Over the summer, we went to the beach every Wednesday and had a usual crew of friends that went with us. One day while we were there it came up that we should do a girls' night away in New York City. I feel like these ideas come up often but don't usually come to fruition because kids, husbands, and life gets in the way. Well I'm happy to report that thanks to one of my amazing, super planner, friends this dream actually came true. My friend, Karin, who I affectionately will call TG for Tour Guide in the remainder of this post, picked me up at 7:30am on Saturday and after rounding up our other two friends, Sara and Lauryn, we were on our way to NYC!
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| A view from Central Park |
The ride was a bit long because of rain, but TG handled it like a pro and before long we arrived at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. We were early for check in so we left our bags there and ventured out on our first (of many) eating excursions. It was raining but I had bought a nice, new raincoat, had my rain boots on, and Lauryn even let me borrow her broken, tiny, pink umbrella with a puppy on it. Sadly, as soon as the last rain drop fell, little puppy met his final resting spot in an city trashcan. Back to the restaurant though, we went to Westville Hudson and it was oh so yummy. I got the grilled cheese with bacon and french fries. How could I not order that, right? We also got a plate of local vegetables - asparagus, brussel sprouts, beets, and zucchini - to share which were also delish.
After stuffing our faces, we headed to the subway and on to Rockefeller Center to roam around. I hadn't been to New York City since I was a child so it was fun to check out all the sites.
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| Lauryn, Diane, Karin, and Sara |
After Rockefeller Center, we walked to Central Park. We really lucked out that the weather changed for us with the sun coming out and really making it a beautiful day. Following our park view, we headed to the bakery to pick up the Cronut that TG had reserved for us weeks ahead of time. For those that don't know what a cronut is it's basically a mix between a doughnut and a croissant. We then headed back to the hotel to have a few drinks complimented by cronuts. The cronut was good - I particularly liked the icing on top, however, I personally didn't feel that they were worth all the hype. I feel like I would have preferred just a regular old doughnut. I'm a simple gal.
Next on our eating adventures of NYC, we were off to dinner at Barbuto. We started off with a less than stellar round of sangria that was quickly forgotten after the amazing food. We started with a yummy, cheese plate. I then had the spicy sausage ragu with kale and goat cheese which was so good. However, the knock your socks off dish there was the potatoes with pecorino and rosemary. OH MY GOD, they were seriously like the most delicious, crispy, little things I've ever had. You can just ask my friends what a big deal I made about them and how I shoveled them in my mouth.
After dinner, we headed to Times Square to take in some more city sights. There's something so interesting and crazy about the hustle and bustle of that area.
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| Time's Square |
We ended the night with the plan that we would hit up our hotel bar but then remembered the wine we had in our room was WAY cheaper so we headed up to our suite and had some PJ, wine, and Swedish Fish time.
Sunday morning, Lauryn and I were up and out by 7:30am to get in a nice, long walk along the water.
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| Lauryn and I getting our exercise on in the city |
We then picked up the rest of the crew and headed to brunch at Bubby's. I had the french toast which was so good. I actually ate that and did not eat anything else for the entire rest of the day becuase I was still so full from it (and maybe from the pasta, and potatoes, and cronut, and swedish fish, and bacon grilled cheese, and...).
So after fueling up with brunch, we headed to the 9/11 Memorial which was pretty incredible to see. There were so many people there paying respects and remembering - such a moving experience for so many people. Following the Memorial, we headed over to the water to take another peak at Lady Liberty (Lauryn and I had also seen her on our morning walk).
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| Me with the Statue of Liberty hanging out in the background |
We then ended the day with shopping, walking, shopping, and more walking before saying farewell to the big city. We did actually try to check out the Central Perk which is a recently opened replica of the Friends set but the line was SO long - like so, so long. It was still fun to see the building and marvel at the insane people waiting hours to get in.
So there you have it, a recap of my weekend. It was full of fun, food, and awesome friends. Who could ask for anything more?
*I received no compensation or freebies on this trip. I spent my husband's hard earned money on my fun and am simply sharing my experiences with you. As always, all opinions are my own.*
