Top of the Rock

At the end of July Ben took me on a date.  {He spent his birthday cash on me…aren’t I special???}  We thought it might be the last for a little while with baby arriving soon.  We had planned to go to the 9/11 Museum.  However, the day turned out to be absolutely gorgeous so Ben decided to scratch something off my NYC bucket list – the Top of the Rock.  The Top of the Rock is an observatory deck in midtown Manhattan on the top of the Rockefeller Center.  The view was so worth it!

Empire State Building, Freedom Tower, and Statue of Liberty (it’s bigger in the next picture)

Looking Downtown

Looking Uptown – Central Park

Ben used Central Park as an illustration of holiness in a recent Gospel message.  To be holy is to be totally separate.  When you are in Central Park, you can so easily forget that you are even in New York City.  From the Top of the Rock, Central Park takes up a major part of the city.  It gives urban dwellers a respite from the daily grind.  It is separate.

Looking uptown toward the Bronx

We finished our date with dinner at Madison Square Park.  We stood in this long line to eat at the Shake Shack.  Each Shake Shack location has it’s own specialty, and they have expanded to be in many major cities across the country.  I had the Mushroom Burger – not a beef patty with ‘shrooms on top.  It was a Portobello mushroom stuffed with two cheeses and then breaded and deep fried on a bun.  It was to die for!

It was the perfect night to eat in the park – not too hot, and not too cold.

They even have a doggie menu!

Delish!