One Last Time in New York City

Central Park

How can you see and do the things you've loved best about living in New York City for six years ... all in six weeks?

We're going to see if it's possible. Paul and I made a list of all of the sights, parks and restaurants we wanted to visit one last time, and started crossing them off last Saturday.

Since it was Father's Day weekend, Paul picked the restaurant: East Japanese, for one last meal of conveyor-belt sushi.

Next up: Central Park, where we strolled down our favorite section -- the Mall, with its towering trees -- twice with a stop at Bethesda Fountain in between.

The Mall at Central Park

Bethesda Fountain at Central Park

We left in time to walk to St. Patrick's Cathedral for one last Saturday night mass. (That was also one of the first things we did upon moving here in 2007, only then we visited after a Brooklyn Brewery tour and an afternoon exploring Williamsburg for the first time.)

Renovations being done at St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The best was last: a picnic in Bryant Park. One of my favorite things to do in all of New York City is to buy a giant slice of cheesecake at Junior's in Times Square and devour it with the sun setting on Bryant Park. This time we added a couple of things to the picnic: street food and a blanket.

This was Edith's first Bryant Park picnic, and while she couldn't partake in the devil's food cheesecake, she did have fun playing on the blanket while we chowed down on one of the park's tables.

Edith having fun with Daddy at Bryant Park

And the street food? Eh, it was street food. But believe it or not, I think I had my first New York City street cart hot dog since moving here!

I'm going to miss the hot dogs. Oh, wait. No, I'm not.