I'm still working out the kinks for how I think is the most efficient way to share and record our travel photos, tips, and memories.. so bear with me! I was so eager to share this past week's few days in New York City. This trip was my first real "girls trip" with my best friends from high school. We had such a memorable time and it was a sweet escape from the real world for us all. It was my first time to visit any of the boroughs outside of Manhattan (and Queens, where the airport is) but on this trip we visited them all! We managed to see so much yet still have moments to really relax and soak up fun spots in each of the neighborhoods we visited. Hope y'all enjoy this photo heavy/info heavy post! :)
Things To Do:
Staten Island Ferry: Let's start by saying this is FREE. The ferry drives right by Statue of Liberty, and gives you a beautiful look at the city. It was also really neat to see a glimpse into the normal lives of commuters. I would recommend doing this at a non rush hour time... we chose sunset so we watched the sky turn pink and orange around Lady Liberty, and came back into a twinkling city. So windy and SO fun!
Top of the Rock (Midtown): In my opinion, best observation deck in the city. Best chance to keep your view from being blocked by ugly bars.. and just an overall really well done experience. Even the elevator ride is amazing. It's $30 if you book online ahead of time (highly recommend to allow you to skip that line) and it's worth every penny. I would do this again in a heartbeat. Probably my favorite thing on the trip, and I usually shy away from "touristy" experiences.
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| Old photo from a previous walk through Central Park because I just love it! |
Visit the 9/11 Museum and Memorial: The museum especially is a pretty heavy experience, but for $25 a person I would say it's worth doing once. We didn't go in during this trip, but Ben and I went in the winter.
Walk the Highline (Chelsea): Ben and I tried to do this in February and were the coldest we've ever been in our lives and got caught in a wind tunnel. But this unique park is one of my favorite things ever, such a fun way to relax for an hour or so if the weather is nice! Kristen and I split a delicious watermelon popsicle here.
Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge: Before we started walking Kristen said she wondered how many miles the bridge was.. I said half a mile, she said two.. we were both wrong. It's 1.1. But it's such a pleasant walk with amazing views. We had our uber driver drop us off on the Manhattan side and walked our way to go enjoy Brooklyn.
Visit DUMBO (Brooklyn): This unique little area was so fun, beautiful.. and not crowded. It felt like such a retreat from the busy streets of Manhattan that we had navigated up until this point of the trip.
New York Botanical Garden (The Bronx): We originally came to the garden because of a Frieda Kahlo event going on that Susan wanted to check out, but we all fell in love! The conservatory was my favorite part. It was a treck to get there, but I'm glad we got to visit the northern borough and see so many beautiful plants! Note: I would suggest looking up ticket information prior to visiting
Grand Central Station (Midtown): Such an incredibly beautiful building, such amazing people watching.. and an amazing food court. For me, this is a must do!
Sarabeth's (I've eaten at the Central Park South, Upper East Side, and Upper West Side locations): I almost wanted to put this under "things to do" because in my opinion, brunching in the city is an experience in itself! No trip to NYC will be complete for me without a stop at Sarabeth's! This trip I ordered the veggie fritatta with a scone. The lemon ricotta pancakes are on my "to try" list but this trip I was feeling eggs. The four flowers juice is worth the (ridiculous) $10 price tag for me. It's one of my favorite things ever!
Shake Shack (I've eaten at the Upper West Side location and visited the Grand Central Station and Brooklyn locations, and Austin!): I'm not a burger girl at all.. I will never choose to order one. But man oh man, SHAKE SHACK. Honestly might be my favorite meal in the city.
Maison Kayser (I've been to the Upper West Side location)- Get a ham and cheese pastry and thank me later!
Juliana's Pizza (Brooklyn): Grimaldi's is the famous Brooklyn pizza spot.. but we chose to bypass the lines and head next door to Juliana's.. which from my understanding was opened by the original owners of Grimaldi's after they sold it. Absolutely delicious!
Lizzmonade (Brooklyn): I ordered the blueberry infused lemonade- yum!! We brought our pizza from Juliana's to a bench and got lemonades to enjoy with it.. such a great combination! I pretty much only drink water though, so paying $5 for a drink is pretty foreign to me... but that's my only complaint.
The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory (Brooklyn): I didn't get a scoop here, but everyone else did. Everyone agreed it was the best ice cream they had ever had. I had one tiny bite of Kristen's strawberry scoop and it was fresh and delicious! Plus, it's on the pier which is a perfect place to enjoy.
Laduree (Upper East Side, SoHo): An obvious stop for me.. the only way to get my favorite french pastries on this side of the Atlantic!
Magnolia Bakery (I've visited the Upper West Side and Grand Central Station locations): Vanilla cupcake, banana pudding... YUM.
One Girl Cookies (Brooklyn): We stopped in here because we had some time to kill, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had pumpkin whoopee pies in summer. That was enough to make me fall in love!
Levain Bakery (Upper West Side): I'll be sharing more about this soon, but I was recently really inspired by a blog post on Cupcakes & Cashmere called "The 15 Best Things I Ever Ate"... luckily I noticed that her favorite cookie was right around the corner from our hotel in New York. I have to agree that the chocolate chip walnut cookie was by far the best cookie I have ever eaten and I'm already dreaming about how to get my hands on one again. Don't judge but it's highly likely that at some point I'll give into the pricey online delivery!!
The Smith (I've visited the Upper West Side Location at Lincoln Center): The Smith houses one of the best things I've ate.. their weekend only breakfast pot pie. I've also had the vanilla bean french toast (amazing) and I've heard that their dinner is just as good. I've gotten bad at describing things as I near the end of this blog post.. but The Smith is a must visit. AMAZING!
Did we hit your favorite New York spot? Which of these looks the best to you? :)
