It’s hard to believe that two weeks have flown by since the marathon and we haven’t posted an update on our on-going Big Apple adventure. Here’s a rundown on how we’ve been spending our time since the big race.

The day after the marathon we took advantage of a 2 for 1 offer to visit the top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, One World Trade Center. The three story observatory (floors 100, 101, and 102 provides 360 degree views of New York City and into New Jersey. One World Observatory was a fun way to see the entire marathon course from above, sort of. We were lucky to be there on a sunny and clear day.

Once the marathon hoopla was over we settled into “normal.” Normal for us includes regular visits to the Westside YMCA and afternoon strolls in Central Park. You can see many of the photos we’ve taken of the fall colors and park scenes. We really believe we’re here at the most perfect time of year as the weather has been cool but comfortable, and the daily changing colors have been magnificent.

In addition to enjoying the city at a little slower pace, we’ve been checking a few other sites off the list. One day we went to the Museum of Natural History and took in the dinosaurs and space rocks. On another day we took the subway to the DUMBO section of Brooklyn and enjoyed the views of Manhattan from Brooklyn Bridge Park. This is also where we had the very best pizza so far at Juliana’s. Juliana’s is the mother restaurant of Grimaldi’s, which is now a well known pizza chain. The original stuff at Juliana’s, from a coal-fired oven, was awesome.

In honor of Dad, we attended the annual Veteran’s Day parade, which is known here as America’s Parade. It claimed to have 50,000 marchers and the procession went on for hours following a wreath-laying ceremony led by New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio.

We couldn’t come to New York around the holidays without going to the Rink at Rockefeller Center. Going earlier in the season was a little less expensive and easier to get in, so we went for it. While the tree is not yet lit, it was surrounded by scaffold and being decorated as we skated. We’ll go back at the end of the month to witness the official tree lighting. In the meantime, we went round and round with many others who hadn’t been on skates for years, if at all. Considering that neither of us had been on skates for years, we did pretty well.

A few times over the past few weeks we’ve taken in more of the fabulous entertainment available in this city. We were in the front row for a taping of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and we saw an interesting Broadway play called The Encounter. Tonight we went to the Shops at Columbus Circle to see a free performance by stars of Kinky Boots. Our goal is to catch at least one more musical before we leave and we’ll be entering the daily lotteries to try to score low cost tickets.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is in just three days and our next blog post will feature this iconic experience. Stay tuned!

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This week we hit a few of New York’s iconic attractions.

First, we took the subway out to the Bronx Zoo on a cool but sunny fall day. The Bronx Zoo is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States. We loved the Wild Asia Monorail, which took us through a 40-acre area that recreates the mud wallows and pastures, forests and riverbanks of Asia. As we traveled along the Bronx River, we saw Siberian tigers, Indian elephants, and rhinos. Another favorite was the Congo Gorilla Forest which is home to 20 lowland gorillas. After this exhibit we decided that gorilla watching in the Congo or Rwanda is now on our list of places to visit. All in all we were impressed with the Bronx Zoo and would highly recommend it.

On another day this week we braved a rainy and cold day and walked across Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We’d heard the raves about the Met, the largest museum in United States, but we really didn’t comprehend the magnitude of it until we stepped foot inside. From Egyptian temples to arms and armor and from Asian art to European masters, we were in awe at every turn throughout the vast building. A few of our favorites included two sets of King Arthur VIII’s armor: one set from when he was in fighting condition and one from when he was much larger. We were also impressed by the taxidermic deer covered with glass orbs, created by a Japanese artist. Of course, the impressionists stole the show, as there is nothing like seeing an original Van Gogh, Monet, or Matisse.

Today we took the free Staten Island Ferry across the bay to a highly recommended restaurant. Brunch is a big deal here in NYC, so we decided to partake. We dined at Beso, which was just steps from the Ferry Terminal. For a fixed price of $25 each we had sangria, soup, steak and salmon, and two desserts. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, topped off with great views of the Statue of Liberty and downtown Manhattan from the ferry.

In the past week we also finished our concert-going streak by seeing the classic 80s band Foreigner in an acoustic performance at Carnegie Hall. While we are fans of Foreigner, the visit inside Carnegie Hall was worth the price of admission. Then, on Friday evening we ticked another New York classic off the list when we saw Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. Bill Joel is the only artist to have a residency at the arena, and he’s done over 33 sold out shows over the past few years. Needless to say, he was incredible.

Marathon week has officially kicked off and our next week will be all about the race. Yesterday we attended another free fitness class sponsored by Dr. Jordan Metzl and the Central Park Conservancy. Yoga for Runners is an annual event to launch the marathon activities, and we had a great day for the outdoor stretchfest. We followed that up with the Poland Springs Five Mile Marathon Kickoff Race in the park. The race started and ended at the Marathon finish line and the bleachers, signage, and pavilion are all up and ready for next week’s big event. You can watch Steve and over 50,000 other participants run 26.2 miles through all five of NYC’s boroughs, finishing in front of Tavern on the Green next Sunday, November 6. It will be broadcast on ESPN2. Our next blog will be a special marathon edition.

Have a great Halloween everyone and thanks for reading!

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