Welp, we just got back from NYC and it was a great trip! I was excited but nervous to go with my family. Most things went smoothly and I'm looking forward to going again someday! There is soooo much information out there and it can be overwhelming so I will just sum up how our trip went.
Travel day or what I like to call as Day 0: We arrived at Laguardia around 3:30. Took and took a taxi to our hotel at https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/nyctm-fairfield-inn-and-suites-new-york-manhattan-fifth-avenue/ . I was very underwhelmed about our very basic hotel. It grew on me quickly though because 1. It was tucked around the corner of 5th Ave. (read quiet) 2. With only 6 rooms on each floor it was cozy. (and quiet) 3. The breakfast was great! 4. It was clean! I would give this hotel 4 stars and would definitely stay there again. We checked in and then started walking around. It was very overwhelming to get used to north, east, south, west and where do the streets go up and down. The 11 & 16 year old wanted to have fun immediately and that just isn't quite how NYC works for a midwesterner. We walked a little, got some ice cream in Bryant Park and went back to the hotel.
Day 1: Smooth Sailing: We got up and headed to the Empire State building at 9:00. We were in and out in 1 hr.! We had purchased our tickets ahead of time and we were in and done in 1 hr. Very smooth. We then met a friend at https://woorijipnyc.com/ for our first sample of Korean food. It was a good way to try it because you pick what you want from a buffet and then they weigh your food. You pay by weight. It was also a way to keep cost down. In hindsight we should've tried some other ways to save money on food such as happy hours, coupons and fruit stands. We spent a lot of money on food. But this meal was fairly priced. We then had to head to the New York flute center which is one of the reasons we headed to New York. We also ran around Macy's taking the esculator to the 9th floor. We then found a brewery to eat supper at and walked around all over passing Times Square, Rockfeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York Library etc.
Day 2: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: We had a 1:00 statue cruise ticket at 1:00. It was gonna rain so we went to CVS for ponchos (not there), we then found them at a souveneir shop for $10 (we paid $7 each for 4 ponchos. We did need them though). The BAD is that we found them later at 5 Below for $1. My advice is to pack ponchos from Wal-mart or 5 below. We ubered a little late to Battery Park and decided to walk the mile to the World Trade Memorial. The UGLY is that it was hot and we wasted time walking. Why in the world didn't we uber to the World Trade Memorial first? Therefore we did not get to spend much time there because we then had to walk back battery park to catch our bag screening and statue cruise. We did pass Trinity Church and Alexandar Hamiliton's grave though! (twice :/) We did make it back in plenty of time for our 1:00 cruise though AND the GOOD is we accidentally got into the express line and did not have to wait in line. That was pure luck. You win some, lose some. We had no idea what we were doing. We used our ponchos for a short downpour when we first got to liberty island but it cleared up beautifully. We then went on to Ellis Island. Because of our previous walking, we were pretty exhausted by this time and ready to catch the cruise back shortly. We then ubered back to mid Manhatten and did a little shopping. We discovered that OLD NAVY has cheaper prices and more inventory than in the midwest. We bought a lot but spent little. Also there is no sales tax on clothing. Say what?! Day 2 was an educational day.
Day 3: BROADWAY! We had some sushi at a fusion restaurant and went to the 2:00 showing of MEAN GIRLS. It was hilarious and fabulous. It was all of our favorite thing. We decided that we wanted to come back and do an all broadway trip. We did more walking around, this time that included GRAND CENTRAL STATION and it is a must see!!!! I had a caramel frappe at Coffee Joe's and it was so good I went back for one the next day.
Day 4: EXHAUSTED. I have to admit. We were all a little tired and crabby on Day 4. There was so much we still wanted to do but we had very little energy left for it. We decided to go to the Intrepid (cooler than I thought) and did a little more shopping and walking.
Here are my take-aways:
*NYC is best done in 3 day concentrated spurts. I would love to do a 3 day all broadway trip, and a 3 day all lower Manhatten trip, and a 3 day museum trip, and a 3 day shopping trip, and a 3 day architeture trip. To do ALL of that in one trip it takes too much walking, too much subway (which we were scared of) or too much uber. Next time we will have more focus.
*Like I mentioned before find deals for food: coupons, happy hour and fruit stands
*Personally I like the Marriotts to stay at. We stayed at Fairfield & Inn Suites/5th Ave. It was quiet but close to busy.
*Take a lot of pictures. Here are a few of my faves
Travel day or what I like to call as Day 0: We arrived at Laguardia around 3:30. Took and took a taxi to our hotel at https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/nyctm-fairfield-inn-and-suites-new-york-manhattan-fifth-avenue/ . I was very underwhelmed about our very basic hotel. It grew on me quickly though because 1. It was tucked around the corner of 5th Ave. (read quiet) 2. With only 6 rooms on each floor it was cozy. (and quiet) 3. The breakfast was great! 4. It was clean! I would give this hotel 4 stars and would definitely stay there again. We checked in and then started walking around. It was very overwhelming to get used to north, east, south, west and where do the streets go up and down. The 11 & 16 year old wanted to have fun immediately and that just isn't quite how NYC works for a midwesterner. We walked a little, got some ice cream in Bryant Park and went back to the hotel.
Day 1: Smooth Sailing: We got up and headed to the Empire State building at 9:00. We were in and out in 1 hr.! We had purchased our tickets ahead of time and we were in and done in 1 hr. Very smooth. We then met a friend at https://woorijipnyc.com/ for our first sample of Korean food. It was a good way to try it because you pick what you want from a buffet and then they weigh your food. You pay by weight. It was also a way to keep cost down. In hindsight we should've tried some other ways to save money on food such as happy hours, coupons and fruit stands. We spent a lot of money on food. But this meal was fairly priced. We then had to head to the New York flute center which is one of the reasons we headed to New York. We also ran around Macy's taking the esculator to the 9th floor. We then found a brewery to eat supper at and walked around all over passing Times Square, Rockfeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York Library etc.
Day 2: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: We had a 1:00 statue cruise ticket at 1:00. It was gonna rain so we went to CVS for ponchos (not there), we then found them at a souveneir shop for $10 (we paid $7 each for 4 ponchos. We did need them though). The BAD is that we found them later at 5 Below for $1. My advice is to pack ponchos from Wal-mart or 5 below. We ubered a little late to Battery Park and decided to walk the mile to the World Trade Memorial. The UGLY is that it was hot and we wasted time walking. Why in the world didn't we uber to the World Trade Memorial first? Therefore we did not get to spend much time there because we then had to walk back battery park to catch our bag screening and statue cruise. We did pass Trinity Church and Alexandar Hamiliton's grave though! (twice :/) We did make it back in plenty of time for our 1:00 cruise though AND the GOOD is we accidentally got into the express line and did not have to wait in line. That was pure luck. You win some, lose some. We had no idea what we were doing. We used our ponchos for a short downpour when we first got to liberty island but it cleared up beautifully. We then went on to Ellis Island. Because of our previous walking, we were pretty exhausted by this time and ready to catch the cruise back shortly. We then ubered back to mid Manhatten and did a little shopping. We discovered that OLD NAVY has cheaper prices and more inventory than in the midwest. We bought a lot but spent little. Also there is no sales tax on clothing. Say what?! Day 2 was an educational day.
Day 3: BROADWAY! We had some sushi at a fusion restaurant and went to the 2:00 showing of MEAN GIRLS. It was hilarious and fabulous. It was all of our favorite thing. We decided that we wanted to come back and do an all broadway trip. We did more walking around, this time that included GRAND CENTRAL STATION and it is a must see!!!! I had a caramel frappe at Coffee Joe's and it was so good I went back for one the next day.
Day 4: EXHAUSTED. I have to admit. We were all a little tired and crabby on Day 4. There was so much we still wanted to do but we had very little energy left for it. We decided to go to the Intrepid (cooler than I thought) and did a little more shopping and walking.
Here are my take-aways:
*NYC is best done in 3 day concentrated spurts. I would love to do a 3 day all broadway trip, and a 3 day all lower Manhatten trip, and a 3 day museum trip, and a 3 day shopping trip, and a 3 day architeture trip. To do ALL of that in one trip it takes too much walking, too much subway (which we were scared of) or too much uber. Next time we will have more focus.
*Like I mentioned before find deals for food: coupons, happy hour and fruit stands
*Personally I like the Marriotts to stay at. We stayed at Fairfield & Inn Suites/5th Ave. It was quiet but close to busy.
*Take a lot of pictures. Here are a few of my faves
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