Getaway

I know you missed me terribly, but I'm baaaaaaack!

The Hubster and I went into the city yesterday for a little overnight getaway.  My parents offered to watch the kids for us as a Christmas present; eight months later, we finally took them up on their generous offer.

What a busy twenty-four hours we had!  We checked into the hotel, then began our adventure. 

First, we walked around Times Square while we decided what to do.  Both Hubs and I used to work in the city, so it was fun to play tourist and take in all of the sights - the gigantic video screens on the buildings (I'm old enough to remember when they were billboards with neon lights), an F-16 fighter and monster truck courtesy of the Air Force and, of course, the Naked Cowboy.  It's a much nicer, albeit more crowded, place today than it was when I was little.

We decided to go to the Discovery Exposition Center to see the Tutankhamun exhibit.  I've been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art many times, spending many hours among the Egyptian artifacts, but this exhibit was amazing.  It showed how religion took center stage in ancient Egyptian culture, and how thoroughly their royals were prepared for death and the afterlife.  I highly recommend the exhibit.  Oh, and the quote of the day:  "Look, there's a chartreuse on that."  Um, hon, I think you mean cartouche.  Chartreuse is a color.

Since we bought a combination ticket for the exhibit and a ride to the Top of the Rock, we left Times Square and headed to Rockefeller Center.  We spent some time walking around the area before heading inside to the observation deck.  The walk to the elevators and the elevator ride itself were, as expected, NBC-centric.  Lots of "Yay, us!" music and images, but the glass-topped elevators were pretty cool, as were the blue lights at each floor.  And seeing the city from seventy stories up is always worthwhile. 

Back on the ground, we headed to Bryant Park to people watch while we decided where to go for dinner.  Hubs wanted to grab a beer, but the bar was packed with businesspeople enjoying an after-work drink, so we found some chairs and watched an enormous yoga class take place on the lawn.  We kicked around a few ideas before deciding on Plataforma.  Plataforma can be summed up with one word:  meat.  We ate so much that it hurt. 

We walked back to the hotel and relaxed.  We had hoped to go out again later, but we were so stuffed and tired that we called it a night.

This morning, we checked out, left our bag at the hotel, and walked through Central Park.  Neither of us had walked through the park before.  We'd both been there for various reasons - concerts, races, other events - but this was a first for both of us.  It's a gorgeous park, and the weather was perfect for our stroll up to our destination.

Although we've both been there before, it had been years since either of us has been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I really wanted to start with the Egyptian antiquities, but since we had spent yesterday at the Tut exhibit, I let Hubs lead the way.  We began with Greek and Roman antiquities (phenomenal) and worked our way around, ending at the Temple of Dendur (my favorite).  Headed upstairs to take in the late 19th and early 20th century European artists (Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Gaughin, Renoir), and then called it a day.

We ate lunch at an Irish pub (an Irish pub in the city?  Get out!) near our hotel, then took a train home. 

We were only gone for twenty-four hours, but it was a wonderful adventure.  Hubs and I got some precious alone time during both day- and nighttime.  We enjoyed a city as tourists instead of as commuters, and had no time restrictions whatsoever.  This getaway was especially helpful for me, as I spend every day taking care of the kids.  I hadn't been away from them for twenty-four hours since I was pregnant with S.  As good as it was for the kids for me to be away for them (and to come back), it was equally if not more beneficial to me.  I missed them, and was happy to see their smiling faces when we got home.