Meet Me in New York
HEY GUYS!
Today I’m sharing a recap of my super quick trip to NYC. (warning: major photo overload coming your way!). My best friend Morgan and I had such a great time exploring and eating of course. So to put into perspective how quick this trip was, we had one full day in New York. Yes, you read that right, only one! We left Thursday morning from OKC and arrived in New York around 11:30 am. So in total we only had 1 1/2 to explore New York. Crazy right? Why so short? I had to be at a military ball on Saturday. The trip came about when my mother invited me to come while she went to a conference. I didn't care if the trip was quick, I was going! Overall, I’d say it was a successful trip! Morgan and I didn't get lost too many times. Check out some of the highlights below…
THURSDAY:
Morgan and I left around 5:15 AM to head to the airport on a Thursday thinking that we would be just fine arriving there about 45 minutes before our flight. The OKC airport is so small and who is flying out on a Thursday morning? EVERYONE. We literally almost missed our flight and I thought it would be a miracle if our bags made it to New York. Well, Morgan's bags made it there but not mine...even though we checked our bags in at the same time. Thanks Southwest Airlines. My bags wouldn't come until later that afternoon but thankfully, everything worked out. My mothers flight would arrive at the same time the my bags were so she was able to pick it up for me. Thankfully I like to pack my essentials and an extra outfit just in case my luggage was ever lost so I wasn't too worried about it. Morgan and I booked a shuttle to come pick us up from the airport to our hotel, Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. Reality really set in as we made our way to our hotel. We definitely got to experience true New York traffic. Our hotel was only 7 miles away and it took us 1 1/2 hours to get there. YUP.
We had nothing to eat the whole day besides a small bag of peanuts and trail mix so we were getting pretty hangry at that point. As soon as we dropped off our bags in our room, we headed to our first food destination, Black Tap. Black Tap is known for the craft burgers and especially for their "Crazy Shakes". It was only a 6 minute walk from our hotel so we made it there with no problems but the line was so long! With a bit of luck, we were able to skip the line and head straight in. You guys, this place is busy and pricey (compared to your usual burger joint) but it was totally worth it. I got the "The Pizza Burger" and Morgan got the "The Texan Burger ". Both were extremely delicious and the sweet potato fries were perfection. Of course we had to get a "Crazy Shake" so we decided to split "The Cake Shake" (vanilla frosted rim with rainbow sprinkles topped with a funfetti cake slice, whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles & a cherry). It was worth every calorie and gram of sugar guys. NO JOKE.
After eating, we made our way towards Times Square which our hotel was located on so we didn't have to walk far at all. It is everything that you could have imagined. The city that truly never sleeps. There was so many people and energy. I loved every minute of it. We took a ton of photos! We decided to walk around the city even more so we walked to Radio City Music Hall, The Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Grand Central Station, NBC studios...you get the picture. We walked a lot that night so we thought it would be appropriate to eat again. We decided to get real New York style pizza and had absolutely no regrets!
FRIDAY:
We headed out of the hotel around 8 am and made our way to our first breakfast spot, Bibble & Sip. Bibble & Sip is a bakery & coffeehouse serving upscale coffees, teas & a selection of house made baked goods (french confectionery but inspired by Asian flavors). The had so many really delicious pastries and believe me, I was tempted to try them all but I couldn't fit them all in my bag. I got the the Orange Cranberry scone with a latte & Morgan ended up getting the Chocolate Walnut scone with an espresso. The pastries were amazing...the coffee, not so much.
After breakfast we made our way down to the subway because 1) it was cold (32 degrees) so we didn't want to walk 2) It was the easiest & fastest way to get from point A to B with the short amount of time we had. Let me tell you, the subway was definitely an experience. We only missed our stop twice but quickly got back on track and didn't waste too much time. I'm proud of us really because we were so intimidated at first. Our first stop was to Central Park. Central Park in the fall is absolutely gorgeous. Really it is beautiful and I underestimated how big Central Park really is. It was one of my favorites stops of the day.
We headed back to the subway and made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge. Let me just tell you, it was a walk of torture. It was freezing and the wind cut through us. beautiful views but man, was it cold. We took some pictures and headed across the bridge to see DUMBO. After that, we found the closest coffee shop to get something hot to drink and thaw out. We decided it would be a good idea to change so that's exactly what we did. After changing, we made our way to the Flat Iron District. Another must see location. We didn't end up eating lunch so we were starving at that point. We ran into a local restaurant and decided to split a brownie bit cheesecake which hit the spot and then we had pizza again...no shame! We love pizza. I headed over to MOMA ( Museum of Modern Art) which is was one of my must see places to stop at. We decided we had to get a NY style hot dog because why not!? Worth it. It was the perfect way to end our trip.
We woke up the next morning at 2 am and headed out around 3 am to make our way to the airport. We luckily made that one and so did our bags. At the end of the trip, we calculated that we had walked over 20 miles...not bad for 1 1/2 days. Overall, I would have loved going to more places and there were definitely a lot we didn't get to see but there's no better excuse then to come back right!? Until next time New York!