Shawna was already on the east coast for work, so she took a train into the city from Hartford while Keith flew in from Phoenix. The rest of the family was not arriving until Thursday night, so we got a room at the
Hampton Inn Chelsea on the Wednesday night. We were able to use points for the hotel which saved us $350 of the $450 total cost. Keith got up early and walked a street over to take a ride at the
Peloton studio where he rode with Matt Wilpers. We both worked out of the hotel Thursday day - Keith from the lobby and Shawna from the room. Graham stopped by the hotel mid-morning after he arrived to drop off his luggage so he could explore on his own. At 4pm, we hauled the luggage over to the Airbnb (338 E 30th Street, between 2nd and 1st avenue) where Keith's parents had just checked in. The apartment was quite spacious with a nice sized living room and three bedrooms and bathrooms - only downside is that the mattresses were not comfortable. Margaret arrived in time for us all to eat Indian at
Spice Symphony where we shared the chicken tandoori and a chickpea dish. We headed to bed early as we were all pretty tired.
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| Keith & Margaret at Peloton with Jennifer Jacobs |
On Friday morning, Keith and Margaret got up at 5am and both walked over to Peloton for another ride: Margaret's first - we rode with Jennifer Jacobs. Shawna went for a walk along the East River which is no where near as nice as the walk along the Hudson River. Keith was able to escape the house for a bit of time to join for the first part of a
street art tour of Little Italy. Keith had a few calls on Friday as did Shawna, but we were able to wrap everything up by 4pm. Dinner was early - we had a 5:30 reservation at
Le Bernardin. We all chose the 4 course dinner - it was delicious. Graham headed out to meet a friend afterward so the rest of us went to
Bar 54 - a rooftop bar just off Times Square. The views of the city were amazing and we were there in time to see a beautiful sunset.
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| Yummo dish at Le Bernardin |
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| Sunset at Bar 54 |
On Saturday morning, Keith, Shawna, and Margaret got up and all walked along the East River. We made it down to Delancy street, grabbed Starbucks for the family, and taxied back to the house. We then all walked across the island over to the
Highline - Graham and Margaret had not been there yet. We entered at 30th street and walked north - it was fascinating to see
Hudson Yards under construction - we had seen it a couple of years earlier as they were building the platform. We walked all the way down to the southern end, then grabbed lunch at
The Standard Grill - the same place we
went the previous year with Kim and Tom. We ate light: we shared the chicken cobb salad. After lunch, we taxied back to the house to shower before Ubering to see
Dear Evan Hanson. The show was fantastic. We then all went back to the house to get dressed for dinner at
11 Madison Park, one of the top restaurants in the world. This was the actual birthday dinner for Jean, though we definitely celebrated at all of them! The food was delicious, and we even saw the chef Daniel Humm sitting in the restaurant with his daughter for dinner. Graham rated the evening as the best meal he has had.
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| Highline |
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| Lunch at The Standard Grill |
On Sunday morning, Graham and Margaret brought Starbucks to the house for a quick breakfast before we all went to Central Park for a walk. We got in almost 2 hours, stopped by the
Apple Store after, and then went back for our final shower. Graham said goodbye to us - he was meeting friends for a couple more days before flying home. The rest of us Ubered over to the
Staybridge Suites where Keith's parents were staying a few more days: the room was not ready so we just left our luggage with the bellman. Keith's dad booked us lunch at
La Masseria, an Italian restaurant their friends had been to previously. The food was good - we shared a salad with warm goat cheese and veal scaloppini. It was then back to the hotel to grab our luggage, say our goodbyes, and head to LaGuardia for the next leg of the trip: Seattle and San Juan Island!
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| Walk around the Reservoir in Central Park |
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| "Behind the Scenes" in the Kitchen at 11 Madison Park |
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