We left Nashville at 6:30 on Thursday morning, which was ROUGH- especially considering that I had driven to Nashville after work the day before and was already tired. Waking up at 4 was no fun, but I slept most of the plane ride and my adrenaline carried me through the day. The good thing about leaving so early, is that we touched down in New York at 9:30 and had the whole day ahead of us.
After we landed and got our bags, we bought a MetroCard and caught the bus to the Subway. Then we took the train into Grand Central. It is on 42nd and our hotel was on 48th so we walked the 6 (short) blocks to the hotel. Check-in wasn't until 3, so we were just planning to drop our luggage off with the doorman and come back later, but they let us check in early! We went up to our room early and freshened up and then were on the hunt for food.
We walked around a little bit and at one point were (inadvertently) followed by the Secret Service. The United Nations General Assembly was there the same time we were, so there was always lots of Secret Service around. The delegates from Germany and Cyprus were staying in the hotel next door, so we passed their cars everyday. The delegates from the Congo were staying at our hotel and one night there was a reception for the President of Namibia!
Anyway, we found a little hidden ramen bar for lunch and it was delicious! We also laughed at the people sitting next to us who, I assume, were on their lunch break. They, at one time, compared New Jersey to California. Megan and I are fairly certain that they have never been to California...
After that, we decided to venture of to MoMA. It's one of my favorites so I was excited to start off our trip and our museums with this one. It was entertaining as always. There was an exhibit by Bruce Conner. It was just weird! It made me want to do more research on him- and maybe write a research paper about him. And about the link between artists and mental illness...
It was later than we thought when we left MoMA. We had dinner reservations, but not until late so we thought we might want a snack. We took the train to the Lower West Side, walked around Lincoln Center and then went for drinks and appetizers at the Empire Hotel. In true tourist fashion, I ordered the Chuck Bass and it was delicious!
After the Empire, we went back to the hotel and showered and changed for dinner. We had reservations at Chef's Table in Brooklyn. It was on my 30-by-30 list and was the best meal that I've ever eaten. It gets its own post, so stay tuned. We didn't leave the restaurant until after midnight so we took some pictures to keep ourselves occupied while waiting for the train.
Friday
We slept in Friday morning- much later than we planned, but Thursday had been a long day. While getting ready, we looked over the map and tentatively planned the day. We got coffee and took the train to the Museum at FIT. We got there early. It didn't open for another 15 minutes so we sat on a bench and pretended to be students. We watched the photography students working on shoots and practicing their lighting and angles. Then the museum opened. There was a really interesting exhibit on the evolution of the uniform. It showcased school uniforms and uniforms for work, the military, and sports. It also showed how designers had gotten inspiration from different kinds of uniforms to design high-end fashion. So fun!
When we left FIT, we headed over to Madison Square Park. We were going to go to another museum, but were hungry so we decided on lunch first and, of course, we had to have Shake Shack. The burgers were amazing and the weather was perfect for a parkside picnic!
When we finished eating, we headed across the street to the Museum of Math. When I saw this on the map, I knew that I wanted to go check it out. I thought it was going to be a typical museum about mathematicians and stuff and I was really excited about it, but then we got there and it was even better than I expected. It was interactive! We spent hours playing around on all the different exhibits. We did puzzles and played with 3D shapes and created patterns. It was awesome!
After we had finished playing, we took the train to Times Square. I took one obligatory tourist pic and then when got in the TKTS line. The line wasn't bad. It actually moved pretty fast, but if you're going to do this, I recommend going to a different TKTS booth. This is definitely the slowest one. But since I didn't want touristy things, this was our only time in Times Square.
While waiting in line, I started to get a migraine. That's when I realized that I hadn't really had any water today. The migraine just got worse and after we got our tickets, we headed back to the hotel. I took some medicine, chugged a bottle of water and then lied down to take a nap. We both slept for about an hour. When I woke up, I attempted to sit up but my head was still pounding so Megan got up and started getting ready for the night while I drank some more water and lied back down. I finally forced myself to get up and took some more medicine.
We walked back towards Times Square and found some classic New York style pizza. Then we headed to the theatre for Chicago. It was a small theatre and felt very intimate. The actors interacted well with the audience. It was so good! After the show, we walked the long way back to the hotel enjoying the weather and looking at the city at night.
Saturday
We woke up earlier on Saturday, ready to tackle the day! Thankfully, because this was a busy day! We went all over. I felt like we rode the train a lot today, but when we got back to the hotel, my phone said that we had walked almost 17 miles! We started the day the same way we did every day... coffee! I also made sure to grab a bottle of water from the hotel before we left today! We took the train down to the Highline. The Highline is an old railroad line that has been converted to a walking path. It was so peaceful up there and had great views.
The Highline ended in the meat packing district and we grabbed hot dogs from a street vendor for lunch. When in Rome...! Then we started walking downtown. We walked to the West Village and I immediately fell in love. We passed the park and the farmer's market and then the brownstones. This is when I decided that I wanted to move to New York! It was its own little adorable (expensive) town here! We also found $2.89 mimosas so we obviously had to stop!
After our mimosas, we headed down to SoHo to meet my friend from high school for ice cream. She and her husband live in Brooklyn and they had been in SoHo for brunch so we met her for ice cream. It was a quick trip, but so fun to catch up!
Then we did a quick walk through Little Italy and Chinatown to the train. We said bye to Chelsy and she headed back to Brooklyn and we went downtown to the World Trade Center memorial. It was kind of surreal to be there. The last time I was there was in March 2003- 18 months after 9/11. There was scaffolding up and pictures of missing loved ones. Now there was a huge memorial. It was a solemn moment.
As we were leaving, we saw a group of people taking a picture with some cops. We stopped to watch for a second and they asked if we would take some pictures for me so we obliged. After the pictures, we talked to them for a little while. The "tourists" were police officers from Virginia that had been at the Pentagon on 9/11. What a special connection!
After the photos, we jumped on the train to the Statue of Liberty. We didn't take any of the ferries or anything. I couldn't be that much of a tourist, but we did take pictures from the shore. Then we sat down in the grass and hung out for a little while like we just do this all the time.
We left at the perfect time. Apparently the ferries were about to stop running and everyone that works down there gets super pushy about trying to sale tickets before closing! We narrowly escaped! We jumped on a train back up town and made our way to The Met.
We walked through an exhibit or two before making our way up to the roof for a drink. We didn't plan it this way, but it worked out perfectly that we made it to the rooftop right at sunset. It was gorgeous! We also conveniently (and unplanned) were there during the Global Citizens concert. So our evening ended up consisting of drinking wine on the rooftop of The Met at sunset while listening to Ellie Goulding perform in Central Park. New York perfection!
When we left The Met it was dinner time. We decided to walk through the Upper East Side to a Mexican restaurant that someone had recommended. Yum! We discovered that drinks in New York are expensive and these margaritas were no exception. But they were strong! I think that makes up for the price. And we figured that they can make drinks in New York stronger because no one is driving. Also, guac!
We walked for a little while after dinner before taking the train back to our hotel. We decided that Sunday was our catch up day so we laid the map out on our bed and made a list of all the places that we still wanted to go see.
Sunday
I wanted to go back to the West Village again because I was seriously obsessed. Megan appeased me and we headed back to the WV. We walked up and down the streets again while I looked for places for rent and then we ate lunch at a cute little sushi place.
For some reason, I cannot remember the order that we did things in this day. I know what we did, but not when. Oh well! We walked around Gramercy and NYU. We went by Kleinfeld's and tried to decide who was there for an appointment and who were just tourists wanting a photo op.
We went to Bryant Park. I wish we had more time there. I would have loved to hang out in the "Reading Room" for a while- just sit at a picnic table under the trees and read a book. There is also a cute little game area with lots of tabletop games. So fun!
After Bryant Park, we checked out the NY public library. It was gorgeous! I loved all the architecture. You can't actually check books out here- except for the children's section. We walked down there to look around. They had the original characters from Winnie the Pooh on display. It was awesome. There were also children down there exploring and checking out books so pictures were not allowed. When we left the library, they were doing a photoshoot on the front steps. We stood around and watched for a little while before making our way to the train.
We rode up to Washington Heights to check out Columbia. It's beautiful there! You are just walking along the streets of New York, but when you enter the gates on to the quad, it feels very secluded. We walked around a little bit and then sat on the steps of the library pretending like we were students and reminiscing about college. Then we took a stereotypical sorority picture where our sorority first started!
After that, it was dessert time. First we went to Lady M on the Upper East Side for a great local flare. Iced coffee and a chocolate raspberry bar cake. Yum! Then for a total juxtaposition, we went to Serendipity 3 for the total tourist experience. Both were amazing in their own way, but if I have to choose, I pick local! Every time.
We headed back to the hotel after our double desserts. We hung out for a little bit and got ready for dinner. We had passed Rockefeller Plaza earlier in the week and decided to check out dinner there. And it was the perfect night too. Our waitress told us that it was the final night of the Rock Center Cafe. She said that when they closed that night, they were packing everything up. Ice skating starts soon! The weather was amazing. The music was great. The food and drinks were delicious. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous trip!
Monday we packed up our stuff to head back South. It was a sad trip back home. I was definitely not ready to leave. Megan randomly knew our flight attendant though so we got free wine. That made coming home a little bit easier.
It was a great trip. The perfect mix of local and tourist. And a great girls trip to catch up with Megan. I fell in love with the city, so if anyone wants to go back, let me know. I'm 100% game! And I may have already started looking for jobs in New York, just in case...
Sorry this was so long. I wanted to get it all out so I could remember. And I didn't want to split it up into 2 posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment