Central Park is Engaging

So we have some news (that can be deemed exciting) for you. Howard and I took our annual trip to New York City and explored Central Park for the first time! Ridiculous, I know. All those years and we never stepped foot in the famous and beautiful park in the middle of Manhattan. It turns out there was a reason for that.

Was it years of planning? Some people might agree. I always chalked it up to bad luck. There was our first New York visit together and we wanted to see so many things that we didn't take time to unwind in nature. Then there was the other time where it poured and rained on the last day of the trip, the day we were supposed to explore the park. But no, this year was different. I was determined that we make the trip into the park. There would be no backing out, I even rented us bikes so that we could see the entire park.

We picked up our bikes and map from Columbus Circle and followed the counter-clockwise bike path. We barely rode for five minutes and we had stopped at the first landmark - the Central Park Carousel.

Then the Literary Walk and the Mall, I love the arching trees! This is such a beautiful spot in the bustling city of New York.

It wouldn't be a proper trip if we didn't visit the Bethesda Terrace. Come on, musicals on screen have spontaneously sprung up here!

We had to find an alternative path since we were walking our bikes beside us. No steps for us!

The famous Bethesda Fountain!

The Minton Tiles at Bethesda Arcade, it's felt like being in a different country. A lovely spot where we saw many couples having their wedding photos taken.

The Loeb Central Park Boathouse. Just beautiful. I absolutely want to return and have lunch there one day.

I also wanted to see the Conservatory Water, known for the toy boats that grace it and the Alice in Wonderland statue nearby. We then walked our bikes up to the Belvedere Castle, biked around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, huffed and puffed our way around the North Woods, and made our way back to return our bikes.

We were quite exhausted by then, but Howard insisted we walk back in and see the Sheep Meadow (where bikes are not allowed in). I was a little grumpy and hungry at that time, but walked hand-in-hand with Howard to see the meadow.

We found a warm sunny spot to sit down. That didn't last too long as the sun set behind the buildings pretty quickly.

But that was okay because something else sparkly showed up. After some disbelief, I said YES. And just like that, we're engaged! Then to celebrate, we had a lemon macaron (Howard) and a PB&J macaron (mine) from Bouchon Bakery.