#teamtourist, pt. 3: Manhattan revisited (Midtown area and Central Park)

And then it was Saturday. We wanted to check out Grand Central Station, so we hopped on the train back to Manhattan, and switched over to another line to take us there. The station was huge and beautiful, but we had a long day ahead of us, so we headed outside in the direction of the United Nations headquarters. Britney and Lauren went in for a tour, so Dave and I just hung out outside and found a shaded spot to just chill out for a bit.











Afterwards we headed to Central Park to spend the afternoon. I knew that Central Park was a major tourist location, but I had no idea how huge it really was. It was a really beautiful place; there was so much youth and spirit throughout the area. I think that Central Park may have been my favorite part of the time in NYC. We found a spot in the middle of the park to sit in for a while, and watched a Model UN group play an icebreaker game (which involved a variation of Duck-Duck-Goose costumes, and consuming odd mixtures).











It was getting to be around dinner time, so we started out of the park and decided to have a little bit of fun by visiting a pop culture location: McGee's, which is the bar that MacLaren's in How I Met Your Mother is based off of. Aside from having good food and apartments above the bar, though, there were pretty much no similarities. It was maybe a bit disappointing, but I'm glad we went. And they have an 8 hour happy hour!





Next: Ground Zero, Staten Island, Ft. Wadsworth, and the Empire State Building.

#teamtourist, pt. 2: Manhattan

After our evening and morning in Pittsburgh, we began our six hour journey across the Pennsylvania, which is pretty much just mountains and greenery. Don't get me wrong--Pennsylvania is beautiful, and we made it a point to stop on the way back to Michigan, but those six hours were pretty monotonous in terms scenery from being stuck in a car for one-fourth of a day. But we made it fun.

We got to Newark pretty much when we expected to, and we unloaded at our Howard Johnson hotel. Classy, I know. But it was about $100 cheaper nightly than anywhere I found in the city that was manageable. And it was cheap to take the train into NYC from Newark, so we opted for the New Jersey alternative. And, to be completely honest, the Ho-Jo was totally fine. The staff was nice, our room was clean, and we had air conditioning. Really can't be beat in my mind.

Our first night was pretty lackluster; we just went into Newark to a place called Krug's Tavern for a huge, delicious burger and a pitcher or two of Blue Moon (thanks Google Maps for the recommendation!). Then we headed back to the Ho-Jo for some planning, drinking, and Phase Ten.

The next day was our first day in the city. We took the train into Manhattan and, after opting to save the Empire State Building for a later date, we went to Bryant Park. We took a seat for a while, and then realized the New York Public Library was just around the block, so we headed there.









We then started in the general direction of the Museum of Modern Art, but stopped by St. Patrick's Cathedral first to see a beautiful, old church in still in the heart of this city. I'm not a particularly religious person, but being in old churches like this is somehow really moving; there's something surreal about being somewhere that so many people have poured their faith into and that has probably touched so many lives.







We ended our day with a visit to the Museum of Modern Art for free Friday nights. We were there for about three hours before Dave and I were "art-ed out," and so we walked back through Manhattan to Penn Station to call it a night. But not before getting some street vendor food and making a brief stop on Times Square for a group photo!





Next: Grand Central Station, UN Headquarters, Central Park, and McGee's.