Girls Trip to NYC

My mom has been saying for years that she wants to go to New York City. It is one of my favorite places, so we finally got to go in September. Rachel was able to come too and we made it into a girls’ weekend. We had so much fun that we decided we need to make these trips an annual thing.

Mom and I flew to New York from Dayton and Rachel flew in from Indianapolis. We all met at our hotel where we had a few challenges checking in. Thankfully, we were able to work through that and found a place a few blocks away to get dinner. We walked through Times Square on the way to dinner and had to stop for a picture!

After dinner, we needed to find some dessert. Rachel said if the Krispy Kreme light was on, she wanted to go to the location in Times Square. (The light is always on!) We stood in line while we watched donuts get their glaze, ate our fresh donuts and walked back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning we woke up bright and early to go see the Today Show being filmed. While we weren’t able to get onto the plaza, it was fun to see through the windows to the famous desk and studio that we have seen on TV so many mornings.

We went to The Met and tried a new trick Brennan and I had heard about. This tour guide said a good way to see museums is to walk the entire thing first without stopping anywhere, take a short break, then go back and look at the things that catch your attention. Mom, Rachel and I did this and ended up seeing some parts of the museum I doubt we would have gotten to otherwise.

​One of the exhibits they had on display showed original Greek and Roman sculptures and then showed recreations that had been colored to show what they would have looked like originally. It was very interesting to see them side by side, especially because we are so used to seeing all these ancient stones more plain. The color really brought them to life.

Before we left The Met, we went up to the rooftop garden to enjoy the beautiful weather and look out over Central Park and onto Billionaire’s Row. I had never been up there before and it is definitely a hidden gem! The city felt like it was showing off on this afternoon.

We knew we wanted to go to a Broadway show while we were in New York and I had heard that Into the Woods was excellent. We all enjoyed the show, but I especially thought the costumes were incredible. Seeing a live musical is so fun and it we had a great time.

After the show, we were hungry, so we joined the long line at Joe’s pizza near Times Square. It was packed, but Rachel helped us out and carried our pizza back to the hotel for a late night snack.

On Saturday morning, we had signed up for a tour through midtown and Central Park. The tour was through a company Brennan and I have used before and it was a free walking tour, but I wasn’t impressed with this tour. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful, it forced us to get up and walk around areas we wouldn’t have explored otherwise, and we even saw a parade.

The tour ended in Central Park and we spent some time enjoying the warm weather before walking back to our hotel.

We woke up slowly on Sunday and it was rainy. We spent awhile hanging out at the hotel before venturing into Chelsea to walk through Chelsea Market and visit the Starbucks Roastery. Rachel tried a flight of espresso martinis, I had a cold brew flight, and my mom had...hot water. She loves the smell of coffee, but not the taste, so the drinks were not for her. We had some delicious charcuterie too.

There was a break in the rain and we walked on the High Line through the city toward the Vessel. Even in the rain, New York is still one of my favorite places in the world.

When we got to the Vessel, there was a large screen showing the US Open. Lots of people were gathered around watching and we stood with them until the rain picked up and we rushed to take cover. We stopped at Cava (a Mediterranean Chipotle-like restaurant) to get dinner and took it back to our hotel and watched a movie.

Monday was our last day together and we made the most of our time. We visited the Oculus on our way to the World Trade Center memorial site. This was particularly moving because the day before had been September 11. There were lots of flowers placed in the names around the reflecting pools in remembrance of the people who lost their lives. There were a lot of people walking around and it is always a somber place to visit.

We left the memorial area and walked to the very end of lower Manhattan to see the Statue of Liberty. We were short on time, so we weren’t able to go out on the water, but we did see her from the land. After that, we headed back to the hotel on one last long subway trip and got our bags to head to the airport.

Spending time with my mom and sister is always special, but this trip was so fun! We had a great time and I hope this is the first of many trips like this in the future!