New York, New York

You may remember several weeks ago, I attended a conference in NYC. I recapped the TechMunch conference I attended, but I also wanted to write about all the incredible places I visited while in NYC. It was my first time ever visiting NYC and I plan to go back. What an incredibly fun place. I can see why Frank Sinatra sings about it. 

 I was SO GLAD my best friend Katie (my fearless Co-Founder over at Rural Housewives) flew in to meet me and spend a couple days exploring NYC with me! It was much less intimidating when you’ve got your best friend by your side! So what did we do!? Phew, what didn’t we do? 

First, we stayed our entire trip at the Flat Iron Hotel in the Flat Iron District. I honestly cannot say enough good things about this place and the location. We were close enough to literally everything! The Hotel has live music almost every single night so that made it fun when we got back from supper and drinks, we could plop down in the lobby and enjoy some GREAT bands before heading to bed! The hotel staff was wonderful and amazingly accommodating, the rooms were clean and surprisingly big for NYC. I would stay here again in a heart beat. 

Thursday night we explored around the Flat Iron District and stumbled across this awesome culinary pop-up market called Mad Sq. Eats! This market brings together popular NYC restaurants and has been going on for nearly 8 years. We were lucky enough to be visiting during the market! 

We thoroughly enjoyed some amazing tacos (my favorite were the fish) from Calexico, ordered way too many macaroons from the Macaron Parlour, and enjoyed some awesome craft brews from Nunu Chocolates in Brooklyn. 

The next day we decided to be the ultimate tourists and take a stroll down 5th Avenue. But no day in NYC starts off right without a bagel!

Honestly, this bagel was the best bagel I’ve ever had in my life. New York bagels are now on my “to replicate” list from NYC. I can’t remember the name of this place but it was HOPPIN and was just a hole in the wall place. I ordered an everything bagel with garlic and herb cream cheese. It was the stuff dreams are made of, no joke. We enjoyed our bagels in a quaint little park right across from Macy’s.
Our next stop was the New York Public Library… which apparently has several branches. Before my trip, I had heard from several people the New York Public Library is GORGEOUS. The architecture is amazing and just the size and scale is so impressive. When we stumbled upon a sign for the New York Public Library and walked in, it was totally a 60’s campus library with ugly flourescent lights. Come to find out, the REAL New York Public Library was literally right across the street. Woops! It was as gorgeous as everyone said. 

Further down Fifth Avenue, we ran into your tourist destinations… Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany & Co., Bloomingdale’s, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rockafeller Center, Trump Tower, as well as some other cool buildings. The thing that surprised me the most about everything in NYC is that before you go, you feel like everything is going to be this “big deal” and then you’re walking along and hey, there’s Tiffanys. No Big deal. 

After ALL of that walking, we needed a break! We took a stroll through Central Park and found a place to sit down and take in the sights. There was a lovely little old man playing the trombone, it was so peaceful, you’d almost forget you were in NYC. We didn’t even touch a quarter of Central Park, it is HUGE! You could spend several days exploring around in there. We did wander over to Literary Walk, you know the iconic tree lined walked that has been in SO MANY movies! Of course, while in Rome, we had to enjoy a hot dog from a cart in Central Park. 

One of the things I wanted to do while in NYC was visit Serendipity and have a frozen hot chocolate. 1. because it looks amazing and 2. because I LOVE that movie, honestly it is one of my favorites! I was surprised when we got to Serendipity how small it was, literally a hole in the wall place. I thought our wait was going to be hours, we only waited about 45 minutes before getting a table. Of course, we ordered the iconic frozen hot chocolate and it was as wonderful as it looks. 

That evening, we got a tip that this bar right around the corner from where we were staying was THE PLACE to be… Turns out, this was correct. Seriously cool rooftop bar called 230 Fifth that gives you an amazing view of the city! There were several private parties the night we were there which is unfortunate as much of the rooftop was roped off. But we still enjoyed some drinks there and took in a gorgeous NYC sunset. The Empire State Building is right across from the bar so you get a pretty awesome view of it when the lights turn on at night. 

After enjoying the sunset from 230 Fifth, we walked down to the Chelsea District for a late evening meal. We ended up at the Socarrat Paella Bar where we enjoyed a variety of tapas and some pretty awesome sangria. I have to say, the hostess here wasn’t the most friendly or customer service oriented, but our server was FANTASTIC and made some wonderful suggestions. We ended the night at a bar called The Tippler. It was a basement bar with an awesome vibe and super cool design. The drinks we had were lovely, I can’t even remember what they were called but they were the drink of the night featuring whisky and some sort of citrus. 

The next day we ventured out and did the free ride on the Staten Island Ferry. It gives you a super cool view of the Statue of Liberty without having to pay a dime! The Ferry runs every hour and if you don’t get off quick enough to head back, you will have to wait for the next ferry to head back to Manhattan. 

We ended up meeting a friend of mine who currently lives in Brooklyn for lunch at the famous Lombardi’s, arguably the birthplace of New York Style pizza. After lunch, we wandered around Soho, Chinatown, parts of East Village, and Civic Center districts. 

We also walked the Brooklyn Bridge which was SUPER cool! And probably something I wouldn’t have done unless my friend recommended it! I was enthralled with the Brooklyn’s super cool suspension. Beware though: there are LOTS of people trying to sell you stuff and lots of weirdos on the bridge. But it is a fun experience, do it! I plan on printing a few of these blacks and whites of the bridge just because I love them so much! 

That night we got back late and needed a good place to eat, my friend recommended a place called Beecher’s Cellar just down the street from where we were staying. What a top notch recommendation, turns out Beecher’s is famous for cheese and macaroni and cheese. So we enjoyed just that, along with some wine. Plus, they had cow hide seats… I was in love. I have since ordered some cheese from Beecher’s and every single one has been phenomenal! Can’t recommend them enough! 

Since it was a late night the night before, we slept in on Sunday and enjoyed a lovely boozy brunch at The Crooked Knife on 30th Street. And from there, visited Grand Central for a coffee and tasty treat. Before heading back to get ready for a big night on the town and Broadway!

Before heading to Broadway, we stopped at this bar down the street from our show called Lillie’s Victorian Establishment. What a super cool place, they served house drinks in multi-colored depression glass style cups. We saw Chicago on Broadway, it was incredible! I will pay to see a broadway show again, it was worth every penny we paid! After Broadway, we visited Times Square. Times Square for me was a one and done experience. I was so overwhelmed while there between the lights and so many people I could hardly breathe. I saw it, done for this gal. 

The next day was Memorial Day and we got up at 3 AM to go stand in line for the Today show. A friend of mine from here in North Dakota HIGHLY recommended this as a MUST DO while in NYC. And after experiencing the show, the crew, and the Plaza, I agree. We will be doing this again, even IF you have to get up super early to get there. We were in line by 5 AM and were the second people in line. The crew at the Today show are SO nice and friendly and really make the whole experience on the Plaza a great one! Many of the anchors even stopped to take selfies and chat with the people out on the Plaza. 

After the Today show, we toured through and visited the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. I also highly recommend you do this. It was completely mind blowing to think you’re standing on the exact place those planes hit and so many people lost their lives. It was a super emotional tour but one that every single person needs to do while there. Since the 9/11 Memorial is super close to the Financial District, we took a stroll over to Wall Street too. 

After the 9/11 Museum, we ventured up to Katz’s Deli for a pastrami sandwich. It was fabulous (although there’s no beating my dad’s pastrami). We then explored through Little Italy, of course stopping for a cannoli. That evening we enjoyed some Belgian brews at a place close to our hotel called Belgian Beer Cafe, I had their burger with truffle mayo… It was fabulous.  Our last day there, we enjoyed breakfast at Sarabeth’s which was cool since I own her cookbook. It was delicious and a fun little place. Then we hit up Eataly. It’s probably a good thing we didn’t come here before because I could have spent HOURS in Eataly. Eataly is basically like a grocery store with a bunch of little cafes all put together. There is a cheese section, fresh pasta, wines, meats… Anything italian, they’ve got it. It was heaven for this food lover. Of course I couldn’t leave without grabbing some raclette cheese and dried salamis for my suitcase to take back! 

As you can probably tell from this MARATHON post, NYC was incredible. At times it was overwhelming, at times you’d forget you were in a city that never sleeps. There is something about NYC that just catches you and eventually will lead you back there. The food journey through the city was amazing, I can’t wait to go back and cook my way through NYC next time! 

Have you ever been to NYC? What are your favorite places to eat, drink, or visit?