Weekend in NYC

We spent Labor Day weekend in NYC--my first time back since moving away in August 2020. Andrew's been back many times for work, but the girls and I haven't been. It was such a wonderful return. We left after school on Friday and drove to the Conrad, our favorite hotel, where we met our friends, who had the room next door. The hotel looked the same as always, though the buffet breakfast we used to love no longer exists. It was very late by the time we arrived, so after settling in we all went to bed.

Saturday, we had breakfast at Black Seed Bagels across the street from our hotel, then went to Soho, where we went into a handful of shops, mostly kawaii-focused: Muji, Pearl River, Rumi Life, and Miniso. We walked to Washington Square Park and got some food from a food truck for lunch. After that, we took Ubers to the Met, where we saw a Dutch painting exhibition, which included five Vermeers. We also walked through the Egyptian wing. I could have spent all day there. It wasn't nearly enough time. 

But we had to get to dinner, at Wagamama in Midtown, and then to our show--Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Unfortunately, Greta was having some stomach issues and she and Andrew missed the first bit of the show; but soon they got to their seats. It was a wonderful show, full of magical stunts. We sat in the fourth row so we had a perfect view of the actors. 

After navigating the Times Square crowds and taking the subway back to the hotel, we called it a day.

Sunday, we got bagels from Pick a Bagel by the hotel and then took the subway out to Queens for the U.S. Open. It was a lot of fun--our first time watching live tennis. I think this is a sport I could actually enjoy learning about and watching. We left there a little after 4pm, headed back to the hotel, then went to dinner at abcv, Jean-Georges's vegetarian restaurant. It was a fabulous meal. We ordered many dishes and shared them among the nine of us. A very fun, very New Yorky place. 

We tried to get gelato afterward, but the place by our hotel was closed at that hour, so we just got some ice cream from Rite Aid and hung out in our room for a little while. 

Finally, yesterday, the four of us had breakfast at the hotel (not the buffet, but still very nice) and then headed home. It was much too short a trip. We need to find a way to get back more often. 

Meanwhile, back at home, Nutmeg expressed her displeasure with our departure by refusing to eat anything, and the pet sitter had to take her to the vet--getting her into the carrier and driving all the way out to Bethel Park and then syringe-feeding Nutmeg some critical care until she started eating again on her own. Little drama queen. She is fine now. Still molting, though. She hops around Greta's room in a literal cloud of fur. I'm not sure when it's going to end. Unrelated, our vacuum has died. 

Farrah was mopey and miserable but otherwise fine.

Now it's back to regular life. A great last trip of the summer.