A few weeks ago, I visited New York for the first time. Here’s a quick recap of my trip!
Days 1 & 2: Manhattan & Brooklyn
The main purpose of the trip was to join my friend and her family for their Thanksgiving dinner, but since I got to New York a couple days early, I had time to check out the city.
Cities aren’t usually my favorite destinations, which is probably why I’ve avoided New York for so long. But three things made this trip much better than the average city trip. Actually, those things are all people: my sister, Alex, and my wonderful friends from Oxford, Russell and Nick.
Russell and Nick live in Brooklyn, and I stayed at their place for a few nights. Since I hadn’t seen either of them since 2012 or 2013, it was great to spend time with them. Although both of them had to work during the day, we had two lovely dinners at Russell’s brother’s restaurants (Cervo’s and Hart’s), saw a very unique Susanne Bartsch show, and ate several pints of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream together.
My sister lives in Connecticut and came to NY for a couple days to hang out with me. During the day, we explored. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, my vacations usually end up including lots of walking. This is partly because I like the exercise, but primarily because I’m so cheap.
Apparently, this runs in the family. On our first day, Alex and I walked over 10 miles, mostly in Manhattan. Here’s a map of our route:
The route Alex and I took when we walked Manhattan.
Highlights from the walk:
- We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, starting in Brooklyn
- We walked past the Wall Street bull
- We went to Battery Park, where we had a view of the Statue of Liberty and checked out the old battery
- We went to the World Trade Center Memorial and paid our respects
- We stopped by the Irish Hunger Memorial
- We strolled along the waterfront to the start of the High Line
- We walked the length of the High Line
- We headed to the Empire State Building
- We went to Times Square, which was all lit up because by this time the sun had set
On the second day, Alex and I “only” walked about 6 miles, although this doesn’t include all the walking we did inside museums. This time, our route took us through:
- Grand Central Terminal
- the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
- Central Park
- the Frick Collection
- back to Grand Central Terminal, where Alex caught her train to New Haven
Also, Russell took me to a couple of his favorite art exhibits in the evening: the Earth Room and the Broken Kilometer.
Sister selfie on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Crowd at Wall Street’s Charging Bull. We didn’t bother going any closer.
Flower left in remembrance at the World Trade Center Memorial. A poignant reminder not to take anything for granted.
Fall colors in Central Park.
A photo of the crowds taking photos of van Gogh’s Starry Night. People are so silly sometimes.
Day 3: Thanksgiving!
After all the walking I did the first two days of the trip, I was ready to rest and eat! I had been invited to Thanksgiving dinner at my friend Jen’s family’s place in Brooklyn. I got there in the morning, just in time to enjoy their family’s traditional pre-Thanksgiving breakfast feast: bagels.
Following a nice nap, I settled in with her family (about 25 people!) for the real feast, whipped up by her mom and dad. It was an excellent Thanksgiving meal and I’m very grateful to Jen’s parents for letting me join in on the fun.
Verrazano bridge at sunset on Thanksgiving.
Days 4 & 5: the Poconos, Pennsylvania
Jen’s parents own a house in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The morning after Thanksgiving, we made the drive from Brooklyn, through New Jersey, to the Poconos. It was my first time in New Jersey (other than in Newark airport) and in Pennsylvania.
Since it’s winter, the lake by their house was already starting to freeze over and the trees had lost their leaves. But I can imagine how much fun it must be in the summer when everything is green and the lake is full of people swimming, canoeing, and kayaking!
We went on a few nice walks, but the main attraction was relaxing in the house, playing games and making a puzzle. It was exactly what I needed after experiencing the hectic city for a few days.
Evening walk to the lake.
Another misstep in my never-ending quest to figure out how to take a decent selfie.
Summary and looking ahead
My main takeaway from New York: it’s crowded! Much more crowded than I could deal with on a daily basis. While it’s great to see some of the sights, I’m glad we had a quiet weekend in the Poconos after and that I got to return to peaceful and quiet Tucson after getting in my fill of the city.
Next up: Australia! I leave in less than a week and will spend 3 weeks there. I’ll be in Cairns, on a boat, or under the boat diving the Great Barrier Reef for the entirety of the trip. I can’t wait!
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