Wednesday, August 29, 2012

NYC & Bermuda!

In early July we took an awesome trip to NYC & Bermuda.  This was an extended SF trip & we had an amazing time!  It was both Jeff & I's first time to NYC so it was so much fun to experience that together as well as celebrating our 10 year anniversary.  We were in NYC for 3 days & Bermuda for a week--it was the longest we've been away from the kiddos but we felt so fortunate that we have such amazing families that all helped with them & they had so much fun they didn't miss us a bit!

Three days was not long enough for us in NYC...in fact I would go back in a heartbeat I loved it so much! :)  We tried to fit as much in as we could & we even got to spend an evening with my cousin, Gretchen & her hubby Christian.  Here's a little recap of our trip!
  • We stayed at the gorgeous & centrally located Waldorf Astoria Hotel.  It's a very old hotel with lots of history & in such a great location.
  • My friend, Jenny, had shown us a great blog written by a woman living in Manhattan so we used one of the restaurant recommendations & went to the "secret restaurant" in the West Village called The Hudson Clearwater the first night with our friends, The Elliots.  It was such a fun experience & we loved walking around the West Village afterwards.
  • We took a fabulous city bus tour & got to see all the sights as well as make a stop at the World Trade Center Memorial...very, very powerful & something I would recommend everyone seeing.
  • Our group dinner was this dinner cruise on the Hudson...one of the coolest things Jeff & I have ever done!
  • Jeff & I spent a day in Central Park--he claims I put him through a "triatholon" but we saw every square foot of the park & had an awesome day together. :)
  • Christian is the SVP of programming & scheduling at Lifetime Channel & scored the 4 of us tickets to the taping of the finale of Project Runway Allstars on the last night!  It was so much fun & totally different than anything we've ever done!  We sat at the front of the runway & about 15 ft from Liv Tyler & other celebrity judges.  We had to sign a non-disclosure document & turn in our phones so I don't have any pictures of this but it was awesome.  We had so much fun with Gretchen & Christian & just wished we lived a little closer so the 4 of us could get together more often!
  • Our trip to Bermuda was soooooo relaxing.  After the whirlwind of the days in NYC it felt great to unwind on the beach & soak up the sun!  It didn't hurt that we spent two days at the spa either. :)  I read 2 books & got all rested up for the craziness of the move when we got home.  We had a blast with my folks & our good friends & made lots of fun memories!

Feeling pretty special getting picked up by a towncar at the airport...catching up on my celeb news! :)







A terrible picture of the outside of the secret restaurant-you will have to look at the link (above) because it's just beautiful inside!  Thanks to Jenny for the recommendation!





On our walk around the West Village--I was pretending I lived in one of these brownstones! :)


WTC memorial pools...very powerful & sobering





I loved the reflection on the building



WTC 1-almost done!


Our hotel!


In the lobby


Pictures of the city from our dinner cruise!



My Love.


I was kinda proud of the shots I got! 


Brooklyn Bridge with WTC 1 in the background


Brooklyn Bridge--doesn't it look like it was taken 70 years ago??







We stayed in front the of the Statue of Liberty for quite a while.  The band was playing America the Beautiful & it definitely made me choke up a bit...can't imagine what that made the early immigrants feel like!





Our buddies The Lairds somehow scored this amazing suite at the Waldorf & their veranda went almost around the entire building which is a full city block!  Needless to say we post-partied there after our cruise & took in the sights...so much fun!


Central Park!





I really had my heart set on renting a row boat in the pond like you see in the movies so after walking around for quite a while we hopped in the boat!  My hubby apparently lost the memo that it was supposed to be a romantic float around the pond & was in full "driftboat fishing guide" mode! :)  You could have waterskiied behind our wake...it was hilarious & we were both cracking up and we certainly saw the entire pond!

Studly.




Ah!  Then we caught sight of bike rentals & hopped on a couple cruisers!  Unfortunately there are lots more hills than you think in Central Park & we were without different gears...I haven't broke a sweat since January so about halfway up this huge hill I pulled over & dumped my bike & had to catch my breath...so funny.

Here we are in the beginning of the ride...going downhill & everythings fun! :)




Playing "500" with some of our buddies in the ocean.  Bermuda is a beautiful place & I would go back in a heartbeat.  We stayed at the Fairmont Southhampton & it was gorgeous.  The grounds were beautiful & we had some amazing meals!




One night my dad, Jeff & Ty dressed like the Bermudian men all dress with black knee-high dress socks.  Here are my folks dancing the night away!



Our buddy, Mike, took the stage for a couple songs & was actually really good!


Heaven.


Mom at one of our heavenly spa days!


Jeff & I did our favorite little hobby-Stand Up Paddle {SUP}






The group dinner in Bermuda was a dinner on the beach & it was gorgeous!




Unfortunately Dad got slashed in the face with a sun ray! :)



Jeff & I's toes...



We had a blast with the Elliots!  Here we are on the last night


1 comment:

Ellen Poortinga said...

Looks like SO much fun :) Sometime we all need to do a destination vacation!!