Mitchell and I went on a week-long "babymoon" in New York. A last hurrah before our son makes it more difficult to travel. We wanted to pick something we've never done before, and neither of us have been to Niagara Falls.
We flew into Buffalo - much later than anticipated due to weather delays - and drove to Niagara Falls in the dark and pouring rain. We stayed on the Canadian side. Since the falls come from the US side, I would definitely recommend staying in Canada, as that's where the view is! It rained the entire time we were there, and I would also recommend waiting for sun. We took the Maiden of the Mist boat into the middle of the horseshoe of the falls, which was very wet, but cool. We also took the tour behind the falls, where you can see the true power of the water through some holes behind the falls. The view from our hotel (SHERATON ON THE FALLS NIAGARA FALLS) was of both the falls (yes, there's two), and the Amish fireplace made the experience for Mitchell. We did wake up the second morning to the sound of a circular saw. Somehow we ended up being the only room booked on the construction floor. They moved us. And, alas, the Niagra Falls area is also WAY more touristy than we had expected and two full days was plenty. With a Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe, you know you're in a tourist trap.
Then we flew from Buffalo to LaGuardia. We stayed in the City at the Affinia Dumont - a super spacious and nice hotel. No bed bugs spotted. We met up with a good friend, Lisa Dicce (SSKRC Member Extraordinaire) and took a nice walking tour of the city. Our Tapas dinner was unfortunately thwarted by college graduation dinners, but we had a quality pub meal at Oliver's and then got to check out her place. It was surprisingly livable, contrary to my image of the city. It was totally cute with exposed brick and just off of Central Park. A perfect first night in the city.
The next day we did some baby clothes shopping (a theme of the trip) in the Upper East Side and it seemed that a prerequisite for clothes were that they are something Mitchell would wear. We found a lot of adorable little-man outfits. That night we went to Avenue Q off-broadway. It was a different experience watching both actors and puppets, but a funny and enjoyable show.
Thursday, we did more baby clothes shopping in SOHO and found Mitchell a new pair of sunglasses to replace his favorite pair he bought nearly 6 years ago in NYC and still (impressively) has. We also found ourselves some authentic (and tasty) pizza. Then we met up with the whole Alexander clan (Aunt Linda, Uncle Phil, Cousin Evan and Cousin Leah) and had a very nice dinner at a Greek restaurant - Kellari Taverna. Always good to see family, and a delicious meal is a bonus. Seems like the whole family is doing well!
Our last full day in the city we took advantage of cousin Leah's gig at the Imperial No. 9 restaurant at the new Mondrian Soho hotel. It was (and I'm not just saying this) the best meal we had on the trip. The setting was beautiful - in this big greenhouse. Definitely worth checking out, and now we know what hotel we'd like to stay in the next time around. A bit more shopping and then we were off to Broadway! We finished off the week going to the Book of Mormon. The tickets were not easy to come by - we paid a small fortune on Stub Hub. But we sat front row, Mezzanine, and the show really was great. It was Mitchell's first show on Broadway, and we both enjoyed it. Again, I'd recommend! Although, a caution - if you're easily offended, it's not for you. It was hilarious to hear a few people at both the intermission and afterwards with concerned tones in their voices and expressing their lack of appreciation for the humor. It was awesome.
The week was a perfect amount of time to get away from work and the world, but we were plenty ready to come back home. Oh, and here's a damn baby bump image. :)
