NYC Weekend

On Friday morning after a relaxed and indulgent Thanksgiving we woke early, loaded the bags and dog in the car and set out in the midst of a lake effect blizzard. It took us 45 minutes to drop her at the boarder and get on the Thruway, but fortunately my husband had planned for more than enough time. As it was, we still had tons of time to kill waiting for the train in Albany. Neither of us had ridden the train before, and while it was an interesting experience, we both felt satisfied that we've checked it off some invisible list and will never need to do it again. It is just not an ideal way to travel for people that are prone to motion sickness and independence.

Our hotel was between Rockefeller Center and Times Square, a charming place with lots of character and tiny rooms. We ate at Virgil's because my husband is convinced they have the best barbecue on the planet (if I never ate bbq again I would not be sad), got pizza in Little Italy, cupcakes from Magnolia's, and various other NYC style food. We walked around Times Square (which I HATE) and Rockefeller Center. We went to the Today Show and were on TV at 7:30am on Saturday morning if anyone was watching (we didn't think to record it). We walked the High Line, visited the 9/11 Museum, and went to the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.

I walked more than I've walked in months, and we both were exhausted for days after getting home. I also aggravated my tailbone during the hour and a half show at Radio City, so that's not awesome. Something about the angle of the seats caused excruciating pain almost from the second I sat down, and it shows no sign of getting better.

My favorite part was by far the High Line. You should check it out.

The snow was ALL gone by the time we got home two days later.

View from the train.

I much preferred the vanilla. It was right up there with some of the best frosting of all time. And I am a frosting connoisseur.

Saks Fifth Ave

High Line

High Line

view from the High Line

High Line

9/11 Memorial

Owl's Head & Olympic Ski Jump

I'm still working my way through our camping trip to the Lake Placid area in early August, so this post will cover two activities: our hike up Owl's Head and our visit to the Olympic Ski Jump Complex.

I wasn't up for any major hiking (and my husband never is), so Owl's Head seemed ideal. The trail is 1.2 miles round trip and the summit provides lovely views of the surrounding High Peaks. Our first attempt was thwarted by giant road construction vehicles using the road to the trail head as a staging area. So we went back the next day and were able to squeeze past and find a spot to park. The trail is quite popular and we saw lots of other hikers, but we managed to have the summit all to ourselves. The hordes arrived just as we were heading down.

We've been meaning to make it to the Olympic Ski Jump Complex for the last couple years, but bad weather has caused us to put off our visit. Not this year. We got to watch some young ski jumpers jumping into swimming pools (crazy!). Then we rode the chair lift up to the base of the ski jump and then took the elevator to the top. It boggles my mind that real people intentionally propel themselves down those jumps. Good grief.

This will probably be the last of the posts from this trip, but is you haven't done so yet, you can also read about our visit to Ausable Chasm and our Ben & Jerry's Factory tour.

Exploring Ausable Chasm

While we were camping at Wilmington Notch State Campground, we spent a day at Ausable Chasm. We'd seen advertisements and flyers for the place for years and decided this would the summer we checked it out.

As we drove there through regular looking small towns and farm land, I was confused about where a chasm was going to fit into the landscape. The very idea was incongruous. And then as the signs indicated our near-arrival, a deep gorge opened up as if out of nowhere.

We elected to do a "float tour," which meant we'd have access to the walking trails and go for a short raft ride. It was pretty crowded, even though it was a weekday, so it was hard to get pictures without a bunch of strangers in the frame. And, of course, the pictures fail to capture the drama of the place that was felt in person.

We drove and walked over this bridge.

Elephant's Head

cairns

narrow gorge

rafts being lowered by cables to launch pad below

The raft trip was short (~1 mile long), but it was definitely my favorite part. I'm adding going rafting again to my must-do list.

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Even though it was a long drive from our campground in Wilmington, NY we decided to spend one of our vacation days driving to Vermont for a Ben & Jerry's factory tour. We are both huge fans of Ben & Jerry's (who isn't, right?) and have long talked of visiting the factory in Waterbury, VT. It was a lovely scenic drive and may well have been my first visit to Vermont.

The tour itself was nothing special. We watched two videos, one on the history of the company and a shorter one on the production line. I was disappointed that, although it was a manufacturing day and after noon, the production line was not running, so we didn't get to see any ice cream being made. The highlight of the tour was the sample of cotton candy we got to enjoy at the end.

Not surprisingly, it was an absolute madhouse, even though it was a week day. I'd hate to imagine how much longer the lines would be on a weekend. I'm glad we did it, and now I can cross it off the list and never do it again. Once was definitely enough.

On the way to the factory we missed the turn off for the ferry (plus, we'd not done any research on times, locations, or cost). Before heading back to camp, my husband hopped on his phone and GPS and found the best ferry across Lake Champlain for our route. It cut many miles and lots of time from our return trip. And best of all, it was super cool. I enjoyed the ferry ride more than the factory tour!

Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh

I love plants and trees and flowers and pretty much everything you might find at a conservatory. Several years ago while visiting my mother in Detroit we toured the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle. I was smitten. This past weekend when we were browsing local attractions in Pittsburgh I saw there was a conservatory near our hotel. Of course, I wanted to go.

On Saturday morning we checked out of our hotel and walked to the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Below are a few of the photos from our visit.

Chocolate Tree

Dahlias

Dahlias

Starfruit - Tropical Fruit & Spice Room

Bananas - Tropical Fruit & Spice Room

Desert Room

Broderie Room

This is the last post from our recent trip to Pittsburgh. You can read about the Pearl Jam concert we attended here and see some of what we saw on our walks in the city here.

Visiting Pittsburgh

Our hotel was near the University of Pittsburgh, so on Friday afternoon we walked around and checked out some of the cool buildings on and near their campus.

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum

Heinz Memorial Chapel

I am always drawn towards doors. The older and more ornate the better.

Stephen Foster Memorial

Log Cabin

We stopped for an early dinner at Primanti Brothers before the Pearl Jam concert. In case you haven't eaten there before (this was our first visit), all sandwiches come topped with french fries, cole slaw, and tomatoes. I ordered the Cheese Combo, but to be honest I was not a fan. My husband really enjoyed his sandwich (hot sausage), but I was unimpressed with mine. I could not taste the cheese at all and the coleslaw was just oily cabbage. So it tasted like an oily cabbage and slightly burnt french fry sandwich. I will not be anxious to eat there again.

On Saturday morning as we walked to the Phipps Conservatory we encountered these crazy padlocks. We had no idea what they were all about until my husband googled them. As it turns out lovers go to the bridge together, hook their lock on to the chain link, and then toss the key into the gorge below to ensure ever-lasting love. It is sweet and has created a cool street art installation.

Love Locks on Schenley Park Bridge

I will share photos from our visit to the Conservatory later this week. You can read about the Pearl Jam concert here, which was the reason we were in Pittsburgh.

Pearl Jam in Pittsburgh

My husband is a HUGE Pearl Jam fan. HUGE. He even has a tattoo of some of their song lyrics. He's seen Pearl Jam in concert once before, and so when the tickets went on sale for the fall tour, we both jumped on our laptops and tried to secure tickets to multiple venues. Buffalo sold out before we could get tickets, but we managed to score two for Pittsburgh. And with that our road trip was born...

I haven't been to a concert in a few years (last seen: Tim McGraw at the New York State Fair), but I quickly remembered how much I love the vibe when everyone is over the moon excited for the same reason. I love that feeling.

The concert was awesome. And then this happened...

One of our high school classmates on stage with Pearl Jam! Holy crap. OK, so he's famous in his own right, but I still think of him as the tall, somewhat goofy boy who had a locker near my best friend's. What a weird world. (Sorry for the intentionally vague reference, but still cool, right?)

I've never been to a concert when the band keeps playing music after the lights get turned on. So much fun!

I'll share more about our one night trip to Pittsburgh later this week.