Top Of The Rock, to ya!

Sorry I'm slow getting on with my posts about NYC. Seems that current life needs to get in the way now and then! Even though we had a splendid (yes, splendid!) time on vacation, I really do feel as though I lost a week! Coming back home and being so close to Christmas with absolutely NOTHING Christmassy accomplished is a bit overwhelming.  I've never been 10 days away from Christmas with no decorations up...until NOW! *haha* But since our home renovation project still isn't completed and the furniture isn't even in place, it seems absurd to bring in MORE "clutter," even if it is Christmas clutter. So just as I'd feared initially, the decor will be very minimal this year. I'm going to yank out the little 4 footer tree that normally goes in my Scrapbook room, and prop it up on a table. Gotta pull the stockings out too, but other than that I don't really see the point. Kinda makes me sad, but like I said in an earlier post, I understand the trade-off. Spend a week in the most decorated city in the world - don't decorate as much at home. So be it.

Now let's remember some more of that trip, shall we?

Day 4

When planning this trip I read repeatedly that, if wanting an excellent view of the city, we should choose the Top of the Rock (the Rockefeller Building) and not the Empire State Building. The E.S.B. has chain mesh all around, blocking the view, plus the crowds are apparently horrendous and the elevators are slow, making for long waits. So even though my idea of a trip to NYC always included going to the top of the E.S.B, we opted for the Top of the Rock instead. Plus they have a Sunrise/Sunset package where you can go up twice in the same day; once during daylight and once after sunset! I thought that was great!

The views really were spectacular! I could have stayed up there for hours. Unfortunately, my poor hubby is much more afraid of heights than I ever realized. I mean, this is the guy who goes on crazy roller coasters with me! But it was all I could do to even get him close enough to the edge to take these pictures. He just kinda hung out in the center of the platform. He was a good sport but clearly the whole thing made him very uneasy. And he didn't appreciate me leaning over to get shots like this: 

 

But I made it up to him by traveling over 45 minutes by subway to eat at a steak place in Brooklyn he wanted to go to. It's been voted the best steak in New York for 25 years runnin', and my carnivorous husband couldn't resist that! We got a little lost when making a subway transfer, but we managed to arrive in time for our reservation. The prices were OUTRAGEOUS but I will have to admit, it's about the juiciest steak I've ever tasted. Jeremy was in red meat Heaven. 

 

One thing that was kinda cool...they served the steak on this platter that was SIZZLING hot. Literally! So if you didn't think the steak looked like it was cooked enough, you could just put the piece on the side of the tray for a minute and it would cook it some more! Crazy. Definitely one of those, "Please don't touch the plate, it's very hot" moments. *haha*

With full tummies we headed back into Manhattan, specifically Rockefeller Center, so we could take a quick glance at the tree. That area was just ridiculously packed. I don't normally get antsy in crowds but this was beyond what even I'm comfortable with. 

 

The insanity was well worth it, however, because on the edge of Rockefeller Center lies a wonderland I've dreamt of visiting since I was a child: The American Girl store!!! *hooray!!!* I would've dragged Jeremy in here anyway, but it was even more fun because Lauren recently snagged a Kit doll for Livvie off of Ebay, so we "needed" to go! See? That's great logic, right? 

Talk about chaos!! Toss about a billion excited, squealing little girls and their exhausted, broke parents into a fairly small space and you get quite a mess. 

"BUT YOU SAID I COULD GET TWO OUTFITS!" 

"I WANT JAMMIES THAT MATCH MY DOLL!" 

"I WANT TO GET THE HOOOOOOOOORSE!!!!" 

Jeremy was way out of his league, but I found it all quite amusing. 

After we dropped our AG purchases off at the hotel room we headed out for our dinner location, a BBQ Jazz Club called Jazz Standard. It was fun to take in a live Jazz show, neither one of us had ever had that kind of experience before. The food was really good, too. I didn't take any pictures in there...it was kinda shwanky and I didn't want people looking at me weird. :)

Then we had to take advantage of the Sunset portion of our Top of the Rock package. Jeremy was thrilled, as you can imagine. ;) But the views at night were well worth his discomfort, in my opinion. *hehe*