Tag: NYC

Fresh on the mind: How we love to Eat, Drink and be Merry

Lauren enjoying her birthday cake slice at PF Chang’s at Park Meadows!
Winnie and I in Westport, Ireland at Sheebeen’s for hot spiced whiskey and dinner.
Mark and Preston at One Barrel in Englewood for dinner.
Mom showing me how to use chopsticks at PF Changes in Lone Tree.
Girlfriends, Beth and Heather joining me for Al Fresco dinner on my back porch.
Here’s the spread on this particular evening. My go to dinner on many evenings.
My friend, Wendy choosing her favorites.
Cheese and crackers ready to go out to the patio.
Kasey at her birthday lunch at Cheesecake Factory in Park Meadows.
Fried Tomato Caprese appetizer at Acres Restaurant in Englewood. So good!
Homemade Granola.
Ready to mix in the dressing…
And bake. This is a good recipe! My breakfast, most mornings!
Happy Hour in Gunnison at Susie and Mark’s house overlooking the Gunnison Airport.
Laughter, snacks and stories…
Fun to be with family!
Brown Bread and chowder at Ashford Castle in Ireland.
Late dinner in NYC after traveling. I’m checking out the scene as I eat.
While walking around NYC, we found this cute outdoor block of restaurants with shared seating. It was 1 block from our hotel.
Finally, after a day of sightseeing, we take a break!
Ready to grill Salmon on cedar planks with Caprese appetizer.
Sitting by the Gunnison River at Garlic Mike’s before a fundraiser starts.
Like any good fundraiser, they give you plenty of time to drink wine and cocktails before the auction.
I found a chair near the river and stayed put until the auction started.
Angel hair Pomodoro at Garlic Mike’s.
We bid on and won a 2 night stay at a private cabin in Tincup. Here we are enjoying happy hour by the fire before dinner. Rocco is wrapped up in the Red blanket.
The offerings are different in Ireland. We ate lots of scones, Irish soda bread, coffee …
This is rashers, similar to bacon.
And this is a traditional Irish breakfast.
Susie, lounging on the boat in Blue Mesa. Rocco is keeping an eye on the food!
Susie and Ryan sampling a feast at a fabulous restaurant in Telluride.
Winnie is planning her approach to the lovely slice of cake before her.
Happy hour, overlooking Central Park. This was fantastic!
Another late dinner in NYC.
Gavin’s in Westport, Ireland. This place became my favorite spot in town for a light lunch or snack.
And who doesn’t love ice cream! This is a “99”; cone with a flake of chocolate in it.
Outside Gavin’s with Maureen in the afternoon for tea.
Checking my email before digging into my panini at the Beehive Restaurant in Achil Island, Keel Beach, Ireland.
They served sugar in these crystal lumps, which remind me of uncut jewels.
Ryan and Preston sharing an Al Fresco dinner on the patio at Two Rivers Winery in Grand Junction.
Greek style salad with Quinoa and pickled beets dinner.
Thanksgiving table set for many at Susie’s house in Gunnison! So pretty!
Ready for tea at Kylemore Abbey in Ireland. Quiche and soup and Brown Bread, of course.
Asian salad. Fresh and crispy!
Breakfast at Mom and Dad’s house for Michael’s family, several years ago!
Sitting on the Thames in London, enjoying the evening with a glass of wine on the patio.
London skyline, Chardonnay and Irish Coffee.
Winnie getting serious about her Shepherds pie dinner.
Mark and Preston assessing their funnel cake at a Rockies game.
Fresh snack, quinoa, feta, olives, banana pepper, red pepper, asparagus.
Fresh produce from my garden in 2016.
My herb garden; Chives, Rosemary, Cilantro, Sage, Garlic and Dill
How I should, and do eat after a fantastic week of drinking and dining out with family in town!

2018 NYC… How To Make Being A Tourist Look Easy

Heading toward the East Coast for a couple days before our visit to Ireland.
We stayed at the tip of Manhattan this time, in the financial district. Where the Green dot is.

On the way to Ireland, we stayed in NYC for 2 nights to take in some of the sights. The map shows where our hotel was, at the tip of Manhattan. In the 2 days we were there, we walked around and were able to see a lot of Battery Park, Liberty Island, Ellis Island, ground zero at World Trade Center and found some fun places to stop for lunch, dinner and cool refreshments.

We stayed at The Doubletree Hilton at the Financial District on Stone Street. This is the view from our room. The room was clean, with nice linens, but SUPER small. I guess that’s how it works in NYC. We loved the location and were able to walk around easily from the room. Starbucks was half a block away, gratefully! We had a partial view of Ellis Island, on the left side of the pic, across the harbor. Battery Park is on this side of the harbor, below.
NYC, Financial District. New York does a good job of creating parks in the middle of the city.
The bull on Wall Street is bigger than it looks!
Defiant girl, in training!
We walked down the embankment to The World Trade Center grounds. This place is such an emotional space. Years later, people from all over the world are here trying to understand how something like this could happen and pray for peace in our world.
I can’t explain how it feels to be in this place. Somber, heavy and reflective.
The Twin Tower foot prints, now eternity pools, are so vast. This pic shows how small the people across the pool are.
The survivor tree at Ground Zero was saved after severe damage and has been a beacon of hope for so many after 9/11.
1 World Trade Center.
American Merchant Marines Memorial on the harbor.
North Cove and Manhattan Sailing School on this gorgeous day! These yachts are over 150′ long. This marina sits along the harbor and has great restaurants, shops and walking paths with people enjoying the beautiful sunny day in August.
North Cove is on the Hudson, 3 blocks from The World Trade Center Museum. We discovered a great deli and enjoyed our sandwiches on a bench watching crew members work on these amazing yachts.
The Staten Island Ferry is free and takes people across the harbor to New Jersey on a regular schedule. We decided to take a spin across and back toward the end of our first day.
The ferry’s are actually pretty cool. It’s a main form of transportation across the Hudson. Here are local commuters on the ferry.
After walking around all day, I was looking for a good place to sit and sip. “How about this place?” I’m pointing out the Dubliner to Sean, who is desperately looking for a Guiness.

This cute little alley was blocked off to traffic and set up for people to hang out in between a bunch of little neighborhood restaurants. We loved finding it only a block from our hotel.

Awww! I look happy to be off my feet and scoping the NY scene.
The 2nd day, we decided to try out luck at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tours. I’m not big on huge lines of people, but I had to suck it up and stand in line with the rest of them to see the sights!
Looking back at Manhattan across the harbor.
The Coast Guard is always on alert. The gunner is standing on the bow, strapped into a harness with his hand on the machine gun! Adventurous job!
The path walking around Lady Liberty on Liberty Island.
This shot, from Liberty Island shows Manhattan and 1 World Trade Center in the background, Ellis Island on the left of the background and all the tourists walking around Liberty Island.
Liberty Island is worth standing in line and navigating through hundreds of people. The statue from France represents Liberty Enlightening the World. Such a positive image from our history.
1 World Trade Center with sailboats in the harbor.
Ellis Island from the ferry.
Ellis Island Hall, where thousands of immigrants landed, looking for a better life.
Irish immigrant family in a pic at Ellis Island. A hard life makes it understandable to want to immigrate.
“Goodbye, I’ll see you later!”
The long story of Immigration can not be accurately demonstrated in these few pics. However, when visiting Ellis Island, it’s heartbreaking and inspiring to read about all the people who have found their way to the US, using whatever means they had, to try for a better life.
Ellis Island.
On the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.
I do love to visit New York. I’ve now been a couple times and look forward to a return visit. It’s a great way to break up a trip to Europe and now, we’re off to Ireland.

NYC will make you feel more attractive than ever!

We stayed on Central Park and were ecstatic with our view. I’m taking care of business back at home while enjoying the view.
The only full day we were in the city, we walked around and see what we could find on foot. I drew in the route we took.

We logged about 6 miles, from my own calculations. Starting at our hotel on the park, we walked to the Hudson River, down the river walk to the Intrepid museum. We wandered around Hell’s Kitchen area, found a place for lunch. Saw a New York fender bender happen in front of us. (No, the driver’s didn’t jump out and start screaming at each other, as expected) Saks Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, and ended up back in Central Park!

This ship is HUGE!  I’m standing on the river walk to take this pic.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral is beautiful and ornate. 
Jesus and Mary Mother Statue inside the cathedral.
Mother Teresa statue inside the cathedral.

I expected New York to be dirty and crowded and noisy and crazy. And while some of that turned out to be true, I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly people were. No one was rude or short with us, at all!

Time’s Square- crazy with people and events.
This souvenir shop had a whole shelf just for “The Donald”
Ok, I couldn’t help it. But just look at my face.
Grand Central Station, iconic and busy. I didn’t get any pics of it, but the Market at Grand Central Station was very cool! It’s straight ahead on the bottom Right, under the arch.
People are everywhere in NYC.  And the station is a hub in the city.
Constellations on the ceiling of Grand Central Station.
This is the ladies bathroom at Saks Fifth Avenue. Vintage decor.
The ladies bathroom at Saks Fifth Avenue. Not sure what I expected, but it seems to be the original bathroom.
Central Park. 

Being from Colorado, I understand New Yorker’s appreciating a place of nature and peace, living in such a hectic environment.   We saw a small part of the park, but it’s actually 2.5 miles long by 1/2 mile wide and features the New York Zoo, Metropolitan Art Museum, amphitheaters, lake and ponds and  other fun attractions.   A historic and nice break from crazy!

Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.
Bethesda Fountain Plaza in Central Park.
Every evening, our hotel offered a complimentary happy hour, which we took full advantage of.

The hotel we stayed in was only a block from Trump Tower and was housing Secret Service Agents who were there to protect the President. They stayed in the same hotel as we did, due to the high price of staying at Trump Tower. We saw them in the lobby and elevators during our stay and they were friendly and respectful. They dressed in Black combat uniforms with “Secret Service” stenciled on the front and back and carried machine guns. Geez!