New York Day Four

My last day in NYC started with a beautiful stroll through Central Park with my aunt. We got our Starbucks (an Awake tea for me) and walked first through Strawberry Fields, passing by the Imagine mosaic. There was someone incorrectly singing “Let It Be” and tourists in Beatles shirts taking pictures with it.

My aunt and I then just wandered through the park chatting about high school, college, summer, family and friends. It was really nice to be able to catch up while walking through such a beautiful park. I could spend hours exploring all the paths and gardens in Central Park.

Due to our very filling dinner the night before, we did not eat breakfast that morning in anticipation of lunch at the “mysterious location.” After dressing up, my aunt and I walked a dozen blocks to the restaurant . . . Jean-Georges at Trump Tower.

I had never eaten at such a fancy restaurant with different waiters for bread, drinks, and the meals. Our plates were set down and taken away at the same time by two waiters. It was like a well-oiled machine. We decided to choose the prix fixe menu for our lunch. My appetizer was fried calamari with an aerated chili sauce and my aunt got the tuna tartare. Both were delicious!

For the entrée I got the fresh rigatoni with lamb meatballs and smoked tomato sauce, and my aunt got the golden sea bass. Yummy!

There were only two desserts so we got one of each. The first one was the Jean-Georges molten chocolate cake with homemade vanilla ice cream. The second one was a strawberry shortcake with crème fraîche and strawberry tea. Both were amazing, but I like the chocolate one more.

Overall, Jean-Georges had some of the best food that I have ever eaten. I would love to go again and try more of their food! It was also another opportunity to talk with my aunt about anything that came to mind.

Soon after lunch, Mom picked me up to head back to Boston. We got out of the city before rush hour but hit it in Hartford. Before that, however, we stopped at the Connecticut welcome rest area and it was surprisingly beautiful. I certainly felt welcomed there.

When we got home, it marked the last road trip until Dad and I drive back down to Florida in a month. But I still have exciting things in the meantime with bike tours, movies, afternoon tea, Washington, D.C. and more. Thanks for reading and check back again soon!

New York Day Two

Sorry that I didn’t post yesterday, I stayed at my aunt’s apartment last night and I didn’t have time to write up a post. But on with what I did on Saturday . . .

Saturday morning, Mom and I woke up at 8 o’clock to get a fresh start on our day. We went to Le Pain Quotidien for breakfast. I love this restaurant because everything is so fresh and made in house, and selection of spreads is wonderful. Mom and I both got the soft-boiled egg with bread, and I got a fresh-squeezed orange juice. It was a yummy breakfast but not too filling.

After breakfast we caught a cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art because I had really wanted to see the new Charles James exhibit. We took some pictures outside the museum and in the lobby before heading into the exhibit where we could not take pictures.

The exhibit itself was amazing. The way that the Met did it was amazing. All the dresses had screens in front of them that explained how the dresses were constructed, what inspired them, who wore them and how James cut the fabric. It was really interesting.

Afterwards, we wandered through the galleries at a leisurely pace. Mom and I went through the European sculpture garden, Asian art, American art and Egyptian art. I love taking zoomed in pictures of the heads of sculptures.

There is a taxidermied deer inside the glass bubbles!

 Mom and I then walked through Central Park to Mom’s cousin’s apartment for a mini family reunion. I got to see family members that I haven’t seen since I was really little and Mom got to reconnect with her cousins.

Since we still had our Met stickers on, so we walked back through Central Park to the museum. We also stopped at the Grom food truck for some gelato. I got a small cone with chocolate-hazelnut gelato (my favorite) and Mom got pistachio (her favorite). YUM!

When we got back to the museum we immediately went to find the Impressionism gallery. I took AP Art History two years ago and Impressionism was my favorite era to study.

Mom taking a candid picture

Doesn't this look like Benedict Cumberbatch?

We stuck our stickers to the board and took a cab to the hotel before heading to dinner. 

I found him! 

What?

Instead of going far, Mom and I decided to go to the restaurant right next door to the hotel called the Barking Dog. For an appetizer, we got the mussels with a white wine garlic sauce.

For the entrée I got a bison burger with American cheese, French fries, and sautéed spinach. It was good, but not great.

Mom and I chatted for a little bit and then headed back up to the room to rest up for the busy day ahead of us!

Thanks for reading! Please check by tomorrow for New York day four!