Day of Fun

The Day of Fun ("DoF") started last year as a way for me and a friend to spend the afternoon when everyone abandoned us in the city and went skiing. Not that we weren't invited, but there seems to be an awful lot of effort that goes into a skiing excursion. Boots, goggles, warm, waterproof clothes...not to mention skis. Overwhelming when one would spend the entire time drinking hot chocolate in the lodge.

The DoF has three main components that come together to make a day that tourists visiting from around the globe would find thrilling (while most New Yorkers would run screaming). The first is "culture", the second is a famous burger, the third is a notable dessert venue. Oh, and the day ends at the Time Warner Center (mostly because that is where my train home is located). I know, exciting.

Last year, the DoF consisted of a visit to the MoMa, lunch at the Burger Joint and sundaes at FAO Schwartz.


This year, the Natural History Museum was the first stop. After getting lost attempting to go from the Big Bang to present day (I am a lawyer, we are bad at science), a real treat was the "Birds of the New York City Region" room, where they have pigeons stapled to a bulletin board.

The second stop was the new UWS location of Shake Shack. The burger was just as yummy as the Madison Sq. Park location, but the atmosphere just didn't do it for me. The Shake Shack is an experience because of it's outdoor atmosphere, where a rat might run over your foot at any moment. You just don't get that in the new locale's downstairs "rec room".

Finally, in the double whammy of dessert indulgence, we headed over to Jacques Torres to ogle the truffles and then to Crumb's where a few cupcakes happened to be sampled, including an impressive vanilla-vanilla.

Totally beats skiing.


P.S.
To clarify, I am not opposed to skiing, I just don't know how. Growing up, my father adamantly insisted that skiing was not something that we could do as a family. He said that if he broke his leg, he would not be able to run his construction company and climb up ladders. Pondering the logic of this statement recently, I have determined that (1) climbing up a ladder is more dangerous; (2) his summer water skiing is equally dangerous; and (3) he was making up an excuse. My one skiing adventure was with family friends in the Poconos. My parents sent me because I had been invited to a dance for that evening and the guy canceled at the last minute. Yes, a night on the bunny slope, wearing jeans, with 6 year-olds who knew how to ski provided just the confidence boost that a rejected teenage girl needed.... These days, the black diamonds of my living room carpet during the skiing simulation portion of my Biggest Loser workout DVD are the closest I get to a snowy mountain trail.