Unique Activities during an NYC Winter
Round 2. We woke up a little earlier because we had a fun-filled day of adventure going on. We ate at Ess-a-bagel again and headed down to 5th Avenue.
HOLLA-Lens
We went to the Microsoft Store, which is really one of the only places you can demo a Hololens! They're actually who we packed the chocolate for. We got a store tour as well and learned a lot about what goes on in the flagship location. Can't talk about it much, but I can say it was cool. If you're interested in the technology, check the video out below. The store hosts sessions where anyone can try it, but it's limited to certain days. Be sure to plan ahead if you want to try it!
It's located on 5th Avenue. While it's a very nice street, isn't very different from Waikiki. Anyway, it was only a little cold so we walked up 5th Avenue to see what was up and head to our next destination.
Strutting the Streets
We were looking for a specific subway station to bring us up to the museum, but on the way... It snowed! So exciting! It was really neat to see snow falling. You could probably also tell we were tourists by our pure fascination with seeing if we could catch it.
While walking, we did encounter that LOVE statue that has apparently been famous the height of pop art in the mid-20th century. Thanks, Wikipedia! We eventually made it to the southwestern corner of Central Park as the winds picked up so we ducked into the subway really quickly.
Subway riding was much better today, probably because it was a weekend.
A MUSEum!
Puns aside, we got to the American Museum of Natural History! We must have approached from the back entrance because we saw that we were closest to the planet exhibitions when we entered. We opted for the General Admission + 1 because I wanted to see butterflies!
During the winter, it hosts a Butterfly Conservatory for tropical butterflies. Since they're all in heat they're flying around and you actually get to stand around them! I love insects, I don't know why, I think they're beautiful and am impressed by their ability to survive. Yes, that does include roaches.
You'll notice I have my backpack and coats on. We were planning on buying some souvenirs so we needed somewhere to put it. Also the coat check had an extremely long line. Again, it was a weekend, so the parents and their kids were out learning things!
Tam wanted to see dinosaur bones. It's crazy to think that creatures that big roamed the earth at some point. Puts things into perspective. I'm equal parts awed and terrified of large animals. I want to see them, but also want to cry in fear.
Something to note is that the main entrance of the AMNH has more dinosaur bones and a long line for the NYC City Pass. It's a great deal if you're looking to do a lot of attractions on that list. We weren't; the price of the things we wanted to see on the pass combined cost less than the pass itself. Also, the City Pass check-in for the museum snaked around the entire perimeter of the lobby. That would have easily taken an hour!
Also, try to study the map of the museum before you start walking around. We walked up and down the stairs a bunch of times because we missed certain exhibit specific shops. Don't make the same mistake we did.
As cool as it was, we were happy to leave the crowded museum. A weekday may have made for a more enjoyable visit, especially since our vacation may have coincided with spring break.
A Walk in the Park
Since the museum is located new Central Park, we grabbed a bite to eat and walked through. The falling snow we had seen created a soft cover and a great opportunity for pictures! They were setup for a half marathon that was occurring the day after.
Other Neighborhoods
After taking some pics, we headed down Madison Ave. Picked up dessert and headed off to dinner with my mom's friend! We took the subway again, and headed down to exploring Chinatown since that's where dinner was. Nothing much else happened for our day, but it continued to be a fairly cold, and miserably wet evening. Though, we had awesome company for the rest of it!