Three Blonds and a Brunette in NYC

Long time no blog! You might be wondering what’s up? Kind of taking a break this summer. I took 2 trips to Chicago and 3 to Lake Geneva Wisconsin this summer, and I may still do a couple of posts about those trips as they were all fun. But I wanted to post about my most recent trip to New York City as I do get a lot of questions about traveling to that great city - definitely one of my top couple places to go. I wouldn’t exactly say I am a local there - more of a very comfortable frequent traveler. Last year three blonds and a brunette had an excellent trip to Chicago, so this year we decided to visit NYC together. It was equally action packed and fun. Lots of site-seeing, shopping, eating, some drinking and walking. Lots of walking! One of the ladies kept track of our miles and I believe in 3 days we walked almost 38! And that was in addition to lots of subway rides. When I say wear comfortable shoes you better know I mean it.

I used Hotels.com to find us hotel rooms in an area we wanted to stay in for a decent price. And I’ve also had good success with Booking.com. We stayed at the Hotel on Rivington which is on Rivington St in basically the East Village. Call it Nolita (North of Little Italy) if you want - it’s a great area and easy to get anywhere to in Manhattan. I much prefer to stay outside of the midtown touristy area. My recommendation is to either stay north or south of midtown.

First I’ll post about all the things we did - then cover at least some of the food. One of the new big draws in NYC this summer is seeing The Vessel in Hudson Yards on the west side. The Vessel is described as a structure and landmark in the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project - but to me it’s really more of a piece of sculpture you can walk through. You do need a ticket to enter as they only allow 700 people in at a time. You can just go and take your chances that there are tickets available, book for a specific time slot online up to 2 weeks in advance, or buy a ticket (the first two options are free) up to 6 months in advance for $11 a person and you can enter at any time the day of your ticket. Since we didn’t want to worry about the first two options we just bought tickets in advance. Worked out perfectly and it was pretty awesome.

Top left - we’re in the Vessel. Top right - view of the vessel in comparison to the buildings around it. Bottom right - The Shedd which is next to the Vessel and used for concerts. Bottom left - elevator inside the Vessel. We went all the way to the top and it’s higher then it might look from the outside dwarfed by the skyscrapers.

There is a big mall right across from the Vessel with lots of shops and restaurants plus a large food court modeled after something you would find in Spain called ironically Spain. We walked through it but didn’t stop to try anything. And the way to get to Hudson Yards and the Vessel is by walking on The Highline so check that out as well. We also walked through the Chelsea Market which is a place I really like, but I’ve blogged about it and the Highline in previous posts so I won’t post pics of those again.

We started day 2 at the 911 Museum. I got our tickets in advance because I highly recommend doing it with a tour guide. It’s a large place and I have done it before and got a lot out of it with a guide. If you’re 25 or older you remember that day so clearly and the museum is really so well done. I would allow at least a few hours and even then you can’t take it all in.

Standing outside one of the reflecting pools of which there are two. Top right - the last piece removed from ground zero. Bottom left - a piece from one of the towers. Bottom left - the Survivor Stairs. Saved the lives of over 200 people who escaped using them.

The museum is constantly being updated as new information comes to light as far as victims being identified and illnesses of the survivors documented. There is a new area called The Memorial Glade dedicated to those whose actions led to their injury, sickness and death.

The Memorial Glade on the grounds of the 911 Museum.

It’s not a trip to NYC without seeing a Broadway Show - so off to see Tootsie we went. We all loved it. A great cast and a fun story similar but not identical to the original movie. And the guy who played Tootsie does a better job in high heels then I can!

Yes that actually is Barry Manilow! And no he didn’t play Tootsie. His show is playing right across from the theater Tootsie was in and when we were leaving we saw him right across the street. Bonus!

Next up a fairly quick stop in Times Square. All the theaters are in close proximity so it’s worth walking through. Just hang on to your purse or wallet.

Times Square!

It wouldn’t be a Patti Part Two trip without a museum stop so we were off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the upper east side right in Central Park. I make it a destination almost every single time I’m in NYC because there’s always something new to see. This time there were two exhibits we were interested in seeing. Play it Loud Instruments of Rock & Roll and the new fashion exhibit called Camp. We got to see both but the weekends are the busiest times so it was quite crowded. But still fun.

Yes the real instruments from the Beatles. And that’s a piano Lady Gaga played on in one of her shows. I’ve never seen a guitar like that! Belonged to Ricky Nelson I believe. There were so many Instruments from so many super famous musicians it was pretty overwhelming.

The fashion exhibit was great too. In fact after the girls left on Sunday I went back on Monday to see it more closely again - without the crowds.

Some of my favorites - got to love the TV dinner dress!

One of my favorite stops on a beautiful day is the 5th floor terrace overlooking Central Park. It’s a great place to have a drink or snack if you have time.

On the terrace with gorgeous views of the sky line.

Central Park is never a bad idea so after the Met we headed to the park with a destination of Strawberry Fields and the Imagine memorial. I’ve seen it a number of times and there are always people there.

Bottom left is the Central Park reservoir where Jacqueline Onassis was known to take frequent walks.

The girls wanted to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and we were running out of time so 6:30 AM on Sunday was the plan. We were out the door and on our way at 6:30 promptly and that is actually a great time to go. We almost had the bridge to ourselves, and it really is beautiful.

If you walk the bridge then go under the overpass and visit the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dumbo. Dumbo stands for Down under the Manhattan Bridge - clever. It’s a super cool neighborhood and has lots of interesting things to see - like a Bridge Over a Tree!

Before I get to the food pictures - which is really what everyone wants to see - I will just give a shout out to Airbnb. When the girls left I moved to a great little studio in the Murray Hill neighborhood that I found on Airbnb. It was a wonderful location and very clean. It can sometimes be a less expensive option - especially if you’re traveling alone, so consider Airbnb. I have had great success all over the US and Europe, just read all the reviews and do your research on where you want to stay as far as location.

As mentioned I went back again to the Met to see the fashion exhibit, and also checked out the French Impressionist galleries and the modern galleries. I happened across an entire room of Thomas Hart Benton murals and that was really a nice surprise. I stopped in the main lobby of Grand Central Station on my way to the subway and it never ceases to leave me in awe. So gorgeous!

Grand Central Station lobby.

One museum a day is often not enough so I stopped in at the Guggenheim. It’s located very close to the Met and very manageable in terms of size. The building itself is amazing - designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the spiral walkway is impressive. There was a special exhibit by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat that I had heard was there, and it was really wonderful and thought provoking.

The Guggenheim and Basquiat exhibit. Bottom right is the spiral walkway and glass ceiling.

Now onto food! So much great food in NYC! There is never enough time or appetite to try it all. First stop for lunch was The Meatball Shop. Probably at least 8 kinds of meatballs, sauces and things to have them on or in.

Chicken meatballs for me with tomato sauce, side of quinoa cauliflower salad. Tom joined us and brought us our Tootsie tickets which he had gotten for us from the theater. Saved us the large service fee per ticket - thanks Tom!

For lunch one day we went to the only Chobani restaurant in the country located in Soho where we were doing a little shopping. Great salads, sandwiches and of course yogurt.

I think we all had the Mediterranean salad, and shared a bagel with smoked salmon. Wish I had time to go back for the breakfast bowl. Looked amazing.

For dinner before Tootsie we went to Epistrophy in SoHo. I had eaten there before and really liked it.

Lasagne, great salad with peas and asparagus and fresh orecchiette with Pancetta. All delicious.

One of the meal highlights was a trip to Clinton St Baking Company. Located on the corner of Houston and Clinton St and serving one of the greatest breakfasts in NYC! The blueberry pancakes are not to be missed! Warning - you must get there a half hour before they open in the morning to have any hope of getting in for a table. We got there at 8:30 for a 9 AM opening and got in in the first seating - success!

That’s the line around the corner to get in at 9 AM. And the blueberry pancakes lower right picture. Yumm1

Saturday night dinner was at Market Table in the West Village. I have been there a few times before and it was always great. This time it didn’t disappoint either.

Mussels, salmon over summer corn risotto, grilled filet with fingerlings and onion rings and fries with old bay spice. A feast!

Our last meal together was brunch at Loring Place. Might have been my favorite of the trip. Delicious and really interesting combinations of ingredients.

I think we had a few items I didn’t get pictures of but here is a sampling. Homemade fritters, breakfast pizza with delicious things on top and an egg quinoa dish with fresh vegetables. I think we had a cheddar and ham waffle also. Must have been consumed before I could photograph it!

I ate dinner with Tom and Anna at a great place called Frankie’s in the West Village but totally forgot to take pics. It was Italian and great! Ate another night with them at The Butcher’s Daughter. It was a vegan restaurant and delicious.

Top left is my kale salad with chicken made from potatoes. I liked it! Bottom left - a great cinnamon raisin bagel from Murray’s and bottom left the DKA. Dominique’s Kouign Amann. A croissant with a caramelized crunchy crust. Dominique Amannl is the NY baker that created the cronut. A combination of a donut and a croissant. It was amazing!

That’s it for food except for multiple stops at coffee shops along the way and in the morning. Too many to post. We did some shopping - mostly in Soho and for me mostly at my favorite store - UNIQLO. Great basics and great prices.

We took the subway everywhere. It’s the best as far as I’m concerned. Really reasonable and easy to navigate. We only had one unexpected trip to Brooklyn - totally my fault! But easy to fix and we reversed ourselves and only wasted about 10 minutes. We did have one bomb scare while we were on the train - and actually it was at the stop we were supposed to get off at. The trains weren’t stopping there for a few hours until they discovered it was just someone leaving rice cookers around the stop. Why we will never know.

Here we are on the subway - it can get a little crowded! Hang on!

Kind of a long post but lots to do and see in New York. If you made it all the way through thanks for reading! I’m leaving soon for Portugal and the south of France and will try and blog a little every day. I hope your summer has been great! Jump while you can!