#nycgw: part 3!

I'm terribly forgetful. Like, it's been three weeks since my trip forgetful. Like, I forgot to post about our last one and a quarter days forgetful. Eek.

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So, Friday of our New York trip, we went to Central Park. Since we stayed close to Times Square, we just walked, and it wasn't really that bad. It was nice weather and pretty outside. Once we got to the park, we found our preplanned food truck for the morning- Waffles and Dinges.

Amazing.
Superfantabulous.
Yes. Waffles.
Probably the best waffle I've ever had.

Then, we crossed the street and ate our waffles on a little bench at the entrance of Central Park so we could watch some street performers/dancers. Because we're cool city people like that. If you're ever in the city, track down one of their trucks and get a waffle with strawberries and spekuloos spread. Trust me on this one. I'm pretty sure that this is what breakfast in heaven will be.

After two long walking days, Mom and I weren't looking forward to walking all around Central Park. I mean, my feet hurt. Chacos are great and all (even though apparently no one in NYC wears them), but at some point, feet hurt. So, we found a pedicab driver that seemed not sketchy, spoke English, and was willing to take our picture at some stops and tell us some history. After the fact, we judged the tour totally worth it and justifiable.

That guy was our tour guide. If you go to Central Park, I'm going to recommend that you find him. He was pretty much awesome, I didn't have to worry about death by pedicab, and he seemed to know a lot about the park. He's currently doing the whole pedicab thing while he goes to school in the US, because he's from some Middle Eastern country. And yes, Mom did ask his permission to take his picture (and I think we mentioned something about a blog and he said cool. but, I'm not exactly certain.). So, anyways. Pedicab tour of Central Park= much easier on the feet.

After Central Park, we walked over to the Plaza to check it out. I kind of liked pretending I was Eloise for a few minutes. We walked through the hotel like we belonged there...and then quickly left. Then, we hit up 5th Avenue (actually, only FAO Schwartz, but that's another story). We began to get a little hungry, so we started looking for somewhere to eat. We found a neat little pizza/Italian place called Patsy's and ordered a pizza to share. It was really yummy. I'd recommend this place.

Then, we walked over to Sprinkles Cupcakes. My cupcake was totally overrated and I was disappointed. The cake was kind of solid and felt too "manufactured" and the frosting wasn't anything special. And that polka dot on top? It tasted gross. Oh, and their sporks were made from bamboo, so I was kind of terrified about getting a splinter in my tongue, plus it made my cupcake taste funny. I'm going to give this one a thumbs down and not recommend it. Find you a better cupcake in NYC...like Magnolia Bakery. Yummy.

Then, we took a train to Grand Central Station. I think since it was Saturday, it didn't feel that "grand", because it wasn't all that busy. I did kind of want to bust out some dance moves and start a flash mob though. Kind of tempting. :) After grabbing a Magnolia Bakery Cupcake to-go for later (since we had a Sprinkles let down), we walked back to the hotel. It was a bit of a walk, but not too bad. We dropped our stuff off, then headed back out to Times Square, where we found a few souvenirs for the boys (hat and sunglasses for Des, Dr. Who shirt for Max).

About that time, we were hungry...again. Not too hungry, but enough that we wanted to find some food. I remembered a place near the theater that I had seen called "Ellen's Stardust Diner" that looked cute, so we went and tried there. The food wasn't amazing, but we just ordered appetizers- and the entertainment was great! People who are starting out on Broadway work there before they get the jobs (like when they're auditioning and stuff), and they sing and put on a little show while you eat your dinner. Pretty neat. After dinner, we went back to our hotel to enjoy our cupcakes and watch the Auburn-LSU game. It was going great until we started watching it, but it was a nice way to end our evening in NYC. :(

Sunday morning, we woke up and walked over to Times Square Bagel to grab a bagel to eat for breakfast before we caught our shuttle to the airport. The bagels were really yummy.  It's a really non-descript, hole in the wall bagel place, but they were amazing and we got what we needed. No website, but it's right off the square on 44th, and you can Google it! Definitely recommend this one! :)

After a quick photo in Times Square, we caught our shuttle and headed off to the airport to fly home! Woo! Three days in NYC made for a busy trip, but it was a nice time to get away with my Mom and spend some time exploring a new, fun, and exciting place! :)