While we were in New York we took a day trip down to NYC by train for Michael’s 24th birthday. I might be viewing New York through the eyes of a tourist, but I truly love this city. Ever since we left I’ve just been itching to return and explore more of the neighborhoods, restaurants, and cute indie shops the city has to offer. It just seems like the possibilities are truly endless when it comes to New York, and that is so beguiling.
On our first day in the city we went down to explore the Flatiron District with Michael’s family to see that spectacle of a building. We also stopped by a super cute coffee shop in that area called Toby’s Estate Coffee which had a lovely book and gift store in the back. Then we trudged onwards to 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar for brunch, which had the most spectacular view of the city. We spent what might have been an exorbitant amount of money on food (which was good but not amazing) so if you come here I would recommend it for only drinks and a view – maybe grab some food at a cute restaurant beforehand.
Once our bellies were full we took the train over to Williamsburg, aka Manhattan’s hipster little brother. We wandered around the neighborhood and made it down to the waterline of the East River to take in the skyline of Manhattan. We then ended our night with a stop at Berry Park for drinks and little snacks before going back to Grand Central to see his family off back to Beacon. Once they were on their way we decided to turn in at our hotel, the Arlo Nomad, and went to their rooftop bar called The Heights (another rooftop bar?!). It ended up being way too cold to enjoy so we promptly took the elevator back down to the hotel’s restaurant as our last stop for the night.
The next day we had to head out but wanted to make the most of our time by trekking around as much of the city as possible. We started our morning at Birch Coffee, a feisty little coffee shop that we both really enjoyed. Then we made our way to Dough Doughnuts, as recommended by so many on Instagram, for what was a delectable treat. We went for a cinnamon, almost churro like, donut which was delicious and fueled our bodies for another couple miles of walking. Afterwards we ventured out to Greenwich Village to see the Friends Apartment, obvi, and also to take in those damn beautiful brownstones. It was so peaceful on this side of town it was almost like another city altogether.
We then made it down Canal Street with the knockoff bag handlers and the like to visit the beautiful and super exciting Glossier Showroom, as well as the highly anticipated Supermoon Bakehouse. And after all that we ended up at our one true love, Veselka’s and Milk Bar. I don’t even have words to describe this – just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Then we got one last coffee and made our way to JFK to get back to the Bay!
I hope that we get to come back to the city soon. It is one of my favorite places I have ever visited and even with this second trip it has left me feeling like there’s so much more I want to see, which is pretty unusual for me. We tend to do a lot of micro-trips to cities around the world, spending usually no more than 72 hours in any one place (we really try to pack it in), and with that I typically feel pretty satisfied, but with NYC I am always left wanting more. If you have been to NYC what are some of your favorite places we may have missed on this trip?
Here’s a map view of everything we got up to on this trip!
Until next time,
Partners in Flight
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