The Bagel Debacle

Wikipedia defines a debacle as an event that turns out as a disaster.

The majority of my recent trip to New York was amazing....with one major exception: my attempt at finding the perfect New York bagel!

**************

I was determined to find a SUPER yummy and truly authentic bagel the first morning we were in NYC. So I pulled out my trusty phone and googled "Best place to eat a bagel in NYC" with great results. I found two places both within a few blocks of Grand Central.
***************

First we headed to Daniel's Bagels.

Unfortunately when we got there, we saw this on the door:

In case you can't read the sign, it says they are closed for the day! I figure it must be my awesome luck that they just happen to be closed the one day that I am in NYC and looking for a bagel...especially since we walked more than a few blocks out of our way just to get bagels.

***************

Now I was more determined than ever to get a good bagel, so instead of giving up we headed uptown to Ess-a-Bagel. We had to backtrack about 6 blocks from Daniel's and continue up another 8 blocks or so to get to Ess-a-Bagel's. But again we see no line, no customers...just a note on the door:

Yep! They were closed for the day too!

Apparently Jason and I don't keep up with our Jewish holidays as well as we should, because the one day that I was determined to find a bagel {which are usually made in kosher bakeries} was Rosh Hashanah.

*******************

I gave up that day, and settled for a SUPER delicious croissant instead....but I was still determined to get that bagel.

So bright and early the next morning we head back to Ess-a-Bagel....only to realized we should have read their sign a little more closely.

Yep! They were closed on Friday too!
************

It only took three attempts, but I finally got that awesome New York bagel that I was hoping for! And it was totally worth it...plus all that walking was surely enough to burn off all the calories in the HUGE bagel loaded down with strawberry cream cheese!

A 1st Time Tourist's View of New York City!

Our first view of NYC came in the form of Grand Central Terminal.

Jason and I stayed outside the city near the New York/Connecticut state line, which means to get into the city we took the commuter train into Grand Central. This place is HUGE and SUPER busy. From Grand Central, we took our first of many subway rides. We took the S train, which is a shuttle from GCT to Times Square.
The first thing on our list of things to do was to see a Broadway show...and we did! We even got a great deal on tickets by using the TKTS booth.
The next day was all about seeing as many famous sights as possible. We caught a quick glimpse of The Empire State building from below...we had plans to see the top later in the day.

We walked by The New York Public Library and took a quick picture with either Patience or Fortitude...I'm not sure which is which:)

We walked by Bryant Park. No Fashion Week here, this year it was being held at The Lincoln Center.

Then we took a two hour boat tour around the city and got some great views of the Statue of Liberty,

the NYC skyline,

and Ground Zero.

After the boat tour, we took a quick subway ride over to Brooklyn and then a {not so quick} walk back across the Brooklyn Bridge.

We ended our second night in the city with amazing views from the top of the Empire State Building.Over the next few days, we checked out some pop culture sights:)

I took some pictures of buildings that I have no idea what their names are...

....and some that everyone knows!

We took a ride to the Top of the Rock,

and saw unbelievable views of the city and Central Park.

After that view, we had to experience a little bit of Central Park on foot too!

We even managed to squeeze in a visit to a museum...
or two.

We saw this masterpiece in person....it is gorgeous!

We ended our trip to NYC with a night at the Waldorf-Astoria.

And this view {out our hotel window} was one of our last views of NYC before heading back to Mississippi.

Wordless Wednesday: NYC!