Neither of us knew the course or had been training with hills, but we both set personal records for a 5k that day, so we were really proud. I think we did it just to be able to get out of the cold as quickly as we could. Several members of Stewart's family are runners, too, so they joined us for the cold, cold race.
After the race, we all met back at Stewart's mom's house for Thanksgiving dinner, followed by games and dessert.
The day after Thanksgiving, Stewart and I took the train from Albany to New York City. We met some friends from college who flew in from Utah (The Timmons and the Reeds). We have known Dan and Nikki for a long time. They both lived in the same apartment complex where Stewart and I met. Needless to say, that was a long time ago.
We got into town first, and did some sight-seeing before our friends arrived. Neither of us had ever been into the Gugenheim Museum before, so after a walk through Central Park, we stopped there. We're both so glad that we finally made it, and we can't believe it took us so long to get there. Here is a photo of Stewart on the top floor overlooking the atrium. The Gugenheim was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright who also designed several buildings in Buffalo.
For late November it wasn't very cold in the City (much warmer than our Turkey Trot), and it didn't rain at all while we were there. We enjoyed being outside and being able to walk so much. Here's a picture of Stewart in Central Park with the Gugenheim in the background...
...and here I am in Central Park with the Natural History Museum in the background.
After leaving the museum, we continued exploring a bit and eventually made our way to Rockefeller Center. Wewe saw a lot of Christmas decorations there, the Rockfeller Center Christmas Tree (it wasn't lit yet), and this little train that is set up for the holidays.
Eventually we met up with our friends and grabbed some good New York style pizza for dinner. We then headed down to the Broadway/Theater district to catch a play. Here's a photo of the theater.
And another one of us in front, waiting for the doors to open.
Stewart and I started Saturday off by running all the way around Central Park (about 6 miles) with Jeff. After we were done with our run, all six of us went out for breakfast. Our first stop this day was the Cloisters Museum. We have wanted to go there for years but have never made it. It's all the way up on the north end of Manhattan Island, so it's a bit more difficult to get to. We have some other friends who live closer to the Cloisters, and they met us there. Just like the Gugenheim, the Cloisters was an amazing museum and well worth the trip.
After dinner, we went back to the Cort Theater to catch another play. We had such a good time with our friends, and it was such a nice evening, so we walked the entire distance back to the hotel that night. New York City has a lot to see!
On Sunday we did a bit more sight seeing and visited St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Natural History Museum before the Reeds and Timmons had to catch their flights home. Since Stewart and I didn't have to catch our train back to Albany until later, we headed uptown to have dinner with some other college friends who live there.
Matt and Kendra were some of our first neighbors after we got married and were still finishing college in Utah, so we've known each other for a long time. Just like the old days, we play games and eat delicious food every time we get together. I love that they live in NYC, so we get to see them every time we visit. One final photo from our mini-vacation and it was time for us to catch our train back upstate.
We spent the night in Albany before driving home on Monday. It was an excellent weekend and we look forward to doing more trips like this now that Stewart is done with school and has passed the bar exam.
