Welcome to New York
My latest convention adventure took me back to New Jersey, but this time, I was determined to see New York! For someone who'd never been to the Big Apple, the trip was exciting and a bit chaotic, but most of all, loads of fun! So settle in for a long post with lots of tips! 
After arriving at LaGuardia and taking an Uber to our hotel, we freshened up at the hotel, dropped off our luggage, and decided to head to dinner. Patsy's Italian Restaurant was a supposed 4 minute walk from the hotel according to the GPS on my phone. However, New York City is extremely hard to navigate if you've never been there before, particularly at night....in the rain. On top of that, the tall skyscrapers in New York tend to interfere with the GPS. In the end, it took us at least 15 minutes of walking in circles to find the restaurant that was 4 minutes away. But it was definitely worth it!
While a bit on the pricey end, Patsy's Italian Restaurant has absolutely delicious authentic Italian food. The restaurant has 2 stories, so it's not overly cramped, but I would definitely recommend making reservations. The waiter brought us massive loaves of bread to munch on while we waited for our food. We ordered the Spaghetti Marinara and the Fettuccine Alfredo which came in large portions. Each floor
has its own dessert cart with fresh made cakes and tiramisu. We declined dessert but our waiter was kind enough to offer us slice of rich chocolate cream cake on the house! (It was amazing, no surprise there).
If you've read my previous blog posts, you know I'm a massive fan of Kate Spade, so naturally, our very first stop on our first day in the city was to the Kate Spade on Fifth Avenue. After some light shopping there, we headed down the block to Madison Square Park for lunch at Shake Shack. We don't have Shake Shacks in Louisville, so this was only my second time experiencing a "shackburger," but it far surpassed my first experience in Boston. Apparently, even chain restaurant food is better in NYC. The weather was beautiful and slightly cool, so it was perfect to eat at this entirely outdoor restaurant. But beware of the pigeons! They will poop around (if not on) you!
The top of the Empire State Building is visible from Madison Square Park, so even though it wasn't on our itinerary, we made our way down the street until we were there. While we did not go up to the observatory (which you have to purchase tickets for), we were able to walk through the lobby and marvel at the art deco interior.
After the Empire State Building, we took an Uber to Rockefeller Center. We were not expecting the ice skating rink to be open in late October so we were mesmerized by the beautiful plaza. And guess what...we stumbled upon another Kate Spade store! This shop had the most gorgeous window displays as well as exclusive merchandise that isn't sold at any other Kate Spade! Yes...we walked away with more items. Also in the plaza is a three-story F.A.O Schwarz, complete with the piano from Tom Hanks' "BIG." Yes...we played on it.
Next to the Kate Spade was a Tiffany's with a sparse amount of merchandise and across the street was the Saks Fifth Avenue. Filled with designer brands, Saks might not be within your price range, but it is certainly a wonderful experience. You can browse the gorgeous designer shoes and gowns in this nine-story department store.
Right next to Saks is St. Patrick's Cathedral. Because we had plans, we did not go inside, but the architecture of the Cathedral is magnificent, particularly as the sun is setting and casts shadows across the building.
No trip to New York is complete without a visit to Broadway! We purchased tickets to Wicked in advance, but if you're feeling lucky, you can try entering the lottery for lots of different shows like Hamilton or Frozen.
Before the show, we ate at a wonderful Irish Pub right on Times Square called O'Donoghue's. We made reservations in advance, but they seemed to have enough table available for walk-ins. The pub has hearty options like Shepherds Pie and lighter options like Potato Pancakes to suit everyone.
After O'Donoghue's, we headed straight to Wicked. If you're unfamiliar with the area, it's best to leave yourself a lot of travel time just to make sure you're not late for the show. NYC has a lot of one way streets, so even if you're close, it can take a lot longer than you'd think. Also, getting there early means cute pictures and lots of time to shop for merchandise! Wicked even offers a cute photo opportunity where they Photoshop Elphaba and Glinda into your picture! You can purchase a lovely silver frame at an additional cost. Because we had already spent $50 on other merchandise, the photo and frame were discounted to $27. Normally, you would pay $15 for the picture and $40 for the frame. Be sure to cash in on that discount if you want to purchase a t-shirt or other memorabilia.
The theaters of Broadway, including the Gershwin Theater where Wicked is performed, surround Times Square, so if you'd like to see Times Square's bright lights at night, you can take a short walk after your show and be right in the middle of the action. If you're not a fan of large crowds (like me), Times Square can be a bit unnerving. If you'd still like to see the lights and massive displays, order an Uber to a location that requires you to drive through Times Square. This method will allow you to see the entirety of Times Square without being pushed, shoved, and grabbed.
We dedicated the entire morning of our third day to Central Park which is absolutely massive. The entrances are filled with men in pedicabs offering exclusive tours of the park. While I'm not a fan of such tours (I've been burned by too many tourist traps in too many cities), you can definitely get them to haggle with you for a much cheaper price than their original offer. The same man circled around to us three times while we took a break, offering us a drastically lower price each time.
The park has tons of wonderful sights, including an Alice in Wonderland statue, a John Lennon memorial, the famous Bethesda Fountain, and the Loeb Boathouse. While the Boathouse has a high-end restaurant, it also has a quick-service, outdoor restaurant where you can order everything from pastries to burgers.
The park comprises a staggering 843 acres totaling 2.5 miles in length, so if you're looking to see the entire park, it can be a bit of a trek, not to mention time-consuming. I recommend choosing monuments you'd most like to see in advance and locating them on the map. This way you won't have to double-back for a statue or landmark you missed.
For lunch, we made reservations at the legendary Serendipity 3 for 1:30 p.m. thinking we would just miss the lunch crowd. Truthfully, the cramped space didn't clear out until at least 2:00 p.m., but we were still seated immediately when we arrived. However, even if there had been it wait, it certainly would have been worth it. The experience of being at the uniquely wonderful Serendipity could alone be enough to justify dropping $17 on a hamburger and $13 on an iconic frozen hot chocolate. However, the food itself is delicious and absolutely worth the price tag. If I lived in NYC, I'd be shelling out $13 for that hot chocolate at least once a week and would never tire of their incredible burgers.
We had originally planned to head back to our hotel for an hour or two to recharge both ourselves and our phones, but we did not. (This was a bad idea, but more on that later). Instead, we routed ourselves to our third Kate Spade location which a sales associate at another location had previously told us was where Kate's original office was. Eager to see this fabulous shop, we headed down to NoHo where we were told it was not the location of her original office but served as Kate's first showroom which existed underneath her apartment. Yes, I fangirled.
Knowing we were now nearer to Greenwich Village, we routed ourselves to 66 Perry Street, otherwise known as Carrie Bradshaw's stoop from Sex and the City. The steps themselves are chained off with signs warning trespassers, but you can still take pictures in front of the building.
From Carrie's stoop, we weren't sure where we wanted to go. I had thought of visiting Taylor Swift's famed Cornelia Street, but instead decided to head up the block to the NYC AIDS Memorial. On the way there, I saw a building with an arch labeled "The Victoria" and decided I obviously had to have my picture taken under my name. When we had taken the pictures and turned to head back to the AIDS Memorial, my mom who had repeatedly insisted throughout the trips that random strangers were actually famous actors, turned to me with a completely serious stare and pointed out Aaron Paul, the star of Breaking Bad, who was sitting on the corner having a meal. Now my mom loves Breaking Bad but she really, really loves Aaron Paul. Despite her nerves, I convinced her to ask him for a picture and he ended up being one of the kindest, most genuine celebrities we've ever encountered. Not only did he allow both of us to take pictures with him, he asked me to take another one of him and my mom because we ran into him again! To sum up, Greenwich Village is a magical place where dreams come true and you should definitely go there.
After our life-altering meeting, we encountered a problem. Both of our phones were sitting at 1% battery power, and we had already sucked the life out of our portable charger. Invest in a quality portable battery, y'all. The $5 ones take 10x as long to charge and only hold about 75% battery life. We came across two Starbucks while in Greenwich, both of which were overwhelmed with customers using the outlets, and the ones that were available simply did not work. All of the local coffee shops we encountered did not have any outlets at all. Moral of the story, charge when you can and bring reliable, quality back up chargers if you're going to be out all day, especially if you're relying on Uber as your main mode of transportation.
We got enough battery power from a faulty Starbucks outlet to Uber it to the 9/11 Memorial.
After visiting the memorial, we reverted back to our same problem. Not having a way to call an Uber. Thus, we began the search for another Starbucks when a security guard kindly advised us that the Apple Store in 2 World Trade Center had plenty of outlets for us to use. (This may be frowned upon, but hey, we could always say "the security guard told us we could." Who's going to argue with that?).
We had originally planned to head to Battery Park to board the Staten Island Ferry which would take us to see the Statue of Liberty (for free). However, we weren't convinced our phone batteries would survive the trip and decided to head back to the hotel and try again tomorrow.
Now, you're just going to think I'm ridiculous, but I'm telling you that I am obsessed with Kate Spade. At the Kate Spade in NoHo, we happened to have the same employee who had helped us at our first Kate Spade on fifth (what? no, it's not embarrassing at all). Sensing that our mission was to see every
Kate Spade in the continental U.S., she asked if we had seen the flagship store on Madison Avenue. Why, no we had not, lovely salesgirl, why do you ask? IT HAS FOUR STORIES. A FOUR-STORY KATE SPADE Y'ALL, IS THAT NOT HEAVEN?
So yeah, for the start of our fourth day we headed to our fifth Kate Spade store a.k.a Heaven on Madison. Luckily for us, just across the street was Frances Valentine, Kate Spade's second fashion endeavor and the company she was running at the time of hear death. The shoes and clothing could be a bit pricey, but there are some reasonably priced accessories for a designer brand. I ended up purchasing a matching set of large pearl barrettes for just $25.
After stopping at the two shops, we headed down to Whitehall Terminal for the Staten Island Ferry. If you haven't heard this already: New Yorkers can spot a tourist. So when the absolute scam artists that work for Tour Hub saw us coming, they tried their best work on us. Their goal is to get you to buy a ticket for the Circle Line Tour to see the Statue of Liberty and other sites. The boat is quite small and does not stop to let you disembark. You merely take photos from the boat.
No matter how many "deals" they throw at you and no matter how much they tell you they're just "information," they are simply trying to scam you. DO NOT PURCHASE A TICKET FROM THESE MEN. They are completely fraudulent and will sell you tickets for a higher charge than you would pay directly from the Circle Line. If you truly want to see the Statue of Liberty, the Staten Island Ferry will take you past it for free. Obviously, since it's for commuters, it is not a guided tour, but it is free. That's rare in New York.
After we saw the Statue of Liberty, we headed to the Cascade Deli for lunch. I had wanted an authentic New York deli experience, and this quaint deli just steps from our hotel was perfect. They offer wraps, sandwiches, fries, smoothies, coffee and more!
After swinging back around to our hotel to pick up our backs, we Ubered it right across the Hudson River to New Jersey: Weehawken to be exact. If you're unfamiliar with Weehawken, it happens to be an adorable city with an amazing view of the river and the New York Skyline. It also happens to be the spot of Alexander Hamilton's infamous duel with Aaron Burr ("everything is legal in New Jersey").
Hamilton Park sits right above the Hudson and thus the spot where Hamilton was killed. The park has scenic views and memorials to Hamilton, including the boulder where he is said to have rested his head after being shot.
Now that we were in New Jersey, that meant it was time for our convention! Traffic was horrendous, but we made it to the hotel just in time for Friday night karaoke (which was good because I ended up being pulled onstage to sing with the stars!)
After arriving at LaGuardia and taking an Uber to our hotel, we freshened up at the hotel, dropped off our luggage, and decided to head to dinner. Patsy's Italian Restaurant was a supposed 4 minute walk from the hotel according to the GPS on my phone. However, New York City is extremely hard to navigate if you've never been there before, particularly at night....in the rain. On top of that, the tall skyscrapers in New York tend to interfere with the GPS. In the end, it took us at least 15 minutes of walking in circles to find the restaurant that was 4 minutes away. But it was definitely worth it!
While a bit on the pricey end, Patsy's Italian Restaurant has absolutely delicious authentic Italian food. The restaurant has 2 stories, so it's not overly cramped, but I would definitely recommend making reservations. The waiter brought us massive loaves of bread to munch on while we waited for our food. We ordered the Spaghetti Marinara and the Fettuccine Alfredo which came in large portions. Each floor
If you've read my previous blog posts, you know I'm a massive fan of Kate Spade, so naturally, our very first stop on our first day in the city was to the Kate Spade on Fifth Avenue. After some light shopping there, we headed down the block to Madison Square Park for lunch at Shake Shack. We don't have Shake Shacks in Louisville, so this was only my second time experiencing a "shackburger," but it far surpassed my first experience in Boston. Apparently, even chain restaurant food is better in NYC. The weather was beautiful and slightly cool, so it was perfect to eat at this entirely outdoor restaurant. But beware of the pigeons! They will poop around (if not on) you!
The top of the Empire State Building is visible from Madison Square Park, so even though it wasn't on our itinerary, we made our way down the street until we were there. While we did not go up to the observatory (which you have to purchase tickets for), we were able to walk through the lobby and marvel at the art deco interior.
After the Empire State Building, we took an Uber to Rockefeller Center. We were not expecting the ice skating rink to be open in late October so we were mesmerized by the beautiful plaza. And guess what...we stumbled upon another Kate Spade store! This shop had the most gorgeous window displays as well as exclusive merchandise that isn't sold at any other Kate Spade! Yes...we walked away with more items. Also in the plaza is a three-story F.A.O Schwarz, complete with the piano from Tom Hanks' "BIG." Yes...we played on it.
Next to the Kate Spade was a Tiffany's with a sparse amount of merchandise and across the street was the Saks Fifth Avenue. Filled with designer brands, Saks might not be within your price range, but it is certainly a wonderful experience. You can browse the gorgeous designer shoes and gowns in this nine-story department store.
Right next to Saks is St. Patrick's Cathedral. Because we had plans, we did not go inside, but the architecture of the Cathedral is magnificent, particularly as the sun is setting and casts shadows across the building.
No trip to New York is complete without a visit to Broadway! We purchased tickets to Wicked in advance, but if you're feeling lucky, you can try entering the lottery for lots of different shows like Hamilton or Frozen.
Before the show, we ate at a wonderful Irish Pub right on Times Square called O'Donoghue's. We made reservations in advance, but they seemed to have enough table available for walk-ins. The pub has hearty options like Shepherds Pie and lighter options like Potato Pancakes to suit everyone.
After O'Donoghue's, we headed straight to Wicked. If you're unfamiliar with the area, it's best to leave yourself a lot of travel time just to make sure you're not late for the show. NYC has a lot of one way streets, so even if you're close, it can take a lot longer than you'd think. Also, getting there early means cute pictures and lots of time to shop for merchandise! Wicked even offers a cute photo opportunity where they Photoshop Elphaba and Glinda into your picture! You can purchase a lovely silver frame at an additional cost. Because we had already spent $50 on other merchandise, the photo and frame were discounted to $27. Normally, you would pay $15 for the picture and $40 for the frame. Be sure to cash in on that discount if you want to purchase a t-shirt or other memorabilia.
The theaters of Broadway, including the Gershwin Theater where Wicked is performed, surround Times Square, so if you'd like to see Times Square's bright lights at night, you can take a short walk after your show and be right in the middle of the action. If you're not a fan of large crowds (like me), Times Square can be a bit unnerving. If you'd still like to see the lights and massive displays, order an Uber to a location that requires you to drive through Times Square. This method will allow you to see the entirety of Times Square without being pushed, shoved, and grabbed.
We dedicated the entire morning of our third day to Central Park which is absolutely massive. The entrances are filled with men in pedicabs offering exclusive tours of the park. While I'm not a fan of such tours (I've been burned by too many tourist traps in too many cities), you can definitely get them to haggle with you for a much cheaper price than their original offer. The same man circled around to us three times while we took a break, offering us a drastically lower price each time.
The park has tons of wonderful sights, including an Alice in Wonderland statue, a John Lennon memorial, the famous Bethesda Fountain, and the Loeb Boathouse. While the Boathouse has a high-end restaurant, it also has a quick-service, outdoor restaurant where you can order everything from pastries to burgers.
The park comprises a staggering 843 acres totaling 2.5 miles in length, so if you're looking to see the entire park, it can be a bit of a trek, not to mention time-consuming. I recommend choosing monuments you'd most like to see in advance and locating them on the map. This way you won't have to double-back for a statue or landmark you missed.
For lunch, we made reservations at the legendary Serendipity 3 for 1:30 p.m. thinking we would just miss the lunch crowd. Truthfully, the cramped space didn't clear out until at least 2:00 p.m., but we were still seated immediately when we arrived. However, even if there had been it wait, it certainly would have been worth it. The experience of being at the uniquely wonderful Serendipity could alone be enough to justify dropping $17 on a hamburger and $13 on an iconic frozen hot chocolate. However, the food itself is delicious and absolutely worth the price tag. If I lived in NYC, I'd be shelling out $13 for that hot chocolate at least once a week and would never tire of their incredible burgers.
We had originally planned to head back to our hotel for an hour or two to recharge both ourselves and our phones, but we did not. (This was a bad idea, but more on that later). Instead, we routed ourselves to our third Kate Spade location which a sales associate at another location had previously told us was where Kate's original office was. Eager to see this fabulous shop, we headed down to NoHo where we were told it was not the location of her original office but served as Kate's first showroom which existed underneath her apartment. Yes, I fangirled.
Knowing we were now nearer to Greenwich Village, we routed ourselves to 66 Perry Street, otherwise known as Carrie Bradshaw's stoop from Sex and the City. The steps themselves are chained off with signs warning trespassers, but you can still take pictures in front of the building.
From Carrie's stoop, we weren't sure where we wanted to go. I had thought of visiting Taylor Swift's famed Cornelia Street, but instead decided to head up the block to the NYC AIDS Memorial. On the way there, I saw a building with an arch labeled "The Victoria" and decided I obviously had to have my picture taken under my name. When we had taken the pictures and turned to head back to the AIDS Memorial, my mom who had repeatedly insisted throughout the trips that random strangers were actually famous actors, turned to me with a completely serious stare and pointed out Aaron Paul, the star of Breaking Bad, who was sitting on the corner having a meal. Now my mom loves Breaking Bad but she really, really loves Aaron Paul. Despite her nerves, I convinced her to ask him for a picture and he ended up being one of the kindest, most genuine celebrities we've ever encountered. Not only did he allow both of us to take pictures with him, he asked me to take another one of him and my mom because we ran into him again! To sum up, Greenwich Village is a magical place where dreams come true and you should definitely go there.
After our life-altering meeting, we encountered a problem. Both of our phones were sitting at 1% battery power, and we had already sucked the life out of our portable charger. Invest in a quality portable battery, y'all. The $5 ones take 10x as long to charge and only hold about 75% battery life. We came across two Starbucks while in Greenwich, both of which were overwhelmed with customers using the outlets, and the ones that were available simply did not work. All of the local coffee shops we encountered did not have any outlets at all. Moral of the story, charge when you can and bring reliable, quality back up chargers if you're going to be out all day, especially if you're relying on Uber as your main mode of transportation.
We got enough battery power from a faulty Starbucks outlet to Uber it to the 9/11 Memorial.
After visiting the memorial, we reverted back to our same problem. Not having a way to call an Uber. Thus, we began the search for another Starbucks when a security guard kindly advised us that the Apple Store in 2 World Trade Center had plenty of outlets for us to use. (This may be frowned upon, but hey, we could always say "the security guard told us we could." Who's going to argue with that?).
We had originally planned to head to Battery Park to board the Staten Island Ferry which would take us to see the Statue of Liberty (for free). However, we weren't convinced our phone batteries would survive the trip and decided to head back to the hotel and try again tomorrow.
Now, you're just going to think I'm ridiculous, but I'm telling you that I am obsessed with Kate Spade. At the Kate Spade in NoHo, we happened to have the same employee who had helped us at our first Kate Spade on fifth (what? no, it's not embarrassing at all). Sensing that our mission was to see every
So yeah, for the start of our fourth day we headed to our fifth Kate Spade store a.k.a Heaven on Madison. Luckily for us, just across the street was Frances Valentine, Kate Spade's second fashion endeavor and the company she was running at the time of hear death. The shoes and clothing could be a bit pricey, but there are some reasonably priced accessories for a designer brand. I ended up purchasing a matching set of large pearl barrettes for just $25.
After stopping at the two shops, we headed down to Whitehall Terminal for the Staten Island Ferry. If you haven't heard this already: New Yorkers can spot a tourist. So when the absolute scam artists that work for Tour Hub saw us coming, they tried their best work on us. Their goal is to get you to buy a ticket for the Circle Line Tour to see the Statue of Liberty and other sites. The boat is quite small and does not stop to let you disembark. You merely take photos from the boat.
No matter how many "deals" they throw at you and no matter how much they tell you they're just "information," they are simply trying to scam you. DO NOT PURCHASE A TICKET FROM THESE MEN. They are completely fraudulent and will sell you tickets for a higher charge than you would pay directly from the Circle Line. If you truly want to see the Statue of Liberty, the Staten Island Ferry will take you past it for free. Obviously, since it's for commuters, it is not a guided tour, but it is free. That's rare in New York.
After we saw the Statue of Liberty, we headed to the Cascade Deli for lunch. I had wanted an authentic New York deli experience, and this quaint deli just steps from our hotel was perfect. They offer wraps, sandwiches, fries, smoothies, coffee and more!
After swinging back around to our hotel to pick up our backs, we Ubered it right across the Hudson River to New Jersey: Weehawken to be exact. If you're unfamiliar with Weehawken, it happens to be an adorable city with an amazing view of the river and the New York Skyline. It also happens to be the spot of Alexander Hamilton's infamous duel with Aaron Burr ("everything is legal in New Jersey").
Now that we were in New Jersey, that meant it was time for our convention! Traffic was horrendous, but we made it to the hotel just in time for Friday night karaoke (which was good because I ended up being pulled onstage to sing with the stars!)
From there on, the rest of the trip was dedicated to our convention, which is always so fun and exciting (albeit exhausting). When we were booking our flights for the trip, we decided to fly out of Newark even though we had originally flown into LaGuardia. This decision was one we had never made before, and while you might only be familiar with booking return flights through the same airport, it's really easy to book your flight home through a different airport. By flying home through Newark instead of LaGuardia, we saved a lot of stress (and money) that's involved with heading back into the city to catch a flight. Plus, Newark (while maybe not the most enjoyable airport) is far less busy than any of the NYC airports. That means it's wayyyy easier to check in for your flight, get through security, and make it to your terminal on time!
Have you been to NYC? We would love to hear your tips, tricks, and must-sees for our next trip to the Big Apple!
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