A Glorious Drive Home

 We went to church in Connecticut and then drove home.  The entire drive was SO scenic.  The pictures don't do the drive home justice.  The foliage and rolls hills were glorious.

The boys came home and tried their Bertie Beans of Every Flavor.  They agreed that earwax and dirt were the worst.  Yuck!

NY NY

Being so close to the City, I couldn't resist heading down for the day.  We took the express train into Manhattan, and the view was so lovely.  Our first stop was to Liberty Bagels, because we didn't have a real breakfast.  Our hotel ended up being a construction zone.  It was a little crazy, but it didn't dampen our excitement for the day.  Little Guy has wanted another rainbow bagel since the last time we were in New York. He loves all things birthday cake flavored, so he was thrilled when he saw a special for the rainbow bagel with birthday cake cream cheese.  

Liberty Bagels was packed, so we took them to Bryant Park.  The weather had definitely turned cold, but gratefully it wasn't raining, so we ate outside before exploring the New York Library. 

The library was packed.  We were a little sad that the rooms we most wanted to see were closed without a guided tour, but it was fun to see multiple couples taking wedding pictures.  Little Guy also found a relic of my generation.

From there we went on our Midtown Food tour.  They were all around Rockefeller Center. We tried 2 new places and went back to a tried and true favorite.  First stop was Breads Bakery.  We tried a pumpkin rugelach (pastry) and a pumpkin challah (sweet bread roll).  We liked both, but the star was the Chocolate Babka.  It was delicious!

From there it was time for Myka Greek Frozen Yogurt.  I don't know what I was expecting but it exceeded my expectations.  They always have a plain greek frozen yogurt that's tangy and then another 2.  Today was cinnamon roll greek yogurt and a wild berry banana sorbet.  All 3 were delicious.  One topping is included. Of course, Joel chose the cinnamon roll greek yogurt and he added baklava pieces.  This is his pleasantly surprised expression:

Myka ended up being Little Guy's favorite food of the day.  He begged to go back a second time.  Sadly, we had other plans.  We went across the street to Magnolia Bakery, because we really wanted their banana pudding again.  What we didn't know is that they had a seasonal pumpkin pudding with biscoff, and it was the single best bite I put in my mouth the whole day.  It might be the best pumpkin product I've eaten, and I don't say that lightly.  You know how much I love my pumpkin. 

The star of the day was our matinee performance of Operation Mincemeat.  It was absolutely incredible!  We all loved it so much.  The kids liked it so much they said it was even better than Outsiders which had been the family favorite prior to today.

It was hilarious, but surprisingly poignant in places, and we were so impressed with the cast weaving in and out of multiple characters with tons of gender bending.  Brilliant!

Afterward we met up with Sara and met her husband Josse at Olde City. It was so fun to see them.  They came into the city from Long Island to have dinner with us.  The best thing there was definitely the fried garlic cheese curds, but we agreed this is one we probably wouldn't go back a second time with so many amazing options in the City.

 

Sara knew we had gone to the Forbidden Forest experience, so she wanted to take us to the Harry Potter store.  It was so cool!

We ended the evening with a Butterbeer and then took a train out of the city from Grand Central Station. 

So fun!  We're excited to go back.  We already have a list of things we want to see, eat, and do next time. 

The Forbidden Forest

 When Little Lady found out there was a Harry Potter Forbidden Forest experience coming to New York she was determined to go.  Luckily for her, she has a big softie for a dad, so we headed the 4 hours down to Westchester.  It rained the whole way there, so the ride was still gorgeous with all the Fall foliage.  We got so lucky, because it stopped raining and it was actually relatively warm.

It essentially has every occurrence in the books series that takes place in the Forbidden Forest.  It was really well done.  Little Lady absolutely loved it, and said it would have been worth the drive even if this was the only thing we had done.

 

Old Erie Canal

 The kiddos had the day off of school, so we took a beautiful Fall walk from Fayetteville up to the Old Erie Canal Trail.  

We came home and canned a batch of apple pie filling for fun.  I think next time I would double the recipe.