My mom is a rockstar! 30 years ago she gave birth to me, and to celebrate, she planned a surprise trip to New York City with all my sisters!
I had never been to NYC and it was on my bucket list, but after experiencing it once, I want to go back again and again (but maybe next time when it is a little warmer:).
Our motto for the trip:
Sight-see like a tourist // Eat like a local
Day 1:
We flew in to LaGuardia and had a driver take us to our apartment in Ridgewood, Brooklyn. My two sisters (Mallory and my sis-in-law, Danielle) were both pregnant and had flown all the way from California so they were tired, but they were TROOPERS and HUNGRY!
We walked several blocks, enjoying the amazing graffiti artwork, to a FABULOUS pizzaria called
UNION PIZZA WORKS. It was so cold outside, but as soon as we stepped in to the hipster/basement/garage building we were IN LOVE! It was warm and inviting. The waiter was darling and spoke broken English with a heavy Italian accent. We ordered everything on the menu! Literally, we ordered salads, pizza and one of each of the desserts. Perfect way to start the trip!
Day 2:
We slept in a bit and enjoyed our cute little apartment before heading out for the day!
Our adventures began with figuring out the Subway.
The apartment was a 10 minute walk to the L-Train (subway), so we each bought a seven day pass (only $30 for the week, best investment) and looked up the MTA map on our phones and figured out how to get from place to place. We never used a cab because between walking and the Metro we could get anywhere we wanted.
A 20 minute L-Train ride took us right into the heart of Manhattan and we got off at Union Station. We wondered a couple of blocks and stumbled across the
NEWS BAR CAFE. It was extremely busy so it was fun to sit and people watch. We were chilled to the bone (it was only about 25 degrees and windy) but their mussel chowder soup and paninis warmed us up quickly.
Once we were ready to brave the cold again, we grabbed some coffee and headed up 5th Avenue to see the sights. We hit up all the usual spots; the Empire State Building, the NYC Main Library, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Saks 5th Ave., etc.
The Empire State Building
Radio City Music Hall
To top off our day we went to
SERENDIPITY3. They are famous for their frozen hot chocolate. As we were walking in, Aaron Paul (Jessie) from Breaking Bad was walking out. Danielle and Mallory quickly asked him for a picture and he was very sweet an obliged. It was hard to say if we were more excited about meeting him or the AMAZING peanut butter frozen hot chocolate dishes we devoured. This last stop of the day was definitely the icing on the cake.
On our way back to the apartment we stopped at a huge Whole Foods and grabbed food for dinner. How very New Yorker of us to take our groceries with us on the train home!
Day 3:
The Statue of Liberty was definitely on my to do list for this trip. My mom reserved tickets months in advance (anyone can ride the ferry over and tour the pedestal of Lady Liberty, but if you want to go up in her crown those tickets are really hard to come by, so if you are thinking of visiting, plan way ahead). Our tour on Liberty Island started at 10 so we had to be on the ferry by 9. It is a bit of a production waiting in line, going through multiple security scans and checks.
Cold Ferry Ride
We climbed the tiny staircase up into Lady Liberty's crown and had a spectacular view of New Jersey, The Hudson River, Manhattan, The East River and Brooklyn.
The view from inside the crown
Of course this was THE coldest day we were there. The temperature never rose above 25 degrees all day, and being on a ferry and then an island was treacherous, but WELL worth it.
Can you find me...I am teeny tiny
Ellis Island was closed for construction, so we didn't get to visit. Once we got off the ferry, we walked VERY quickly through Battery Park (not much to see and my eyes were frozen over anyway), then hopped the subway up to Wall Street.
Battery Park
Battery Park
Wall Street was crowded and busy, but we were so cold we just stopped in a Dunkin Donuts for coffee.
We walked over to the World Trade Center and walked through the Memorial Museum. There really wasn't much to see anymore, but Freedom Tower was very prominent and the gaping hole in the skyline where the Twin Towers used to be was very evident.
Freedom Tower
Lunch was hot dogs from a
Little Hot Dog Stand right outside the Rector Street station. The sun started to come out and we lounged on a bench soaking up the warmth, sights and sounds.
The subway ride back to the apartment nearly put us to sleep, so we took naps and geared up for dinner.
For dinner we stayed in our Brooklyn neighborhood and walked to a little Thai food place called,
Thai Villiage. I experienced green tea ice cream for the first time and my taste buds thanked me:)
Day 4:
Torrie met up with us FINALLY! She had been playing in a series against Canada and couldn't get in to the city until Saturday. While Mallory and Danielle slept in, my mom and I went in to Manhattan to have breakfast with Torrie. We were sitting in this very cozy corner booth of
The Grey Dog when Alec Baldwin walks in with his wife and baby. As you can imagine, no one so much as looked in his direction for fear of a temper tantrum.
After breakfast, we rode the subway to the Lower East Side and met up with our childhood friend, Bryce Eaton who was in NYC for spring break. We enjoyed the different vibe of this part of the city and caught up with Bryce at a new little bistro called
El Rey.
Bryce had to catch a flight so we went our separate ways and headed up to Central Park. Thankfully this was the warmest of all the days we were there and it got up to the 50's. Hallelujah! Central Park was pretty much just what you would expect...a park...There were a lot of joggers, cyclist, people walking dogs and kids playing. We did stop in Belvedere Castle which had lovely views.
As to be expected, we were mostly thinking about our next meal so off we went to wait in line for burgers at
Shake Shack. It did not disappoint!
With fully bellies, we rode the subway down to Chelsea. There is a mile long walking patch on top of buildings called Highline Park. We strolled along enjoying the sun and all the people out walking.
View from a bridge on Highline Park
We were looking for a coffee shop Torrie wanted to try when we unexpectedly wondered into the
Chelsea Market. It was such an awesome mishap to land in there. We had no idea we were looking for it, but it was exactly what we wanted to find!
We were getting a little worn down, but I was determined to see Time Square at night, so we killed some time sitting at an outdoor table on a corner in the West Villiage just watching people. Then we hopped back on the subway up to Time Square.
Nothing in our whole adventure of NYC could prepare me for walking in to Time Square. It was literally wall to wall people and the chaos and motion was almost nauseating. It wasn't quite dark yet, so we stepped into a restaurant called
TSQ Brasserie and had some dinner.
At dark we sat in a stadium seating bench area and just watched the buzz and commotion that was Time Square. It was definitely a sight to be seen.
Needless to say, we were WORN out that night, and crashed pretty hard!
Day 5:
With Torrie leading the charge we found our way to a late breakfast/lunch at the famous
Dough in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. These doughnuts were mind blowing and it's a good thing we had walked so far to get them because just one was about as heavy as a brick.
We toyed with the idea of walking the Brooklyn bridge, but do to the cold and exhaustion from having packed so much in the past few days (and our doughnut induced comas), we went back to the apartment and geared up for dinner.
Checking out the 'hipster' area of Williamsburg, Brooklyn was next on the list. The wait was pretty long, but the barbecue was to die for at
Fette Sau! Ribs, coleslaw, American whiskey and everything yummy!
Day 6:
This was only a half day because we flew out in the afternoon. Torrie left to catch a train and get back for lifting before any of us even woke up. We packed up and walked down our little street that felt like home and stopped in for omelets and coffee at
Barcey's. As we were sitting there, we realized that Danielle hadn't gotten anything for her little man, so we made a quick decision to ride back into Manhattan to shop really fast.
We were pushing it and had to RUN back to the apartment were our driver was waiting for us, but it was so worth it!
The trip was truly a once in a lifetime experience. To have all my sisters and my mom experiencing a new city for the first time together is a memory I will cherish forever. I can't really put into words how memorable this trip was for me, so all I will say is, from the bottom of my heart:
THANK YOU, MOM!!!!!
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