Last weekend I spent my third consecutive December in New York City (NYC) visiting my daughter, Morgan, who claims it home. After going up the first December, I just loved spending a weekend with her walking the city during the holidays catching up. What a quick weekend we had but it was quite full of love and ‘Living’ a Little Healthy in NYC.’
I arrived Friday morning and we started with one of Morgan’s greatest strengths, finding us places to eat that offer great plant-based options. To get us going, we ventured over to Chloe Cosacrelli’s new restaurant, Chloe, where we both had a tasty Kale and Caesar salad with tempeh and other plant-based goodness. We split a bowl of mac and cheese and had her famous chocolate chunk cookies…I took a few to go… Morgan and I met Chloe in 2018 by chance at her restaurant in Miami where she sat down and talked with us for a bit. A cherished memory…
We then walked some of the city and took in the 9/11 Museum. We spent the afternoon there taking in the history and artifacts. It was moving and the feeling I had when I left was, it was extremely well done and I don’t think I would want to do it again. It did remind me of the time when the entire country rallied immediately after as Americans…proud Americans.
We then ventured to our new traditions, seeing the Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Center. It was a beautiful tree, symmetrical, and well lit. We navigated through shops at Bryant Park and then went to another all plant-based restaurant, Vegan Ginger Root, serving Asian cuisine as Morgan’s boyfriend, Jeremy joined. It was amazing and Morgan and I decided on the same entrée once again, a General Tso Vegan Chicken that was so incredibly tasty. We all enjoyed are dinners while I got to catch up with Jerermy’s world as well.
We called it a night and I needed it…the early flight, walking the city, cold air, and excitement of seeing Morgan had me spent. After a great night sleep we took on day 2 starting out heading to Brooklyn, my first time. Morgan found a restaurant we first experienced on a trip to Portland years ago. Next Level Burger it was and we both ordered plant-based burgers with fries and topped it off with seasonal shakes. I did skip breakfast so I had a little extra room for dessert…
It was a convenient place to stop as our main destination on this day was the New York Transit Museum. Morgan being so thoughtful remembered me thinking about how the subway system started on a previous visit and suggested the trip. It was really interesting and again, well put together. The pictures, documented history, and props including subway trains from the various eras were displayed and hands on. They also had a few things on buses that were fascinating and how transactions evolved over time.
After the museum, we walked the shoreline of Brooklyn on a nice trail passing an enormous athletic park near the Brooklyn Bridge where many people were playing on an extremely cold afternoon. We walked, talked, and took a few pictures including a backdrop of Manhattan over the water and the Brooklyn Bridge. While there, Morgan suggested we walk across the bridge and we did just that. We landed in Manhattan and stopped at a couple cool shops in the area she liked.
The day was closing so we headed to another all plant-based restaurant, Jajaja Mexicana, this time Mexican food. We ate there before and I was happy to repeat. We split nachos and I had buffalo cauliflower tacos that were amazing. The texture and flavor of the cauliflower was fantastic!
We then headed to NY Penn Station where she headed north back to her place and I would venture to the hotel next to the airport for an early flight out.
As I sat on the train heading out I reflected on the weekend being so happy I was ‘Living’ a Little Healthy in NYC.’ Nothing more important than my girl (young lady)…
– Add Health to Your Life
The Healthy Giraffe 
Leave a comment