New York With The Girls

Last month I took a girls trip to New York City and spent a long weekend with my sister and four cousins.  Dawn is an 8th grade teacher in Manhattan, and she had been asking us to come visit for years.

This trip was so different from the last visit with my husband.  Our plan was to stay low key and spend lots of time enjoying each other's company.  It was interesting to see NYC from the perspective of someone who has lived there for ten years.

We arrived on Friday morning and headed to Dawn's apartment, located in lower Manhattan and about fifteen blocks from Battery Park.  She shares a 400 square foot flat with a roommate, and they pay $3000 a month for the privilege of a great location and two bedrooms.  All I could say was WOW.

We walked down Broadway to shop, have lunch, and meet Dawn at her school. She has a view of the Statue of Liberty from her classroom.  Not too shabby.

We had dinner that evening at Stone Street, an outdoor venue in the financial district with multiple bars and restaurants, and a young, hip crowd.  I'm pretty sure I was the oldest person there.

We soon headed uptown to our home for the weekend - a beautiful Brownstone on the Upper West Side.  I've always wanted to stay in one, and it didn't disappoint.  Very spacious, with three bedrooms, a small kitchen, and an outdoor space.  I have no idea why I didn't take pictures inside.  Serious blogger fail.

The Brownstone was only blocks from Central Park, and every morning I took a walk around the neighborhood.  There were always tons of tourists visiting the John Lennon memorial.

We were also within walking distance to Lincoln Center, the home of New York Fashion Week since 2010 (this year the event will be in a new location, since the NY Supreme Court ruled that having shows at Lincoln Center violated its use as a public park).  The evening I left, the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) awards were held there.  How fun would it have been to walk down and watch the red carpet arrivals?  I might have met Kimye!

We spent Saturday exploring Central Park.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, and it seemed the entire city was out on the grand lawn.

That evening we headed to Queens for a rooftop BBQ.  I told our Uber driver, "take me to Queens, at once", and looked everywhere for Prince Akeem, but I guess he was busy back in Zamunda.  

The views of the city were phenomenal.

On our final day, we visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and had brunch in Tribeca.  Juliette Lewis was seated at the table next to us.  She's so teeny tiny in person, and we really only recognized her because of her voice.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum, which opened in 2014, is so beautifully done, and I will be writing a separate post about it soon.

It was a wonderful long weekend with the girls in New York City.  We talked and laughed, ate delicious food, and stayed up late every night.  I got to see a side of the city that I hadn't experienced on my previous trip, and the memories will last a lifetime.