#MehaffeyNYC

So, you know how much the hubs and I  absolutely love New York City? The minute we concluded our week-long trip in 2011, we vowed we would return as soon as we could, specifically to consume as much Broadway as possible. Well, we finally got to go again! And this time, we were accompanied by all of the Mehaffey siblings!

Times Square on Day 1

The six of us, including Matthew & Heather and Jeremy & Madison, spent a long Friday-Monday weekend in the Big Apple. We travelled and stayed together, but spent much of the weekend doing separate things, since each couple had various priorities and agendas. To keep up with each other, we all agreed to hash tag everything we posted on any social media with #MehaffeyNYC to group it together. So 2013, huh?

On the plane, waiting for take off!

Brad found the perfect place in Queens for us to stay during our mini-vacation through VRBO. It was a quick walk to the nearest subway station, and then a kinda-quick train ride into the city. Splitting the cost three ways made this the cheapest stay we could dream of in NYC.



The house had three bedrooms (one of which had two sets of bunk beds, so we could have had so many more people!), two full bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a beautiful back courtyard, and even a garage that had been converted to a game/exercise room (which we never used, because let's face it, we're spending time in the city, not playing ping pong in our back yard). We stocked the kitchen with milk and cereals, and had a nice little place to call home for the weekend.



 

After unloading our belongings in Queens, our first stop naturally had to be Times Square. I hereby declare this crazy location my favorite place on Earth. (I reserve the right to change my mind after visiting Disney World and/or Harry Potter World.) I could quite literally spend all of my time amidst the chaos, crowds, lights, and general over-stimulation packed into these few blocks. I absolutely love it.

 

While we were walking around, Madison and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to purchase some new, cool shades from a street vendor in prep for our upcoming weekend.

 

 

After a quick run-through of The Greatest Place on Earth, we headed "home" to get gussied up for our first Broadway show of the weekend. Each couple saw something different: Matthew and Heather went to see Wicked and Jeremy and Madison saw Jersey Boys.

 

Brad and I went to Annie, since it's stage revival is what originally prompted this whole Broadway trip in the first place. Bradley grew up watching the home video version of this story, and it was fun to share this live experience with him. Not to mention the young child performers were incredible!

Concluding each of our Friday night shows, we all gathered together on the Red Steps of Times Square before heading to a late night group dinner.

 

We walked a couple of blocks to the famous Ellen's Stardust Diner where all of the staff are aspiring stars who entertain the guests by performing various songs. We didn't expect much going in, but they were actually very good! Last year alone, twelve of their staff made their Broadway debuts. It was so much fun, and delicious too!

 

After such a long day starting with an early flight and ending with a dinner that didn't finish until after midnight, we were all exhausted. Brad even took a catnap while standing up in the train on the way back to our house. Ha.

 

Our four siblings left the house early the next morning to visit the 9/11 Memorial, but we oldest Mehaffeys enjoyed our rest since we did that during our last visit. While I got ready for the day, Brad walked around the corner to a local bakery for some coffee, just like a local.

 

 

The cute shoes I insisted upon wearing to Broadway Friday night resulted in starting Saturday off with a trip to the Walgreens near our train station in order to pick up some blister helpers. The price of beauty isn't cheap, and we had a full weekend still ahead of us!

 

You can't visit New York City without depending on some vendors for a cheap lunch, so Brad and I gladly met our street meat criteria while we were waiting to meet up with the other Mehaffeys near the Financial District.

 

Together, the six of us travelled across the Brooklyn Bridge. This was one of the landmarks B and I had only seen from afar (well, from below, actually, as we floated under it on our Thanksgiving Dinner cruise) during our first visit. It was a pretty long and warm walk over the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn, but it was awesome to experience one of the country's oldest (and most beautiful) suspension bridges in person.

 

And the experience itself wasn't all we gained from the walk across the bridge. Directly on the other side rests one of the best pizza places in town: Grimaldi's Pizzeria. It came highly recommended, and the strong suggestions were absolutely warranted. The wait was long, but the authentic New York style pizza was worth it.

After we finished our pizza pies, we all split ways, and the hubs and I headed to our second Broadway musical for the weekend: Newsies. Y'all, this show was so good!! It was 2 1/2 hours solid of incredible dancing! At any given time, 12-15 people were on the stage leaping through the air, doing flips off of props, soaring over other guys, or spinning so fast that they were a blur. I literally spent the entire time on the edge of my seat with my mouth hanging open. Oftentimes, I couldn't keep my hands from my face in shock of what they were capable of doing (and fear that they'd die, because those stunts were so dangerous!). It's no wonder that they won a Tony Award for Best Choreography. Seriously, find clips online and watch them. Trust me. It's awesome. I will definitely watch this musical again at the nearest possible opportunity. It was by far my personal favorite of the weekend.

Since I was already on such a musical high from the performance, we decided we needed to add a sugar rush to the evening after the show. The best place in NYC to achieve such a task is Serendipity 3, where they are famous for their Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. However, I'm not the hugest fan of chocolate (yeah, yeah) and I always prefer anything strawberry, so B and I split the Strawberry Fields Sundae. Talk about yum. It was a sweet way to finish out our New York City Saturday.

 

Sunday morning, the whole group started out at Central Park. The three of us ladies got the only Mrs. Mehaffeys photo of the weekend.

 

 

It was fun to experience Central Park in the spring as opposed to the fall. It was so green everywhere, and there were so many flowers in bloom.

 

 

Once the couples separated, my Mr. Mehaffey and I visited the Central Park Zoo. It may be a relatively small zoo, but we had a great time enjoying the exotic animals that even Nashville's big zoo is lacking. Our favorites were the fancy penguins, and the massive snow leopards, the crazy baboon, and the super smart and talented sea lions. It was quite a romantic afternoon walking hand-in-hand with my boo, if I do say so myself.

 

Since the Middles (Matthew and Heather) were only on 5th Avenue, which is one of the streets lining Central Park, we met up with them for a while when we were finished.

 

We may or may not have spent hours playing in the giant FAO Schwartz toy store. Again. That place is so much fun! And I'm pretty sure it's a rule that you have to pose for a picture with the living toy soldier at the door. You know we like to follow the rules.

 

 

That afternoon, the whole gang got together to attend the final musical of the weekend: The Lion King. Even though many of us preferred a different show to this one, it was still cool to get to share a Broadway experience as a family. (And you can't beat the costumes on display in this play!)

 

Besides attending as many musicals as possible, the only other thing that was a must on my NYC agenda was eating dinner at Shake Shack, which I had previously declared the best burger and fries combo in the country. Talk about yum. There was a long line out the door, and we had to hover around a table of people about to finish and then attack their chairs as soon as they gathered their trays to secure some seats, but I'd do it all over again for this delicious meal. Even if we did have to enjoy our food while being hovered over by our own vultures waiting for us to finish so they could score our spots. Totally worth it.

 

While all six of us were together for the only time all weekend, we took the opportunity to visit Grand Central Terminal. Since Brad and I were total lame-o tourists last time we visited taking the self-guided audio tours, we acted like annoying know-it-alls this time around and showed the newbies some of the coolest aspects of the landmark. Specifically the spot where you can speak into one corner, and someone else can plainly hear you from the opposite corner. I'm not going to admit how long we spent standing with our noses against the walls whispering (somewhat inappropriate) comments to our siblings. Fun was had by all.

 

By the end of our third day, we were all ready to relax and give our sore feet a break. Most of us Mehaffeys enjoy the TV show How I Met Your Mother, so we decided to hang out at McGee's Pub, which is the inspiration for the TV series' main set, McLaren's Pub. Framed photos of the cast members were displayed throughout the bar, and they even had a specialty cocktail list that consisted of drinks featured on the show and drank by the characters. It was a great place for all of us to close out and recap our NYC weekend.

 

 

Our flight left early on Monday, so we didn't have any time to enjoy the city other than the exciting cab ride with 6 passengers and 7 bags squished together all the way to the airport. We were very sad to be leaving our Empire State of Mind.

 

The six Mehaffey siblings filed onto a Southwest direct flight back home. We were sad to be going, but also very glad that we all made it on the same flight this time. (Oh yeah, Matthew and Heather just barely missed the plane from Nashville to New York on Friday for circumstances out of their control, so they had to catch the next flight out that day and join up with us later.) Boarding the same plane was a Mehaffey victory.

 

It was very bittersweet to arrive back in Nashville and trade out all of the I ♥ NY souvenirs we had grown accustomed to for shirts with guitars and music notes, but it does feel good to be home.

 

Even though we did a lot of great things in the Big Apple, it was still a pretty laid back weekend for the hubs and me. (Read: There was no color-coded, detailed itinerary involved.) Brad and I wanted to see a musical every day, but other than that, we had no specific plans going into the trip. It was so much fun to wake up in Queens and simply ask each other, "What would you like to do today?" Yeah, we could pretty much visit NYC every year and never get tired of it.

 

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, by the conclusion of it all, we ended up with a combined 130 different photos and additional pictureless posts from the trip filed under our specific #MehaffeyNYC hash tag. #Sweet

NYC Day 6 - Final Day

Saturday was our last day in New York City. We finally made it up to the top of the Empire State Building, did some more fun shopping in Times Square, took a bus tour, and went to an improv musical. It was a great way to round out the trip.

 

We ended up nixing our original Saturday schedule in the Bronx that included the Botanical Gardens and Yankee Stadium, so we were able to fit in the visit to the to the Empire State Building that we had to postpone the day before.  While we were in line to go to the top, we weaved through a museum detailing the building process of the city's tallest sky scraper. There were a ton of photos that made my stomach drop of construction workers casually sitting on beams hoisted hundreds of feet in the air. Eek. Then we boarded the elevator and headed to the 86th floor observation deck with a few ear-pops along the way.

When we stepped outside, the view was breathtaking. It was a gorgeous day, and the bright blue sky served as a beautiful backdrop to the miles and miles of cityscape. I couldn't believe how far you could see. From this vantage point, I could totally understand why New York City is called a concrete jungle.  Also, even though we were nearly 90 stories into the air, pigeons still flew to the top of the building. I guess when you're flying that high, you need a place to rest.

 

 

It was so windy that high up in the sky that it was difficult to get a good picture. And when you're asking a stranger to take it of the two of you, you don't want to ask for a second one where your hair isn't blowing in your face. We had a little bit more luck on other side of the building.
 

 

You could see as far away as the Statue of Liberty, very small, all the way at the bottom of the island, or you could look straight down and see the giant Macy's. Visible were ice skating rinks and pools on top of roofs and Central Park could be made out behind some buildings. (I did take pictures of all of those things, but I didn't include them all in this post. I know y'all don't care about that many pictures of the view...)

 

When we came back down to the ground, we went to Times Square for our fourth and final time. By Saturday, we considered this active area of the city to be our old stompin' grounds. We went into the Disney store just so I could marvel at the big castle inside. It was wonderful. I walked around with my mouth hanging open and touching everything. I can only assume that the real Walt Disney World is even better than this.

 

We had passed the Hershey's store earlier in the week, but we decided it was time to head on in. They had more chocolate than even Willy Wonka could want, including Hershey kisses as big as my head! I wanted about one of everything, but we settled on a few of the mini Reese's peanut butter cups.

 

One of my favorite things about NYC wasn't a tourist attraction at all, but all of the street/subway performers. These people were so legit! Their instruments ranged from some buckets to a few horns all the way up to a full band set up underground. It was crazy. Our most favorite performers, though, were these break dancers down in the Times Square subway station. They had a boom box playing some music, and these dudes were just dancing their rythmic hearts out! Brad actually took some video of them, because we were so impressed. I was in awe and could have watched them perform for hours.

 

New York City has been the setting for an numerous movies and TV shows, and we wanted to see some places in person that were familiar to us through the screen. The day before, we took a tour of Central Park, and this day, we took another one that was city-wide. We rode around in a bus that would show us footage from films and shows and then drive us by the locations pointing out what was shot there. It was a convenient, foot-friendly way to see around the city, too. 

 

 

Speaking of TV shows, we had dinner at McGee's Pub, which is the bar that inspired the creators of How I Met Your Mother. But did you know that sitcom is only set in NYC and is actually filmed in Hollywood! I was mind-blown and horrified when they told us that!

 

The very last activity of our NYC vacation was an improv comedy musical, and it was hilarious! It was made up of  4 performers and a band. They took suggestions from the audience, and ended up doing a two hour show centering around Desperate Housewives of Colonial Times. I'm telling you, we laughed so hard. They would accidentally make a mistake or say the wrong word and then everybody else would have to run with it and keep it up through the whole show. And sometimes they would start to go a direction different than the band, and have to try to work the correction into the piece, and it was hilarious. It may sound kind of lame, but it was awesome. (I couldn't take any pictures of the show, but we did take one in the lobby in front of a few past posters.) 

 

And with that, the week was over. As we were packing things up to go the next morning, we listened to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" and Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" as a final closing to the best week of our lives. (No joke.) Then we sadly hopped on the train to New Jersey where we picked up our car from Brad's coworker's house who had been keeping it for the week, and began the long, depressing drive back home.

Overall, our vacation was amazing. Collectively, it truly was the best time Bradley and I have ever had. We got to see and do so many wonderful things. We came into the week with a hefty schedule, and we accomplished everything that we wanted to and were at peace with the few tasks we removed from the list. Luckily, the hubs and I travel the same, and we both want to focus on the same stuff (big land marks) and ignore the same things (shopping). I'm so grateful that we had enough time to do all of the things that both of us wanted. Now that we got the major tourist attractions out of the way, our next trips can focus on lower key events, Broadway plays, and Shake Shack burgers. I already can't wait. :)

 

See what we did the rest of the week:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

[Entire NYC Day 6 Photo Album]

NYC Day 5

Our Friday in the Big Apple was a pretty low key one. Our initial plans to go into the Empire State Building got postponed until the next day because of the long wait, so we had some time to just walk around the city before we went to Central Park or visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.

 

By this time in the week, we were pretty much Mass Transit Pros. Brad was the master at navigating the different subway lines and stops. During our whole time there, we only got lost once. (We hopped on the Eastbound train instead of the Westbound, and ended up confused in Queens.) Not too bad for some small town, Southern, first-timers!

 

We didn't intend to walk past Macy's on Black Friday, but it was on our path from the subway stop to the Empire State Building, which was still our original plan that morning. There were literally thousands of people on the street waiting to get into the World's Largest Store. It was the only time during our visit that I clung to Brad's hand so we wouldn't get separated in the crowd. Black Friday shoppers are crazy!

 

 

When we finally made our way through the sea of people to our destination, we immediately realized that the wait was going to be too long to enjoy the truly experience before we had to leave and be at our next scheduled stop. So instead, we decided to wait until tomorrow for that and just did some sight seeing. It was cool to see Seventh Avenue (aka Fashion Avenue) in person. And the NYC Post office is seriously huge! It reminded me of the Parthenon replica we have her in Nashville. We walked by Madison Square Garden, and even though Taylor Swift was performing there that night (and the next), we didn't get to go to the concert. Bummer. (But we did see many girls in obvious TSwift concert attire on the subways!)

Right outside of Central Park, which was our next stop, is The Plaza. As in "Eloise at The Plaza," or as I better know it, the place that Kevin McCallister stays in "Home Alone 2: Lost In New York." It is grand, for sure. We walked past the valet and bellhops into the lobby to take look around. It is so fancy and beautiful. I can definitely see why it has been the setting for some movies.

 

 

We were right on time to participate in our walking tour of Central Park that focused on TV and movie locations. The tour guide told our group where specific scenes had been filmed, as well as a lot about the history and details of the massive park in general. It was so pretty there, especially in the fall as the leaves were changing colors. Of course we had to take a picture kissing in front of "the kissing bridge." Apparently, this bridge is the most proposed location in the whole city. How romantic.

 

The most personally exciting places that we got to see the spot were where Kevin first meets the Pigeon Lady in "Home Alone," the fountain that Giselle dances in front of in "Enchanted," and walk the Promenade, which is not only the solitary straight pathway in the whole park, but it's also the most filmed area in Central Park with scenes in "When Harry Met Sally," "Serendipity," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," and "Big Daddy," among others. 

 

Our tour took a little break to allow us to ride the park's historical carousel. It was so old fashioned that the music was even created by the circular motion of the horses, and you could see the antique instruments working in the center of the circle. Back in the way old days, the carousel was powered by mules underneath that would walk in laps at a speed determined by the number of knocks the conductor would do on the floor: one for a gallop, two for a trot, three to slow down, and four to stop and so on. It has since been motorized, thank goodness.

 

After a few hours of touring (just a small portion of) Central Park, Bradley and I enjoyed The.Best.Burger.Ever. Like ever. Shake Shack is compared to the In-N-Out Burger of the West, or the Whataburger or Five Guys of the South. But let me tell you, this place blows all of those other regions' burger joints out of the greasy kitchen! Hands down, this was the best burger and fries combo I have ever experienced. On more than one occasion, Brad and I have considered flying to NYC just to eat here. It's that good.

 

The line was out the door and down the street, and once you finally arrived in the building, you were herded through a winding amusement park style line before you could place your order. It was pretty much standing room early, and believe me, people were standing and eating. Luckily, I spotted two empty seats near the window for the hubs and me. All we had to do was share the table with an Asian family of three. Hey, you've gotta do what you've gotta do! And the meal was more than worth it.

 

When we were all filled up (and wanting more but not willing to wait in line a second time), we made our way back to Times Square for the third occasion that week. This time, we were visiting Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Of all the many things we did during our visit, I think we probably had the most fun here.

 

There were life size, life-like wax figures of hundreds of celebrities, musicians, politicians, and a number of any historical figures mingling around the place just waiting for you to approach. Brad was able to flirt with Bette Midler and prove that he's just as smoldering hot as Edward Cullen and Johnny Depp. And I was able to show off my JLo booty and finally get my hands on Justin Timberlake. (Humina, humina.)

 

I listened to Woody Allen talk about the city and helped Lucy bake dinner while Brad chilled with Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali and tried out to be one of the Rockettes. (He didn't get in.)

 

 

As if the entire museum wasn't one big photo op, they had a few places set up specifically for picture posing. We could finally stand on the bridge that was merely in the background of our Central Park picture, and Brad had the opportunity to fully "embrace" the Oval Office. Yikes. There's a reason we aren't into politics!

 

We rocked out with some legends with the likes of Elton John, Tina Turner, and Bono, and I performed some height comparisons along the line. I was just barely taller than horse jockey Willie Shoemaker, but I couldn't even touch Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's head on my tip toes! 

 

We couldn't resist some 90's boy band / girl band photo bombing, and I got a second opportunity to fawn all over JT. Also, that bottom right image is of a random wax woman taking a picture. She's not real, people. There's no need to very patiently wait behind her to snap the picture she's trying to get. She's not a real person taking a real picture. You can just walk on past her. Because she's not real. Just fyi...

 

Within Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, there was a special 4-D showing of "The Polar Express"!! Eee!! That's my very favorite Christmas movie! And since Santa waved at me at the end of the parade the day before(!!!), it was officially Christmastime! The showed an abbreviated version of the film that lasted about 45 minutes but still adequately captured all of the magic.

 

And if you're wondering, the fourth dimension catered to our other non-visual senses. Snow fell from the ceiling when the boy walked outside in his pj's; wind gushed over our faces when the train came to a stop in front of his house; something poked us in the back when they were falling into Santa's big gift bag; and it literally smelled like Christmas in the theater when they were gathered around the tree at the end! It was awesome!!

 

As soon as the film was over, we came to the Main Event. I finally got to meet Wax Figure Taylor Swift!! It was magical! They even had her sparkly guitar in a case nearby. My was museum goals were officially complete. Success.

 

 

I'm not exactly sure why we had so much fun at that silly museum full of wax figures, but Brad and I truly enjoyed our evening goofing around with fake famous people. That combined with our amazing time at the beautiful Central Park and the best meal in all the land made our penultimate day in the city pretty great.

 

If you're interested in how the rest of the week went, you can check out Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 6.

[Entire NYC Day 5 Photo Album]