The Jet-lagged Journalist

I got the opportunity to go to Manhattan for my friend’s 22nd birthday recently. Due to both of us having tight schedules, we had to explore as much as possible in just one day.

We flew in at 8 am, immediately making our way towards the hotel hoping to check in early or at least store our luggage for the next few hours. We stayed at Pod 51, with the location and reasonable prices, we were pleased with our choice. They let us check in early, so after dropping off our belongings we walked to Ess-a-Bagel for breakfast around 10.

After our delicious bagels, we took the subway (which can totally be intimidating at first) the wrong way and ended up at Central Park! We strolled through the park enjoying the scenery and nice weather for about an hour.

On our way towards The Museum of Modern Art, we passed The Plaza, the hotel from Home Alone 2. We enjoyed the MOMA until 1:30, then went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. This was probably the most gorgeous sight to see in my opinion; from the glass-stained window to the gold accents throughout the Cathedral, I was amazed.

My friend is obsessed with Legos, so we made it a must to stop at the Lego store on Fifth Avenue amid our window shopping. We loved Fifth Avenue and kept saying we should come back one day once we have “big girl money” to go on a shopping spree.

We passed by Rockefeller Center at 2:30, where this time of year they have roller skating.

We decided to slow down a bit and went to the Starbucks Reserve attached to the Empire State Building to get some Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martinis. Although we were tired, we couldn’t give up; there was still much more to explore. We decided to get some pizza at Bravo Pizza, which ended up being Kosher (I was fine with this because I rarely eat pig meat anyway). We relaxed and ate for a few hours, enjoying each other’s company.

We took the subway to Chinatown for a good half hour, before making our way towards the St. George Ferry Terminal. We took the Ferry to Staten Island at sunset (7:30) and saw the fabulous Lady Liberty!

We returned to the hotel to decompress, change, and look through photos. We took the subway (by the end of the day we were experts) to Times Square. This was such a bittersweet part of the trip; the day had flown by, and we knew this was the last portion of our adventure. We decided to get some well-deserved fried chicken at Raising Cane’s. We loved the ambiance of disco decorations while discussing the day that had just passed us. We took a Lyft back to the hotel, snuggled up in our PJs, and watched part of a movie before absolutely crashing.

We woke up the next morning and grabbed breakfast before flying back home. I’m so fortunate to have experienced my lifelong dream of going to New York; I can’t wait to go back hopefully soon!