Mother/Daughter NYC Trip, Day Three

Saturday ended up being a really low key day for us. Mom actually slept until 9:00, so we didn’t get up and get going until after 10:00. We decided to head to Chinatown for lunch, because I had been wanting to try soup dumplings for a long time. We ended up at Joe’s Shanghai, and unknowingly ordered two orders of the pork soup dumplings. WAY too much food. Two people can easily split one order.

For those of you who are curious, soup dumplings are Asian dumplings filled with pork and broth. You bite off the top of the dumpling, add a soy-ginger sauce to the broth, and try and eat the thing without squirting it everywhere. Very tricky, but especially tasty. They are served in a bamboo steamer, so they stay warm while you eat the others. We easily made a meal out of these.

After exploring Chinatown, we headed over to Chelsea Market – another staple on our visits to NYC. Mom and I buy a lot of oils and spices here because it is so much less expensive than at home. We also like buying the fresh pasta from the Italian market, because it’s so much more fresh and authentic than anything we can get in Texas. Unfortunately, both of my vices (Italian cookies and chocolate) were out of stock, so I couldn’t blow my diet. ;) Laden with bags once again, we grabbed a cab back to the hotel.

I ended up taking a nap Saturday afternoon, because I hadn’t slept exceptionally well on Friday night. Mom ended up napping too, and we slept until around 4:00. We got up, showered, and did our make up before heading to dinner. I decided to take her to one of my favourite places in Hell’s Kitchen, Empanada Mama.

Empanada Mama is a TINY restaurant with maybe 10 tables in the entire place, but it’s so tasty. I decided to try their pork empanadas this time, and they were even better than the beef I had last time! Incredible! Mom had the spicy chicken and the Cuban. We also ordered a medium pitcher of their red sangria. TASTY! Although… it was a LOT of sangria for the two of us. We had SEVERAL glasses, which helped keep me warm. ;) After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and got dressed for the theater.

We went to see Phantom of the Opera, as it’s definitely Mom’s favourite show. We had second row, center orchestra seats again. While I love Phantom, I was most disappointed with this cast. It was one of the weaker casts I’ve seen. However, I love the story, and the music is SO powerful, it’s hard to be truly disappointed. It was also Broadway Cares week, so I was able to get a new autographed poster for a donation to BC. (The prices have come down in this economy, lol.)

After Phantom, we headed to Sardi’s for our traditional post-Phantom dessert. As always, I ordered the profiteroles. They were especially good this time. We always do that, and anytime I have someone in NYC and we go see Phantom, I take them to Sardi’s after. It’s always fun to try and guess the celebrities from their caricatures on the wall. The service has always been good, too. I don’t know how their regular food is though.

Mother/Daughter NYC Trip

In one week, Mom and I are headed off to New York City for a long weekend. Several times throughout college, we spent my spring break there, and Mom has been missing that trip, so off we go. We’re going to see the newly opened Guys and Dolls with Lauren Graham and Phantom. I’m working on tickets to Jersey Boys, South Pacific, or Wicked… though admittedly, I am hesitant to go through a broker. It’s truly unfortunate that New York passed the legalization of scalping, because ticket prices have climbed even higher than usual. I’d really love for Mom to see Jersey Boys, but not at $250/ticket. I could buy premium seats from the theater for $300/each if I wanted to pay that. It used to be that you couldn’t sell for a certain amount over the face value of the ticket. Now all that is gone. Grrrr.

I am looking forward to our trip, but truthfully, I go to New York so often that it’s hard for me to be REALLY excited. I told Mom that we need to look into going elsewhere after this. I’d really love to take her to London, because she would love the West End theater, and we could mix it up a little. Maybe next year.

I still have a lot of holes to fill in on our schedule, but it’s a start I suppose.

March 12, 2009

• Arrive LGA, transfer to hotel
  
• 7:45 – dinner reservations at Ruth’s Chris
  
• Empire State Building or Top of the Rock
  

March 13, 2009

• Shopping day!
  
• Chelsea Market
  
• Dinner – tentatively Empanada Mama, Hells Kitchen
  
• 8:00 pm – Guys and Dolls, Nederlander Theater
  

March 14, 2009

• Late lunch at Peter Luger's, Brooklyn
  
• 8:00 pm – Phantom of the Opera, Majestic Theater
  
• Dessert at Sardi’s after the show
  

March 15, 2009

• Costume Institute at the Met
  
• 3:00 – South Pacific, Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center
  

March 16, 2009

• Lunch at Grimaldi’s, Brooklyn
  
• Walk back across Brooklyn Bridge
  
• Transfer to LGA, flight home