The final day of our weekend in New York City was my favorite day by far.
We set our alarms early again but this time for a run in Central Park. We wanted to beat the heat and get our day started. We took the subway up to Lexington Ave./59th and walked over to the park. While it was a little strange to take the subway to go running, it was really cool to be in the middle of the city early on a Sunday morning. The streets and sidewalks were nearly empty!
We entered the park down near the Plaza Hotel and longingly gazed at it in all its glory. Such a gorgeous building!
We ran 5 miles on the main loop. The run went by super quickly because there was so much to see between the scenery, other runners, dogs and a triathlon that was taking place in the park that day. The craziest part of the run came when we needed a bathroom break. I said to my friend, “let’s ask that girl where a bathroom is…she looks like she knows what she’s doing.” When I asked her she replied, “Do you write a blog?” It was a surreal moment to be recognized for this blog in the middle of NYC. In case you were wondering…we did find a bathroom at the tennis courts. Her second suggestion was squatting in the bushes but we decided we weren’t brave enough for that.
We couldn’t have asked for more a more perfect morning for a run through Central Park! After our run we hopped on the subway at 71st Street to head to the West Village for brunch.
We met Clara at Buvette, an extremely charming French bistro. I was pretty sold on it when I saw that they have two locations…one in Paris and one in NYC.
Buvette was perfect. We sat at the bar where we had a view of all of the food coming out. Everything was so beautifully presented. I had the steamed eggs with smoked salmon over toast. Two fun facts about this dish. 1) Buvette steams their eggs behind the bar using the espresso wand. They are so soft and fluffy! 2) I am the least picky eater ever but one thing I detest is capers. I have this personal policy where I keep trying things I don’t like to see if my opinion changes. I am so glad I did with these big caperberries that came on my breakfast. They were awesome. I think I’ll still pass on the little pea-sized ones though. 😉
My travel partner got the Croque Madame which looked to die for.
And Clara got this egg and bacon waffle sandwich.
And I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of these waffles overflowing with berries that were on the way to some lucky table.
I will definitely return to Buvette on future trips to NYC and I’d love to try it for dinner.
After brunch we walked through the West Village, Washington Square and back over to SoHo where we got showered and dressed for the day. We decided to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The last time I saw this well-known Monet painting in real life was when it was on loan to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta for a Monet Exhibition (this was many, many years ago). I bought a print of it and my grandmother had it framed in a really pretty gold frame for me. It’s been with me ever since. It was fun to see the real thing again!
After a morning full of running and walking, we got pretty hungry and tired at the Met. We took a cab over to the Upper West Side where we had plans to check out Levain Bakery. Before cookies we wanted something a little more substantial so we decided to check out what all the acai bowl talk was about at Greenforce Juice.
I totally get it now. I had the peanut butter bowl which was acaci, banana, peanut butter and almond milk blended for the base. It was topped with hemp granola, banana, cacao nibs, coconut and peanut butter. I never wanted this bowl of goodness to end.
After our acai bowls we strolled through the Upper West Side for a bit. Sunday was the best weather day we had on our trip. Temps were in the upper 80s but no humidity and abundant sunshine.
We eventually found our way to Levain where we took our place in line for their famed cookies.
The line moved quickly and we were inside within 15 minutes. I was shocked to see that the cookies were $4 each but then I saw the size of them. I dont’ know if you can tell from the picture but they’re basically the size of my hand and an inch or two thick. I took home a box of 8 cookies (2 of each flavor). FYI…these cookies travel very well due to their size/structure and the bakery employees told us they are good for 4-5 days.
Our last stop was Bloomingdale’s flagship store where we spent a couple of hours shopping. You could easily spend an entire day here…there are 9 floors (plus two lower levels), restaurants, boutiques and more. We had to get at least one shopping excursion in while in NYC and lucky for us they were having a big end of summer sale. Another random FYI for you…well-behaved and leashed dogs are allowed in the store…and we saw a few!
We left Bloomingdale’s and took the subway back to SoHo where we kicked our feet up for a while and researched pizza restaurants. Something about NYC makes a girl crave pizza. 🙂 Thanks to all of your suggestions we had many options to choose from. After making some calls and reading reviews we decided on Rubirosa in SoHo.
When we called we were told to expect an hour plus wait but we were pleased to be immediately seated upon arrival (which was awesome because were were starving!). We started with salads.
And then dug into this INSANELY DELICIOUS pizza. The picture isn’t stellar because it was really dim in the restaurant but hopefully you get the idea. We kept it simple with their traditional pizza, add sausage. I loved the thin, crispy crust.
After pizza we took a long walk through SoHo to Washington Square Park (where we were amazed to see hundreds of people hanging out at 9 p.m. on a Sunday) and over to Big Gay Ice Cream. This was another place that was suggested over and over again. We waited in line for about 20 minutes before making it in to order.
The thing you need to know about Big Gay Ice Cream is that it isn’t your traditional flavors by the scoop ice cream shop. They do soft-serve variations like dipped cones, milk shakes, ice cream sandwiches, floats, etc. I had the American Globs with vanilla soft serve, pretzels, sea salt and chocolate.
It was the perfect way to wrap up our weekend in the city. In just three short days we covered 44 miles on foot, sweated through some great classes, ate at wonderful restaurants, saw a Broadway show, went to a museum, visited uptown, downtown, SoHo, East Village, West Village, Times Square, Upper West Side and Central Park and thoroughly enjoyed our #cucpakesdonutsandicecream tour of the city.
I so enjoyed our time in New York City but I sure was grateful to arrive home in Charlotte on Monday and walk into my house…and see my yard and my girls! NYC gives you a little perspective around all that!
Thanks to all who helped us plan. I’ll be writing that massive “NYC food + fitness recommendations” post soon so be on the lookout for that.
Here are the links to the first two days of our weekend:
NYC Food + Fitness Girl’s Weekend Day 1
NYC Food + Fitness Girl’s Weekend Day 2
I HAVE to try Greenforce Juice! That acai bowl looks beautiful! So jelly of your trip!
I miss Central Park so much. It’s the best place to run- especially in great weather. I’ve been making acai bowls at home now because I loved them so much in the city.
The weather was absolutely perfect for out run! An acai bowl food truck recently came to Charlotte, and I need to go check it out. But I’m not sure it can beat the one I had in New York!