Going to New York City the weekend before Christmas has almost become a tradition for me and my family. The first time we went was in December 2013, then again in December 2014, and now again in December 2017. I really wanted at first to go with my boyfriend but our schedules could not match up due to the fact that he works in retail and the holiday season can be chaotic. So, around October my mom brought it up to me and I was down for it. After all Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and New York is one of my favorite cities. So in November I booked our hotel (we stayed at Row NYC - It had a cute little restaurant attached to it and was close to the Theater District, Hell's Kitchen, Times Square, and many other things).
On December 21st, I drove up to where my mom lives in Maryland cause that would cut the commute time by an hour and I spent the night. On Friday we left around 8:30 AM and it took us only 3.5 hours to get there (there was not any traffic!). We arrived by 12 PM but had to wait until 4 PM to check into our hotel. Parking a car in New York can be extremely expensive so I think the next time I go back, I'll plan in advance to take a train (we looked the week before and tickets were more than $300 roundtrip!).
As we waited for our hotel to be ready, we went to where the Big Bus Tour building was (we got the New York Passes which are a great value if you want to ride the busses and see attractions with no wait! Depending on the sale you get they can be around $90+ a person per day). We also walked to the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Plaza and I actually saw the ice skating rink for the first time! After walking around there we went to Bryant Park (they have vendors there during the holidays with little shops of food, jewelry, and art). We sat down for a bit and enjoyed hot apple cider and apple cinnamon donuts. Then by the time we finished walking around and exploring, it was time to go check into our hotel. We stayed on the 12th floor I believe and there was a pretty stellar view! After refreshing ourselves, we ventured back out to go activate our passes for the next day and have dinner. We ate at the place attached to our hotel (it's called City Kitchen! It was like a cafe of different foods so we both had lobster rolls from Luke's Lobster and split a sushi roll). After eating, we headed out to go on a night time tour on the busses! It took us downtown and into Brooklyn (it was my first time ever going to Brooklyn and I loved it!). I always feel like when I go visit there's just never enough time so the next trip I plan I definitely want to go for at least 3 days (and most likely in the Spring!). When we got back we were pretty pooped but we went to Macy's (my mom admired the fur vault and got two pairs of boots). This trip to New York I was determined to not really spend money but to enjoy the experiences and sites. After Macy's, we went to Sugar Factory (there was one attached to our hotel - don't be fooled, they don't serve the alcoholic beverages so a goblet is like $27 (with no alcohol!)). We had one of the blue drinks (I can't remember the name) and then my mom decided she wanted Shake Shack so we went over and got a late night snack before bed. As we rested and got ready for bed, Elf was on T.V. so I watched that as I fell asleep.
The next morning we woke up pretty early as we had a lot of stuff we wanted to see before leaving by 8 PM that evening. We started off with taking our bags to our car in the parking garage so we wouldn't have to come back to the hotel. Before getting out on the town we stopped for breakfast (I don't remember but the prices were ridiculous, it was $26 for my mom and I to split one entree). Then, we walked to MoMA and I loved it! Some pieces were definitely odd, but I love going to art galleries and museums here in D.C. and I always wanted to go to MoMA so I was super excited. One of my favorite exhibits was the computer one and my mom's favorite was the fashion one. After walking through, we walked over to Top of The Rock. Unfortunately, it was raining and overcast so there was no visibility but we still opted to go to the top because it was our last day. It was a white out but it was pretty cool to be 76 stories up in the sky with the rain clouds! Then after we finished we walked back to where the busses run and went on an uptown tour. I had never seen much of the Upper East & West Side so it was exciting for me (I saw where Gossip Girl was filmed!). We also got to see Harlem and Central Park. When we got to the Palace, my mom got out and started walking as we were planning to go to Black Tap (but the line was 2 hours long!). So we met with my mom's coworker/friend and her son to go eat around Rockefeller Plaza. We ended up eating at Rock Center Cafe and they have windows where you can look out at the ice skating rink. We saw a proposal (someone had the whole ice skating rink cleared and proposed to their girlfriend, it was so cute!). We actually saw 3 total that day all at Rockefeller Center. After eating we grabbed 2 Junior's Cheesecakes and made our way to the car to leave. When I got home it was lights out, trying to pack all those adventures in 24 hours can be so hard and draining.
Overall I had a really great time, if you're going to New York I definitely recommend venturing outside of Times Square! Everything there is ridiculously overpriced and you can see most of those stores and restaurants anywhere. I'm so excited for the next time I go back, I've already started planning it out!
Until next time readers,
XOXO Chynna
