NYC Part 1

I was attending a conference for work in NYC earlier this month, and my mom decided to join me. Free (really nice) hotel room in Times Square, so why not, right? The conference activities didn’t begin until Sunday evening, but we flew in on Friday to enjoy ~48 hours of touristy fun beforehand. I have TONS to share so I’m splitting this into two posts. 

*FRIDAY*

We left Denver early Friday morning. I called an Uber for mom to my place (I live a bit closer to the airport), where of course I wasn’t ready yet. While I rushed around finishing up, she kindly did my dishes and cleaned up a roll of paper towels Teddy had shredded in the yard. #BestMomEver! Then we jumped in a Lyft and headed to DEN! Coffee and a snack, and soon we were on the plane, on our way!

We were spending our first night at a small hotel in Hell’s Kitchen, and when we landed at La Guardia we made our (loooong) way there. We checked in, dropped out bags in our room, and then headed out immediately. We were SO EXCITED to see the sights and eat all the vegan foods. We’ve both been to NY before, but it has been a while, especially for me. I actually used to date a guy who played for the Knicks, sooo… #TrueStory

We walked to the nearest subway station, purchased our one week unlimited passes, and headed downtown. We wanted to visit the WTC, especially the new tower and see the amazing views! We were pretty hungry by that time, a combination of the time change and having skipped lunch, but we couldn’t find anywhere good to stop for HH down there using the Yelp and Happy Cow apps on my phone. We wanted food and drinks, and not in some fancy steakhouse, you know? We finally ended up at Five & Dime where we each had a Woolworth Hot Toddy (we were in the Woolworth building, hence the name of the bar and the cocktail). It was made with Cognac, Walnut Liqueur, Rosemary honey, and lemon. So yah, oops about the honey but honestly that’s not something I worry about. The bar itself was way nice, very art deco and I felt rather like I was in an episode of Mad Med.

They didn’t have much in the way of food, but we ordered a cheese plate that came with olives and nuts and bread. Mom ate the cheese, and we shared the rest (Mom is pretty much vegetarian). They had this fig jam spread that was delicious, but I didn’t take any pictures of the food. 

Sufficiently warmed, we made out way to WTC and up the 102 stories to the observation deck of One World Observatory. Have you guys heard about the elevator that takes you up there? 102 stories in 47 seconds, which by itself is amazing. But beyond that the video you watch on your way up makes it even better. It’s 500 years compressed into 47 seconds, showing you a digital view of what you would’ve seen from that elevator as you move through time. It’s truly amazing, and luckily we can all watch it over and over again: 

When we purchased our tickets on the main floor, we added in a drink voucher for $6 each- which proved wise, as the drinks were more than double that price upstairs. We spent the next hour or two just walking around with our mouths open, admiring the view and trying to take it all in. It’s the highest building in the Western Hemisphere (we were told again and again) which is kind of hard to wrap your mind around. 

This picture was taken facing north, towards Midtown. It was a beautiful day, although cold. When we had finished our drinks had enough of the view we headed down. It was really cold and windy out but we braved it for a few more minutes so we could visit the memorial pools. Being there, where so many people died and remembering a day with so much anguish and fear was difficult. I can’t even imagine what it was like being a New Yorker that day. We decided to forgo the museum itself because there was a long line, and also because we didn’t want to start feeling any sadder than we already were. But the pools were amazing.

We had dinner reservations at Urban Vegan Kitchen which I was REALLY excited about, and we headed there next. It was a short train ride and then a brisk walk.

We were about an hour early for our reservation but luckily only had to wait 20 or so minutes for a table, so we ordered drinks and waited patiently. 

Isn’t my mom adorable? She’s so urban 🙂

It was really dark in there so my food pics didn’t come out well enough to share, but I’m going to describe them to you because they were AMAZING! We chose three small plates to share, and the first was Brussels Sprouts that were oven roasted with maple syrup and whole grain mustard. They were cooked perfectly and just a tad sweet with the maple flavor. Loved them. 

Next we had Buffalo Seitan which came with a very flavorful vegan ranch sauce and some raw veggies. They were tasty but very hot. Mom loved them but they made me sweat a little.  

Lastly we split the Mac n’ Cheese which was really good too. Cashew cheese sauce, numu mozzarella, elbow macaroni, smoked paprika, and herbed bread crumb topping. We were too full for dessert, but I would’ve loved to eat there again!

After dinner we headed back to our hotel and crashed. Mom is a bit of a nervous traveler so hadn’t slept well the night before, and she was exhausted. Me? I was so full I couldn’t think and was happy to collapse into bed with a book. 

*SATURDAY*

Our first goal of the day was to walk our suitcases over to the Marriott Marquis hotel on Broadway where we were staying for the rest of our trip, and then COFFEE! It was a nice brisk walk which woke me up. And luckily we were able to check in even though it was so early, so we dropped our bags in our room (with our fabulous view of Times Square), hit the Starbucks, and headed back outside. We decided on brunch at by CHLOE, the location at Rock Center, and even though we had to fight barricaded side streets and gazillions of drunken people on their way to the parade (it was St. Paddy’s day), it was so worth it. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but OMG it was great- both the design and the food. 

Once again we shared, this time The Sunrise, a burrito with scrambled tofu, spicy seitan chorizo, black bean salsa, avocado and tofu crema in a whole wheat tortilla, and the Spicy Thai Salad, with shredded kale, chopped romaine, apricot-sriracha glazed tempeh, almonds, quinoa, edamame, scallion and crispy wontons with the best peanut dressing ever.

I had sworn not to order any salads on this trip, but this one was very much worth breaking my own rule. The tempeh was so flavorful and the peanut dressing was incredible. I wish Chloe would jar and sell it. I also wish she’d open a location in Denver! The breakfast burrito was really good too- just a little spicy, just the way I like it. Especially the chorizo, it had a great bite!

Fully sated, we headed back down to the subway and headed north to the American Museum of Natural History, a place I’ve always wanted to visit.  We spent five or six hours there and were exhausted by the time we left, but it was everything I dreamed it would be. 

We started with Dinos. Here’s an actual T-Rex skull, the first full skull ever collected:

It was in a glass case of course, but still… mind-boggling to be so close to something that is millions of years old! 

Here’s the whole T-Rex. This one was just a cast, not the actual bones, but still incredible. 

All the prehistoric skeletons were really cool of course, but I have a special love for sea turtles so of course I had to make kissy faces with this guy:

The Asian elephants exhibit was both sad and beautiful, and made me VERY nostalgic for my trip to the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand… 

These big horned sheep were of especial interest to us because we’re pretty sure the guy to the right with the biggest horns was discovered by my ex-husband when he used to work on Fort Carson. We know when he found it, it was a record-breaker and was exhibited at the AMNH, but not sure if it still is… so we’re just going to assume it’s this one 😉

The exhibits were amazing. Sad to see dead animals of course, but like zoos, I believe museums like this are an important tool in educating people about conservation. I know not everyone feels this way, but. 

Okay, back to food! 

I knew we were fairly close the the Candle Cafe West so we decided to have dinner there. It was cold out, but sunny, so it was a nice walk through the UWS which of course seemed so peaceful to us after the drunken madness of Times Square earlier. 

We wanted a drink before dinner, and we happened to pass by a cute bar called Prohibition so we popped in there. 

I don’t remember what it was called but it had apple pie whiskey and that cinnamon stick- it really warmed me up. My mom had another hot toddy, and then we walked the rest of the way to Candle.

We really struggled with the menu- there were so many dishes we wanted to try! Once again we chose three items and shared them all.

The Candle Nachos with chili grilled seitan, tapioca cheese, chili, guacamole, pico de gallo and tofu sour cream were delicious! They were also the first vegan nachos my mom has ever had, and so the bar is now set quite high for her. Lots of messy, gooey, tastiness. 

More Brussels Sprouts! This time topped with almond cheese. SO GOOD. 

Our third choice was the Fall Vegetable Ravioli, with sauteed spinach, roasted garlic tomato sauce and cashew parm.

The ravioli were decadent and delicious. The whole meal was amazing. I was very sorry to see it end! But… spoiler alert… we also got to eat at Candle Cafe East, so our adventures weren’t done yet!

More in part two…