time to take off

i don’t think i’ve talked about my big epic NYC fail, have i??

so when we booked our trip, i’d gone online to try and set up as many excursions and experiences as i could still get for us.  we’d made a checklist of things we wanted to do while in the city, and i did my best to get reservations for everything that was still available in our short window of time - you know, stuff like the statue of liberty, the balloon museum, the afternoon tea bus, etc.  

one of those things that i was able to score was ice skating at rockefeller center - but you may have noticed that i didn’t include a recap of that particular activity in these last few posts (maybe not. we did a shitton of stuff, after all). i had everything that i’d secured saved in the calendar in my phone so that i could keep track of it all which sounds like a solid plan, right?

except that when we showed up for our skating reservation, we were turned away.  and why?  well, because i’d entered the session in my phone before we left, while we were at home in california.  and when we arrived in new york…everything changed to EST.  and so when we got to rockefeller center, all excited for some ice skating fun, we were three hours too late.  i was in tears, so upset, and there was nothing we could do because of course, it was the week before christmas and every session was completely sold out.

seeing my sadness, the hub decided that we’d spend our last morning in new york ice skating at one of the rinks in central park.  and because the hub is the best man on the face of the earth, he booked us into the sweetest VIP experience that central park had to offer. i tell you, i do not deserve that man.

of course, we stopped one last time at ess-a-bagel for the bean to enjoy one last “mr. nova lova” sandwich.  i tell you, this child dreams about that thing.  garlic bagel, avocado cream cheese, smoked salmon, sliced avocado.  definitely not my jam, but for sure the bean’s.

and then we had a nice, brisk walk to central park as we made our way to the ice rink.

when we got there, we followed the signs to VIP check-in and were greeted by our own personal attendant.  he led us through the crowds into the tent that was set up right next to the rink.

while we waited for our session to begin, our attendant (i’m so sorry that i can’t remember the guy’s name, oops) got our shoe sizes and went back through the crowds to grab skates for us.  the bean and i hit up the snack bar and poured ourselves some delicious hot cocoa.

the hub and i hadn’t been on ice skates in years.  the bean had just gone with some friends at home, so they were feeling fairly confident.  but i’d say the hub and i were just worried about falling and breaking a hip or something.

as it turns out (for me, at least), it was much like riding a bike - it comes right back to you.  after a few minutes of wobbling, i felt confident enough to skate several laps and had a great time.

the hub did maybe two laps and tapped out.  the bean wasn’t too far behind him, and i found myself skating around pretty happily.  and then it was time to go back to the tent and trade the skates for our street shoes.  we headed back to the hotel one last time to retrieve our luggage and then we hopped into an uber to the airport for the last thing on our itinerary.

so the TWA hotel has been on my list of “must-sees” forever.  i love a good nostalgia moment, and i was super excited to go (although i don’t think either of my travel companions gave half a shit).  this space used to be the TWA terminal back in the day and is a new york city designated landmark and part of the national register of historic places.  they’d preserved as much of it as they could, and walking inside was like stepping back in time.

the room was small, but no smaller than your typical nyc hotel.  and it didn’t even really matter, because we’d bought a day pass and weren’t actually going to spend the night there.  it was just a nice way to relax in the hours between check-out from our hotel in the city and check-in for our flight back home.

once they realized that it was a retro themed hotel, the bean was a lot more interested.  it was all really well done, with tons of fun photo ops and displays to look at and signs to read. we actually ended up a little bummed that we WEREN’T actually spending the night.

we went downstairs to check out the gym, which i would have loved to actually use.  i mean, look at all of those peloton bikes!

and of course, there was a whole gift shop with the cutest merch.

we went back to the room to meet up with the hub, who suggested that we go outside to the old plane that had been converted into a bar.

and then we went back inside and grabbed a treat at the snack bar, which was decorated with lots of old TWA memorabilia.

by then, it was time to check out and head to the gate and board our plane for the trip home. bye for now, twa hotel!  maybe next time we’ll actually sleep in the bed!

TSA precheck is our very best friend.  short line through security, shoes stay on our feet, nothing has to be pulled out of our carryon bags. 

since the seats are in twos, the bean and i sat together while the hub was just across the aisle.

we enjoyed a pretty darn good dinner before settling in for the duration of the flight.

a few hours later, we were home.  it’d been a wonderful trip, and we were looking forward to coming back to the old lady and the old man, plus teddy and cocoa.  not to mention, it was christmas eve and time to switch gears into full holiday mode. woohoo!