East Coast.

And finally, a picture of one of our favorite places - Eataly! 

An ongoing market with several different restaurants throughout 

and places to buy all sorts of Italian products (pasta, gelato, cheese, meats, wine, etc.). 

We ate salumi, fresh mozzarella, french bread and Michael had a lovely glass of wine. 

(I say lovely because it was actually good. Ha! I don't usually like wine...)  

If you know Michael and I, you know that we are foodies and love watching Food Network and Cooking Channel and trying out new restaurants when we can. So for part of this trip we wanted to do an "Iron Chef" tour and hit up as many places owned/run by an "Iron Chef". Here is a list of the places we went: Cat Cora's Kitchen in the San Francisco airport, Babbo (Mario Batali), Butter (Alex Guarnaschelli), Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay), and The National (Geoffrey Zakarian). We also went to a few other iconic NYC places: Katz's Delicatessen, Junior's (cheesecake), and Norma's. From this list I'd have to say that Babbo (steak and dessert), Mesa Grill (green chile cheeseburger) and Norma's (crunchy french toast) were my favorite!

We had such a good trip and got to see so many new places. Next on the list is Washington DC or overseas or ...