New York City
Here we are at the grand finale of the trip! I absolutely love New York City. I've had a heart for this city since I was young and every time I visit my heart beats a little faster. I knew when we decided to do an east coast trip that it wouldn't be complete without another visit to the Big Apple. While I loved the other cities we visited, this part of the trip was my favorite! We had 3 days to explore the city so I jam packed as much in as possible.
We took our first Amtrak from Philly to New York and it was a great experience. Upon arriving at Penn Station (which is chaotic!), we took a cab to our hotel in Tribeca. If you stay on that side of town, I definitely recommend the Sheraton Tribeca! It was right by the Canal St. station and had the best bagel place next door. After resting for a minute, it was straight onto exploring. My aunt joined us for this part of the trip so while we waited on her plane to arrive, my mom and I took a walk to Little Italy. We stopped in La Columbe coffee shop off of Church St. to get caffeinated then went to find the love mural. My mom was a trooper for going to all the random places with me to take pictures!
Once my aunt arrived, we went over to Greenwich Village to stroll through NYU's campus and Washington Square Park. Fun fact: NYU was actually my dream school for college BUT average tuition is about $78,000 a year...ouch (I'll stick with my degree from UA!). Next we grabbed an Uber to Chelsea to walk around the High Line, which is a cool, urban outdoor park on an old railway system. That night we went to Midtown to grab dinner at Nino's 46, which is a great little Italian restaurant near Grand Central Station. Afterwards, we ventured through Times Square to the Broadway Theater to see Fiddler on the Roof. The play was phenomenal and a classic must-see! Passing through Times Square is always entertaining as well with all the lights, interesting people and the endless crowds. Once we managed to get through the crowd of people, we hopped on our subway back to the hotel.
Day 2 in NYC started with breakfast at Tribeca Bagels. If you're looking for a classic New York breakfast, look no further. Their bagels were amazing and so fresh! After our first try, we were hooked and went back each morning. Once we were filled up on bagels and caffeine, we took off to Central Park for the morning. We made a quick stop at the Met so I could get a classic Gossip Girl photo on the steps (xoxo calling Serena and Blair). Then we had a nice long walk through Central Park to the Bethseda Fountain and Minton Tile Ceiling in the Bethseda Terrace. Once we found our way out of the park, we grabbed a Lyft to Grand Central Station for lunch. Unfortunately it began to rain, which put a little wrench in our plans, but we were able to make the most of it. After lunch we went to Rockefeller where my aunt and I went up to the Top of the Rock. This was the best view of the city and the best city skyline photos! It's better than going to the top of the Empire State building because you can actually get the Empire in your photos from here. The only draw back to our visit that afternoon was the rain. It hindered the view a bit, but it was still amazing and breathtaking!
On our last day in the city, we went over to Brooklyn for the morning. We got to attend a service at the Brooklyn Tabernacle which was amazing! Then like any good New Yorker would do on a Sunday, we grabbed brunch at the most hip place in Williamsburg and waited in line for about 45 mins (calling Rori Gilmore to interview us). The food was definitely worth the wait and the restaurant was rad too (I mean it was called the Rabbithole so it had to be cool, right?). After brunch we went back over to Dumbo so I could get some photos on the Brooklyn Bridge and try to find good ole Dan Humphrey's apartment (pretending I was Serena on Gossip Girl), but it was freezing and raining hard so I settled for a quick photo by the bridge near Jane's Carousel.
For our last few hours in the city, we went shopping in Soho and grabbed ice cream at Melt. That night we got to visit one of my favorite female pastor's church in Union Square. Liberty Church NYC is such an amazing house and I felt so welcome visiting. It's an ARC church so it's related to my home church by the network of churches. Pastor Andi Andrew and her husband Paul are phenomenal leaders who co-pastor the church. After church, we grabbed dinner at Ichiba Ramen House and I quickly developed a new favorite food. It was so good!
The next morning we caught our plane back home and so concludes our awesome East Coast Trip. I'll be back in NYC next month for a mission trip and absolutely cannot wait! Let me know what your favorite places are in the comments and what awesome trips you've taken lately! xoxo
