8/17/2016 3 Comments NYC Travel DiaryI've lived in Connecticut my whole life and even though I live close by, I have taken New York City for granted! It's an easy hour and a half drive for me, or a couple hours via train. Naturally, when you live so close to something, you sometimes don't see its beauty or appreciate it. I have been to the city a million times and have seen a few things, but have never been super "touristy." However, lately I have heard many people talking about how much they wish to see the city, so I decided to take a trip out there this past August with my best friend! First things first, for those that don't want to read an entire post, I gotchu. Here's a list of things that I did and some recommendations. Things I did:
Day 1 My friend and I ended up taking the train into the city because it is much less of a hassle (driving through the city is insane). And not only is it less of a hassle, but in my case it's cheaper too. After we checked into our hotel and settled into the room, we took a walk to Times Square, one of the most iconic parts of the city! The flashing lights, the tons of people, the shopping...I mean, that is NYC! If it is your first time going to the city, it is truly mesmerizing. We ended up going to the giant M&M store...yeah um, I have never seen so many M&Ms in my life. If you are an M&M lover, go there. Madame Tussaud's is right off of Times Square and is a must! It is amazing how they can get wax figures to look so life like. In the above picture is the handsome Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and myself. If you are short like me, this is a good place to put into perspective just how tiny you are hah. Day 2 After getting some rest, it was time to start day two. Soo I LOVE food and if you know me, you know I'm a baker. Therefore, I will never pass up an opportunity to go to Ladurée to pick up a box of macarons on Madison Ave. These are the best macarons money can buy (in my opinion) but $$$. The good thing is, Ladurée is about a 5 minute walk (if even) to Central Park! This park is huge and we didn't have time to walk around the whole thing, so we just sat on a giant rock with some sorbet. If you have time, I definitely recommend taking a stroll through Central Park. You could potentially spend a whole day here! And Madagascar fans, the Central Park Zoo is here as well and is a great time for the little ones! After Central Park, we stopped at the Museum of Modern Art where I saw my favorite painting, Starry Night. If you are an art lover like me, you definitely need to check out this museum. No New York City trip is complete without a trip to the 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan (easily accessible by subway). There are two huge memorial pools to visit. Take a couple minutes to remember such a tragic time in American history and absorb the scene. Look up to the sky to see the World Trade Center and if you have time go into the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The Brooklyn Bridge wasn't actually in my original plan, but we had a little bit of extra time so we decided to hop on the subway and head slightly uptown to check it out. This is a beautiful, one mile walk (if you go across the whole bridge) featuring many scenic views, including a mini view of the Statue of Liberty! I didn't walk across the whole bridge, but feel free to! So if I had to pick my favorite part of the trip, it would be the Empire State Building. Having never been here before, it was spectacular! I bought tickets online (definitely recommend to do this!!), so I was able to skip some parts of those long, long lines. I bought the tickets for the evening because I wanted to watch the sunset over the city, and I was not disappointed. Look to see what time the sun will set the day you plan on going, and buy your tickets for like 1-1.5 hours before the actual sun setting time. In this case, you have time to get up there and watch the sunset from the beginning and stay until the sun goes down to view the city at night. If you do this you will technically see the city in day, evening and night time!
After the sunset, I had reservations for the State Bar and Grill inside the Empire State Building where my friend and I treated ourselves to a TON of food. It was expensive, but delicious. I didn't mind paying the money because this was our only meal that we ate in an actual restaurant!
3 Comments
In addition to visiting the 9/11 memorial, I highly recommend visiting the museum as well. Be prepared to spend 2.5-3 hours in there though, but it is well worth the time and money. You learn so much that you may not know about the events of 9/11 and how it has shaped modern America.
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Lisamarie Morales
1/30/2017 08:34:44 pm
Awesome! I'll have to check those out next time I go! :)
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A REGISTERED NURSE, ARTIST AND BAKER WITH A PASSION FOR TRAVEL. Stay ConnectedCategories |