Living in Maine, New York City is close enough where I can visit for the weekend, but far enough away that a short trip to the Big Apple requires a bit of planning. I would love to be able to spend a week in this city, but a full-time work schedule only allows for so much vacation time. Thus a weekend trip was the way to go.
My weekend falls on a Tuesday/Wednesday which definitely has its pros and cons. But when it comes to traveling, it's nice to have fewer crowds to deal with during the week. With my essentials packed into a small backpack, I hopped aboard an early morning train on Tuesday and headed into the city. I had a lot of sightseeing to do, and less than 36 hours to do it. Here is how it all went down.
Day 1 - Bryant Park, Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Broadway
The AMTRAK train arrived in Penn Station at 10:30 AM, giving me most of my day to explore. But first things first, I had to find something to eat. New York City is known for its pizza and its bagels, but since it was still early in the day I decided to find myself a local coffee shop to grab a breakfast sandwich.
Penn Station is right in the heart of Lower Manhattan, so the second you exit the station you are surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city. As I exited the terminal, I was immediately greeted by the Empire State Building, which towers over the rest of the buildings in the area. I headed just around the corner to Best Bagels and Coffee, where I grabbed a breakfast sandwich to go, and found a seat in Herald Square to enjoy my breakfast. When you only have a short time in a place, try to find every opportunity to enjoy your surroundings. New York has several small parks and pop-up tables scattered throughout the city, so take your food to go and enjoy the view as well.
After breakfast, I headed uptown towards Bryant Park and Grand Central Station. I had plans to meet up with my cousin for lunch at Rockefeller Center but had a few hours to kill first.
Although I have been to New York a few times before, one of the places I had never seen was Grand Central Station. The transportation hub originally opened in 1913, and is known for its gorgeous architecture that has withstood the test of time. The main concourse features a four-faced opal clock above the information center, which has become a symbol of the city. The terminal is also known for the classic display boards with departure and arrival times, although according to this New York Daily News article these boards are changing over to digital LED screens this spring and not everyone is happy about it.
The architecture of the terminal was absolutely stunning to see in person. What amazed me most was the large windows sitting at each end of the concourse are not just windows...but walkways as well! I am not sure where they lead but that is an adventure for my next visit.
Bryant Park is just a few blocks away from the famous terminal, and is a great place to relax with a view of the skyline. The park is the permanent home to a few restaurants, coffee shops, carousel, and playground. Bryant Park also hosts various events from fitness classes to movie nights so make sure to check out the website to see what is going on when you are visiting!
I then headed to Rockefeller Center to meet my cousin for lunch and a tour of 30 Rock. The skyscraper at 30 Rockefeller Center has a lot of offices, shops, and restaurants, but it is most famous for being home to many NBC studios including Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, MSNBC and more.
My cousin works as an NBC correspondent and is often featured on the network shows throughout the week. He was able to give me a behind-the-scenes tour of the studios, newsrooms, and control room! As someone who also works in television it was really interesting to see how the productions compare. For those who aren't lucky enough to have a connection in the building, there is an NBC Studios Tour offered daily, which takes you to a few sets, gives you the history of NBC, and even has you put together a small broadcast with your tour group!
After my tour I got a chance to walk around the gardens at 30 Rock, where there is a lot of public art on display. Directly across the street on 5th Avenue stands St. Patrick's Cathedral, a prominent landmark in the Roman Catholic Church. The architecture on both the inside and outside of the church are something you have to see to believe. Entrance to the cathedral is free, although it will cost you two dollars if you want to light a candle in memory of someone.
The inside perimeter of the church features beautiful statues of various saints and colorful stained glass windows. With a massive altar in the center of the floor, no matter which way you look the construction of the church will blow you away. If you are already visiting 30 Rock on your trip to NYC, you won't be wasting any travel time to see this historic Cathedral.
I met up with another cousin for dinner at Danji, a quaint Korean BBQ joint in the theater district. We split three medium plates and they were all delicious! I wrapped up the evening by seeing Waitress on Broadway, and let me tell you that show does not disappoint! With a score by Sara Bareilles, I expected it to be a lighthearted and fun show, but it had a much heavier backstory than I anticipated. I was lucky enough to get tickets during Shoshana Bean and Jeremy Jordan's limited run, and they were outstanding. If you have never heard of them look them up right now.
Shoshana got a standing ovation during her second act ballad, which is rare to happen in the middle of a show. However every cast member was stellar and it was definitely the best performance I have ever seen. Don't sleep on this show!
I was luckily enough to be able to stay with my cousins for the night in Long Island City. Just three subway stops from Times Square, I emerged on the other side of the East River and was greeted, not only by my cousin, but by the most gorgeous view of the Manhattan Skyline! What I would give to see a view like that everyday. After gawking at the city lights for a few minutes, I headed to bed to get ready for the next day's adventures.
Day 2 - DUMBO, Brooklyn Bridge, Top of the Rock, Black Tap
The next morning I was greeted by an excited two-year-old who was up and ready to play! We read books, played with trains, and had a great time together! I don't get to see him very often and he was excited to have a new friend to play with. He even helped make pancakes for breakfast; I think this kid is going to be the next MasterChef Junior.
After breakfast I walked down the East River to catch the NYC Ferry to Brooklyn. The goal for today was to see the two most famous New York Bridges: the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. Both bridges have awe-inspiring architecture that you must see to believe.
Most travelers often overlook visiting the Manhattan Bridge, since it is so close to the Brooklyn Bridge. However the blue bridge is also quite a gorgeous site, especially if you know where to go. Both bridges are located in the neighborhood of DUMBO, which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, and are a short walk from each other. To get the iconic picture of the bridge perched between two brownstone buildings head over to the intersection of Washington and Front Street. Despite the fact that tourists are snapping pictures in the middle of the road, be careful of cars passing through!
If you walk directly back up Washington Street and take a left you will be able to find street signs that direct you to the Brooklyn Bridge Walkways for a walk back into Manhattan.
The Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883, and made history by not only being the first steel-wire suspension bridge but also the longest suspension bridge in the world. For a few years the two towers in the middle of the bridge classified the structure as one of the largest structures in the Western Hemisphere, and it was even named the "eighth wonder of the world." The engineering behind this bridge was something that had never been attempted before, and the structure was designed to last 200 years!
The bridge has separate lanes for cars and pedestrians and runs about one mile long. It was also the first bridge to connect Brooklyn and Manhattan and thus led to a population boom in Brooklyn that helped merge the two cities. The bridge is free to cross for both cars, pedestrians, and bikers which makes it a popular means of transportation for locals and tourists alike. My tip is if you plan to walk the bridge as part of your trip to NYC, walk it from Brooklyn into Manhattan. You will have a gorgeous view of the city skyline and you can even catch a glance of the Empire State Building to the left!
A beautiful park lies just underneath the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, providing spectacular views of the bridge and the city across the water. The park has a few restaurants and a small carousel on site, and they host various events throughout the year.
Next stop on my trip was the Top of the Rock, a three-floor observation deck at the top of 30 Rockefeller Center. I had tried to book a ticket while I was visiting NBC Studios the day before but they had sold out for the day. I found out this is very common so if you want to do this during your trip to NYC, make sure you book your time at least 24 hours in advance.
The ticket is a little pricey, but ends up being a few dollars cheaper than a ticket to the top of the Empire State, and I think the view is much better. From one side of the Top of the Rock you have a gorgeous view of Central Park in its entirety. You really have no idea how massive the park is unless you see it from above. Then when you round the corner of the observation deck you have a clear view of the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and World Trade Center Memorial. Far out in the distance you can also see the Statue of Liberty on the right! This was my first time visiting the Top of the Rock and it was absolutely breathtaking.
Visiting this observation deck has other pros as well. There is no time limit once you are at the top so you could stay up there as long as you would like! There are also three levels to the Top of the Rock all providing a unique view. The first level is paneled with glass walls, to avoid catastrophe of course, but the second and third level are inverted up meaning your view is unrestricted! If you are looking for things to cross off your NYC Bucket List, visiting the Top of the Rock is an absolute must.
After making my way back down to the ground level, I decided it was time for me to grab something to eat. I had seen a few popular restaurants all over Pinterest and Instagram and decided to give one of them a try. The Black Tap is a local burger chain, that is also known for the massive milkshakes it serves up. Let me just say that this restaurant is an Instagrammer's heaven. The walls of the Black Tap are covered with murals from local artists and it is fun to just look around and see what's inside. Everything on the food menu looked incredible, but I had my eyes on an Instagram-worthy milkshake, and it did not disappoint. I ordered the cake batter shake which comes with a slice of confetti cake plopped directly on top of the confetti-rimmed glass. I was told the restaurant serves up hundreds of milkshakes every night, and they even have a group of people from the kitchen working solely to create the shakes.
Fighting off the food coma, I took a walk through Times Square as I headed back to the subway. As the marquee lights began to brighten I paused to see a few of the Broadway theaters, and I made my way through the groups of middle-schoolers on field trips. I stopped in at the M&M store to pick up some of the specialty M&M's you cannot find in local candy shops just yet. The store has three floors filled with M&M themed merchandise, but the biggest attraction at the store is the color wall. On each floor there are floor-to-ceiling tubes filled with M&M's of every color. This way you can mix and match the colors you want to create unique combinations. I filled up a few small bags of new flavors to try, and made my way back to the subway. I got to my family's apartment just as my little cousin was waking from his nap, which allowed for another hour of playtime together.
But just like that, my weekend in NYC had come to a close. I gathered up my things, said my goodbyes, and headed back to Penn Station. I grabbed a New York slice to go and claimed my seat on the train. As we headed back home I watched the sun set over the city skyline and felt vindicated in all that I had seen and done in my short visit. But I knew one thing for sure.
I would be back.
Not a sponsored post.
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