It was a fun filled weekend while visiting my sister in Central New Jersey and running the NYC Half Marathon on Sunday. It kicked off on Friday when my sister and her awesome friends, Minyee and Dana, drove us to New York City. We headed to the NYC Half Expo to pick up our bib packets. After finding free parking by the unbelievable Dana, who can parallel park a Toyota Sienna Van likes it nothing, we walked to Moynihan Station where the Expo was located. We weren’t sure where the entrance was until we spotted a fellow with a sign (haha, pic below).

Below are pics of the entrance and packet pickup area.

The Expo wasn’t as big as I’d though it would be, but they had a good number of vendors. There was a virtual picture area, where they took our pictures behind a blue screen. Then we had the option to have them auto post on Facebook when we crossed the locations of where the pictures were taken. The locations were the start line, passing through Times Square, and finish line. For example when I ran through Times Square it posted this picture. It was a fun thing to do.

Here’s a giant replica of the medal we received at the Finish.

After the Expo, we didn’t have anything planned so we walked around and my sis’s friends mentioned the Macy’s flagship store and how there are still wooden escalators in one area of the store. We thought we’d check it out. Below you can see the wooden sides, but I guess the stair part used to be wooden too, which has been changed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that we decided to get lunch and went to a nice Korean place called New Wonjo. It was pretty good.

After lunch, we walked towards the Flatiron building. It’s pretty cool looking.

We also checked out the art in Madison Square Park, Gazing Globes by Paula Hayes.

We decided to get some bubble tea too. I love bubble tea.

After that we headed to the High Line Trail. It’s a neat trail above ground where a train used to go through.

The day ended at Chelsea Market with dinner at Cull & Pistol. This was the first time going to an oyster bar for me. The fried oyster with ham, herb crepe, pickled onion with smoked aioli was so good. I also tried a lobster roll for the first time and it was delicious.

On Saturday we headed back to the New York City and started off with an early lunch. We had dim sum at Jing Fong Restaurant. It was good we got there well before noon since it is known to be a long wait. We headed right in with no wait. The dim sum was yummy.

After lunch, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art also known as the MET. This was my first time there. Loved the Egyptian section! We spent a good part of the day there. It’s a huge place.

Then for dinner we went to a Thai place called Thai @ Lex. The Pad Thai with chicken was pretty good.

Sunday was the big day…RACE day. Recap coming soon. After the race, we took the Subway and PATH back to where our hotel was on the Jersey side. We had lunch at Kraverie, an interesting restaurant mix of Korean and French cuisine. I had the Seoul Cheese Steak and a crepe called Nutella Madness (consisted of bananas, strawberry, and Nutella) for dessert. Both were delicious!After lunch, we decided to check out Liberty State Park. It’s a nice place to get views of New York City and the back side of the Statue of Liberty. Here are some pics:

After that we headed back to my sis’s place. I finally got to try Bobby’s Burger Palace. We ordered take out. It doesn’t look that great but is up there in my top burgers.

After that my sis and I went and saw the movie, McFarland USA. It was pretty good and inspiring. That ended the fun filled and busy weekend.

How’d your weekend go? Here’s to a great week ahead!

I’m linking up with Tara from Running ‘n’ Reading for the Weekend Update.