Let's hit up Magnolia and mack on some cupcakes!

Happy 4th, all! Sorry we didn’t blog last night. It was my (T*Star’s) turn but we were all too exhausted to think about it by the time we had properly celebrated Independence Day and gotten back to our hotel, and we weren’t sure anyone would miss us on a Sunday following a holiday, so those are pretty much all of my excuses. That said, settle in for a nice long post updating you on the last two days of our trip—New York City!!

When we last posted we had just rolled into NYC and crashed for the night. Yesterday (Saturday, July 4th) we got up, got ourselves through the shower (which is kind of a process with four women, but I think we’ve got it down to a science), and headed across town for a traditional New York bagel. I was completely dismayed to find that my favorite bagel shop was gone, but we headed down to Bagel Maven, which is the shop we used to hit up when we had bagel emergencies at the office. Yum. The bagels were a big hit with everyone, and Colleen limited herself to just one additional pastry. Oh, and she didn’t fall for the guy behind the counter telling her he had a TV remote in his pocket either. (There was no TV in sight.)

Once we’d been fed we hopped on the subway and went up to the north end of Central Park so I could show the girls my old neighborhood and what I truly feel is one of the best kept secrets in NYC. (Tourists rarely seem to make it to the north end of the park, so there are fewer people on the beautiful trails and rocky landscape that you don’t get at the south end of the park.) From there we headed down to The Great Lawn (which you’ve undoubtedly seen in movies—it’s that huge chunk of grass in the middle of the city, surrounded by trees and buildings—it’s beautiful!) where we decided we needed to put on some sunscreen before checking out the turtle pond and then heading to Strawberry Fields, which is a tribute to John Lennon. We had asked Eva where she wanted to eat while on this great trip of ours and she had chosen NYC street food, so Eva and Nancy split a hot dog and a pretzel while Colleen and I each had part of a pretzel, then fed the birds with the rest. Once we’d eaten it was time to head out for our next adventure, but not before Colleen had dumped her blue Gatorade all over her feet. Nancy was nice enough to sacrifice some of her bottled water to wash Colleen’s feet. Awwwww…

Since Colleen’s feet were no longer sticky we hopped the subway to Brooklyn, where the girls were excited to take a couple of photos and learn that there is a neighborhood in Bklyn called Dumbo. Yep, just like the elephant! But it’s not named after him. It stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, which is where the neighborhood is located. Anyways, our purpose in heading to Brooklyn was to walk back to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. This is by far my favorite bridge and it’s a great walk, despite the crowds of people walking, running, biking, and rollerblading across it. Fortunately there’s a pedestrian-only bridge so we didn’t have to worry about cars!

After walking the bridge we walked to Ground Zero, just a few blocks away. I think this is a common term, but as a former New Yorker I’m not always sure what terms spread outside of New York, so just to be sure, Ground Zero is the site of the former World Trade Center buildings. There have been a lot of changes there since the last time I visited, and the most prominent was the fact that whereas you used to be able to walk right up to the fences covered in information about 9/11 and memorials they now have it all covered up so you can’t really see in except through a few cracks. Nevertheless, it was really moving to be there, and especially on the 4th of July.

From Ground Zero we hopped on the PATH train (which runs under the Hudson River to New Jersey) to Hoboken where my good friend Teresa was hosting a BBQ. We had a bit of a walk from the PATH station to her apartment, but we made a few stops along the way, picking up a salad and some tzatziki from my favorite Greek restaurant, chips and salsa, and a couple of six-packs of beer as our official contribution to the BBQ. When we finally got there the party got started right away. My good friends Ryan and Trent were there, as was my former roommate Jen, along with several other new and old friends. Everyone seemed to have a great time and Teresa grilled burgers and hot dogs for us. Thanks, T! The party was great and the food was delicious! Ryan also made an apple pie, but since I’m not a pie eater I didn’t have any. Colleen said it was awesome, though. Since I do love potatoes Trent made potato salad and it was basically amazing. Even if we did forget about the corn on the cob.

When it came time for the fireworks display we headed across the street to Jen’s apartment building and climbed up to the roof where we thoroughly enjoyed the Macy’s fireworks over the Hudson River with the New York City skyline directly behind them. It was what I like to call “a New York moment.” It’s one of those amazing experiences in New York that I’ll always remember. Colleen, Eva, and Nancy seemed pretty impressed too, and I’m so glad that I was able to share the experience with them (and with my awesome NYC friends!).

The trip back to the hotel last night was a little rough, thanks to a huge back-up at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel (we took the bus), but it just made us that much more thankful for our comfy beds when we finally got there. So thankful, in fact, that we decided to bypass the laptop, not pass Go, not collect $200, and go directly to bed.

Which brings us to a new day! Today!

We got off to a slightly slower start this morning as we all had to get through the shower and also pack up and get out of the room before check-out time. The bellhop was kind enough to store our bags, and we were off to Chinatown for lunch! My friend Max had recommended the Peking Duck House, so we decided to make that our destination. We’re used to Jill planting a big orange flag on our destinations, and this time she really outdid herself, planting an actual flag with a big duck on it outside the Peking Duck House, which was an otherwise unnoticeable door with an amazing restaurant behind it. (Thanks, Jill!) They specialize in duck and none of us wanted that for an entrée, but we felt like we should eat SOME kind of duck there so we had a duck appetizer that involved pine nuts and seemed to me like a duck version of lettuce wraps. YUM. We totally over ordered and ended up with the duck, spring rolls, steamed pork dumplings (Eva claims they were the best she’s ever had!), egg drop and hot & sour soup, General Tso’s Chicken, Chicken w/Cashews, Chicken Lo-Mein, and a Triple House Delight. By the time our entrees came we could barely put a dent in them, so good news—we didn’t have to eat turkey sandwiches from Big Blue for dinner tonight! We had enough leftover Chinese food to feed a family of eight! (Or at least Colleen.) Side note: Have you heard the story about how she once ate 16 hot dogs? Here’s the punch line: It wasn’t a contest—she was just hungry. So now we like to refer to Colleen’s “16 hot dog helmet” and encourage her to put it on when there’s too much food for us to finish. “Colleen, we’ve got enough Chinese food here for a family of 8. Put on your 16 hot dog helmet and belly up to the table!”

After lunch we wandered through Chinatown buying a few souvenirs (chopsticks, matching I *heart* NY t-shirts, etc.) before heading down to Battery Park to catch the Staten Island Ferry for a nice view of the Statue of Liberty. The lines to go to the top of the statue on Ellis Island are said to be atrocious, so we were happy just to see her from across the water and we scored some great photos!

After our quick trip to Staten Island and back we hopped back on the subway and headed to the Village to hit up a famous New York City bakery called Magnolia for some cupcakes. This bakery is so famous, in fact, that the line is always down the block and around the corner, and there’s a bouncer at the front door. That’s right—a cupcake bouncer. He only allows a certain number of people in at a time, and once you’re inside they will only sell an individual one dozen cupcakes so if you’re having a party you’d better plan ahead and bring some friends with you so they can each buy a dozen as well! My friend Max met us for cupcakes, then traveled back across town with us where we grabbed our bags and loaded the car before hitting the road again.

This brings me to the low point of our trip so far—the part where we had to drop Evabug off at Newark International Airport to catch her flight home to Phoenix. It seems like she just got here and it was hard for all of us to see her go so soon. But, with that said, we’re all just really thankful that she was able to come at all, if only for a few short days. The trip wouldn’t have been the same without her, and we miss her already. We all put on our I *heart* NY t-shirts and took a quick photo with the Batmobile before we hugged Evabug and put her on the plane back to Phoenix. It won't be the same without you, Evabug!

Once we left Newark International Airport we headed south, excited about our next adventure--Hershey, Pennsylvania! The last couple of days have been great and now we're all checked into our hotel and are ready to rest up for tomorrow's excitement!

SWEET dreams from Hershey!
T*Star & The Identical Twins