What Would You Do with Just One Day in NYC?
In case you missed it, we were in New York City for our daughter and her best friend’s 23rd birthdays. Day one was a whirl wind that included a limo ride and a Broadway show. The question became, what in the world will could we do to top day that first day?! Well, what would YOU do with just one day in NYC?
Hatching the Plan
Waking up before the kids gave us a little time to figure out a game plan for day two. First order of business was to take a short walk and pick up coffee and donuts at the local Dunkin. Fortunately for us the rain had moved on. It was going to be a cold day but a dry one and for that we were thankful.
Flatiron and Harry Potter
After being adequately caffeinated we made our way back into Manhattan. First stop was the Flatiron District. We wanted to show the kids the Flatiron Building but warned them that when we travel the things we want to see are often covered in scaffolding as they are under renovation. Guess what? It was covered in scaffolding!!
Just around the corner from there we popped into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Holiday Market and McSorley’s
We continued our journey on foot and strolled thru the holiday market in Union Square. Claire got some truffle fries to share as we worked our way to one of our favorite bars in the city, McSorley’s Ale House. This is the oldest continuously operating bar on NYC as they chose to not participate in that little thing called Prohibition. If you haven’t been they serve two types of beer, light or dark, and they serve them two at a time. The plan was to have a quick beer but we ended up having so much fun we stayed for quite a while.
The Bridge and the Prayer Meeting
We continued our journey downtown and caught the subway to the Brooklynn Bridge. There were so many people but we managed to walk about half way across and got some great photos.
After all that beer everyone had to pee but there aren’t an abundance of public restrooms so we had ourselves a little problem. Fortunately for us we passed St. Paul’s Chapel, a Colonial era Episcopal church where George Washington worshiped, and our prayers were answered.
Continuing our walk down Broadway we arrived at Trinity Church and strolled thru the cemetery, seeing some of the graves of the key players we saw in Hamilton the night before.
Stop by Fraunce’s and the Bagelry for a Schmear
Traveling down Wall Street we found ourselves at another favorite bar of ours, Fraunces Tavern. There is so much history surrounding this place and we’ve been telling the kids about it since we first visited in 2012. It was great to finally share it with them.
No trip to NYC is complete without getting a bagel and our next stop more than checked that box. The kids had no idea what was in store for them at Liberty Bagel. There were more bagel options than they could imagine and they finally learned what a true schmear of cream cheese was.
Battery Park and the World Trade Center Memorial
We took a quick walk thru Battery Park to get a glimpse of Lady Liberty before heading up to see the Oculus and the World Trade Center Memorial. Seeing it is always a somber reminder of how fragile life is and how much we have to truly be thankful for.
Much Needed Repose
As evidenced by the girls falling asleep on the subway, we decided that coffee was the next order of the day. Usually we take a midday nap whilst traveling but it just didn’t work out today. Fortunately for us we found Old Country Coffee on our walk to Hudson Yards. Everyone got loaded up on caffeine and we continued on.
Hudson Yards and the Vessel
Strolling thru Hudson Yards at Christmas time was a magical experience. The sights, sounds, and smells of the Yuletide season were all around us. It was also nice to get a brief respite from the cold before heading back outside to check out The Vessel and all the holiday lights surrounding it.
The Main Event
After a long day of exploring it was finally time for what brought us to NYC in the first place. We headed over to Madison Square Garden and hopped into line to see the one and only Billy Joel. I’m sure you’ve heard us talk about CLEAR making airline travel easier. Today we were surprised that it is also used at certain venues around the country with MSG being one of them. We were escorted out of the long line and walked right into The Garden.
We managed to snag seats behind the stage about 19 rows up. Knowing that Billy performs in the round I knew these would be great seats. It’s hard to believe he is over 70. He sounded just as good as he did the first time I saw him in Germany in 1989. What made this night extra special was seeing the joy in the girls as they sang the night away.
After one last short subway ride we were nestled back in our beds in LIC. It was a long day and we were all exhausted but we went to sleep with hearts full of joy.
Don’t forget to subscribe and follow along for free to experience Thanksgiving Day in NYC with us next week. Oh and as an added bonus…new subscribers will get 3 months of CLEAR on us!!
