TBA
New York
Pie, bagels, and seafood. Plus a bit of wandering through SoHo and Midtown shopping areas. And yes, maybe a stop to take in the views from the 70th floor.
Superb bagels at Russ and Daughters, although service was kind of slow and yes, it's a bit pricey. Unlike Baz Bagels and their enormous bagels, Russ and Daughters at least serves a more normal bagel, which is a plus when you're embarking on a day of gluttony! With time to kill, ended up with a quick cup of tea at Felix Roasting Co.'s rather cozy outdoor patio, then a very, very rich hot chocolate at L.A. Burdick just around the corner.
While the morning, to be reasonable, should have ended with such a rich hot chocolate (and perhaps one of their delectable cookies)... when you're in New York just for the day, you forge ahead. Completely forgot Dominique Ansel was just a few blocks away, so when I saw there was almost no wait, stopped there for a quick cronut before heading to Ed's Lobster Bar and their rather boozy lobster bisque. Wasn't quite as impressed by the oysters, but they weren't bad, and neither was the bloody mary.
The real point of the trip was next: pi day!
The Hudson Valley apple pie at Petee's Pie's is excellent, and they fully embrace their nerdiness for pi day. Also useful, they do junior pies so I didn't have to feel like a glutton eating a full-sized pi all by myself!
To offset the morning's excessive calorie intake, a long stroll past McSorley's, the Flatiron Building, New York Public Library, Empire State Building, and the Lego store before finally heading up to the Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Center's 70th floor observation deck. While a sunny day usually makes for pleasant views of the New York City skyline, the recent explosion of ultra-skinny residential towers has definitely made for some... umm... interesting changes to the skyline.
Descending back to street level, decided to walk around midtown a bit more, soaking in a few of the high-end shops before heading back to the airport. Seriously considered one more stop for pi-- pizza pie that is-- but a lack of quality options in midtown deterred me. Plus the fact that, well, I wasn't hungry.
With the global pandemic still raging out of control in the USA, airlines have been deploying their shiny widebodies on domestic routes for lack of anywhere else to fly them, so managed to score upgrades both on the way in and the way out. Can't complain when you can do last-minute business class for under $600!