New York In 5 Days - Day 1

We started our trip on a early Monday morning flight to the east coast, landing in New York at 7:00 pm.

We arrived at our clean and comfortable room at The Hampton Inn North, put our bags down and ran right out the door to get our first taste of the city. Our first priority was to find something for dinner. Making our way down the busy sidewalks, we found ourselves at 53rd & 6th, right by the Halal Cart I had read about on yelp. Although it looked questionable, the ground beef, rice, pita bread and some of the spiciest sauce I have ever had, was delicious. It also allowed me to cross off my list of New York experiences - eat off a food cart.

With a good base layer of "real food" it was time for the main event, dessert.

Now my original plan was to walk to Serendipity3, put our name on the waiting list then head over to Dylan's Candy Bar to pass time, but as we became closer to 3rd avenue the glow of Dylan's came into view. Like a three year old, I was too excited to come back in 5 minutes, and just had to go in now.

Dylan's was my dream shop: candy wallpaper, large candy decorations and candy theme music echoing though the store. (Lets be honest, I would fill my own bathtub with gumballs if my husband would allow it.)

Out of the 3 floors of candy goodness and cute non-edible items, my daughter picked out a package of Peanut Butter Moon Pies??? I picked out a cute sweatshirt for camping and a Sugartarian T shirt. I Love the T shirt!

After oohing and aahing over everything in the candy shop, we walked further down the street to the picture perfect New York restaurant Serendipity3. Like I originally thought we should have put our name in before we went to Dylan's, because at 10:00pm there was a a 30 minute wait.
It was hard for us to decide which two desserts we would try. Serendipity is best known for The Golden Opulence (a $1,000 sundae) and the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, because you have to order the Golden Opulence 48 hours in advance we decided on the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. (OK, so maybe we didn't order it because it was a little out of my price range.)

Not being able to decide on something to share, we ended up getting two desserts as well as the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. My daughter, being a peanut butter lover ordered a Hot Fudge Sundae???, so I ordered the Humble Pie, a peanut butter pie with a graham cracker crust.
The Frrozen Hot Chocolate was gross. It was like a chocolate frappuccino my daughter gets from Starbucks, which I think are disgusting. Chocolate milk with chips of ice, no thank you. The Hot Fudge Sundae was OK but nothing special, but the Humble Pie was wonderful. The cool and creamy peanut butter filling, in a peanut buttery graham cracker crust was especially good with a few spoonfuls of my daughters fudge sauce.

We walked back to our hotel in a sugar haze, with more fun and sweets awaiting us in the morning,



* Tip - Put name in at Serendipity3, then walk back to Dylan's Candy Bar to wait.
* Cost - Serendipty3 Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, Hot Fudge Sundae, & Humble Pie $28.80

Planning For New York

How do you plan trip to New York around food, when you are super picky? I am not sure but I am trying. Besides seeing the necessary New York icons, like the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, and Tiffany & Co., you have to eat at their great restaurants, at least that's what I hear. The problem is that I don't eat gourmet food.(Not even gourmet desserts!) I am not refined enough I guess to appreciate a giant white plate with a few splashes of sauce and a small dollop of pate or something else of a questionable texture. So with those limitations, finding "New York" places to eat is a challenge. (I know foodies are rolling their eyes and calling me names.)
Even more important than finding good restaurants, is finding good non frou-frou desserts. I scoured Yelp and Urbanspoon, watched Food Network, and searched a few helpful website like Dessert Buzz, trying to make a list of desserts I must try. I am determined not to miss a single delicious dessert, even if that means I will have to wear something with a elastic waist band for the plane ride home.

After mapping out step by step what to see and were to eat, I printed out my three page itinerary and am ready to conquer New York. (Yes I know I have more issues than just how I eat)