The Big Apple

Bridget:

What would a cross country trip around America be without a trip to the great city of New York? It seems only appropriate that it would be on our list of stops…luckily for us, Craig’s brother Scott and his wife Brook happen to live just outside the city. We decided to stay a few days to hang out with them before our big move overseas and to leave plenty of time to explore the city.

As you may know, NYC is known for a few signature foods, so aside from Scott’s delicious cooking, we had to make a point of getting our hands on these foods. First on the list: an authentic, kosher New York deli. No other place could fit the bill as well as our new favorite place called the Carnegie Deli, made famous by the Woody Allen film Broadway Danny Rose.

You wouldn’t know it from the outside, but this place is home to the biggest and best sandwiches you’ve ever tasted. After a strong recommendation by our server donning a tuxedo and bowtie, we ordered the hot pastrami sandwich and split it….and were full for hours. Next time you’re in New York, make a special trip to get a taste of this:

Bellies full, we walked down to MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art. Here are a few highlights from that visit:

Van Gogh’s Starry Night

Pablo Picasso’s Flowers in a Vase

Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water

The next day we headed back into town, this time with Brook and her friend Keri, to hit up the Museum of Natural History. Brook, the aspiring archeologist, completed an internship with the museum and treated us to not only free passes, but also a “behind the scenes” look at the museum’s archives and lab.

This museum is by far the coolest museum I’ve ever been to. Classy and historical, it is complete with an eye-opening planetarium presentation, dinosaur bone collection, old-fashioned IMAX theater, and human origins exhibit.

Later that evening Scott met up with us near Times Square for a few celebratory birthday beers and sushi. Afterwards we made the birthday official with yet another Oreo cheesecake.

The next day was Saturday which means one thing in the fall: college football. Since all of Craig’s family graduated from Univ. of Nebraska, they are big Huskers fans. Not surprisingly, Scott and Brook found a Huskers bar in the city, so that’s where we went to watch the game Saturday afternoon. Huskers fans were out in full force, creating a sea of red to root against Arkansas State. Go ‘Skers!

After Nebraska’s victory, we headed back to Times Square for our highly anticipated photo reenactment of the WWII “V-J Day in Times Square” sailor-kissing-girl picture. Here is the original pic:

…and ours:

Not too shabby, huh? Yes, we are big dorks, but that was an experience I’ll never forget. Can you see the guys snapping our pic in the background?

After the photo-op, we hopped on the subway down to SoHo to do a little fake purse shopping. If you’ve ever been to Chinatown, you’ve probably seen the many shops lining the streets with colorful knock-offs of designer brand handbags, but what you may not know is that each of these stores has a false wall that leads to a “back room” full of many more and much better knock-offs that are hard to distinguish from the real deal. I had heard stories, but I had to see this for myself. Brook, being the veteran Chinatown spender, found a secret “back room” within about five minutes after looking. The store’s salespeople have the process down to a science, using their cell phones to communicate with their associates standing on the street outside looking out for cops before entering or exiting the back room. Crazy...but true.

After that we tried to watch the Florida State game at the supposed meeting spot for Seminole fans, but unfortunately the game was only being broadcasted via Internet, so I had to settle for updates. On the way back to the train, we passed by the Empire State building which was casting a yellow glow into the night fog. Very Batman-esque.


For our last night, we just had to end the trip with some authentic New York pizza back at Scott and Brook’s. I have been to New York three times now, and Craig eight times, but each time is different. The city has a never-ending list of things to do, and it really does seem to never sleep. We had a fantastic time and can’t wait for the next visit. Thanks, Scott and Brook, for a great time!

Next Stop: Washington D.C.