I lived in New York City in the late 90’s/early 2000’s and I can’t say that I loved it. I do, however love visiting. I have only been back a handful of times in the last 18 years, mainly for work, like this trip. That typically doesn’t leave much time to explore, but I like to plan my work trips with a few extra days built in so I can have some fun. I realized as I was thinking of what we did for fun, most of it revolved around drinking. Work trips require drinking. How else do you stay sane?
Where We Stayed
Midtown Hilton – I love this hotel. It’s not super hip and it’s in Midtown, which also isn’t super hip. But there are so many different areas of town that are easily accessible from here. The hotel is quite {something I’ve learned is important after staying in NYC hotels that aren’t quite} and they have the most amazing pillows from Pacific Coast Feather Company! In fact, I ordered one as soon as I got home. It’s the best.
Where We Ate
Dutch Fred’s – Located in Hell’s Kitchen, this little find was a gem. It has a speakeasy feel, good food, and even better drinks.
Pio Pio 8 – This Peruvian restaurant is also in Hell’s Kitchen. This was for a work kick-off dinner, so it’s a big group. We sat in what felt like a basement – a big open space with lots of concrete. The food is very good and they give you a lot of it.
Melt Shop – Grilled cheese served lots of different ways. I like mine standard, not fancy. They also have tater tots. Who doesn’t love a tot?
Breads Bakery in Bryant Park – This was our official day off. We were hung over AF and all we wanted was coffee. But, we got such a late start, it was almost lunch time. Trying to get four hungover girls to decide on where to go for breakfast, resulted in us walking down 6th Avenue until we stumbled upon this little kiosk. It was delightful.
TSQ Taqueria in Times Square – After we got our caffeine, we were still in search of a burrito. Believe it or not, Mexican food is hard to find in New York City. Again, we stumbled upon this place and it worked because we were starving and now it was lunchtime. It was quick and easy and the tacos were good.
Café Mogador – We made up for our lame breakfast and lunch with Moroccan food in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s a teeny tiny little place, and we had to wait a little while, but an accommodating and super sweet hostess got us in quicker than expected. It was super good.
What We Did i.e.: Where We Drank
Berry Park – After dinner in Brooklyn, we walked to Berry Park and had drinks on the roof, looking at the lights of Manhattan.
Biergarten at The Standard – We took a walk on the High Line which dumped us off in Chelsea where we could watch some World Cup Soccer and drink beer.
Rooftop Bar at Citizen M – Don’t listen to the guy at the door who makes you believe the bar is super exclusive and crowded. It wasn’t when we were there. But it was fun, they had craft cocktails and we even got a lightening show over the Hudson River. On the walk back to the hotel, we had a Justin Hartley sighting in Times Square.
Tanner Smith’s – We did a little drinking, and a little dancing. To my daughter’s chagrin, I tried really, really hard to get the backpack kid dance down in public.
Walk in Central Park – We didn’t have a lot of time, so we did a little walk from 5th Avenue, where the Puerto Rican parade was happening that day, to Columbus Circle.
Walked the High Line – The High Line opened after I moved from New York, so I’ve always been interested in it. We took the 7 subway from Times Square to Hudson Yards. Then we walked the High Line to Chelsea, where it dropped us off at the Biergarten. Funny how that happened…
WNYC Transmitter Park – I used to live down the street from this park, but it wasn’t as cool as it is now. We took an Uber from the hotel to my old apartment, walked to the park, and then onto Williamsburg for dinner.
Goodbye, New York! Until next time!
xoxo
Leave a Reply