My Birthday Weekend in New York – Part 3: New York City

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• Part 1 – Trip Planning & Getting to New York
• Part 2 – Andaz 5th Avenue
• Part 3 – New York City

Emily Jablon:  On Saturday morning, we waited for Daraius’ mother and her friend to meet us at the Andaz 5th Avenue.  We then went shopping at Sak’s 5^th Avenue with Daraius’ mom.

On our way, Daraius and I stopped for pictures outside the New York Library which is just across the street from the Andaz 5^th Avenue.

Daraius:  Since we were meeting my mom who was coming to the city to see both of us and to shop, I didn’t plan on exploring the city much during this trip.

Nothing better than a day of shopping with the two women I love most. 😉  I get bored when dragged on shopping trips, but my mom likes to shop in the US when she visits because she says the prices are cheaper than elsewhere in the world.

But since this was my birthday weekend, I was going to get nagged by my mom and Emily to buy new clothes.  So I had to practice my “I don’t need anything.  Why don’t you meet me when you’re done shopping?” response with just the right intonation so that I wouldn’t appear irritated, but also convey that I really wasn’t interested in shopping.

But Emily and my mom insisted on picking out clothes out for me, and showing them to me, and I would scowl and express my disapproval.  Yes, that’s what we do for fun in the family!

Emily Jablon:  Daraius’ mom got some purses and blouses that were on sale and I shopped around for some shoes.  I didn’t find anything I liked, but it was still fun!  For lunch, we stopped at a food stall on 5^th Avenue and had a hot dog and a chicken kebob. The kebob was a little dry and very bland. The hot dog reminded me of the food I got at summer camp. After eating, we went back to the hotel to rest before dinner and a show. Daraius: How can spending hours inside on a gorgeous day looking at things you didn’t like be fun?  I’m glad that Saks 5^th Avenue had chairs and couches where I could join the other (mostly men) in fidgeting with our smartphones.  I quite liked the hot dog, but I’m not picky when I’m hungry.

Emily Jablon:  For dinner, we went to La Fonda Del Sol, a Spanish restaurant.  We ordered empanadas, croquettas, patatas bravas, a cheese plate, a mixed salad, soft shell crab, rack of lamb, and garlic shrimp.  To drink, we had sangrias, a highball, and moscato wine.  For dessert, we had crema catalana.  Our favorite foods were the croquettas and the patatas bravas.  The food was expensive and not worth the price. Daraius:  I searched for Spanish restaurants near the Andaz 5^th Avenu on Chowhound, because Emily likes Spanish food.  I usually like Chowhoudn review better than Yelp reviews for restaurants, but for the first, the Chowhound suggestion wasn’t very good. Emily Jablon:  After dinner, we went to the Broadway theater district to see the musical Chicago. It was at a small theatre and Daraius got cheap tickets through Travelzoo.  We got very good seats and I could see the facial features of all of the dancers.  The choreography and songs were excellent!

Daraius:  I’m glad everyone liked watching Chicago.  I finally did something right this trip! Emily Jablon:  After dinner, we walked through Times Square on our way back to the hotel. It was my first time seeing it at night and it looked very pretty so see all of the buildings lit up!

Emily Jablon:  After breakfast, we went to check out Grand Central Terminal which was a 10 minutes walk from our hotel.  Grand Central Terminal is the world’s largest train terminal and was built in 1913.

It is a beautiful architectural marvel and I loved exploring the corridors and seeing the Art Nouveau architecture.

The light fixtures were gorgeous!

After seeing the Terminal, we went to a department store to get Daraius some new clothes.  We got him jeans, 2 t-shirts, and a sweater.  I was so happy he got some much-needed new clothes for his birthday!  He looks very handsome in them.

Daraius:  The women finally convinced me to get new clothes.  I don’t know why – I’ll get food all over them and soon they’ll tell me that I look like a slob and the cycle will start again! Emily Jablon:  After shopping, we got a lamb gyro and a potato knish at a food cart on the road.  I loved the gyro but didn’t like the knish because it seemed stale.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and I packed for my flight back to Kansas. It was a wonderful weekend we shared in New York, celebrating Daraius’ birthday.  Happy Birthday, baby!