I have a new appreciation for New York City (in the past, I’ve been scared by the city, especially when traveling alone).  My mom and I were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day and saw so many great sites.

We started off with breakfast at a little cafe called Friend of a Farmer (Tina, Ashley, and Theodora joined us, too).

Tina and I split a fruit plate, and I got the Farmer’s open-face cheese, tomato, and basil sandwich… it was salty and cheesy and amazing.

Afterwards, the local gals helped my mom and I plot an agenda for the day (I killed the battery on my iPhone using the map function today – that goodness for technology or we’d be lost in the Bronx right now, I’m sure).

First up: we stopped by the Race Expo so I could pick up my bib.  It seemed like a great expo, but we didn’t want to stay for long because we had more sights to see!  We did spot Gabriela at the expo – we’ll be walking the race tomorrow together since she’s injured, too.

W is for walkers!  Holla.

Next stop:  taking MomHTP’s first New York cab ride to Southside Seaport to get deeply discounted theatre tickets for a Broadway show on Sunday (local tip:  the TKTS booth is also in Times Square but the line is 4 times longer – definitely worth the cab or subway ride)!  We got tickets for 50%!

We held Lady Liberty in our hands…

And then we saw some giant bull testicles (the line for the front was too long)…

We braved the Subway to head back Uptown, and we didn’t get lost!

In fact, I landed us right in the middle of Times Square!  And I was brave enough to hand my camera to a stranger (I never do this for fear of them dropping it and/or darting away).

Side note: How fierce is MomHTP’s coat?!

Thanks to the always awesome Yelp! app on the iPhone, I found a fast vegetarian restaurant that served yummy falafels on whole wheat pitas for lunch:

Once our tummies were full, we headed up the Empire State Building.  Thankfully, the line wasn’t horrendous and we were up and down in an hour and a half.  It was worth the wait, too!

Do you ever wonder how the island supports all those big buildings?  I do! 

Did you know Shanghai sinks 2 – 4 centimeters a year in some places because of all the skyscrapers?  I think NYC is solid rock underneath so this isn’t an issue.

By this time, my feet were hurting (or “My dogs were barking,” as my Southern mommy would say).  So we decided to head back to the hotel, where we met back up with Tina and had dinner.

Lighting in the restaurant was horrible (the cooler a restaurant is, the crappier the lighting for photographs), but I ordered a beets and goat cheese salad, and we all shared roasted veggies and potatoes, too.  For dessert, I had a mini cone with salted caramel ice cream. It was the perfect dinner!

Well, my gear is all laid out, and I’m ready to walk my little heart out tomorrow.

Stay tuned for my first half marathon walking experience – it will definitely be interesting.  🙂