It's Wednesday: Let's go to New York!

Dub was off to the west coast.

It's SUMMER!

So we woke up and decided to schlep into New York.

We traveled light, and I left my good camera at home, so all the pictures are from my cell phone. Sometimes it's more about the memories than the photo quality.

It helps to have friends who live on the upper west side.

 Our friend Morgan gave us her prime parking spot, allowed us to dump our bags at her place, and then tiny Tess escorted us back down the elevator and we were off for a fun day in the city.

 There's a cute framed print by their door that says 

"Go Out There and do Amazing Things!" 

It's easy to imagine amazing things going on in the big apple every.single.day.

 We grabbed some lunch at a local BBQ place in the neighborhood, then jumped on the subway and rode to South Ferry, where we then hopped on the Staten Island Ferry, which took us across the harbor and then back to Manhattan. We enjoyed beautiful views of Lady Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. The ferry ride is a (free!) peaceful experience in a bustling place.

The gang wanted to window shop in Rockefeller Plaza. We stopped for a photo opp at our Radio City viewing spot at the 2013 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Great Memories! And MUCH warmer this time.

We walked and walked and walked... that's what you do in New York.

 Morning Boy LOVES the Lego Store,

 And the ladies LOVED Anthropologie and J. Crew.

 We made our way to Times Square, and I may or may not have ended up in a silly spot on The O'Reilly Factor where you have to identify faces of  political candidates, Fox TV News show hosts, television stars, and, oh, the Vice President of the U.S. and so forth...  Never put a busy hiker mom on the spot when it comes to face recognition. I scored a perfect zero. Too bad you missed it.

We rested our feet at a local crunchy earthy eatery where we grabbed some croissants and smoothies to boost our energy. We do NOT recommend their Sun Salutation Smoothie. But they did allow us to recharge our cell phones and they replaced the yucky drinks with something more palatable.

 Then it was off to Central Park's Summer Stage where Rooney and our Italian daughter saw The Kooks in concert.

 There was a lot for the rest of us to take in along the way back to the Moores; ponds, horse-drawn carriages, statues, The Beatles' Strawberry Fields, vendors and performers and several wedding and engagement photo shoots, including this one on the corner of a busy intersection near the park where the couple below literally held this kiss for about three.solid.minutes.

Oh New York.