New York City

JandJdoNewYorkCity

We’ve been wanting to knock New York City off of our bucket list for a while now, but didn’t quite know when would be a good time for us to go. As we looked at the rest of our year, it appeared everything was booked up in our avaliablity. However with some quick planning we were able to put together a weekend trip with the extra day off for Memorial day. We flew into Newark and took the train to Penn Station New York (not Penn Station Newark). We stayed at Kimpton Hotel Eventi only a 6 minute walk from the train station. We were in NYC for almost exactly 48 hours and we made the most of it. Both days we had over 35,000 steps and finished around 35 miles total for our trip.

Day 1 – Russ and Daughters, Washington Square Park, Emily, High Line, The Vessel, Brooklyn Bridge

Russ and Daughters

We dropped our bags off at the hotel around 10:30 am and headed straight for some food. We hopped on our first subway hoping to not mess up the direction, and headed to Russ and Daughters on Houston Street. When we arrived there was a line out of the door. You walk in and grab a number like you would if you were at the DMV but the employees were friendlier than at the DMV. Once your number is called you approach the counter and give your order to one of the workers and they make it right in front of you. We decided to keep things simple for our first time. Jo got a classic on everything bagel with plain cream cheese. I ordered Daughter’s Delight on a sesame seed bagel with caviar cream cheese. We stopped at a park a couple of blocks away and ate. Both of the orders were amazing and we would recommend anyone to check it out.

Washington Square Park

We wanted to hit as many parks as we could. We love just walking around and seeing people watch. Washington Park was first on our list. We wanted to see the Washington Square Arch. It reminded us a lot of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. As you enter the park, in the middle sits a beautiful water fountain. We decided to sit down on a curved stone bench and take in the surroundings. There were kids playing, musicians, and entertainers spread out around the fountain, as well as people selling art work. The park is located near a NYU campus and we saw a lot of graduates taking pictures around the area. As we exited we saw a good size dog park, that our beagle Wendy would have loved to run around in. After leaving the park, we walked around Greenwich Village and admired the beautiful homes and scenic streets (One day!).

Emily

We were able to get checked into our Hotel around 3:00 pm. The only reservation we booked while in town was for Emily. Jo first heard about this place while listening to Dax Shepard’s Podcast “Armchair Expert”. It’s a place him and his co host Monica talk about often. We had to check it out while we were in town. While this is a pizza place, they are well known for their EMMY Double Stacked Burger. We were seated on the patio just as it started to sprinkle. The staff lowered the weather protection curtains while we ate. The burger exceeded our expectation and the waffle fries were a surprising addition. The EMMY sauce gave the burger is distinct and characteristic taste. It’s easily one of the best burgers we ever tried. Just be warned, the burger is a little on the pricier side, but well worth it.

High Line

I probably watched over 20 different YouTube videos about what to do in NYC. Almost all of them, at some point, mention the High Line. It’s a 1.45-mile-long elevated park and greenway transformed on top of an abandoned railroad. It had a lot of similarities to Chicago’s 606. This was a must for us. We also wanted to check out the Vessel at Hudson Yards, which is conveniently located at the end of the High Line trail. We started at the south end of the trail at the corner of Gansevoort St and Washington st. To access the trail, we walked up a set of stairs. I don’t know what this looked like before, but the transformation into what it is now is nothing short of amazing. You could tell there was a lot of effort put into the trail. We walked the entire trail, marveling at the architecture around us. The trail has stunning views of the Hudson river to the West, as well as stunning artwork located throughout the trail, both in the park and as murals on the side of the buildings.

Hudson Yards – The Vessel

At the end of the High line is the large honeycomb like structure, the Vessel. We decided to check it out and go inside which is $10 per person. When you walk in you can take the elevator or create your own way up the stairs. Some directions were blocked off only allowing you to go one way. Netting has been installed on the higher levels to add more security. Even with the net you are still able to get great pictures. Justin does not do heights so the top was a tad overwhelming for him but he did it! To be honest the way down seemed more challenging then the way up. Once we finished we thought we earned ourselves a sweet treat so we stopped at The Shops and Restaurants at Hudson Yards and grabbed some ice cream

Brooklyn Bridge

We wanted to end our first day with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, at night. There is a pedestrian deck above the Brooklyn Bridge that connects Manhattan to Brooklyn, spanning the East River. The bridge is about a mile long, so our entire trip was about two miles, across and back. The bridge itself is stunning to look at as you walk across, but the star of the show it the Manhattan skyline in the background. The bridge has two suspension towers that rise up out of the East River. Walking across the bridge at night was somewhat surreal. You really felt like you were in NYC. The different groups of people, the different languages, all together enjoying the beautiful views New York has to offer. There were several vendors selling hats and other New York memorabilia throughout the bridge. Several people were sitting on the cages that surrounded the suspension cables. Everyone was trying to get that perfect picture with the backdrop of the skyline.

That was it for day one. We went back to our Hotel room and settled in for the night. Looking out of our window was a perfect view on the empire state building dawning red, white, and blue atop for Memorial Day.

Day 2 – 9/11 Memorial, Battery Park/Statue of Liberty, Chelsea Market, Little Island, Bleecker Street Pizza, Central Park, Broadway/Time Square

9/11 Memorial

This one was important to us, just as it would be to most Americans. Everyone remembers where they were on the day the attacks happened. We wanted to get there as early as possible to beat the crowds. We woke up early and headed to lower Manhattan. Walking up to the site of such a tragedy was a feeling I’ve never felt before. There are two giant pools with waterfalls that occupy the space where the twin towers once stood. Around the edge of the pool are 152 bronze parapets engraved with the names of the victims and first responders who perished that day. At the time we went, one of the pools was having maintenance work performed and did not have the waterfall on. Next to the sight of where the towers once stood is now the tallest building in America, One World Trade Center. There was a very emotional and even eerie feeling reading the names of those that we lost. It was heart wrenching reading some of the names that included “and unborn baby” next to the mothers name.

Battery Park/Statue of Liberty

We walked half a mile to Battery Park. This was another park we wanted to check out. Unfortunately most of the park was under construction, and was fenced around the perimeter. We walked around to the south edge and was able to get a framed view of the Statue of Liberty through a hole in one of the walls. There are two ways to see the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park. You can take a paid boat tour that leaves from a dock on the south edge of the park. The other way, and the way we decided to go was to take the Staten Island Ferry. The Ferry is a free service that connects Manhattan to Staten Island. The ferry leaves every 30 minutes, and the trip takes about an hour there and back. The ferry gives you a great view of Lady Liberty on the starboard side of the ship leaving Manhattan, and the Port side when returning. You also get great views of the New York skyline from the water.

Chelsea Market

We love a good market. Any city that we go to, we seek them out. Chelsea Market is a food hall and shopping mall, located in Chelsea. When we first entered, we needed a pick me up, so of course we grabbed a coffee and bagel at first shop we saw. We really just wanted to walk around and explore. The market is huge and takes up a couple of levels of the building. There are a lot of fun shops and tons of food options. We decided to go downstairs and have some dumplings to prevent us from getting hangry. We stopped by a little book store, and bought some post cards and a new book. Anytime we go to a new city we get some sort of picturesque item to remember our visit. Exiting the market was a flea market type store with local vendors. We snagged our item from a guy selling his brothers artwork of New York architecture. We didn’t spend a lot of time here, but it’s worth the visit.

Little Island

We didn’t know if we would have time for this one. We pretty much ruled it out in our planning, but after realizing how close it was to Chelsea Market we decided to go. Little Island is a man made park of artificial islands. The park is a multi level green space sitting on top of 132 pot-shaped structures above the water. It was fun walking around and just taking everything in. The landscaping was beautiful and there were great viewing locations of lower Manhattan. It was rather crowded during the time we went, but it was still fun to explore. The bathroom was one of the nicer ones that we saw in the city.

Bleecker Street Pizza

During our research we kept hearing about Bleecker Street Pizza but what sealed the deal was when we randomly came across barstool pizza review giving it a pretty high rating. Located in Greenwich village neighborhood. This place is very popular and busy but the line to order goes rather quickly. We got a slice of Nonna Maria and a slice of the pepperoni and sausage. In our opinion the crunchy crust is the show stopper! There is a reason and a very good reason why Bleecker Street Pizza is so popular! Just a heads up the seating is a hot commodity and goes fast. Jo had a table taken from her as she was walking to it so be fast!

Central Park

What is a trip to New York City without visiting Central Park? We spent several hours taking our time walking through the park going down wooded trails that took you by creeks and waterfalls easily forgetting you’re in the middle of Americas largest city.  We found a couple of good spots to sit, relax and take it all in.  Multiple times we both would say it’s like the movies!  Justin’n #1 request for Central Park was to find a hot dog vendor and we did just that! As we were leaving we walked by several drummer from all walks of lives lined up on one side of the walking path entertaining  everyone that walked by.

We came back the next morning and ran a mile to be able to say we ran in Central Park. Just a heads up it has a couple hills that made it a tad more difficult than flat Chicago but oh so cool!

Time Square/Broadway

Times Square is a place to overload the scenes! We had to walk through late afternoon to get to our show and it was busy walking through crowds of people who are going 20 different directions. We saw super woman who was topless but was painted so that counts as a top, Spider man who was sitting on a curb talking on the phone (very off brand). Once we left the show we walked through at night and it was 10 times busier and it seemed people just forgot how to walk but with that all said it was awesome to witness we just don’t need to witness it again.

The Broadway theaters are about a block away.  We went to “Book of Mormon” which has been a play Justin has been wanting to see for several years.  It’s being played at the Eugene O’Neil Theater which is beautiful with detail you don’t get with newer buildings.  All in all belly laughter and good times were had!  Another bucket list item can be checked off the list!

We definitely recommend anyone to check out New York if they get the chance. There is so much history and life in the city. It lives up to it’s reputation. We’ve lived in Chicago for 7 years now, so we are no strangers to a big city. New York is truly a step up in action and intensity. We will be back some day when we have more time, to explore what else the city has to offer.