N is for New York City

When I started to write this, my plan was to copy some of the other "destination" posts, highlighting activities to do in New York City.  The problem is, I could devote an entire blog to that, and still not scratch the surface.  We've spent several weekends in New York, and with the exception of some favorite places to shop, rarely do the same thing twice!

For this post, I'm going to show a few things that we did on our most recent trip. We arrived in NYC at 10 am on Friday, and went almost non-stop until our train back home left late on Sunday night.  It's the city that never sleeps, and you'll find you don't either, so you can fit it all in!

Friday

Philadelphia to NYC - taking the train is a great way to get there.  Skip the traffic!

 

Lunch

Checking into the hotel

Shopping.  If you can't find it in New York, you can't find it anywhere.  Though the boys were less than impressed waiting for Mom to brave American Girl for a present for little sister.

Of course you can find a LEGO Batman.  You're in Gotham.

I think it's practically a law that if you're Catholic, you stop at St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Whenever I am in New York, I always stop and pray at the altar to St. Jude. 

The view from our hotel room, now that we have a room (it was not quite ready earlier).
  The view from a skyscraper can be amazing!

Wicked on Broadway.  Matthew's wanted to see Wicked for almost three years now.  I've seen it three times now, and yet it's still amazing.

There is nothing like the lights of Broadway.  You can almost sense the buzz of energy at any time, but at night, it's like a triple espresso.  You can just feel it.

Saturday

Back on the subway.  The Subway and your feet are really the best way to get around town.  We decided to head downtown towards Chelsea.

And then even further downtown, to Ground Zero. 

The boys were hungry (again...) so we headed back uptown.  Not too far from our hotel was a street fair - arepas and gyros and cronuts...oh my!

And then to a summer classic - a game at Yankee Stadium.   It was a fantastic game...and our team won.  ("Our" team being the Red Sox.  Yes, I have on a Yankees shirt -- it says "Ruth 3" on the back.  No, I'm not a traitor...he originally was a Red Sox player.)

Sunday

I could go to New York for a month...for lifetime, even...and still never have enough time.  We decided to an around-the-island tour.  It was really amazing, because while you only see it from the perimeter, you really get to see all of the "different" New Yorks that exist in that small space -- from the breathaking midtown skyscrapers to the gritty Lower East to the lush Upper West, all in the space of two hours.  As our tour guide, Malachy, pointed out -- New York is where you are what you make people believe you are.  (If you can't get to NYC and a tour led by Malachy, the next best thing is to get his book, Unique New York filled with the real life history of his hometown.)

We had enough time for another trip downtown to Madison Square Park and dinner at Shake Shack, one of our favorite NYC eateries.  OK, it's not haute cuisine, but it's a good burger.  Plus, you get to sit out and people watch, one of the most fun things to do in New York.

Back on the subway uptown to our hotel, get our gear, and one last trip under to Penn Station.  Our train left around 8:30 pm, just in time to catch sunset on the Hudson.

Links from our trip:

Mariott Residence Inn Central Park 
Wicked
Chelsea Market
9/11 Memorial

New York Yankees
Circle Tour Cruise Lines
Malachy Murray

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