Last day

So my last day in New York before I headed down to the "Show me State", Emily and I managed to return to the Botanical Gardens after a nearly 2 years hiatus. Last time we went Emily brought the family membership, but as a "child" she could not invite me in for free. Some how we managed to get the tickets at a reduced price, but not the free trip we had imagined. It was great when we got in, but we had to skip the collection of whatever plant it was on display in the green house.

Not this time. Even though we went with expired memberships... we got free parking, free pass in, AND a free pass to the The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower display. Win-win-win situation. It was another gorgeous day which made for great pictures. All the while there was Carlos Santana playing in the background. Not only that, but it was easily 85 degrees in there and quite humid, a lot like the weather in Cuba, I imagine. Emily and I joked that now we don't need to go to Cuba... because we've been the the conservatory in the NY Botanical Gardens. Either way, it was a beautiful show.

Foodie's paradise

For the entire month of February, plus the first two weeks of March Emily and I did not go out for meals, we ate in cafe mac and made dinners. This was in anticipating for all of the good food we would eat (and money that we would spend) while we were on spring break... and that we did.

First on the menu, maybe not what a foodie would typically eat-- but it was SO good. We went to the famous Katz's Delicatessen in the Lower Eastside and had a Katz's special. This sandwich had pastrami, corned beef, sauerkraut, mayo AND cheese. We split the "special" which STILL gave us large portions. They also serve their sandwiches with 3 types of pickles. It was probably one of the best sandwiches I've ever had.

Next we ate at Tom Colicchio's restaurant Craft Bar. For those of you that don't know, Colicchio has been a judge on every season of Top Chef. A lot of the contestants, winners and judges have restaurants in the city so we figured we might try one out. I started off the meal with a "dark and stormy" ginger cocktail which was delicious, but a little too strong. Then we had two appetizers: hazelnut, acacia honey and pecorino fondue AND risotto balls with pecorino cheese and spicy tomato sauce. For the main dish we had Emily's favorite --- Scallops with oranges and celery root. The appetizers were very heavy (cheese) so the main dish was nice and light. I would certainly recommend this restaurant, and if you share the entrees it's not too bad.

To top it all off.... as if we needed to, we went to Max Brenner's and indulged in a chocolate peanut butter sundae. The ice cream melts fast, so it's impossible to eat it all.... which is a good thing. The peanut butter and chocolate sauce that comes on the side however, was good no matter what.


In the few days we were both there, we managed to eat a lot of good food!

Original Ms. America

Emily and I were very ambitious about making a trip to the ultimate tourist trap: Statue of Liberty. It was the first beautiful day in a while and half of NYC caught on and showed up at the statue. There were two lines to wait in, one to buy the ticket, and then another to wait in line (on line in NYC speak) for the ferry. Emily smartly suggested that we split up. She waited to buy the tickets for about 45 minutes and I waited in line to get on the ferry. By the time she was done, I was more than half way.... so we saved nearly an hour of waiting in line. I hope other people figured out how to beat the system. The lines were a surprise to us because the website was really unhelpful. Also, we learned that in order to go in the crown you must reserve tickets way in advance. We were there around mid-March, and there was no availble tickets to go into the crown until about mid-April.

But it was nice to be outside and not so bad to wait in line. There were steel drum performers tinking away as a soundtrack in the background as we waited. Before getting on to the ferry we had to go through security, similar to that of the airport, but we didn't have to take off our shoes which was nice.

We snapped a bunch of pictures with Ms. Liberty once we got there and heard some historical facts from the local park ranger while we were there. The story I found most interesting was that all of the states were meant to contribute something to this immense project (errecting the statue). They even place 50 circles around the cement base of the statue, and once the states gave money they would be engraved in each circle. However, not one state donated money (besides NY donating the property). During that era, the US was experiencing a struggling economy... so there wasn't much to give!


All and all, a good trip. Something I can check of my tourist list.

Family connection

I have never been to the MoMA and on a student budget... it was unlikely Emily and I were going to make a trip. However, Emily has a cousin who is the film curator at the museum. Via this connection, and her Grandma Sheila, we were able to get in no charge! That made the museum much better : ) and there was no pressure to spend 5 hours there to "get our money's worth". Instead we were able to enjoy our visit with out the stress.

Some of the highlights beyond the amazing art collection the MoMA owns (including many Picassos), we really enjoyed the Tim Burton exhibit, especially after seeing Alice and Wonderland. Also, the Monet exhibit was quite lovely.

Spring Break!!

No more travel delays after the holidays??? WRONG. My trip started off a bit shaky to the Northeast (after my flight was cancelled and I ended up taking a risk on two standby flight the following day from MSP to ATL to LGA), but I finally arrived on Saturday night and that's when the fun began!

It was a nice but intentional coincidence that I was in NYC for Rachel's 21st birthday. We all went out to brunch at a lovely place called Community Juice and Food near Columbia University. Emily and I both went for the savory side of brunch, the highlight was the biscuit for me, and the lowlight--- the $10 mimosa in a tiny champagne class. (When in Rome?)

Then we spent the rest of our day in the city "bopping around", as Emily likes to say. We hung out with one of Emily's friends from high school who introduced us to Rice to Riches, and delicatessen of Rice Puddings if you will. We got graham cracker and chocolate flavors... reminscent of a certain campfire treat.

For those of you that are weirded out by this idea, Emily thought that she hated rice pudding until she gave this place a try. It's like oatmeal, except better. Who doesn't like oatmeal? If you answered yes, you are really missing out.

4th Annual Step Show

Now for the fourth year in a row Macalester has invited black fraternities and sororities to perform at the Step Show. For those of us who don't know, "stepping" is traditional aspect unique to black fraternities and sororities check out this youtube video... it's hard to to describe . There were like four or five fraternities and maybe a couple sororities from all over (University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, Creighton University.... a school from Indiana, a wide array)

There was a dance beforehand and after, and the most important thing to remember is to NOT GET IN THE STROLL LINE. All of the frats dance around together.... and getting in the line either means you want to join, or start some beef. Not wanting to do either, I stayed clear, and helped other people to stay clear.


Afterwards we went to a party and then met up with the frats at the Summit House, hung out there for a while, went to the Cultural House, and then made a run to McDonald's (word to the wise you can't order fries at 3:30 AM because it's the "morning " menu only)... and then finally went to sleep.

All in all, a really fun night!

More Night of Blackness

Emily and I tried a "smokey eye" look... pretty much we just went on youtube and watched videos for a while of how to do it. One of the videos had over 1,000,000 views! It was very helpful, better than "wikihow" which has lots of how-to things but not with video/ comments. Here some pictures of Emily and I, enjoy.