(first published on blogspot on April 19, 2014)

The last few days of my trip were spent staying near Washington, DC. The last time I was in DC was 7 years ago! I can’t believe it was that long ago as I remember the trip quite well. Here is me with the cherry blossoms back in April 2007.

      Alright back to 2014. Our first day, Brian, his parents and I took the train into the city in the morning and went to the Jefferson Memorial.

       Our last stop for the day was the United States Botanic Garden. They had lots of beautiful orchids out for Easter.

       Our second day, we spent the morning at George Washington’s Estate at Mount Vernon. The weather was absolutely beautiful! It was nice and sunny and the estate was gorgeous. I had some fun on the lawn doing some yoga and a bridge.

       In the afternoon, we went to Old Town Alexandria and the Torpedo Factory Art Center. If you ever get the chance to go to Old Town Alexandria, it’s absolutely beautiful. There are also some amazing artists that sell their work at the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

         It was so nice to get away for a bit and I came back relaxed and refreshed, though with a lot to do as I prepare to move. Looking forward to my own apartment very soon.

(first published on blogspot on April 18, 2014)

Our second day we took the bus down to the city in the morning and enjoyed dessert for our second breakfast at Cake Boss Cafe. I got a giant cookie which was delicious.

    Then we walked over to the Free Library. The inside was beautiful. As we walked inside the study room, I kept thinking how it must be so weird to be studying and have people constantly walking around you and taking pictures of the room.

      After that we took the subway down to see the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy and the crown tours were all sold out, but that’s ok since it was cloudy anyway. We still took the boat over the Liberty Island. We will just have to go back another time when the weather is nicer to get the crown tour and take more pictures.

    
        After that, we were hungry so we took the boat back to the city and found a deli to eat at. After eating we got tickets for the 9/11 memorial and the sun finally came out, which felt so good. I loved taking photos of the couple flowers on the memorial that people had left. Walking around the memorial was really peaceful. It was nice to see people respect the memorial and remember that day.

      At the memorial, they also have a tree called the “survivor tree” as it was rescued from the wreckage on 9/11 as an 8 foot stump and nursed back to health in a NYC park. Now it has been planted in the memorial site to grow. It’s really amazing to see trees recover from such destruction.

       From there, we headed to Central Park for a bit and then went back to the hotel.

         Then it was time to head back to Binghamton, NY before our next adventure in Virginia and DC.

(first published on blogspot on April 17, 2014)

On April 1, Brian and I drove down to NYC. We actually stayed in Secaucus, NJ and took a bus to NYC. I didn’t really have a list of things to see and do because I haven’t seen anything, so we were just going with the flow and exploring.
      We first went to Times Square which was a little overwhelming with all the lights and people. I mean I am used to lots of people when I go into downtown Chicago, but the lights of Times Square where so bright. I guess I’m not a NYC girl, but it was still fun.
         We walked passed Radio City Music Hall.

       While Brian got a snack (at the many street vendors), I noticed Magnolia Bakery. I have to be honest, I would have no idea this bakery was famous from Sex and the City (I’ve only watched the first season) before reading Heather’s post a week before my trip. It just so happened she went there a couple weeks before me, so thanks Heather. Anyway we enjoyed some cupcakes from the bakery. The frosting was a little sweet for me, but the cupcakes were still delicious (I only got a picture of my cupcake).

        We walked around Rockefeller Plaza where there were a lot of eggs on display for Easter as part of the Great Faberge Egg Hunt of NY. I loved taking pictures of the eggs in that plaza. I can’t imagine trying to find them all the eggs around NYC.

        Then there was Humpty Dumpty. I can’t forget him and my beautiful bridge along his wall.

  

We then went to the Top of the Rock to get a nice view of the city. It was kind of grey outside and I’m sure the view is prettier in summer when Central Park is green, but it was cool.

And of course I had to do a bridge.

       To end the evening, we ended up going to a comedy show. While walking through Times Square earlier we passed a guy selling tickets to a comedy show. He had to work hard to finally convince us to buy the tickets from him but we decided to go for it. We had nothing in particular planned and it was something new for both of us so we went to Comic Strip Live our first night.
     Since today was April Fool’s day, going to a comedy show was the perfect way to celebrate the holiday. We even played a prank on one of the comedians. We were told at the beginning of the show which one to not laugh at any of his jokes until the guy gave us the signal to yell April Fools. That poor guy was sweating and kept switching his jokes up because hardly anyone was laughing. When we yelled April Fools, he was caught totally off guard and didn’t know what jokes to tell us, so he ended up trying some new stuff on us which was funny.

   And now this post is long enough so part 2 will come later.

(first published on blogspot on APril 16, 2014) 

Happy Wednesday! So I meant to post this last week but didn’t have time to get the post together. I’m linking up with Jenn for another WIAW.

   Then there were salads from Whole Foods. I love their garlic kale from the salad bar!

Then the simple salads I made in my hotel room.

A spiedies salad in Binghamton, NY.

Another chicken avocado salad enjoyed at a restaurant in DC.

A night out for dinner at Four Sisters Vietnamese Restaurant with Brian, his parents and family friends who were kind enough to let us stay with them. This food was sooo good. Definitely had a food coma after this meal. We ordered multiple plates and shared.

chicken and broccoli

sooo much delicious food

a giant crepe

Last lunch out in Old Town Alexandria, VA at Flat Iron Steak and Saloon. Delicious chicken and avocado tacos. When I got home, I immediately had to make some similar tacos, because these were sooo good.

Later that night, Brian and I had a casual date night at a Chinese restaurant. I think it was one of the most successful date nights because we managed to talk and stay off our phones. Plus the food was delicious. Here was my ginger chicken dish.

    I tried to eat fairly healthy while I was out of town and I think I was pretty successful. As nice as it is to have other people make your food, I missed the kitchen and making my own food at home, so it has been nice to be back. It’s also a lot cheaper which is better on my bank account 😉

     Can’t wait to see everyone else’s eats today! Hope everyone has a good day!