A Fall trip to New York was the perfect getaway to take a break from our normal weekend routine.
Zack flew out on Tuesday night to be in the city for a work event. And I flew out Friday morning to meet him at the Downtown Marriott hotel. Our room had a view of little Lady Liberty and we were only one block from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. We chose to stay there because Zack got a discount for the room because of the event.
I got in the city around 1 p.m. and then had a couple hours by myself until Zack was done with work. They still had lunch available and I got a quick sandwich at the hotel. I took a stroll through The Battery (formerly Battery Park – I didn’t know they changed it!) and looked out at the Statue of Liberty, watched people get in line to get on the Ferry and wandered through the different memorials.
Then I headed up State Street where I stood in line to get my picture with the Charging Bull. I waited 30 minutes in line just to figure out that I was in line for a picture with the back end of the bull! Then I stood in the other line to get a picture with the horns. Ooops. Then I headed North on Broadway to look at Trinity Church, which was temporarily closed. Next, I walked to the 9/11 Memorial and wandered until it was time to checkin to my room.
Zack and I roamed through the Financial District, where we found a couple of places to have cocktails. First we went to Harry’s, which was a beautiful bar. I ordered the Manhattan – which one does while in Manhattan – and it was served in the cutest little jar over ice.
Next, we tried to check out The Dead Rabbit. We had a couple people in front of us getting their IDs checked, but there were a few open tables inside. They server sat us near the bar, but said we had to order our drinks at the bar. We waited about 15 minutes, but couldn’t even get the staff to make eye contact for us to order a drink, so we left.
And, just around the corner, we found Fraunces Tavern. And what a find! Fraunces tavern is New York’s oldest bar and a landmarked building. The building is most famous for George Washington thanked his officers for their service after the British troops left the American soil. So much history!
We made another stop at a place called Sauce & Barrel. We intended to eat here, but we weren’t feeling much of the menu. I didn’t want to eat pizza for dinner, haha. We stayed for a drink, then headed to O’hara’s for a burger and fries.
On Saturday morning, we were up early to find breakfast. There was a Starbucks in the hotel, so finding coffee was really quick! Zack picked out Leo’s Bagels, where we grabbed omelettes on a bagel then headed to the water to eat. I got a pastrami omelette and Zack ordered the Hangover, which had bacon, sausage and a hash-brown. Yum!
We bought tickets for the One World Observatory for 11 a.m., which is the opening time. It wasn’t packed, but since we were the first group it seemed super busy. Once we got up to the 103rd floor, we were able to see the views free of other people. You can see so far! And it’s a super long way down… The views were so much better than when we went to the Top of the Rock.
After our tour, we took an Uber to Midtown. Our room wasn’t ready yet, but we dropped our bags off and headed into Central Park. This was both of our first time in the park! The last time we went to NY, we made it to the Plaza, but never went into the park. How silly!
We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Pazza Notte on 6th Ave. We were very hungry, but it was already after 2 and we knew we would be going out to eat later. We each had a beer and split the margherita pizza. Delicious.
We stayed at Westhouse on 55th and 7th for just one night. The hotel was supposed to be a luxe boutique style, but we could hear a whole bunch of doors slamming in the hallway at 4 a.m. when all the marathoners were getting up. The stay was fine, the staff was friendly, their bar was closed. The room was $400 for the night plus a fee of $30 per person for the “residence” fee. That includes the wifi, coffee bar on the terrace, and breakfast. The decor was lovely, but we probably won’t be going back because of the price.
We met up with my friend Brooke and her boyfriend Tanner to walk through Times Square. We went out to dinner at The Perfect Pint. We had to climb about 4 stories to get to the rooftop! The best part was that it was enclosed, so we were freezing. I ordered the biggest fried fish dinner I’ve ever had.
We woke up super early on Sunday to get in a walk. I wanted to see a couple more things before I left!
The NYC Marathon was starting that morning, so we took an Uber to the airport three hours early. We grabbed a drink and some lunch, then hopped on our plane back to DFW. See ya later, New York City! You can see my past New York trips here.
