Its a dark and cold morning as we venture in to New York City on the train. I’ve never done this before so I am glad my husband was able to come with my daughter and I that day. We decided to take the train from Beacon NY to Grand Central since we needed to be on that side of Manhattan. The reason for our visit was for my daughter to visit the French Consulate to apply for her visa to France.
Heading into the city was way outside of my comfort zone but I wanted to be supportive of my daughter so off we went. And do you know something-I had a really good time! The train was interesting at 6 something am but I enjoyed being on the River side of things as the sun came up and we got closer to the city.
We got out of Grand Central station and walked along 42nd Street to 5th Ave. 5th Ave was fairly crowded, even that early in the morning (8ish) but we made it up to 74th and Lexington in decent time. Leaving my daughter at the French Embassy we headed off to Central Park to explore while we waited for her to be done.
The French Embassy on 5th Ave
We went in the Park and explored a bit. 
We found ourselves over by Shakespeare’s Garden. 
There is this really cool fortress there!
Then we found a path called “the Ramble” which led us around the inner part of the park for a bit until we came to the Boathouse. If you are in Central Park at breakfast try eating here– they have really good muffins! (We actually found this out on our second trip)
We wandered a bit more and found this little pool where there are miniature boats in the summer time.
We were back over by where we entered but found one of the very nice monuments–the Alice in Wonderland one. It is very big and interesting. We actually met a man who took our picture and we took his for him. He was playing a game with his wife of “Where am I in Central Park?” 
We think Stanley really liked this the most so far!
By now we were getting a bit hungry so we headed back over toward Madison Ave to headed back over toward Madison Ave to find something to eat.
It turns out that Stan likes bagels! We were able to sit outside on the bench and people watch as we ate our breakfast.
My daughter let us know that she was done and asked if we could go to the “Met”–the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Off we walked up to 82 St–but it was worth it when we got there!
When you go in The Met there are huge cathedral ceilings and open walkways on the second floor. This beautiful stain glass window was so pretty–and big!
I think our favorite exhibit room was the Medieval Room where we found armor for the knights and their horses!
There was a lot to see in the Met and we barely saw anything on the upper floors–that will have to be another trip!
We headed back to Grand Central station for our trip back home. We were tired from all the walking (over 10 miles!) but really excited to come back and explore even more in the nicer weather!
Well this is the end of another “Flat Stanley” adventure. Thanks to Brady of G Mitchell Elementary School (Mass) for letting him have an adventure with us!
All images found here are my own or from my daughter, please ask permission before sharing–thanks!
Being At Home with Myself 