NYC {Last day of our vacation}

On the last day of our lovely NY vacation we woke up early and took a morning walk in the garden. In the garden? In NYC? Yes, we were staying right in the middle of the flower district, and all the shops surrounding our hotel were chalk full of flowers happily spilling out onto the street.

After some breakfast E and I went back to the hotel to put baby man down for his morning nap; because he is a lot better for the rest of the day when he naps. E, the wonderful man that he is, was happy to stay back in the hotel with him while I walked up 12 or so blocks to meet Colette at an AMAZING Japanese bookstore that she wanted to show me.

The morning walk was wonderful. I was all by myself, sipping my coffee with my new sunglasses perched on my nose. I felt so New York. I'd love to live here some day. NYC is dirty, busy, crazy but magical. I've always loved it.

Seeing Colette waiting for me outside the Kinokuniya Bookstore was so fun. Here I am, in NY, walking up the street to meet a friend. Ah, love it.

The bookstore was everything she said. It was amazing. The children's section was awesome. Beautiful books that each called to me. "Oh how James would love this" I kept repeating over and over.

Colette and I took our time browsing and adding to our pile of "must buy" items. All too soon I got a text from E saying "James is awake" so I purchased my pile of goodies, gave Colette a big hug and walked back to our hotel.

Beautiful Japanese paper at the Kinokuniya Bookstore

Then E and I packed up the babe and headed out. I was getting hungry and stopped on the street to order a gyro. The little falafel and gyro stand smelled incredible and the hot pita, yummy lamb and white sauce tasted so fantastic as E and I wandered down 28th street towards the subway stop.

The gyro stand. Gah, it was good.
We zipped uptown on the green line and got off and walked to one of our all time favorite NY destinations: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We stopped on the steps for some photos and wandered inside. Instantly James was impressed. He kept craning his head up and grinning at the very impressive ceiling. Remember, he's been an art lover since day one.

We explored the awesome Egyptian exhibit, visited the Temple of Dendur, wandered through Medieval art (which surprisingly is one of my favorites), stopped in Art of India and Nepal, looked at knights and armor, adored the Asian art section (the Chinese courtyard is one of our favorite spots in the entire museum), and even explored Middle East art, Pacific Island art, 19th Century European Art (a very busy spot) and the Modern Art wings.

We kept hoping that James would conk out. I mean the museum is fairly quiet, air conditioned and smooth for the stroller. But James would not drift off.

Our hotel was so close to the Empire State Building we kept walking by it. And a photo of James on the Met's steps.

Inside he was so impressed. He kept looking up at the amazing ceiling! These photos crack me up. The security guard even noticed how sweet James was and said "he sure knows his architecture."

I love this photo. Love it.
The Temple of Dendur is one of the neatest (and busiest) parts of the museum.
These rosewood carvings in the medieval art gallery are some of my favorite pieces in the entire museum. This is only about 4" tall.
Some close ups of some of my faves.


Finally after a day on our feet we left the Met and walked down 5th Avenue into the Park. We got ice cream bars and relaxed in the shade overlooking The Boathouse and Bethesda Fountain. James happily ate cherries and watched the turtles swim in the pond.

E and I kept hoping he’d succumb to sleep but alas, he was too interested in all the city had to offer. We walked south, down the Mall, past the pond and out of the park. We spotted lots of turtles, ducks, squirrels and birds right in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world.


A quick walk to the subway and back to our hotel returned us in time for baby dinner time, bath time and bed. James was exhausted. Once he was in bed E went out and picked up a fantastic NY pizza and we ate it, picnic style, on the floor of our hotel room.

What a great final day to our vacation.