Monday dawned and I was on my own. My sister had a conference to attend so on Sunday night I had searched through my little guide book and the internet to decide where I was going to visit. My sister wanted to visit the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim with me so those were out for Monday. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was closed on Monday so I decided to visit the American Museum of Natural History.
I was out earlier than the museum opened and needed to get some breakfast so I decided to head back the two blocks back to Rockefeller Center and Magnolia Bakery to get a muffin for breakfast – lemon zest muffin by the way and was wonderful. I snapped some photos around Rockefeller Center and then walked the 27 blocks to the American Museum of Natural History.
It was a nice walk and I really feel like you see more when you are walking. You're saving money by not taking a taxi and you are getting good exercise. Just plan the time it will take in case you have to be somewhere at a certain time.
Now normally a museum like this really wouldn't be something I would enjoy, but I knew that DS would love it so I wanted to visit at least to get some photos for DS to see. (Who, by the way, is still mad we didn't take him with us. ) 🙂
Admission is $15.00 per adult to the museum. The AMNH is open from 10:00 a.m.-5:45 p.m. 7 days a week except on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Your bags are searched before you enter much like the security at Walt Disney World. Cameras are allowed and you can use your flash on your camera unless it's otherwise noted in the exhibit. No tripods or external lights are allowed, though.
You can literally spend all day and probably another day studying everything in the museum. I thought the dinosaur skeletons were the most interesting as well as the native american area. Oh and the hall with the african animals with all the elephants in the middle was interesting as well.
I walked back through Central Park after leaving the museum. It was during the day and I never felt unsafe. Being winter the trees were all bare, but I could just imagine it during spring and summer. Here's just a couple of photos from Central Park. I'll share more in another post from when my sister and I both walked through part of the park.
After resting a bit and waiting on my sister we went to dinner at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain. It was a bit pricey by Alabama standards, but was far less than you could pay in New York. And the food? Absolutely incredible. My sister ordered an apple, blue cheese and pomengranate salad that was amazing. It wasn't a creamy blue cheese dressing, but more of a vinagrete type dressing. The mixture of the spicy and sweet was wonderful.
Now being a born and raised southern girl I never imagined myself going to New York City and ordering fried chicken. I've eaten some great fried chicken in my life, but now I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat fried chicken again without comparing it to the dish I ordered at Bar Americain. And I seriously doubt any will ever come close to it. It was fried chicken over a honey sauce with pepper biscuits and I had a side order of sweet potato gratin. There's no way to describe how good the food was. I'm always in awe of a chef that can combine various flavors and create an incredible dish.
After dinner we walked back over to Rockefeller Center and found St. Patrick's Cathedral. For now just a few photos from there. I'll share more in a later post.
