Over the weekend I finally got to visit the east coast! My friend Laura from We Got The Funk and I went to New York for a blogging conference and while the conference was great – the sight seeing was amazing!! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip – enjoy!!
Since we only had one day to do all of our sight seeing we decided to hop onto a Gray Line 8 hour tour bus. It was probably the best decision we could have made. While we didn’t get out of the bus as much as I would have hoped it was the perfect way to see all of Manhattan in such a shot time. It also gave us an idea of places we wanted to walk to after our tour was complete.
The first thing that I noticed while on our tour was the size of the buildings. Sure they are super tall – unrealistically tall but other than that they were small and compact. When you look around the city you can instantly see how much older the buildings are in comparison to those buildings in Denver.
Also, those outdoor flower shops – they aren’t just in the movies!! The fresh flowers really brightened up the street corners. So pretty!!
While in Little Italy for lunch, we were able to walk around. The street art work was so fun to look at.
I really enjoyed the look and atmosphere of Little Italy. And our lunch was to die for!! Yum!!
Little Italy selfie!
Any Soprano fans out there? Notice the street sign.
We did get out of the bus for a walk to Wall Street. It was way less busy than I expected but there sure were a lot of suits and ties around us. A whole new world!
Beautiful buildings everywhere – even the New York Stock Exchange building is full of character.
Once we walked through Wall Street, we continued our journey and stopped at The 9-11 memorial park. Above is the new, 1 World Trade building. With the addition of the copper structure on the top of the building it is the tallest building in New York.
There are two waterfall memorials representing the two World Trade Buildings that were destroyed that day. Around the waterfalls are names of every one that lost their life in the attack. While it was such a heavy and emotional trip to this space it was so important to visit.
One of my friends told me that once you step into the memorial the rest of the world is quiet around you. Funny to think about because the city is always loud, full of street noise, construction and people but he was right. This space is quiet and peaceful. A space to truly remember the day that the world was changed. We took awhile to reflect and read some names. I am so glad that we stopped here. It brings a bit of closure – we have come a long way since 9-11 and we have a long way to go but seeing this rebuilding and memorial was so powerful.
We learned that someone puts a white rose on each of the names that is celebrating a birthday that day. What dedication and love.
After our reflection time, we continued to the docks to get on a water taxi on the Hudson River. We were able to see all of the bridges – HUGE – this one is the Brooklyn bridge. Bridges are so fascinating to me.
We made our way out to Lady Liberty. Wow. Such an American figure. She stands proud out there. it was really nice to be able to get pretty close to the Statue of Liberty.
Once we got off of the river we headed back into the city and made one last stop with the group. Top of the Rock – Top of the Rockefeller Center. We road the elevator up 69 floors to the top of the building and stepped out into the pouring rain to see the city. While our view was not one hundred percent, it was still great to see. All for the experiences!
After we said goodbye to our tour friends we started our own tour in the rain.
We stopped in Times Square.
Found dessert at Carlo’s Bake Shop – Do you watch Cake Boss?
And lastly we stopped in for our first Broadway show!!!! We decided on Chicago and it was amazing. The singing, the costumes, the interaction with the crowd and the music. Simply perfect. This will be a show that I will never forget!! And now, I hope to see more Broadway shows in my lifetime!!!
Before the show we enjoyed our Carlo’s Bake Shop Cannoli! OHMYGOSH!! You must try these!! So GOOD!! So worth the walk and the line!
For only having one day in NYC we did pretty amazing I think. We left our hotel at 7:30am and didn’t return until after midnight!!! What a day!! So many memories and experiences!!
The following day was a day in Brooklyn for our blogging conference. The conference was great and we learned a ton. One day conferences are always jammed packed full of info. My to do list is really long!! Yikes!!!
Once we were done with our conference we set out to explore Brooklyn. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Brooklyn. It was not a hustle and bustle but still had the history and beauty that the city has. We stopped in for some delicious New York Cheesecake at Junior’s and decided to go for a dusk walk to the Brooklyn Promenade to get the best views of the city.
Amazing! This walk took us through some great brownstone neighborhoods and right to a 1200 foot pier that looked to the city lights. We could see everything! The statue of liberty, World Trade Center, Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building. It was breathtaking.
I am so glad that Laura and I took the time to make our quick trip so worth it. Now that I have been to the East coast I want to go back. I can see us taking the kids here when they are older. The sights and the history is something that I found so interesting.
I will be sharing some of my Travel Tips to New York in a few days. Be on the look out!!
What is your favorite sight to see when visiting New York??
Looks like you have a fun time. I loved your pics and I can't wait to visit NY. That cheesecake is right up my alley, I'll have to check them out when we finally visit.
Looks like you had a great trip! I haven't been to NYC in years but even when I did, I was in and out so fast I didn't get to see all of those sights. Now I need to put all of them on my list for next time!
I lived in NYC for two years and I think it will always be my favorite place to spend a random weekend. There is always so much to see and to do there that you never get bored and never see the same exact thing twice. Looks like you had fun. – Katy
The hubby and I are travelling to the big apple in July for a weekend away just the two of us. I have always wanted to go to New York so this post was timely…so much to see!!
Looks like you have a fun time. I loved your pics and I can't wait to visit NY. That cheesecake is right up my alley, I'll have to check them out when we finally visit.
This looks like such a fabulous trip! I hope to head that way for a blog conference in 2017!
Looks like you had a great trip! I haven't been to NYC in years but even when I did, I was in and out so fast I didn't get to see all of those sights. Now I need to put all of them on my list for next time!
I've never been to a blogging conference. I've also never been to NYC but have always wanted to. I'm sure there's so much to see!
I lived in NYC for two years and I think it will always be my favorite place to spend a random weekend. There is always so much to see and to do there that you never get bored and never see the same exact thing twice. Looks like you had fun. – Katy
The hubby and I are travelling to the big apple in July for a weekend away just the two of us. I have always wanted to go to New York so this post was timely…so much to see!!
Thank you so much for this! It’s exactly what I’ve needed as I’m currently trying to plan a 4-5 day trip to New York sometime soon! Can’t wait!
Kim – condorny.com
I had the most best time every with you friend!