New York City Sister Trip 2017

The NYC Sister Trip took place during Veteran's Day Weekend and it left my legs sore and my heart full of memories. We stayed from Friday morning until Monday afternoon and housed ourselves at the Archer Hotel (I love that place) in a double room with an Empire view. It was about $500/night and split between the four of us. 

We immediately trotted over to Bryant Park to get some lunch and hot apple cider then hit up the free admission day for MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). After viewing the art and iconic works (Monet, Frida, Van Gogh and more) we then moseyed about until dinner time where we dined at Gato. Before our dinner reservations we walked about Washing Square Park. It was pretty cold all weekend with temperatures "feeling like" the 20's. We weren't prepared so we raided an REI and bought gloves, hats and hand warmers.

The view from our room. The Empire State Building was a different color each night.

This was the view if looking to the right. 

The subway was a must for all our galavanting about Manhattan. We got separated on our very first ride when the doors closed right behind Lindsey and I. Darby and Heather photographed subway rats until they caught up with us.

Sometimes during the weekend I would look over and see something as sweet as this...

... then in the blink of an eye, I would turn around and see that.

We took the Staten Island Ferry early the next morning to take in the sights.

Then made our way over to the 9/11 Museum, which was predictably packed to capacity on Veteran's Day.

Lunch had to be rather quick from a street vendor on our way to the TKTS booth. I am not sure if it was all the walking and the cold or if that chicken kebab sandwich was really that delicious. But it might have been the best meal I have eaten to date.

We waited in line for our discounted Phantom of the Opera tickets (which was as phenomenal as ever) in Times Square.

After dinner on a rooftop restaurant then taking in the show, we came home to a patriotic Empire State Building view.

The next morning dawned bright and cold, can you see the icicles on the fountain? We gravitated back to Bryant Park for breakfast. It is one block from our hotel and after Halloween it is decked out with a Holiday Village that sells both cute items and yummy foods. I had a chicken coconut curry empanada for the lunch the first day and then this particular morning I dined on a chewy warm waffle smeared with speculoos (cookie butter) and topped with whipped cream.

It was eye rollingly good. Then we grabbed marocchinos at Zibettos on our way to Central Park.

Fall in Central Park really is worth the visit to NYC in and of itself. Especially for this Florida girl who lacks all this splendor in her life.

We only got about half way through the park and then needed to turn back to make our lunch reservation. It was so lovely though... I could have kept strolling and ambling the rest of the day. It was neat taking in the joggers, dog walkers, babies getting photos in the leaves and people enjoying horse drawn carriage rides. 

We turned our bodies away from Central Park (but I think I did leave my heart there) and headed towards our lunch date.

I passed this sticker covering a crack in a window and it made me pause. But then we were back on our way to Serendipity3.

Serendipity3 was seriously a cute tiny lunch place with amazing frozen hot chocolates, and I got to top all that yumminess off by meeting my friend Jean there for a lunch date. <3

After lunch we walked about into various stores and rambled our way sporadically towards downtown. The sun sank and cast the most beautiful reflections around the city. Sunsets aren't much of a sight on the streets between the tall skyscrapers but late afternoon dazzles.

These particular reflections mesmerized me.

We did end up going into St. Patricks and lighting candles. It was moving.

We caught the subway and made our way to The Strand where I got to browse the bookshelves and stationary and socks to my heart's content. I picked up Murder on the Orient Express by Agath Christie(finished it already and loved it!), Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and a book by my man, Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers. 

Then we walked about Greenwich Village at night and even stopped to see the Friends apartment building. I also swung into Aedes as well to sniff some perfumes.

They didn't have L'Orpheline in stock so I ended up leaving empty handed.

But I made up for it the next day by hitting up Chanel and buying a bottle of Coromandel.

The city was festive for the holidays and we enjoyed gazing into window displays, sighting the Rockefeller tree in its scaffold and watching the twinkling lights being wrapped around trees.

One of the last things we did was view the city from Top of the Rock. The Statue of Liberty is in the distance to the right of the Empire State Building. 

There were some bumps and hiccups and moments of frustration. I did end up getting ill and came home with an ear infection (can I tell you how painful it is to fly with an ear infection popping and pressing?) but all in all it was a lovely experience with memories I will never forget. I hope next time I visit the city it will be with my husband and girls. I know they would love it (the girls, not the husband). We wore our feet out and walked about 20,000 steps each day and a total of 36 miles over the whole trip. 

If you were to build a 3 day NYC itinerary what would you include?