A Quick Bite of the Big Apple

I had a wonderful time in New York last weekend, and as always I hated to leave so soon. Although the weather down here in Florida feels a lot more like spring!

I only had two and a half days to spend in the city, but I feel like I did a pretty good job of packing in as much as possible without feeling completely drained. Saturday I went to my first ballgame at Yankees Stadium. I love baseball, but I don't generally go to games even when I'm with Marc on a game-related trip! But this is the last year of the New York icon and I felt like I should see it before it's gone. I'm so glad I went--temps in the 60s, a very authentic subway ride, and some "real" locals surrounding me in the stands. It's a cool ballpark and I'm glad I got to be a part of its final season.

We had every intention to eat dinner at The Spotted Pig, a gastropub recommended to me by a foodie friend. But lots of people had the same idea on a Saturday night so after giving our name to the host we decided not to wait for nearly two hours and we hiked to Steak Frites instead. I've had better steak, but the atmosphere was nice, the potatoes were incredible, and I watched Marc do a magic trick that made the trip worthwhile--I watched him wolf down a salad as if it were a plate of cheese.

Sunday was one of the greatest moments of my musical life. I saw a performance at Carnegie Hall.

To many, I'm sure this doesn't seem like much of a big deal. It's just a big brick building with pretty good acoustics and famous people come play there. But it is so, so much more than that, as it has been for more than a hundred years. Each lobby and hallway reminds guests of the remarkable history of the place. Portraits of Oistrakh, Perlman, and Barenboim, letters from Ives, Tschaikovsky and Dvorak! It's a Who's Who of 19th and 20th century music history in America, and I think that's what makes it so special...it's truly an American icon. Through school I learned all about Milan and Paris and Esterhazys and all the important European palaces and cathedrals that musicians still treasure. But the US got a much later start and we have very few sacred places that can tell some of the same beautiful stories. Carnegie Hall is one of them, and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to sit in her balcony for a few hours.

Monday--my travel day--flew by. Marc and I braved the cold and wind and headed to the Upper West Side for delicious burgers at Big Nick's. We then hustled through the dinosaurs and a few mammals at the Museum of Natural History before he went to work and I caught a plane.

It's funny. I lived most of my life in South Carolina, yet I feel more comfortable navigating Manhattan than I do Charleston or Myrtle Beach. I love New York. I usually set limits for myself, trying not to visit the same cities or again and again. But I could see New York over and over and it would be a different city for me each time...new food, different weather, a museum I haven't yet explored, concerts, parks, Broadway musicals. It just never gets old. I love New York.