After our week in North Carolina we flew to New York for the second portion of our trip. We landed at Newark and immediately headed to the Catskills to meet Brad, Sherry, Danielle, Eric, Paul, and Daniela for the weekend. Oh, it was great to be back with the gang and it was such a fun weekend! Friday night we had dinner at Jägerberg and stayed up late at the house chatting and laughing. We had a late breakfast the next morning and made the short drive to Hunter Mountain where we rode the chairlift up the mountain and hiked to the fire tower at the summit (2.2 miles RT). We had pizza at the house and more hanging out in the evening, including an escape game Daniela brought. On Sunday we squeezed in a visit to the Mountain Top Arboretum (lovely) before it rained and ate at Pupuseria Mi Ranchito in Kingston before heading home. It was a perfect way to kick off the NY leg of our trip.

When I first booked our trip, I thought we would have ample time to do many of the things on our list. Turns out I was naive in that assumption - our week filled up quickly! It was pretty jam packed with activities and dinners and we were happy to see so many friends and hit some of our favorite spots. This is what our week looked like:

Monday: Our plans for Splashdown were rained out, so instead Becky, Makalya, Norah, and I had breakfast at the Red Line Diner, went to the Danbury Mall, and watched Black Widow. In the evening I reunited with my Zumba buddies for a class at Gold's Gym.

Tuesday: Norah and I headed to NYC for an overnight stay with Anshu. Norah and I grabbed lunch with Anshu before we went to the MoMA. Anshu met us after work for an entertaining school/playground themed escape room (we escaped!) and we had dinner with Norman, Julia, Kayan, and Ed at Basta Pasta and gelato afterwards at Venchi.

Wednesday: We braved the heat and humidity to traipse all over the city. We started with the new Harry Potter Store near Union Square (well done!) and lunch at Eataly. We caught the subway to Brooklyn, walked by the famous viewpoint in DUMBO (the Empire State Building through the Manhattan Bridge), checked out the rooftop views from Empire Stores, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, walked to NoLita for rice pudding at Rice to Riches, took the subway to Little Island, took a break on the Highline, and walked through Chelsea Market before meeting Anshu for Thai food at Fish Cheeks (and Levain cookies afterwards!). *phew* Great day though! We were beat by the time we took the train back to the Hudson Valley.

Thursday: We took a walk at the Vanderbilt Mansion with Becky, had lunch at Nick's Pizza in Hopewell, and had dinner at Karl and Lucia's that evening (Building 310 FA reunited!).

Friday: We headed back to the city with Daniela and Becky to meet Charu at the NY Botanical Gardens. The gardens were beautiful and we loved the Kusama exhibit. That evening we had a Firepit Friday at Eric's house.

Saturday: The big Fire it Up! party. Woot! The music was terrific and I loved seeing everyone.

Sunday: We had a 2peas lunch at the Red Line Diner with Deirdre, Bobbi, Deb, and Emma and in the afternoon Norah and I visited MHAA and Beacon. We met Danielle, Ann Marie, and Erin for dinner at Mill House Brewery (lots of great reminiscing!).

Monday: On our last day we took it easy - packed up, had our last pizza at Giacomos, and our final dinner at El Figlio Enoteca with Becky, Danielle, and Sherry.

It was an awesome trip to NY! I was so happy we could see so many of our friends. Until next time!