Banks Blab: Impromptu Girls Trip to NYC

I had been bugging Rusty for a few days to take an NYC road trip. As we were driving home from Cape Ann I could tell he was tired and not up for a 3.5 hour road trip with the kids. He suggested that I go by myself. I was tempted, but unsure if I could navigate the city in a car, and also, I wanted to share the memories with him and the kids. But all the way home I was planning all the things I could see or do in a day. At about 10:30 that night, I thought it would be so fun to take Halle with me. That way I wouldn’t be lonely, and we could have an unforgettable girls day. She was stirring in her bed so Rusty crept in and asked her if she wanted to wake up early to go to NYC. Her cute eyes flew open and she nodded vigorously. Then the poor thing couldn’t go back to sleep because she was so excited. I woke her up about 6:40 and we were on the road about 7:15. Getting to Manhattan was surprisingly easy and our first stop was the Brooklyn Bridge Park for Smorgasburg. This delightful food festival originated in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, hence the name. It is a self described “Flea food market” with over 100 vendors coming out each weekend. And oh what fun! Local food purveyors from all over New York come to showcase innovative, yummy, local food. Halle and I had a culinary FEAST, and it was hard to pick which of the delicious offerings to try. So we didn’t pick. We had a lemon poppy seed donut from Dough, a Vermont Maple Lemonade (Halle declared it the best lemonade she’s ever had), cold peanut noodles from Noodle Lane, Gooey Cake, a drool worthy BBQ brisket sandwich from Mighty Quinn, A hand shaved lemon ice from People Pops, and a lack luster dairy free strawberry push pop from Alchemy Creamy. With the exception of the push pop, everything we ate was fantastic. And the view? Even better than the food. Halle kept exclaiming that it was so perfect that it didn’t even look real.

The only downside to the event was the big fat parking ticket I got for parking on the street. I was trying to be so city savvy, and it bit me in the bum.

Now driving got really interesting. A million one way streets, crazy taxi drivers, a bazillion people…I think Halle and I were both shaking by the time we finally made it safe and sound to a parking garage on 50th and Broadway. Although, driving over the Brooklyn Bridge was a highlight.

We booked it to the TKTS booth in hopes that there were still tickets for the Cinderella Matinee. And we were in luck! Tickets in hand, we walked to Central park to take a little rest. Oh how I love that park.

Cinderella was playing at the Broadway Theatre. It was such a beautiful vnenue! I stole a pic off Google images (again) because all my pics were terrible.

The show was perfect for a mommy daughter day in the city. The special effects were really fun, and we were left in awe as the ferry godmother appeared, and at all Cinderella’s beautiful, magical dresses. We had purchased the sound track on our drive in, and I think by the time we got home that night we had most of the songs memorized.

Then it was time for a special treat. Chelsi, Ellen, Ashley and Ami were in town having a girls trip of their very own. We met at Levain for cookies and then dinner at the Shake Shack. What a fun thing to get to catch up with Chelsi in NYC. Even though we don’t get to talk very often, when we do, we just pick right back up where we left off. It was the highlight of the day, for sure.
All too soon we were saying goodbye to our beloved city. It was a day for the books, that’s for sure. I love my sweet little Halle—it was so fun to have this adventure with her. There is no one else I’d rather spend the day with than her. She’s always up for anything. She kept saying, “This is like a dream! I can’t believe we are here!” Melted my heart. And on a side note, we were FINALLY able to finish Johnny Tremain on audiobook. It has taken us months to get though that darn book. I’m so glad we read it, as it gave us a fun look into Boston right at the cusp of the Revolution.