Break for Fall

This post is loooong overdue but I couldn't skip it!  Russell and I had a fabulous fall break in NYC and the Outerbanks of NC.  I will admit now that we took zero pictures in NYC- it's such a fast-paced city we felt like we were in the way with the camera out so we just left it in the room the whole time.  Obviously, we regret our decision!  Pretty much this is going to be a recap for our own memory but feel free to read on!

We began our trip by picking up Russell from his final on Wednesday afternoon and dashing to the airport because we only have 2 hours from the time I picked him up until our plane takes off.  No worries though, our flight was delayed because of rain in NYC.  Luckily the rain stayed only for Wednesday.

We headed from the airport to our friend, Dr. Jere Crook's home in the Upper East Side.  We received a warm welcome along with some time to unpack, unwind and have a snack before heading to the theatre.

What a treat the theatre was!  We saw How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying starring Daniel Ratcliff (Harry Potter) and John Liriquet with the voice of Andersen Cooper as the narrator.  If you're in NYC or if this show travels it's a MUST SEE!  We had amazing seats courtesy of Jere.

  

This is pretty much the only picture we took...excuse me while I pat myself on the back: my dress looked great with the theme of the show (I also stood out like a sore thumb yellow dress + pink Vera Bradley umbrella= not NYC black)!  

After the show we headed to a lovely little restaurant right around the corner from the theatre where they knew Jere by name.  We had a great dinner and great conversation.  From there we headed to the King Cole Bar inside the St. Regis Hotel.  It was really fancy :)  We had a nightcap and headed home...it was almost 2am when we got home!  Jere is a night owl!

Thursday we began the morning with a run in Central Park followed by breakfast at Jere's table and then the best walking tour a tourist could ask for!  Jere knows SO MUCH about the city and we were happy to soak in all he had to tell us!  We walked through Central Park, through the theatre district, to Grammercy Park, The Ford Foundation, Grand Central Station, Columbus Circle, The UN Building and had a leisurely lunch at The Harvard Club where we also received an in depth tour of the building and heard about it's rich history.  

Thursday night we met our friends Dasha and Dan Faires at Samboca in Chelsea.  It was a cozy, hip tapas restaurant.  We had a 3 hour dinner catching up and stuffing our faces with dishes that included almost half of a pig!  

Friday morning was greeted with another run in Central Park, lunch at Le Colonial with Jere and a trip to the Met.  Le Colonial is a Thai restaurant with French influence- YUM.  Such great flavor and fresh food.  It reminded us of Fijian food.  We could've spent a week at The Metropolitan Museum of Art...but we only spent 2.5 hours.  We browsed Greek, Roman, Victorian and African Art with a quick run through the Modern Art section.  We followed up our visit to the museum with a yummy pumpkin ginger cupcake from a food cart.

Later in the afternoon we checked into The Shoreham Hotel and then headed to Union Square to visit Alton Lane.  We love their showroom and enjoyed looking at new fabrics and clothing lines.  Check out what's going on over there and order yourselves or a loved one some well-fitting clothes!

From there we headed to another scrumptious tapas restaurant (I can't remember the name of it) that was lit with a plethora of crystal chandeliers that contrasted the rustic restaurant setting.  The restaurant was packed with people and we loved the atmosphere!  We ended our evening at the bar at the W Hotel in Union Square and made it home around 3am (I know, you're thinking...do I know the Bloodworths? They don't stay out that late)!  We had some adventures in the subway with rats on the platform which definitely woke us up for our trek back to the hotel!

Saturday we headed back to Alton Lane for Russell to order some new digs and then went to lunch with Meg and Michael McCullar at a Mexican restaurant.  This restaurant rocked because you got a free drink with your meal...that's what I call Saturday brunch!  We had a wonderful time with Meg and Michael hearing about their transition to NYC and we loved getting to see their apartment.

We left lunch and headed to the Upper West Side to see Eric and Savon who just had a beautiful baby boy, Benjamin.  We had great conversation and were excited to hear about parenthood and job transitions.  

Upon leaving Eric and Savon's home we stumbled upon a little clothing store called Pookie and Sebastian.  I accidentally went on a shopping spree and left with a cute knit dress, an army inspired jacket and the coolest fur vest!  

Off we went to the Lower East Side to meet up with Dasha for dinner (Dan had headed to AR to spend time with family) at a pub/oyster bar. We had some outstanding beers and really good seafood (no oysters for us).  We then headed to some cool bar where we again met up with Meg and Michael and then headed home so that we could prepare for our early trip home.

As soon as we landed, we hopped in the car and headed to the Outer Banks!  When I was feeling rich this summer (because we had an income, it wasn't a big income), I purchased a Living Social Escape to The Marsh Harbor Inn on Bald Head Island.  I'm so glad I did because we had a perfect vacation from our vacation (we actually decided there was a distinction between vacation and trip.  New York was a trip.  Bald Head Island was a vacation).

To get to Bald Head Island, you have to take a ferry.  Once there, your mode of transportation is golf cart, bicycle or your own two feet.  No cars allowed (except construction vehicles).  The ferry ride was fun and it was nice to have an ocean view of the coast.

Upon arrival, we were picked up by a golf cart taxi and taken to Marsh Harbor Inn.  It's a lovely little inn and the only "hotel" type lodging on the island.  Everything else is beautiful homes.  After settling in, we set out on our own golf cart to find some dinner.

We settled on pizza from the poolside bar (the Pellicatessen) at the country club, it was delicious.  We were planning on taking out to the beach to watch the sunset (the sunsets were absolutely beautiful) but the bugs were attacking Russell...at first I didn't believe him but I looked over and he literally had a swarm of little bugs around his head.  We opted for a moving dinner in the golf cart to keep the bugs away.

That night we also saw a beautiful deer (we don't have a picture because we were so stunned we just sat and stared at him).  The deer on the island look different than the deer we see on the mainland!  We also saw a beautiful red fox that just sat still and let us take his picture.  The picture is not very good because of the lighting.

The next day we spent some quiet time kayaking in the marsh.  It was so peaceful and beautiful.  Russell and I had the best time talking with no interruptions.

The rest of the trip was filled with eating, a little bike ride, sleeping, reading and a little more eating.

We have decided that we should always have a vacation after trips!

...I've been doing lots of cooking and a little crafting lately, stay tuned....