I had always thought the idea of a babymoon was a bit ridiculous. Why do you need to go on a vacation before your baby comes? Over the last 7 months I however I have come to cherish the time I have with my husband. Not that I am not excited to welcome our little guy, but it really means life is going to change. As exciting as that is, it is also scary. We can't lounge around for no reason, or eat at 9pm because we are too busy, we can't drop everything and head to NYC for no real reason. Things are going to get complicated and I have come to reality with that. But as time passed I realized it would be nice for us to go one one last venture just the two of us. Of course there will be other trips in the future sans kiddos, but our life is going to be completely different.
I would have loved to go to Hawaii or some tropical locale, but with Zika warnings and a limited amount of time, we decided on a location within driving distance. Dustin hadn't ever visited New York City and the last time I was there was with my youth group in middle school. So we started planning. I cannot emphasize how awesome the new feature is on FB where you can ask for recommendations and people can link places! SO cool. Of course our to do list was a million items long and 3 days is not quite enough time in the city. So I left a few places for our next trip! I also got exhausted a lot easier than I anticipated, not to mention 7 month preggo people can't really walk the 6+ miles each day with ease.
Here is what we did while in the big apple!
Details
Parking: I used the Spot Hero website to book a parking deck in Jersey City, right across the river from NYC. This could not have worked out any better! It was $24 for 3 days and I found a $5 coupon online. So $19 plus trips on the PATH there and back were cheaper then 1 single night parking in Manhattan. We parked in the Oakman Valet Garage on 1st street.
Hotel: We stayed in Soho, partially because it was way more affordable, and partially because I wanted to be a bit outside of the hustle and bustle. We ended up at the Hampton Inn on Watts. The room was a big snug, but overall we had a wonderful experience. They had continental breakfast and super hot showers, win in my book!
Planning: I have become slightly obsessed with researching things (no surprise), so I use TripAdvisor for everything. I added all of the suggestions from friends and could organize them by day or type. The app is pretty simple to use and helps me keep organized. Another thing, the subway in NYC is pretty gross and not very user-friendly. We ended up using a mix of subway, uber, lyft and 1 taxi which was pretty expensive compared to uber and lyft.
Itinerary
Day 1: Friday 1/13
-Drove in from SC. It is only about 3.5 hours - never realized how close we were!
-We rode the PATH into the World Trade Center. It was a super cool terminal! As soon as we got to NYC we went to the TKTS Booth in Seaport to snag some half-price broadway tickets. This was life changing. There are 3 locations and the shows they have vary, but they have great tickets at a reduced cost. Because Dustin had never been to a Broadway show we picked School of Rock.
-After unpacking, we shopped around Soho and met some of my former residents/friends Sami & Ari for dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant - Galli . Dustin had chicken parm and I had penne al vodka. YUM! The company was absolutely lovely and gosh those are two amazing women.
-After a lovely evening we crashed in our big comfy bed!
Empire State Building
Day 2: Saturday 1/14-We started off our day with a subway ride to the Empire State Building. Such a cool piece of history! We didn't ride up or anything, but it was still a sight to see.
-We shopped around and hit up Macy's - SO many floors and super cool old wooden elevators. Dustin loved the piano!-Headed towards Times Square to grab lunch before our matinee show. We got to Ellen's Stardust Diner at noon, and the line was MASSIVE. Then a group of 30 cut the line with reservations and I figured there was no way we would ever be able to eat and leave before the show. So we headed to Georgio's instead. We had some delish wraps and were super full.
Times Square
-School of Rock was absolutely amazing! We had seats in the Orchestra and could see everything. The kids that played the students actually sang and played all of the instruments! It was so impressive. This was a great show for people of all ages! I also learned you can snuggle in food/drinks. A little too late, we coughed up $5 for some twizzlers, but something to note for the future.
School of Rock!
-After the show we explored Rockefeller Plaza, did some shopping, and saw the outside of St. Patrick's. We ubered back to Chelsea for dinner.
 |
| Rockefeller Plaza |
 |
| Radio City Music Hall |
 |
| St. Patrick's |
 |
| Rockefeller Plaza |
-For dinner we had Pizza at Bleeker Street Pizza. Dustin had pepperoni & I had the Nonna Maria. I probably could have eaten about 12 slices. It is also pretty cool that you can get all kinds of beer/drinks at small shops. That crap doesn't fly in PA haha
-I have been dreaming about going to Big Gay Ice Cream shop since last Summer. It was conveniently right across the street. I hate to say this but I was actually disappointed. Maybe it tastes better in the summer or when it isn't snowing.
 |
| Salty Pump & American Globs |
Day 3: Sunday 1/15
-We started the morning at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. It was a sombering but amazing experience. It was especially touching because we both have such vivid memories of when this happened. Well worth it. Also college students get $6 off. The recommended amount of time was 2 hours, but we were there for over 3.5!
 |
| Visiting with Kyle! |
 |
| Grand Central Terminal |
-After the museum we met up with my cousin Kyle. We went out to lunch at a bar, food was decent but not really mentioning recommending. We hailed a cab and headed to Grand Central Station to see the station in person. The great part was that because it was a Sunday it was pretty quiet!
 |
| Little Italy |
 |
| Dinner at Puglia |
-We shopped around a little then headed towards Little Italy for dinner. We went to Puglia where the service was so so but the food was pretty yummy! I had spaghetti and meatballs and Dustin stuck with his go to Chicken Parm.
-The best part of Little Italy was going to Ferrara Bakery! The line was small compared to posts online. We waited only a minute and had to select from some delish treats behind the counter! We got cannolis, cheesecake, a cream puff, and a raspberry tart. Everything was to die for and this spot not to be missed!
-We headed home and watched the Steelers game from bed (and ate our desserts!)
Day 4: Monday 1/16
 |
| Cronut |
 |
| Pan au chocolat |
-We leisurely got up and had breakfast, packed our bags, and hailed a Lyft to check out a few sites before our departure. I had to grab a Cronut from Dominique Ansel Bakery. I bought a vanilla honey cronut (they only have 1 flavor each month) and a pan au chocolat (pastry I have become obsessed with since visiting Europe)
 |
| St. Paul's Church |
 |
| Wall Street |
 |
| Wall Street |
 |
| Trinity Cathedral |
-Dustin had always wanted to see Wall Street, so we walked around the quiet area (It was MLK day). We also were going to stop and see St. Paul's Episcopal where they served as a support site during 9/11, but they happened to be closed that week for renovations. We did stop by Trinity near Wall Street though.
-We took the PATH back across the river and collected our car with no problems.
-Before we left we wanted to see the statue of Liberty, so we headed to Liberty State Park. Parking is free and you can get a stunning view of the city! The only downfall is you only get to see her backside. Our initial thoughts were to take the Staten Island Ferry past lady Liberty, but we just ran out of time. We snagged some amazing pictures and headed home tired, but grateful for the time we were able to spend with each other.
 |
| Statue of Liberty |
 |
| Baby in the big city! |
Activities we missed, but are saving for next time:
-Activities: Central Park, Statue of Liberty from the front :)
-Cookies: Schmackery & Levain Bakery
-Bagels & Donuts: Dough, Doughnuttery, Black Seed Bagel, Thompkins Square Bagels
-Food: Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer, Carmine's, Lombardi's Pizza, Jacob's Pickles
Thanks NYC, we will be back soon!
Comments
Post a Comment