3 nights 4 days in New York (KIDLESS)

Day 1
On my way to Ireland for a wedding I decided to have a stop over in New York for a long weekend. My friend Tracy had recently relocated there and we hadn’t seen each other for quite sometime so I thought it was the perfect time to visit and explore the city. I landed into JFK and she gave me step by step instructions on how to get to her office in Lower Manhattan. I, of coarse, successfully boarded the air tram and proceeded to go in the completely wrong direction! Once I figured out my ‘fish out of water’ mistake I jumped on the correct train and away I was to NYC!
She met me outside the subway station which was so great as my sense of direction is pitiful! I get that there are streets and avenues running numerically and from north to south and from east to west. But that didn’t ever help me as I was spinning in circles on the street corner!
Spinning complete, we headed to her office where we had a bite to eat, I left my luggage there and headed out to discover Lower Manhattan solo. I decided it was safest for me not to attempt to navigate the subway system by myself so I just ventured towards Wall street and checked out the large Bull, The New York Stock Exchange, speed walked past Tiffany’s and Trump Tower. I felt the need to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

I eventually found the pedestrian way up but not before asking New York’s finest NYPD how to get up there as I pointed to the bridge from well underneath it! China town and Little Italy were close by so I had to try some home made Cannolis.

It was a really pleasent 4-5 hours spent wandering Lower Manhattan on foot. I headed back to her office, she was finished work so we set out for her apartment in the upper east side!
She navigated the subway for me! I dropped of my things and we freshen up and headed apartment hunting in Astoria with her 2 new soon to be roommates- as you do! Wow, shoebox size apartments are mucho expensive in NYC. But it was super fun to pretend to be a local for a little while! We ventured to Sweet Afton’s for a few drinks and some food. After we were done we called an UBER and if you’ve never been in an Uber it is not to be missed! It’s basically a taxi but an uber fancy taxi with a 3 piece suit wearing chauffeur that showed up within minutes in a swanky car and dropped us to our door much faster than any subway or taxi!

Day 2
We were well rested when we got up bright and early and headed out on our full day’s adventure. We arrived at Central Station and toured around the beautiful terminal, grabbed a breakfast of champions – Juniors New York Cheesecake and Irving Farm Coffee.

We were off to a great start. I had prebooked our tickets to the statue of Liberty a few months in advance but not soon enough to get tickets to the Crown as they were already sold out. I was able to get tickets to the pedestal. Tickets in hand we wandered around Battery park and snaked through the security line before boarding the ferry to LIberty Island. You get the best views of Lady Liberty from the ferry on the right hand side of the top deck so we made our way there and took some great pics. We disembarked and headed to another security checkpoint where nothing only your camera and small purse were allowed on the climb up to the pedestal. Once up there the views of the city were spectacular but the views of Lady Liberty were disappointing as you really are just too close. But it is a must do on the NYC Bucket List.

We had fun playing with photographing ourselves holding the statue in our hands and making videos to send home to the kids who I only missed a little!!! Part of the trip to Liberty Island included a stop off at Ellis Island and that truly is an inspiring place. To know that hundreds of thousands of immigrants came to America in the pursuit of a better life and their first point of entry was to be processed through here was humbling. Quite a few of the exhibits were not on display but you really did get a feel for how they processed so many people.

Next up was lunch….we didn’t want to stay on the islands much longer as we knew we had much more to see and do in the city so we boarded the next ferry and returned back. I was told I had to try Shake Shack for lunch and the wait was worth it. I had a hearty burger and fries washed down with a signature shake. It didn’t disappoint.

I had prebooked our tickets for the 911 Memorial Museum for the afternoon so we made our way there. This museum truly is a life changing experience. It is not to be missed. We purchased the self guided tour headsets which guided us through the museum allowing us to relive every minute of the tragic experience through the last phone calls of some of the victims, the voices of the emergency service dispatchers, videos from different vantage points in the city, pictures, salvage debris, the list goes on. There is an eerie silence in the museum which makes the respect being paid to all those who perished all that more great.

 

 

Outside the museum are the 2 infinity pools built in the foundations of the twin towers. We found the name of a friend’s friend and placed an American Flag by it. We stopped by the Lone Surviving Tree who’s story of survival, regrowth & resilience is the perfect cornerstone of the gardens on the grounds. It was hard to change my somber mood leaving the 911 museum and I was thankful that those feeling weren’t easily shaken as I was more energized spiritually than I had ever been.

 

That evening we were gifted with a certificate to the Fatty Crab restaurant. We had made reservations in advance and were seated as soon as we got there which was great as we were both ravenous. This restaurant was and still is the most amazing food consuming experience of my entire existence. It was so fun to try crazy new things that we were told would be delicious and again we were not disappointed. This is what we shared:
Pork Steamed Buns
Shrimp & Belly
Szechuan Pepper Lobster
Chinese Broccoli
Beef Rendang
All amazing and we were justifiably allowed to spoil ourselves as we realized we walked 10.65 miles in and around NYC that day, We wandered around the Highline which is an old train track converted into an above ground greenbelt walkway – such an ingenious use of space.

Day 3

Today we headed to Bouchon Bakery outside the NBC Studios for some breakfast, chocolate croissant before we went up to the Top Of The Rock….. We had purchased our tickets in advance and we not waiting very long for the elevator to take us up 67 stories to the Observation deck. The view of the city is spectacular. We could see the whole of Central park on one side and the Empire State Building and beyond on the other.

 

It really is worth the trip up to see NYC for above. We made it back to solid ground and Tracy had to leave but not before my bestie from Cape Cod made it all the way in to spend the rest of the day with me! Catheren had her list of must sees places so we combined lists and had our game plan!! We checked out all the cool spots close by Rockefeller Plaza like Magnolia’s Bakery, the Lego Store, for the obvious NYC Lego keychain momento and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. We found FAO Schwarz so you know I just had to play the “Big” piano!

We wandered through Bloomingdale’s where I figured I really couldn’t afford to breath the air in there so we left! I really wanted to find the iconic LOVE sculpture so we did the tourist selfie pic with it.

We stumbled upon the Minus 5 Ice Bar and who are we to turn down a cool beverage in the coolest bar in town when it’s 80 degrees outside….not these two gals! We continued on our mission to have lunch at the famous Serendipity and it didn’t disappoint, we didn’t have a reservation but the wait was not long and it was worth it. The Frozen Hot Chocolate- salted caramel was divine.

 

We waddled out of Serendipity and found Dylan’s Candy Bar – super overpriced chocolate, I did get the kids some but they weren’t impressed when they finally got them a week later!!!! We ended our whirlwind day in Central Park where we rendezvoused with Tracy at the Ballfields Cafe, where we enjoyed watching a few recreational baseball games while sipping some much needed refreshments!

 

Day 4

Tracy had to work so I was left to my own devices and decided to spend the entire morning wandering Central Park. It was a hazy morning as I walked around the Jackie O Reservoir to the Alice in Wonderland Statue.

Passed the Boathouse to the Bow Bridge which was 1/2 under construction over to the Strawberry Field, John Lennon Imagine memorial.

I followed the lake  path to the Belvedere Castle which looked like a fairytale castle from the movies. I meandered under and over many bridges and finally exited the park at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I grabbed a pretzel and some fridge magnet souvenirs from the venders out front. I headed back to the apartment and parked my suitcase with much more than clothes. I was taking a city full of memories with me.

NYC I will be back.