Our first visit to NYC

Jennie and I finally made the pilgrimage to New York City to celebrate Kelley's 40th birthday. We stayed at the Hotel Chelsea, sharing a room with the dynamic duo Chris and Rafael. Here's our itinerary:

Thursday
- Travel by train from Rochester to the city (thanks to Travis for the 4:30am pickup!), 7 hours on Amtrak with beautiful views of the Hudson River.
- After checking in at the hotel, we rode the subway south to Soho for our mini chocolate tour. We visited 4 of NYC's top chocolatiers and sampled their wares: Kee's Chocolates, MarieBelle, Jacques Torres and Vosges (our favorite).
- Drinks at the hotel with Kelley, Kate and the gang, then an evening in the Village which included dinner at the Garage Restaurant and drinking at the Stonewall Bar

Friday
- All day on the Downtown Loop of the Gray Line Bus Tour, a double-decker bus with tour guides that took us from Times Square to Battery Park, where we caught a ferry to the Statue of Liberty.
- Grabbed dinner at the delicious pizza joint just a few steps away from our hotel.
- Taxied to the Walter Kerr theatre, not far from Times Square to see Grey Gardens the Musical.
- Enjoyed a late dinner of pierogi and potato pancakes with old friends Ryan Rosetto and Max Miller (both from Siskiyou County, CA) at Odessa.

Saturday
- All day on the Uptown Loop of the Gray Line Bus Tour, with a stopover in Harlem to do some shopping.
- Viewing of the Whiteny Museum's exhibition: Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era
- Walk through Central Park
- Met up with the entire birthday party and took the Harbor Lights Cruise around the island to see the skyline and bridges. Amazing!
- Impromptu limo ride to birthday dinner at Bottino, drinks and general chaos at Barracuda.

Sunday
- Late rising to a rainy day. After we checked out of the Chelsea, we ate brunch at Trailer Park across the street from the hotel.
- Train ride home with dinner and a sleeper compartment.
- Arrival in Rochester around midnight, thanks to Tom for picking us up and to Nancy for watching the cats and dog.

Pictures from NYC