EXPLORING NEW YORK CITY

This is post 3 of 5 documenting our time in Boston and New York. Read about our time in Boston HERE, and what we ate in Boston HERE.

This post is all about New York; where we stayed, how we got around, and what we did. Next post will be all about the food we ate while we were in New York, and I’ll share the app we used to be more organized about our food stops. My final post in this series will be a budget breakdown of how much money we spent total and how we paid $60 for two round trip tickets for our trip across the coutry!

This was my second time in New York City. The first was when I was in middle school when my grandparents took my brother and I to New York as our Christmas present. This was Travis’s first time in the city, so we did all the touristy things you’re supposed to do and see when in New York.

WHERE WE STAYED IN NEW YORK

Finding a decent hotel in New York for a decent price was challenging. Granted, it was peak season for people visiting New York because of all the Holiday decor, so that didn’t work in my favor. I looked at hotels in the city, and compared it to hotels outside the city and factored in travel cost and time to get in the city and it made most sense for us to book a hotel in the city. We ended up staying at the Millennium Hilton New York One in the UN Plaza in Midtown that I found on hotels.com. It’s a gorgeous hotel, close to Grand Central Station, and near a lot of the things we wanted to do and see so it all worked out. We had a beautiful view of the East River and city scape right outside our windows; and considering it is downtown Manhattan, our hotel was actually pretty spacious. We ended up spending as much on our hotel in New York (stayed for 3 nights) as we did for our hotel in Boston (stayed for 5 nights) – but I will break down costs in my next post.

HOW WE GOT AROUND NEW YORK

We rented a car from the Boston airport and took a mini road trip to get from Boston to New York. We dropped the rental car off at LaGuardia airport and (after trying to figure out the public transit system) took the subway into downtown Manhattan to Grand Central Station. Our hotel was conveniently a short walk from Grand Central Station, so it made using the subway a no brainer for us (after we figured it out). For the rest of our trip we utilized the extensive subway system and our feet to get us around the city; no cabs were taken during our trip.

WHAT WE DID IN NEW YORK

Rockefeller Center

We waded through crowds to go watch people ice skate in Rockefeller Center and take pictures next to the huge tree. We chose not to skate in Rockefeller Center, because this was something I did the last time I was in New York, and Travis was perfectly fine with passing up the long lines and hefty price tag.

MORE ABOUT VISITING ROCKERFELLER CENTER HERE: https://www.rockefellercenter.com

Strolling down 5th Avenue (and around mid town)

After we made it to our hotel, we headed right out to see the city. We walked down to 5th street and strolled (with all the other tourists) down along Rockerfeller Center and looked at all the lights and window displays. All the stores were decorated for the holidays, and Saks 5th Avenue had an over-the-top light and music show going on on the side of their building that was fun to watch. We couldn’t pass up a peak inside St Patricks Cathedral or a photo in front of Tiffany’s. Around the corner is the NBC studios. We tried to get tickets to our favorite The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon before we left for Boston and NYC, but alas we failed. Maybe next time!

Ice skate in Central Park

We may have passed up ice skating in Rockefeller Center, but we did however make our way to Central Park and ice skate on our last night in the city. If you don’t have “Skating in Rockefeller Center” on your bucket list like I did the first time I went to NYC, skip the crowds and head to central park to ice skate instead. It’s cheaper, less crowded, and you have amazing views of the city lights if you go at night. Plus, it’s in the middle of Central Park – you can’t beat that.

INFO ON SKATING IN CENTRAL PARK: http://www.centralpark.com

Washington Square

In any city we go to, if we have the time, we like to walk around the neighborhoods, explore and get lost (but not too lost to where I don’t know where I am because I would probably have an anxiety attack). So after we ate brunch in the Meat Packing District, we wandered through that neighborhood and found our way to Washington Square. There was some good people watching to be done here.

Top of the Rock

Again, I did this on my last trip to the city, but it’s something Travis has never experienced and the views of the big apple from up high will never get old. We choose this experience over the top of the Empire State Building because you can see the Empire State Building from the top of Rockefeller center, the views of central park are better, and this was considerably cheaper.

VISITING TOP OF THE ROCK: https://www.rockefellercenter.com/

Statue of Liberty

We booked tickets ahead of time and took the ferry to visit the Statue of Liberty when we were in town. We took advantage of the free self guided tour that was provided through a headset that was offered upon arrival to the island. We tried to keep our headsets in sink with one another so we were both listening to the same dialogue, but we both quit about half way through. The Ferry also stops at Ellis Island too, but in the interest of time we passed this up. I think if I go back to the Statue of Liberty, I would like to make reservations to go up to the crown.

BOOKING TICKETS TO THE STATUE OF LIBERTY HERE: https://www.statueoflibertytickets.com

9/11 Memorial

The last time I was in New York, 9/11 was still a fresh wound and they were still cleaning up the wreckage. They had fences up around the sites and I remember it sounding like a construction zone. During this visit, we got to walk through the memorial plaza, see the memorial pools, and the freedom tower. I’ve been to other memorials before, but I felt a connection with this one because I vividly remember that day unfolding. My eyes teared up as we walked through the plaza and sat there watching the water flow into the ground, and my heart ached reading through names on the sides of the pools. The 9/11 memorial is a must see if you ever find yourself in New York.

VISITING 9/11 MEMORIAL + MUSEUM: https://www.911memorial.org/visit

Wall Street

With Travis being an economics nerd, we couldn’t not visit New York without making our way down to the financial capital of the world. We ventured over to Wall Street after we got off the Ferry from seeing the Statue of Liberty and wandered around for a bit. We found “The Bull” that I had no idea even existed. Goes to show how much of a finance nerd I am.

Broadway Show

Last, but definitely not least we saw CATS on broadway. If you know us (mostly me), you know we (mostly me) are crazy cat parents. It was fitting that this would be the broadway show we decided to see in NY. Seeing plays and musicals is not something new to either of us – I grew up in a family that has a tradition of going and seeing plays every summer, and Travis was roped into this when we started dating. So seeing a musical on broadway was pretty awesome.

MORE INFO ON THE BROADWAY PRODUCTION OF CATS: https://www.catsthemusical.com/broadway/

New York will always be a fun place to visit, but next time I promised myself I would go during a season that wasn’t freezing. Check back later to find out what was on our foodie agenda while we were in the big apple.

 

XO