I did promise another New York story, didn't I? Well this time, it's about the city! It was a very exciting day and I had a ton of fun, which means you're going to have a ton of fun hearing about it (or at least I hope you do).
So when we last left off, we had driven into the city from Long Island on Tuesday night. Let me tell you that was a crazy drive and it wasn't even me driving. First off, it was pouring rain, which you already know it's gonna be bad. Then it was dark. Then you add on crazy New York drivers. If that wasn't bad enough, we had to go through the city itself to get to our hotel in Jersey. If anyone were to call us insane, I would agree with them. Traffic was awful and we didn't get to our hotel until about 10ish. But it was all worth it. We had booked a room with a view of the skyline. It was beautiful. On top of that, we also got complimentary breakfast which was from another world. It was that good (I'll rave about it more later.)
Now we only had one day in the city. One day. So we were gonna make the most of it. We woke up bright and early, still tired from the night before. Our first stop of the day was breakfast. As I said before, I'm going to rave about it. I highly recommend this hotel if you ever visit, which by the way is called the Hyatt Regency Jersey City - On The Hudson. If you know Billy Joel's Song New York State of Mind it's basically living in that song while staying there. So anyway we got to enjoy a delicious breakfast while watching ships come and go from the nearby ferry stop. Can't forget the Statue of Liberty either. Needless to say, it was a beautiful start to the day (see I can't stop raving about this hotel - and no this is not an advertisement I promise).
Ok now we get to leave the hotel (finally am I right). We took the ferry across the Hudson and took a short walk to the Reflecting Pools where the Two Towers used to stand. We found two relatives of ours who were inscribed on the monument. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter the 9/11 Memorial Museum and decided we didn't want to wait an hour to go in. So with some extra time left, we headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a nice walk across but let me tell you, those vendors
that set up early in the morning are some serious people. They've got a job to sell you things and they're gonna do it. Well, they didn't sell me anything, but they might get to you. My advice: stay strong and move on because $20 for a keychain just ain't worth it, I promise you there are better tourist traps elsewhere.
So after the exciting adventure of the Brooklyn Bridge, I decided I wanted to see Macy's. Because let's be honest- who doesn't want to see Macy's? Macy's in New York is huge and you don't get that everywhere. So we took a quick subway over to the area. I had been to Harrods in London a year before and this was like seeing an American version of it I kid you not. All of the luxury brands that you can't afford are in your sights and call you poor in a million different ways. Still love Macy's
though.
We stopped by a small exhibit on our way through the store which had a display of some of the floats in the parade. I had to pick up a Snoopy squishmallow because I had to. I mean it was so cute how could you not? After that, we went downstairs on the old wooden elevators which was super cool. After we left Macy's, we took a walk to Times Square and went in and out of the shops like the giant Hershey store and and M&M store. We also took a look at a souvenir store but didn't find anything worthwhile.
My recommendation is to find places to eat before you go to the city, especially from the locals or bloggers (in this case not me). They always know the best places to eat. We did not take this advice and instead wound up eating at a small diner which did not live up to the expectations I had for fish and chips. I mean it's fish and chips. Even my dad can make fish and chips.
Anyway, after that disappointment, we took another walk over to Central Park's Wollman Rink. I'm not an ice skater and my falling on the ice multiple times proved this point. If you plan to go, I would recommend practicing a little bit before you go out because the rental skates are not the most comfortable even for rental skates. Also, be prepared to pay a hefty amount. It's not cheap and honestly, for the experience we got, I would just get a hot cocoa and watch people skate. It's a very crowded rink and, even though you're on the ice, it gets very hot. But if you're actually a good skater (unlike me) I would say go for it. It was still a fun experience but I'm not sure I would do it again.
Now after the skating adventure, it was time to head to our show at the Radio City Music Hall. That's right- we were going to see the Rockettes! We had some time to kill before our show so we walked around and visited the MLB store and the Nintendo store. There were a ton of other stores around the Rockefeller area and I would've loved to explore more, but unfortunately, we didn't have time. I highly recommend setting some time aside to explore that area of the city and do some shopping, but only if you're there for a few days.
Then it was time for our show to start so we got a move on and took our seats. The show was really amazing and the talent was unbelievable. It's a classic show and the whole thing is so much fun to watch. And it's family-friendly, so seeing all the kids' faces when twenty Santas came out on stage was the cutest thing. Their little minds were blown! My entire family loved it and if you're going to New York I really recommend seeing a show. It doesn't have to be the Rockettes, but seeing a show is just really fun. Next time I go to New York, I would love to see a Broadway show. Add it to the bucket list!
It was now pretty late and my last request for the day was to go to the Top of the Rock (a.k.a the top of Rockefeller Center). And I was so glad we got to do it! We got tickets at the counter and then grabbed some delicious cookies from this place called 'Chip City' inside Rockefeller Center.
Then we headed to the top on this huge elevator. I forgot how many floors it was, but it was a lot. It was also crazy fast. A very exciting elevator ride I'll say. Anyway (I say that a lot don't I?), when we got to the top, the view of the city was beautiful! It was nighttime, as you can see by the photo, and the city just lit up. It was also clear and just simply gorgeous. I forgot to mention earlier but it was supposed to rain the entire day in the city and it actually ended up being clear and sunny by noon, so we got lucky to have this great of a look. We stayed up there for awhile and snapped some photos (if you want to take a look at my gallery, there's some photos in there) and then headed back down. We were too tired for dinner so we headed back down, took a quick look at St. Patrick's Cathedral which was gorgeous- an architectural work of art. It was then a subway ride to the PATH train station to get back to Jersey. And after a struggle with the ticket thing (what do you call that I cannot recall) we were back in Jersey. We hadn't planned on eating dinner, but I was hungry, and the food at the hotel is delicious. So we headed down to the restaurant and ate some of the best cheese I've ever had. It was after eleven by the time we finished, so we headed to bed because we had another exciting day ahead.
Ok so I know I said we only had one day in New York City, but I really meant one and a half days. Mainly because we had decided to try and see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. However we got a late start to the morning and stopped for breakfast at the hotel, so by the time we got to a part of the parade route we could see nothing. Even my dad, who is moderately tall, could only see the feathers on the bands' hats. We decided pretty quickly that this idea was a bust and figured, why not go to the One World Trade Center Observatory and see the city in the daytime? We wanted to do it the day before but it had been cloudy. On this day it was clear and perfect to go, especially because everyone was busy with the parade. I'm so glad we were able to go, and there was almost no one there. We got a little drink and pastry and just enjoyed the view for awhile. It was really cool to see all of the buildings in the daytime and figure out which building is which, thanks to the help of the guides. I really recommend going here as well as Top of the Rock, mainly because you get a different view and it's just so pretty. Plus if you're feeling really fancy, the One World Trade Center has a restaurant at the very top that's open for dinner. We didn't go, but maybe you can? Anyway (there it is again with that word), after that we headed back to the hotel, grabbed our rental car, and took a drive to Long Island for Thanksgiving dinner. You know the rest of that story from my previous article. If you haven't read it, check it out here. So I hope you enjoyed this article! I don't have any exciting travel plans until spring break, and then of course there's the summer which is going to be very exciting. So I might do an article on some of the places I went last year!
Until next time, I'm signing off!
P.S- Here's a little slideshow of some photos I took!
Rebecca, I just now read the second part of your NYC trip. Not sure why I missed it earlier. Such a good description of your time there. And the slideshow was beautiful! You have some really cute photos of yourself having a great time - even ice skating. LOL! ❤️