We got there around 10am and there was a line going all the way to the back of the restaurant. We decided to stand in it so we could try a cronut.
We got to the front of the line only to find out that they had been sold out since 7am. Supposedly this is a normal thing. People start lining up outside at 5am. We were a little upset but we didn't want to waste our time in line so we split a DKA {Dominique's Kouign Amann}. It was like a croissant with a caramelized crunchy crust.
We still wanted a little bit more and I wanted coffee so we walked to the nearest coffee shop - The Frog's Cown Bakery. When we walked in Michael Jackson's Bad album was playing. I knew we had come to the right place.
Stephen and I split a nutella and peanut butter empanada and we each ordered the coconut lattes. Mine was hot, his was iced. It was actually really good but it had coconut shreds at the bottom and I'm not a fan of the texture of coconut so that kind of ruined it for me. But the empanada was delicious!
We started walking to a donut shop that was about a mile away after that. Yes, for donuts. Stephen wanted really good donuts. We ended up near where we were on our second day. We passed the same church.
I LOVED this sign that we saw as we were walking.
We stopped at The Ink Pad in Greenwich Village before heading to the donut shop. I did a little shopping for washi tape. And then we went to The Donut Pub so Stephen could get some donuts.
Then we started walking towards the Plaza. {Pretty much all we did was walk all week. I can't remember if I've mentioned it before but my legs were killing me every single day. More than ever before.} We found this LOVE on the way and I needed to stop and snap some photos.
We finally made it to The Plaza.
I'm sure they've done some remodeling since the 90's but the lobby looked very different from what we saw in Home Alone 2.
Then we walked across the street to Central Park. We sat down on a bench and shared some donuts.
I absolutely loved the orange tree behind me.
From Central Park, I wanted to find Gray's Papaya so we walked there. Another mile walk. We found a Lowe's on the way and Stephen wanted to check it out. It looked so different than any other Lowe's I had been in. AND they had a washing machine in the bathroom in one of the models. I guess that's what they have to do in the city.
We found this mirror and I fell in love with it. Hopefully we can order it here because I think it would look great in our bathroom.
We found Gray's Papaya!
I had heard about Gray's Papaya from the movie Fools Rush In. If you've never seen it, you must. The hot dog was good but not as good as the one from Katz's Deli.
There was a Trader Joe's across from Gray's Papaya. We had to go in and see if there was anything unique.
This location was three stories. We didn't see anything that stood out. Everything looked familiar and we could just get them at our location. BUT even if we did find something, we were not going to stand in the line. It wrapped around one single floor. Photos are below.
We found a subway and headed back towards our hotel. Stephen really wanted to go to Macy's. Yes, Stephen did. This is the largest Macy's in the world. We didn't stay in there long because I felt very claustrophobic. I usually don't get like that but this place was insane. So many people and it went underground and there were no doors or windows. It was hot and stuffy and we ended up leaving after only a few minutes. I like my Macy's much better.
I had seen a few days earlier that there was a Stumptown locally so we ended up walking there after Macy's so I could get a good coffee. This is one of my brother's favorite coffee shops and he always talks about it.
By this time, we had done so much walking and all we'd eaten was sugar. Stephen had grabbed Indian food and I was not going to eat that so I stopped at the diner in our hotel and ordered a grilled cheese. Stephen whispered in my ear, "Add bacon." So I did. I'm not going to lie. This was one of the best things I ate on my trip. I don't know if it's because I hadn't had a grilled cheese sandwich in so long or if I was extra hungry or if it was just really good but I was pretty much in heaven while eating it.
After we ate and napped, we got changed and went back out to enjoy the city one last time. We wanted to go back to Chelsea Market to grab desserts for our families and Stephen really wanted some clam chowder. He had read after we went to Chelsea Market the first time that they have the best clam chowder there. I didn't mind at all because I loved their tacos. So we grabbed a subway and headed out. It was really really cold that night.
Chelsea Market is in the meat packing district. I'm going to have to read up on why it's called the meat packing district. Do they actually pack meat there?
We passed Tao. This was Halloween night and we saw a lot of interesting things. People were already wasted by 7pm. We also saw some really cool costumes.
I ordered two tacos and a tostada for my last meal in New York City. The tostada was the best part.
My handsome husband in the spot where he got to try so much good food.
And one last photo in New York City. We had such a wonderful time. Stephen keeps telling me now, two weeks later, that it seems like a dream. It went by so fast and before we knew it, we were back in the real world. We have so many pictures and memories to look back on though. I'm grateful for the time we had together. Many of you don't know this but we rarely get a day off together. Our work schedules are very different. When I'm leaving for work, he's just waking up. When he's getting home from work, I'm ready to go to sleep. We never eat breakfast or lunch together and maybe two days out the week we are able to eat dinner together. This trip meant so much. Being able to eat every meal together. It's the little things in life. Thank you all for reading.
