New York City #3

Back to New York City and my Saturday and Sunday adventures!

We headed out toward the Fort Tryon Park mid morning. On the way we passed this magnet for thrift store shoppers:

There was no time to stop and look at the piles of clothing (quite reasonably priced for NYC). Nor was there any time to stop and buy anything from the mounds of ripe fruit and vegetables stacked in boxes and set out on tables. Just think of all the delicious things I could make with that produce! It too was very cheaply priced -- most likely because it needed to be used immediately.

We stopped to visit with Christy & Peter's young friends from the Operation Exodus group they volunteered with before Nathan was born.

Our brunch reservation was at the recently renovated New Leaf which sits inside the Fort Tryon Park. Just look at this amazing pink azalea with its miniature flowers!

 We sat in a large tent-like conservatory and ordered our food and enjoyed our juice and coffee.

 I ordered the breakfast burger with a fried egg! Peter had the crab cake and Christy enjoyed the French toast with caramel bananas.
 

After brunch we took our time strolling through the Heather Gardens admiring all the azaleas and other blooming flowers. The heather was in a dormant state as it tends to bloom in the middle of New York's winter!

Here is Christy's family!!! 

I was so excited to find some lilacs!!

We also were mesmerized by a family of baby groundhogs that were scampering about with little fear of any of the passersby! There were five babies and we never saw the parents. They were so cute that one wondered if they might make a nice little pet. (But I'm guessing not.)

 See how cuddly they looked?!

Another view of some of the azaleas. This variety with the white and the yellow were particularly interesting to me as they almost looked like daffodils (or perhaps fried eggs!).

The weather was beautiful and people were out en force.

I love this picture of the lilacs with the George Washington Bridge in the background.

This shade garden under a large tree was also a favorite scene of mine from the garden. I just can't believe how blessed I was with the "random" timing of my visit to allow me to see so many things blooming! Just a week to ten days later and much of all this is now gone.

We enjoyed a nice long rest/nap in the afternoon in preparation for the evening's adventure!!! Christy and I headed south on the Subway and popped up just south of Time Square (which Andrew so desperately wanted a picture of!).

We were headed to Rue 57 for dinner -- a delightful French restaurant very close to Carnegie Hall.

It is fun visiting a friend who enjoys taking pictures as much as I do!  When I'm home I never get into any pictures because I'm the only one snapping! This trip we swapped pictures so we could have the full documentation!

Dinner was delicious -- we split a hamburger and a Salad Nicoise. 

 We also enjoyed their Truffle Frites -- French fries drizzled with truffle oil and some chopped truffle. It was my very first (long awaited) experience having anything to do with truffles! I expected a much more pungent taste but was delighted with the lovely flavor of the fries.

The salad was beautiful -- this was my half!

The restaurant opened onto the street and did have that Parisian atmosphere!!!

 After dinner we headed over to Carnegie Hall and winded ourselves climbing up to the very top of the building! I was definitely feeling my age!

We were there to hear Yuja Wang perform a solo piano recital. Of course it was even better having Christy (a piano performance major) there to give me commentary on the performance. Yuja was amazing and very skillful. It was fun to watch someone play for so long from memory with such perfection.

After our night out on the town it was back home to bed in preparation for Sunday.

In the morning we headed to Christ Church NYC where Christy and Peter worship. It was good to join their congregation in worship and it is always a special treat to celebrate the Lord's Supper when I am in a foreign place.

After the worship service we headed downstairs for the coffee hour before planning to head to Central Park for the annual church picnic. Sadly, the weather proved to be too much (high winds, mid 50's temp and drizzling rain) and the picnic was relocated to the church hall! So we spent a few hours eating our lunches and visiting together.

I loved sitting around the tables with a bunch of other mothers listening to the everyday issues they struggle with in NYC -- how to fit three children into a two-bedroom apartment, using the dining room table for eating, homework, etc. because that's the only workspace, transporting kids around on the subway. My life in suburbia felt so far away.

We "ubered" our way home in the late afternoon and spent the evening discussing books, theology, and life!

Next time I'll have the last of my New York City posts for this trip!