Guess where I visited again this past weekend? Hint: the title gives it away. That’s right I visited Sarah in her new apartment in New York City! She moved from Brooklyn to Harlem back in April so I decided I’d pay her a Halloween weekend visit!
Flight Info: 158$ Round-trip Spirit Airlines
Departure Chicago ORD: Friday 5 AM; Return New York LGA Monday 11 AM
I love Spirit for the cheap flights but I am also noticing (this happens more often than not) my flight home was delayed once again.
Food
Coffee Berry: This was a crowded kosher breakfast spot on Manhattan’s Upper West Side; the wait time was super fast especially for a Sunday morning and the pricing was normal for New York. I had the Avocado Benedict, it was great.
Avocado Appetit: This is an adorable spot in Chinatown – the menu specializes in, as I am sure you can guess, avocado cuisine. Sarah an I both enjoyed the breakfast sandwich with a side of truffle fries.
Kat’z Deli: The wait is out the door but it’s for a reason. If you love pastrami as much as I do JUST GO. The sandwiches are 24 dollars but I don’t even care GO.
Uncle Tony’s Pizza: Sarah ordered pizza delivery from this spot and I definitely drunkenly enjoyed it when we got home late Friday night from partying. It’s not as good as Chicago pizza still – in my opinion.
Eataly: Yeah, I know, Eataly is all over the place – but if you regularly have been following Sarah and my blog for years you may know that going to Eataly in Chicago and NYC has been a past-time for us for over 5 years. We enjoyed dinner and some wine at the Pasta bar in the Eataly near the Flat Iron building ; in my last post about NY we ate at the one near the World Trade.
Drinks
Sweet Moments: SO cute! They have cold brew coffee for 5$ that they make adorable with a design in whipped cream. Worth it.
Cha Cha Matcha: I did not enjoy this place. Perhaps I am not as big of a Matcha fan as I had thought but I just would not go back.
Death Avenue Brewing: A cute pub/brewery/restaurant within walking distance of where Sleep No More was. They have a decent beer selection and great fried pickles.
Sites & Things to Do:
The MET: Most millennial females know that when in New York they need to take the mandatory “spotted: on the steps of the MET” photo. However – I have now been to New York (three or four times?) and still have not taken it. Sorry to the Gossip Girl fan in me. But anyways – the MET is HUGE and amazing and open late, 9 PM on Saturdays if you don’t feel like going out and getting drunk. I love this museum, I wish it were in Chicago.
9/11 Memorial: This includes two pools where the twin towers stood, a museum and now an observation building, the 1 World Trade Center. I did not visit the museum or the building because I thought it would be too depressing, maybe on a future trip. I also find the observation building to be somewhat of a strange concept – commercially and morally but hey, what do i know. The pools are beautiful and touching and I do think that if one is visiting NY the museum would be an interesting and important site. The Oculus is also located here which is connected to the shopping mall.
Brooklyn Historical Society: This is small museum located in Brooklyn on the city’s history. There was an awesome library and some cool artwork on Coney Island but not much else. We had free entry so I would recommend if you can as well – otherwise, perhaps not.
The Mysterious Bookshop: Calling all true crime lovers! This is an adorable and odd book shop which specializes in Mystery and Crime. I could have spent hours here – I have never seen any place else quite like it.
Empire State Building: Don’t hate me for being basic! I have not been to the Empire State building in over 5 years so I felt I needed a reminder of the view. For 37$ (low whistle) I rode the elevator up the 86 floors to the breath-taking view of NYC that is so spectacular that I didn’t even think twice about my fear of heights. If you’re ever in New York it’s mandatory you visit the Empire State building and take the obligatory “Empire State of Mind” photo and post it on social media. (HA)
Sleep No More Play: I remembered Sarah referencing this play during our time living together in London – Sarah and I had planned on visiting Madam’ Morbid’s haunted trolley but the tickets were sold out and someone I have been seeing had been constantly recommending we see Sleep No More, so we decided, screw it – let’s go. Because it was Halloween weekend the tickets were a bit more expensive but I believe the play was also different due to this fact – and because Credit Cards exist for a reason i.e. to buy things you should not – we bought tickets to a 4 P.M. show. To be honest the experience is worth it. I don’t want to give too much away but there is a bar where you begin, drinks are roughly 14$, you are then called by number and given a mask so your identity is unknown. You are then free to roam around the hotel at will. I found a room where there were jars of candy so of course Sarah and I helped ourselves.
This is just a brief summary of my past weekend in New York but from my past entries you can find tons of things to do while visiting. If you don’t feel like browsing through my blog I will just jot down a few sites below. Have fun!
Sites I did not visit THIS trip but you should: MoMA, Central Park, Coney Island, Times Square, Sak’s, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, St. Pat’s Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station, The Chelsea Hotel, The Flatiron Building, Broadway, Staten Island, New York Public Library, Natural History Museum, Radio City Music Hall,
Runaway Blond 