A Manhattan Love Story | Day 12

Day 12... the final day.

This has been the most difficult day for me to blog.  Somehow writing about it feels like I'm leaving all over again.  There has only been one other time I've experienced intense homesickness leaving a place where I did not actually live, and the previous time I moved there within a few months.

Our flight wasn't until 8:00 that evening, so we had most of the day to bum around the city and see more sights.  We didn't have an agenda, but we hadn't had the opportunity to walk around Central Park yet, so that was the direction we headed.

We started on the Upper Westside and came across a few cool buildings, including a beautiful fire station.

After ducking into an adorable French bistro with an adorable French waiter and enjoying a light lunch, we wandered out to find the Museum of Natural History.  Neither of us were drawn to pay the entry price and see the exhibits inside, but we enjoyed the outside exhibits for a bit.  I'll definitely be making all the museums a priority the next time I visit NYC.

I loved all the words written on the wall outside and couldn't help taking a photo with the word "humanitarian."

This statue of Teddy is beautiful.  I couldn't help but get a little sad about Robin Williams while looking at it.  He played a great Teddy in the Night at the Museum movies.

A friend had posted on my Facebook earlier in the day to not think of it as though I was saying "goodbye" to the streets of New York, but simply "see you later."  So I said "see you later" a few times as we wandered around to the beautiful buildings, street signs and yellow cabs.  I may or may not have shed a few tears while doing so.

Ahhhh, Central Park.  It was beautiful and serene.  A little escape from the city chaos, and I can absolutely understand why New Yorkers love it.  As beautiful as it was, I couldn't help think about how exciting it would be to visit during the spring or fall.  I can't wait to see the park full of trees and color!

Central Park is rather large and hosts quite a few things to see and do, so we dedicated our time to seeing the Shakespeare Gardens and amphitheater, because... Shakespeare.

After enjoying the park and walking to the Upper East Side to see the MoMa, MET and Guggenheim, we headed back toward our hotel in Midtown to gather our things and begin the journey to the airport.  I felt the need to slow down time just a bit more, so we stopped in for a latte and cinnamon treat at an adorable cafe in Korea Town first.  It was the best way to spend my last bit of free time in the city.

We gathered our things from the hotel, I said farewell to the city for the last time, and we headed down the stairs to grab the E train toward JFK.

As we rode the airtrain into the terminal the sun began to set over the city on the horizon.  I thought back over the last 12 days and smiled knowing it wasn't the last time I'd see that skyline.