Wednesday, January 1, 2014

girls trip!

My little sister and mom have always talked about taking a girls trip to New York. I never believed it would really happen, but one day my mom called me up and meant business! A couple days later we had our trip booked!
Day 1: Our flight left early Wednesday morning and we got there that evening. Our hotel was in the financial district, so we took a taxi to get there. I'm just going to assume that 95% of the taxi drivers are all the same, so I feel safe to say that they're TERRIBLE! This guy was weaving in and out of traffic like you wouldn't believe. I thought they just drove like that in movies, but boy was I wrong! Needless to say, 10 minutes into the drive I was seconds away from throwing up. I was frantically searching for something I could puke in. After realizing there wasn't anything, I decided to roll down my window and hang my head outside. If worst came to worst, I could always just puke out the window. When we got to the hotel, I was praising the heavens! Me+taxi's=no bueno!
My cute mom felt obligated to try and have a conversation with our driver...it was hilarious
Once we got checked in, we decided to walk around for a bit and grab something to eat. The concierge suggested The Merchant's River House and it did not disappoint. I'm not sure if it was because we were starving or it really was good. Either way, we enjoyed ourselves.



Day 2: The second day we were there, we went to the 911 memorial. It was literately just down the street from our hotel. As soon as you get through the lines you can feel a sort of reverence about the place. You can definitely feel all the sadness and heartbreak that took place that day. The memorial isn't completely finished, but the parts that were finished were amazing.

After, we walked through the Financial District, snapped a quick pic by the bull, and made our way to the Staten Island Ferry. It's free and we were able to see the Statue of Liberty from the boat. It kinda ghetto, but hey, anything to save a buck!
Later that night, we went to Times Square. What a crazy place! There were freaks everywhere (which I expected). I now know why they call NYC the city that never sleeps! After we walked/shopped around Times Square, we grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading to see Wicked. This was by far my favorite part of the trip! I've been listening to the Broadway soundtrack for years and sang some of the songs in choir in high school. Needless to say, I've been obsessed for a good part of my life. It definitely did not disappoint. It was AMAZING!! So good I wanted to cry my eyes out.

Day 3: Our third day in NYC we were all over the place! We started it out by going to the Empire State Building. Luckily, the line wasn't very long so we got up there pretty fast. The views from up there are breathtaking! Afterwards, we met my cousin Ashley for lunch. She lives in Manhattan and was working right down the street from the Empire State Building. It was fun to see her!
We went to Grand Central Station, St. Patrick's Cathedral (which was under construction), Rockefeller Center, and shopped 5th Ave.
For dinner we ate at Serendipity. We ate really early (like when all the old people eat) so we got in really fast. I ordered their meatloaf and it was delicious! And of course we ordered some of their famous frozen hot chocolate.
Day 4: Our last day we were, again, all over the place. We started out shopping in China Town. I wasn't really looking forward to this, but it was really fun! I guess I just enjoy all the knock-off stuff they sell. The Asians were hilarious to say the least! We had a good time!
For lunch we went to Carnegie Deli (apparently it's famous?). It was pretty good. The sandwiches were MONSTER! I have no clue how a normal person can fit it in their mouth, so we split them!
After lunch we headed to Central Park. I'd heard it's fun to bike through the whole thing. We found a (sketchy) guy to rent bikes from. He took my drivers license as collateral, which made me really nervous. Luckily I got it back! I had no idea Central Park was that BIG! I've only really seen it in Elf and episodes of Law and Order SVU, so it was fun to see it in real life. It was so beautiful, especially in the fall!
Our girls trip was a blast! Of course we missed Kate (who's on a mission), but she said she'd rather die than go to New York so I don't think she was too sad about it. I'm lucky to have such great sisters and an amazing mom!