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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Favorite Places in New York


A few weekends ago, a couple of my friends and I decided to take a trip up to New York City. We left Friday morning and came back late Saturday night. One of them had never been before and the other had been a couple of times. I am by no means an expert on New York, but I've been a couple of times and now have some favorite spots. So, this is my "tourist guide" to New York city.

We decided to ride the bus and I was a little hesitant, because...well I don't know why. I was just hesitant! I'm glad we decided to go with the bus though. We took Mega Bus and it left out of White Marsh. The crazy ladies I was with decided that we should take the 6:20 bus, which got us there around 930. I don't really have any complaints about the bus. The time seemed to go much faster, we didn't have to worry about fighting traffic ourselves, gas money, or parking once we got into the city. It lets you off right in the city. Now, taking it back to Baltimore was a little different. The stop is a little farther away from downtown, but still..not bad at all. Don't forget to bring layers. It gets a little cold in the bus. There are also USB outlets so that you can charge your phones at your seat.
We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel on Times Square and it was a great location and the room was huge compared to other hotel rooms I've seen in New York. We were able to drop our bags off there before we were able to get into our room and we left them there during the day on Saturday after we checked out.

After dropping off our bags we headed to my favorite pizza place of all time, Grimaldi's. It is a chain, but there really is nothing like eating pizza in Brooklyn under the Brooklyn Bridge. It. Is. Delicious. You want to get there right when it opens, because there is usually a line. We got there right around 1130 and were able to walk right in and be seated. Also, it's cash only, but they do have an ATM. 
Then we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It's always fun to people watch while walking across the bridge. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy and misty that day, so we couldn't see the Statue of Liberty across the water. It was fun to see all of the locks couples have put on the bridge.

Once we got off the bridge we headed over to see the 9/11 memorial. You do have to get tickets to go see the memorial. They are free, but they ask for a small donation. You have to go to the museum to get tickets and then go over to the memorial. It took a little while to get into the actual memorial, because there is a line and security screening. It is still under construction, so I'm sure when that's all finished that it will be much faster. It was definitely worth seeing. The fountains they built are amazing. It is impossible to get a really good picture from ground level. They really have done a fantastic job.
After that we headed over to Chinatown and Little Italy to look around and to have cannoli! We like to go to Cafe Palermo. I'm actually not a huge fan of Cannoli. It's a little sweet for me. So, I had a lemon blueberry cheesecake and it was delicious! They are known for their cannolis though and I know Sister #4 is a big fan.
At that point we thought we were going to pass out from exhaustion and over eating! So, we headed back to the hotel to check into our room and freshen up a bit. The view from the room was so fun! After a little bit we headed down to Ellen's Stardust Diner. We decided not to go to a show this trip, so we figured we could get a little of the Broadway experience by going to Ellen's. It's a diner where a lot of Broadway hopefuls are the waiters and waitresses. So, they sing and perform throughout the night. I am NOT a fan of crowd interaction, but it was still super fun. The food was actually nothing to really write home about. It's diner food, but it was good and it was more for the experience anyway.

On Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to Central Park. I had never been before and I have to say that it is now one of my favorite spots in New York City. It was so fun to walk around at a little bit of slower pace than we had on Friday and to just enjoy the scenery. We could not figure out where everything was though, so luckily we found an awesome guide there who had a great map. So, if you see one of the guides ask them for a map! It was such a life saver. We really wanted to go on paddle boats on the lake, but they weren't open because it looked like it was going to rain.

Here were some of our favorites in Central Park:

The Alice in Wonderland statue:

Belvedere Castle was fun. It was small and you could go to the top where there is a fantastic view of the park.

This was the John Lennon Memorial.

We got to see a lot of different spots that show up in movies which was kind of fun. I kept thinking of that line from You've Got Mail, "It'd be a shame to miss New York in the Spring."


We ended our trip to Central Park by riding on the carousel. You're never too old to ride on a carousel.


After leaving Central Park we headed to look at the Plaza Hotel. I kept playing that movie, Big Business in my head! Then we walked down 5th avenue and looked at all of the ridiculously expensive things for sale. We walked through Tiffany's which was kind of fun. We went up to the floor with all of the engagement rings and dreamed a little bit. Then we walked over to Rockefeller Plaza and Radio City Music Hall.


After that we headed to Carnegie Deli for lunch. I have to admit that the first time I went to Carnegie Deli I was not really sure what the big deal was. So, we decided to try it again. I'm so glad we did because I really liked it. They have an amazing and huge Reuben sandwich for $27 and they add $3 to share it. We bought one and were able to split it between the three of us. We also split a giant pastrami knish. It was delicious. Also, GET THE CHEESECAKE. Delicious.

Then we headed to the Empire State Building. It ended up being a good time to go because it started to rain and we were inside during the storm and it cleared by the time we got up to the top. For those of you in the military, there is a discount so make sure you ask for that. The wait wasn't too bad. It probably took an hour and a half all together. We walked up and down the last 6 flights which cut down the wait a little. There a lot of people trying to sell fast pass tickets outside and we were told by the people inside that there is no such thing as a fast pass ticket, so it's best to just buy your tickets inside. I kept thinking of Elf!


Once we got out of the Empire State building we did a little bit of shopping and looking around there on 34th street. It started to storm again so we had to rush and find something to eat before getting our bags and heading to the bus. We were just a couple of blocks from Koreatown! I was so excited to find my people! There were a ton of restaurants that looked delicious, but we were in a little bit of a hurry so we went to a restaurant that was a little cafeteria style. It was really good. I want to go again the next time I go so that we can try a different restaurant.


After that we headed to the bus. We used the Subway a lot and got pretty good at it by the end. There was only once when we got pretty confused, but other than that we did pretty well! I saw a giant subway rat, so I figured my experience was complete.

The only other tips I can think of are to make sure you wear comfortable shoes, walking around is part of the experience. I wore my Reef flip flops and my feet weren't at all sore. My calves and thighs..well that's a different story. Also, I was so grateful for my portable charger for my iPhone. I use the Yubi, which is the only one I've tried that works with the 5s. I was also grateful for the New York Subway app. If you put the address into Google Maps on your phone and click public transportation it will switch you over to the Subway App and it was really helpful.

So, there you go..my guide to New York City. It's always fun to visit, but then I like coming home and not living in a city. If you go, then let me know your favorite spots! Sister #4 is going in the next couple of weeks so I'm sure she'll post about her favorite spots as well!

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