I knew the end was in sight last night when my trip to visit Gabriela was coming to a close. While I am so happy to be home with the Husband and Charlie, I am surely going to miss eating GF/Vegan cupcakes, drinking delicious cocktails, raw vegan cuisine — and most importantly, a blogger turned friend.
I highlighted a lot of our dining experiences from my trip — but would you know, we actually did way more than eat our way through the city?
- We walked everywhere. Literally, almost everywhere. On Tuesday morning we both woke up with sore legs — Wednesday was worse, far worse — and it honestly hurt to take steps today. I suppose that’s my own fault for wearing flip flops when we were walking 7+ miles a day. It was well worth it though just so I could see the city of Manhattan and not the underground subway tunnels (which I saw a lot of as well).
- A lot of sightseeing was done. Gabriela was such a great sport and went to all of the “touristy” attractions with me. On Monday we went to Times Square (including M&M World!) and to see the World Trade Center. On Tuesday, we took our day trip to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Yesterday, we walked to South Street Seaport to buy something exciting and to find the Titanic Memorial (which was anti-climactic).
- We were on TV. I swear it’s true. While walking on Monday, we were stopped by people who work for the TV show Extra. We answered a few questions about Kate Middleton and were told to watch that evening at 7. While we were at dinner, another blog reader of Gabriela’s emailed her to tell her she had seen us on TV. I think I want to be a movie star now.
- A Broadway show was seen. That “something exciting” was walking down to the ticket office to get cheap(er) tickets for some type of show. We ended up choosing Jersey Boys. Growing up, my dad always put on the “oldies” while we were in the car, so watching a show all about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons was kind of nostalgic for me. I loved listening to all of the songs like “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and “Sherri Baby” — the actor who played Frankie Valli did an incredible job singing in the high pitched Valli has.
- Blog Breaks. Gabriela and I had an unspoken agreement about blogging breaks. Every afternoon we would take one, and the second we arrived back at her apartment at night, the laptops would immediately come out. We laughed multiple times at the two of us sitting in our respective spots (I loved my air mattress), snacking on whatever we could find, and not talking but blogging.
- The feeling of pure exhaustion. The two of us seriously were in “GO” mode from the second I stepped off the plane until last night after seeing Jersey Boys. We were absolutely exhausted this morning when I left, to say the least. I needed coffee. It wasn’t even a want. While the city is not void of Starbuck’s, I was surprised there was no Starbuck’s in LaGuardia Airport where I flew out of. Starbuck’s is one of the only chain coffee shops that has soymilk, so I was very disappointed. However, I hit the jackpot when I found soymilk at another location. I ordered an iced coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts and poured my own soymilk into it.
I ended up paying a grand total of $6 for everything together, but it was so worth it.
I couldn’t be happier about my trip. It was neat to be a tourist but to stay with a New Yorker — I feel like I got to see the “real” New York instead of just the New York everyone thinks of from movies and TV. I got to see some amazing sights and form a real life relationship with a blog buddy. Gabriela was an amazing hostess, and I am so glad she let me invade her world for a few days this week. Thanks again Gabs for a great time!
Question: What was your favorite vacation?
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