NYC

I am currently on my way back from my trip to New York City. We technically stayed in Ridgefield New Jersey, about 20-30minutes out of the city. Which leads me to my first tip on travelling to New York, or really anywhere.

Look at hotels just outside of the place you are visiting. New York City is a high tourist area, meaning most prices are higher for hotels. Staying outside of the area you are travelling to will most likely be cheaper. As well as, on average, most hotels in New York City do not have a swimming pools, so you are paying more money too basically just sleep in a bed, as there isn’t really anything to do in the hotel. The downside to staying out of the city is that you need transportation to get into the city, for us we took the bus which cost us $9 for a round trip to the city and back. If you are not one for taking the bus, then staying in the city would be ideal for you.

We were on our trip for 5 days, but only 2/5 days were spent in the city. The first day, was spent driving to the hotel, which was about 9 hours of driving. Once we got to the hotel we had planned to go into the city and go to time square, but when we got there, it was pouring rain, and to be honest we were pretty exhausted. So we ended up just hanging out at the hotel, swimming, got dinner, and went to bed.

The second day we still did not leave New Jersey, Matt and I went to the MetLife stadium to watch a Super-cross show (dirt biking, for those who don’t know what that is). I know what you’re thinking, “who the heck chooses to go to a dirt bike show on their trip to New York City?” Well our trip was actually planned because of the dirt bike show, I had boughten the tickets for Matt for Christmas and we decided to make a trip out of it. Plus, it was actually really fun, I am not one for dirt bikes or any sport actually, but I have watched a few shows on T.V with Matt, and he enjoys it, so I made an effort to be educated on how the show goes, and some of the riders. And I think I had more fun than Matt in the end. I had a blast, cheering for my favourites and Matt’s.

The third day, our first “real” day in the city, we went and bought tickets for the “hop on, hop off” tour bus, we thought it might be the easiest way for us to get around. If you don’t know what these buses are, they are double decker tour buses, that allow you to get on and get off at any of their stops, they have a live tour guide on the bus with you talking about the history of the landmarks passing by you on the bus. There are many different bus companies, so which do I recommend? I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the cities buses and subways. I do not recommend these hop on, hop off tours, I have come to New York twice now, and each time I used a different company, and both the same crapiness. They get you by saying “you can get on and off the bus as much as you want”, what they don’t really tell you is that you have no idea how often the buses come and go, when asked they say “15 minutesish”, not once did I ever wait for the bus to come or less than 20minutes. Another thing they don’t tell you when you buy the ticket is that all of the buses stop running at 6pm, the only tour going is the night tour that only stops 2 times. Just, figure out the subways and buses.

On that day we went to Chelsea Market, this was one of the busiest places I went to on this trip, it is a big building with lots of cute vendors, all over priced of course. I enjoyed my time there, I just wish it wasn’t so busy, and I don’t think I would go back. If you enjoy shopping at trendy little stores, then this is your place. I didn’t end up buying anything but some food. We went to a place called the doughnuttery, we got mini donuts that were delicious, I had the cinnamon sugar and vanilla dipped, I wasn’t a fan of vanilla dipped but the cinnamon sugar is a must. They offer 6/$6.

Top : H&M Headband : H&M Pants : Hollister (basic blue jeans)

After Chelsea Market we went to Central Park, in Central Park we rented bikes, it cost $20 for 2 hours, which I didn’t think was too bad. They informed us that it takes about 45 minutes to bike the whole circle without any stops or pictures, so we decided 2 hours would be enough. It was nice to bike through but, there are many paths that you cannot bike on, meaning that we missed almost all of the major landmarks in central park. I wish we would have just walked, but I did enjoy the biking. My buttocks, did not enjoy it tho.

Once returning our bikes we walked through the park to get to the MET, I had planned on going into the MET, but by the time we got there, it would be closing soon, and I didn’t want to pay money to go in and only do half of the museum, so that will be a must for next time. I did take the opportunity to get my Gossip Girl MET steps picture.

We then went to Dylan’s candy bar, which many know about the huge candy shop, but what many don’t know about is that upstairs is a cafe and restaurant where we decided to go for dinner. The staff was very friendly, and the food was great, they have many foods for kids, so there should be something for everyone. I ended up having chicken quasadilla’s and mozzarella sticks, which were both delicious. It wasn’t very busy when we got there, but just incase I did make a reservation, and in having a reservation, you get to sit in a giant cupcake, that is only for reservations, so do yourself a favour and get a reservation. Once we finished dinner we went into the candy store, which would be a sweet tooth’s heaven, I am not a huge sweet tooth, but there are an abundance of photo opportunities as well. My favourite at the store is the wall that shows all sorts of celebrities favourite candies including, Selena Gomez, the Kardashians, Troye Sivan, Blake Lively, and many more. I highly recommend Dylan’s Candybar.

The fourth day, which was our last day in the city, we didn’t get as much done as we wanted due to the buses being unreliable. We had nothing but troubles with the buses this day. Which ruined almost all plans we had.

We started the morning with going to Ellen's Stardust Diner for breakfast, from the moment we walked in to the moment we left it was a full on show happening, people singing and having a blast. I knew that the waiters sang, but I had thought it would be more low-key in the mornings, I was pleasantly surprised that it was no low key at all. It was just such a fun environment. The food was also amazing, a little expensive for breakfast, but was good. I had the waffles, and Matt had an omelette and home fries. Which was all delicious. The service is a little slow, but the show must go on. The only other complaint I have is the space, it is far too small for how busy the place is, with the servers moving around and performing and the amount of people in the restaurant, Matt and I were seated at a table where we were basically elbow to elbow with the other people in the restaurant.

We then walked all the way to the corner of Bedford and Grove, which is where FRIENDS filmed the scenes in the cafe. It was a very cool moment to see the place where they filmed one of my favourite shows!

The rest of the day was spent being frustrated by the buses, and travelling through Brooklyn.

All in all I had a good time, it wouldn't be a trip with the family if there isn't a few bumps in the road on the way.