Final Stop - NYC

I am not able to think the words “New York” in my head without it being to the tune of Alicia Key’s version. I love New York. This is the third time I’ve been there, and each visit is so unique. Unique New York. Ugh. I love it!

We had limited time in the city, but we were not going to waste it! Well, we ended up wasting the first day with a rookie mistake, but I’d say the next few days made up for it.

Arriving in NYC is always lackluster. You can’t see the city, the waters before the landing are mucky and less than ideal. And you’re so freakin’ far from the city it feels like you’ll never arrive.

But! We made a swift exit, with Global Entry and only carryon’s we were able to get to the AirTram in about 10 minutes. That is when the train issues started. Erik accidentally bought a 10 pack of AirTram tickets instead of for the MTA. Whoops. So back he went.

We eventually got to our hotel and when we learned our room wasn’t ready, we headed to the lounge. We were exhausted but had a full night of activities to do. We zoned out at our phones until the room was ready and took a lil nap. Now, I’m a full supporter of short naps after travel days to just get some brain cells back, long gone are the days of pushing through until bedtime. No no, quality of life exponentially increases if you take a wee little name. So, we rested our little eyes and an hour later the alarm went off. We pushed snooze. 20 minutes later, we snoozed again. I am pretty sure I was in full on middle of the night body paralysis because nothing was responding. I asked Erik what time it was and we had missed our activity for the night. Which basically meant my body said “whatever” and then I slept for 13.5 hours.

We decided that the next day was going to be a huge GO day. We started our self-guided Pizza Tasting as early as we could (10). Here’s where we got to and their rankings:

1. Bleekers Street

2. Filaga

3. Scarrs

4. Artichoke Pizza

5. Joes Pizza

6. Champion

7. Prince St Pizza

This was of course over the course of about 7 hours, we shared one slice at each place along with a water. Whew! It was a heavy day. And, what goes great with eating greasy, salty, bloaty pizza? Shopping! Between stops we’d stop at a few boutiques and Erik and I both left NYC with some special pieces. We tried to squeeze one last piece in before our evening event which sent us a little behind schedule.

At 6:00 we were hoping to meet my old coworker, Dawnielle, to get ourselves sorted for Sleep No More. We were late, not only because of the pizza because of additional train drama. Oye. But she was like 3rd in line so we budged and took the next 30-40 minutes to download on what was about to happen.

Here’s what I can say about Sleep No More if you are planning a NYC trip soon: 1. Go, pay the gd money and go because it is an incredible experience. 2. Read/listen/watch Macbeth, maybe a few times before you go. 3. Leave all expectations at the door, because it’ll blow whatever expectations you have out of the water. Sleep No More takes place at the McKittrick Hotel. It is a film noir version of Macbeth. It is a play. But it is an interactive play. That means the incredible cast of dancers have access to the whole hotel while they retell the story of MacBeth. You will sprint, you will run upstairs, you with almost get hit by a performer, you will be scared. But at the end of the night, you will leave the hotel with stars in your eyes thinking of all the potential story lines you missed and how soon you could get back to another show!! Wow. Absolutely incredible.

We stayed up until 1 drinking with Dawnielle and catching up, it was an absolutely stellar night in the big apple. But, I wouldn’t expect anything less.

The next day, still jet lagged, we woke up around 6 and got ready for the day. We stopped at the famous rainbow bagel place, where neither of us got the famous thing. We then headed to the Ice Cream Museum. Again, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. But, I recommend the Museum if the following things apply to you:

- You love ice cream

- You love having fun

- You love laughing

- You have nothing better to do

It was the most perfect way to spend just over an hour and, well, it was the most silly goofy kinda fun I had in a while!

From there we headed south, like I said – I have been to New York City 3 times and have yet to see the Statue of Liberty. If you know me, well, I’ve got my reservations of being a US citizen. While Lady Liberty was given to us by the French in celebration of the ending of slavery and freedom for all. It was still a time that black people and women could not vote, not for a while. So, ya know, she isn’t the most exciting thing for me. But, it’s a thing you’re supposed to do. Down we went via the MTA, we saw her, we zoomed in and took a closer picture and were on our way.

We found ourselves in Chelsea Market after that, we ate snacks from as many of the vendors that we possibly could before our next little activity. There was a lot of train drama getting to our next location. Let me be the first to say: the MTA is the most difficult and confusing train line in the world! I used to say “if you’ve been on a city train/metro system before, then you’ve been on all of them.” But, I retract that statement because NYC’s is madness. You have to go into specific entrances to get to a certain direction, like 3 floors underground only to realize you’re on the wrong side. WHO DOES THAT!? WHO BUILT THAT?! They obviously had not traveled an experienced other trains, ever, anywhere, in this world.

Anywho, so the train then sent us in a deep spiral of not enough time for the next few things we needed to do. We got to the apartment, we got dressed and ready for our first Broadway show ever in about 15 minutes before sprinting to dinner. We shoveled food in our bodies and then speed walked over to our show. The line was already down an entire city block (which is like 4 normal city block lengths). But I HAD to get my preshow picture! But, by the time we then got in line it was MUCH further. The person tending to the line ensured we’d all get in and would see the performance. So we twiddled our thumbs and made projections on how incredible the show would be while we waited to enter. The good thing about a long line is by the time you get to your seats, there is hardly no down time before the show starts!

This was my third time seeing Sweeney Todd and I COULD NOT WAIT!! The first song caused goosebumps and throughout the play I realized my mouth was wide open in awe, the talent of the cast was unfathomable. They were singing, but still, I could not believe how beautiful it was, how haunting it was, how absolutely perfect every second was. Even today, the day after, sitting in my seat plane, I get a little teary eyed thinking about how absolutely fantastic the performance was. wowWowWOwWOW!!!!

With that, our NYC time was done. We grabbed some champagne to sip on while we packed. We listened to the movie soundtrack for Sweeney Todd while we folded up treasures from the last 4 months, while we over filled our bag and had to sit on them to zipper them. What a trip we’ve been on, and what a stunning way to end it. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Am Ex ad on our walk to our plane leaving NY. It felt like a perfect ending.