NYC
NEW YORK CITY
Travel Dates: August 27 — Sept 2
Where we stayed: Gramercy Park Hotel
Where we ate: Shake Shack, Ruth Chris, Gramercy Tavern
Trip memory: This trip was exciting because we were there for Sherman Lin’s (Wilson’s dad) art gallery debut.
We were very excited to visit New York, Marika had not been, and I hadn’t been since I was a kid (so doesn’t count). We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel called the Gramercy Park Hotel. We had a few days to ourselves before my parents joined us (we were in town for my dad’s art exhibit). We got to enjoy quite a variety of tasty foods, Shake Shack (all over NYC) was incredible. Shake Shack started in New York, so if you’re there and you have to try it. We ate so many hot dogs from street vendors throughout the city; you cannot go wrong with $1 hot dogs. We went to Gallaghers, an iconic New York Steakhouse. We weren’t overly impressed with it, the food was decent, but the restaurant tables were so, so close together. Ruth Chris in New York was another steakhouse we tried out and was much better. The ambience is quite nice and the service, as usual, was excellent.
We spent a fair bit of time walking around SoHo and exploring the shops, both boutique shops and the regular retail stores. We saw tons of cool architecture and beautiful heritage buildings. 5th Street is a must-see; all the high-end retailers have fantastic stores on this street. We “had” to check out the Tiffany and Co flagship store — it was quite impressive (visually more than financially). We went to Times Square even though it’s a tourist trap. It is wild to see the busyness, lights and insane amounts of people. Heads up for Times Square first-timers: avoid the bicycle taxis! They cost a lot, especially for how short of a ride it is, and you might rip your pants; avoid all “characters” they want you to pay for the photos; watch your step.
We enjoyed Aladdin the Musical on Broadway. It was phenomenal; they served wine in sippy cups, so we got quite spiced, which made it even funnier. A Broadway show is a must! You cannot go to New York and not go to a Broadway show.
We visited Ground Zero — The 9/11 Memorial, it was a cumbersome experience. The memorial is large inside, so give yourself lots of time. Be respectful — this is a mass grave. We witnessed so much ridiculous behaviour, and it was so sad. The memorial grounds are beautiful, very well constructed, but you do great feel the weight of the events that took place here.
Museum stops included: The Metropolitan Museum, a massive museum and where they filmed parts of Night at the Museum. Close to the Met is the Museum of Anthropology, where they shot other parts of that movie. We found the Dum Dum, forgot the gum gum though — next time. The MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) is also an excellent museum if you enjoy modern art, there is a café inside with great coffee. We recommend hitting museums only if time allows and with people who enjoy a similar pace to you. If you want to read every single plaque, go with people who feel the same way.
We somehow managed to get tickets to the 2016 VMA’s at Madison Square Garden, we thought they were fake tickets, but they weren’t. It was a very stressful experience trying to get in as there were so many random lines and no one to direct us, but we made it to our seats, and it was a super cool but bizarre experience.
A friend of ours recommended that we ride the Staten Island Ferry from Manhattan. It’s a free ferry ride that passes (closely) the Statue of Liberty. You can get some great photos of the Statue without going there and without the crowds. When we arrived at Staten Island, we grabbed an ice cream and then headed back to Manhattan.
Little Italy is an experience in and of itself, lots of little Italian restaurants. All were trying to get you to dine with them, offering free desserts or wine and claiming their restaurant is the best Italian food we’ll have outside Italy, and while it wasn’t entirely true, it was delicious.
Central Park is obviously an icon! We loved it there and cannot wait to return with better shoes. We did tons of walking on this trip.
We spent some time in the Chelsea District, where my dad’s exhibit was along with tons of other neat galleries. In the downtime, we explored the skywalk that stretches throughout the district. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a walkway in the sky, it has tons of plants and benches to enjoy. It’s quite beautiful up there and it spans a decent length.
We didn’t see all of the things we wanted to see on our short trip there but we hope to go back soon and extend the list.
