Food on the Spring 2026 NYC Trip

On the way up, we stopped for pizza in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. We drove a little further for dessert at The Shoppes of Premise Maid. We found a geocache, had some ice cream, and bought a treat for our NYC hostess. I had their Shoo Fly Pie ice cream in a pretzel cone. My wife called it the most Pennsylvanian thing I could order.

Entrance to heaven

"Educational" part of the store--how they make stuff

Me and my ice cream

We made it to New York in time for the dinner rush. We got ramen at Ramen Ishida Chelsea, just north of where we were staying. I had a bowl of the Plant Based Shoyu, with broth, bamboo, bok choi, corn, bell pepper, bean sprouts, and other delightful bits. It was delicious.

Fancy bowl at no extra charge!

A happy client

The second day, we had breakfast and lunch at Google NYC, so no pictures there. Then we made pasta for dinner at our home away from home, which was not very photo worthy either. The next day we had bagels for breakfast from a nearby bagel place, Sofia's. They were great. I had a cinnamon raisin bagel.

Sofia's Bagels

We were in the theater district for lunch and had to rush so we had some McDonalds (no pictures of that). For dinner, we tried out a very popular hot bar at Tashkent Market (a supermarket in the Village). I got the Kutabi with Spinach, an Azerbajani flat bread stuffed with spinach and other good things.

The store spells it "kutabi"

For dessert, we went to Salt and Straw, a local ice cream shop with custom flavors (along with classic flavors). I had the Coconut Cherry Pie with Almond Crust ice cream (two desserts in one!). They were making special salted brownie waffle cones, so I couldn't resist getting that. It was amazing. If I lived here, I would go at least once a week, if not more often. Maybe I would get a job there?

Coconut Cherry Pie ice cream

The next day was our final morning in the city, so we got bagels again (had to finish the leftover cream cheese!). If the ice cream shop had been open, I would have gone there again!

Maybe they will open one in our hometown?

NYC 2026 Trip--Random Odd Things in NYC

Here's a bunch of random bits of NYC that didn't fit in other posts...

We visited the fire station that was the headquarters in the original Ghostbusters movie. They don't let anyone inside but they do have some appropriate decorations. A nice lady (and Ghostbusters fan) took our picture!

Where ya gonna go?

Closeup of us

I found a geocache that was part of a "SATC" series. I didn't realize that meant "Sex and the City" which I have never seen. According to the cache page Samantha moved to this area (the Meatpacking District) in season 3. 

A geocache is a geocache

Gay Street is a short thoroughfare, only a block or two, and also has a geocache. Sheryl Crowe shot a music video here for "A Change Would Do You Good."

Gay Street

Near the theater where we saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is Times Square. We walked through looking for lunch options. 

Times Square, just like the building says

K-Pop Demon Hunters at the square

56 Leonard Street looks like it was fun for the architect to design but a nightmare for the engineer to build.

56 Leonard Street

Not sure if I would go out on those balconies

The James Hotel looks like they ran out of money to finish the top. Or maybe there's a rooftop ballroom with an outdoor area?

The James hotel

We saw a lot of parking lots with stacked cars, something we haven't seen anywhere else.

Valet service, I hope

A thirty-foot tall steel tree sculpture adorns a square in the Meatpacking District. It's called Where Angels Live and was crafted by Charlotte Colbert.

Tree=Heaven?

I was amazed to see a row of houses that resisted the modernization pressures of the big city.

From the good old days

The Goodnight Moon house was moved to Greenwich Village in 1967 to avoid demolition. It was owned at one point by Margaret Wise Brown (author of Goodnight Moon). It's still a private residence and defies all the high rises around it. 

Little house on the corner

The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin sits just outside Times Square, nestled in among regular buildings.

Church of Saint Mary

Another geocaching discovery is Jefferson Market Library. Originally it was the local courthouse. It was converted to a library in 1967. It's definitely fancier than any libraries in my area.

Jefferson Market Library

Library wall decor inside

The geocache

The city has a lot of other library-centered geocaches, so I can't wait to get back and explore more.

On the way home we saw a thirty-foot statue of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, in Newcastle, Delaware. We saw a companion statue by the same artist in California here. The artist is local to Newcastle and the residents wanted their own statue when they saw how great the California one came out.

Our Lady, Queen of Peace

NYC 2026 Trip--Google NYC

We visited the Manhattan Google office in the former Port Authority Building. Like a lot of Google buildings, some whimsy is added to make the Googlers' work lives more happy. The outside does not exhibit that whimsy.

Google NYC

While we were waiting for our guest badges to print off, my kids found mechanical flowers hanging from the ceiling that open up when you approach them

What is that not growing up there?

Wandering around, we found a small museum of old technology. My children were fascinated by discs that were almost disk shaped and the great variety of keyboards. They even have an abacus on display!

Home for abandoned tech

Counting the old fashioned way

The building also has a game room which features pingpong, pool tables, foosball, board games, and video games including a DDR-style game. We tried out the later but only my wife was any good at it. She had plenty of practice back in the day. 

So much to play!

The classic

Another hallway has a display of Lego creations by Googlers, including a QR code that was a joke. A nearby table has more Lego for people to make new creations and add them to the shelves.

What would you build?

The roof is accessible in good weather, allowing views of Manhattan.

Empire State Building in the distance

More skyscrapers

View to New Jersey

View south to the World Trade Center

A church nestled in among the buildings!

Kooky and expensive hotel across the street

We visited several of the mini-kitchens to get snacks, along with having lunch at the cafeteria. The company takes care of its employees and their guests! It was a fun visit.

NYC 2026 Trip--Rise NY

My son picked out RiseNY as an attraction he wanted to see. It was in the Times Square vicinity, so near the theater where we saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The attraction is part museum and part theme-park ride. The experience starts with a fancy video telling the story of the first subways in New York, which opened in 1904. The first underground tracks ran from City Hall in the south of Manhattan up to 145 Street in Harlem.

Subway station exhibit

The museum part of the attraction goes through the history of New York, including the time that Alexander Hamilton spent there as a lawyer and the founder of the Bank of New York. By his portrait were several buttons that promised descriptions of his activities, including with his famous duel with Aaron Burr. When I pushed one, the portrait began speaking!

That "still life" isn't always still

Nearby is a picture of the famous Charging Bull statue in the Financial District and a replica of the recently (2017) installed Fearless Girl statue, also in the Financial District.   

Art in the Financial District

A display describes the famous tall buildings in New York City.

Woolworth and Chrysler Building (corporate sponsorship even then?)

The next exhibits covered the cultural impact of New York City, mostly in television. Recreations of The Honeymooners apartment and the Friends couch are on display. 

Recreation of the main set of The Honeymooners

Relaxing on the Friends couch

Many late night shows are recorded and broadcast from New York. One display shows the famous visit of the Beatles to The Ed Sullivan Show. Also on the stage is one Cab Calloway's Zoot suits. 

British invasion!

Cab Calloway's finest

The next rooms were dedicated to Broadway and fashion. One display shows costumes from Aladdin, Wicked, and Phantom of the Opera, all extremely popular musicals.

Broadway fashions

Other fashions were on display as well.

The final part of Rise NY is a motion ride that takes riders through the sweeping vistas of New York City. It was very impressive, reminiscent of the Harry Potter rides at Universal Studios, though with less action and danger. It was a great overview of all the amazing parts of New York City.

The exit was through the gift shop (naturally) though we didn't buy any souvenirs here.

NYC 2026 Trip--Central Park Bits

We visited Central Park briefly on our Spring trip to New York City. We came in the west side at West 86th Street (out of the subway, naturally). The park entrance here is very unassuming. 

The way into Central Park

This entrance brought us straight to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, the largest body of water in the park. It was built in 1862 and eventually decommissioned as a reservoir in 1993. It was named after Jackie Kennedy, who used to jog around here. The jogging trail is still there and is a little over a mile and a half long. 

JKO Reservoir

El Dorado Apartment building overlooking the reservoir

We meandered along the trails, trying to get south of West 86th Street, which cuts through the park. We found one of the many charming bridges in the park. 

Not actually over 86th

Behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art is Cleopatra's Needle. The Egyptian obelisk was originally erected in Heliopolis in 1450 BC along with another obelisk. The inscriptions were added by Ramesses II in 1250 BC. The obelisks were moved to Alexandria by Cleopatra in 12 BC to commemorate the Roman conquerors of Egypt. In the late 19th century AD, the Egyptian government gave these two obelisks away--one to the United States and one to the United Kingdom. The UK obelisk is in London.

Cleopatra's Needle

A rough translation of the inscription

Crab at the corner of the obelisk's base

Not far from the obelisk is the King Jagellio Monument. Originally made for the 1939 World's Fair by Stanislaw Ostrowski, this feature of Poland's exhibit couldn't be returned because of World War II. The statue was moved to Central Park in 1943. Jagellio was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. He defeated the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Gruwald in 1410.

King Jagellio Monument

Awesome dual-sword wielding!

A small lake called the Turtle Pond didn't have any turtles when we saw it. There were some short ladders that were labeled for ice rescues. They seemed a bit rickety for the job--maybe the intent is to scare visitors away from playing on the ice (when the pond is frozen). 

Turtle Pond

Overlooking the pond is Belvedere Castle. The castle was built in 1869 as a lookout. Now it is a gift shop, though previously it was used as a weather station. Visitors come for the views of the park. The rocky outcropping it stands on is also impressive.

Stairs chiseled into the rock

Castle Belvedere

Another view of the castle

On our way out of the park at East 79th Street, we saw Cedar Hill, which did have some cedars on it.

Cedar Hill

There is a lot more of Central Park to explore which we will definitely do on future trips!