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The second half of our NYC trip was just as fun-filled as the first! On Thursday, we ventured outside of Manhattan to a place I’ve always wanted to visit—CONEY ISLAND! I was so excited to walk along the boardwalk and ride the famous rides. We took the hour-long subway ride to get there, but it was totally worth it! The boardwalk wasn’t all that bustling since we went on a weekday, but we were still able to do everything I wanted to do. We ate Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, which weren’t really anything spectacular, but at least I can say I’ve had one from the original Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island. We also rode the Wonder Wheel, which is over 100 years old, but it’s still going strong! We had some pretty amazing views of the city and the ocean from the top of it. We also saw the famous Cyclone roller coaster, but I’m not a big roller coaster fan, so I was happy to just take of picture of it. Coney Island is definitely a great Summer excursion from the city! That evening, we saw our second Broadway show, The Lion King, which was wonderful! All of the Disney Broadway shows have a lot of extra songs that aren’t in the movies, so it’s a whole new experience.

On Friday, we headed downtown and had a nice stroll through Chinatown, where we did a little shopping and found some great deals on t-shirts. After that, we went to Little Italy for lunch at our favorite Italian restaurant, Caffe Napoli. We eat there every time we’re in New York. It’s delicious! After lunch, we headed over to the World Trade Center site to check out the progress. They’ve made a little bit of headway since our trip last year, but there’s still a long way to go. That evening, we went to the Yankees vs. Mets game at Yankee Stadium. It was such an awesome experience! It was one of the things I was looking forward to most on our trip, and I enjoyed it immensely! We were rooting for the Yankees since no Braves fan can cheer for the Mets, and unfortunately the Yankees lost. It was still a really fun game to watch!

On our last day in the city, we started off the day visiting Bryant Park and the New York Public Library. I love seeing the library. It’s so old and grand! After that, we headed to Central Park, and took a carriage ride through the park, and then went on a nice little stroll so Payton could see more of the park. For dinner, we headed down to Union Square and ate at a really cool restaurant called Max Brenner. It was pretty much like eating in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. They specialize in chocolate drinks and desserts, but have really tasty food as well. We ended the night with our third Broadway show, Mary Poppins, which was really good, and a great way to spend our last night in the city!

Overall, we had a fabulous trip! We were able to fit in everything we had planned and more!

Mom & Payton on the Coney Island Boardwalk

The Wonder Wheel

Riding the Wonder Wheel

Lunch in Little Italy

At the Yankees game

Getting ready for our carriage ride through Central Park

We’re halfway through our NYC vacation, and we’ve already seen and done so much! On Monday, we did what every first-time visitor must do…we took Payton to the Statue of Liberty. It took FOREVER! We waited over an hour in line to get on the boat, and then we had to fight crowds on Liberty Island to get photos in front of the statue without random people creeping in. The whole experience took about 3 hours. BUT…Lady Liberty is worth the trek, and Payton was thrilled to see her. After the Statue of Liberty, we headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked along the pedestrian walkway that goes along the bridge. That evening, we dined at the quintessential tourist restaurant, Hard Rock Cafe, and then ended the evening at Top of the Rock, which is the observation deck at Rockefeller Center.

On Tuesday, we spent the morning at the observation deck at the Empire State Building. I love that they offer an express pass that allows you to bypass all the lines and head straight to the top. It may cost twice as much, but it’s totally worth it to not have to waste half of the day standing in line. After that, we headed over to Fifth Avenue to do a little window shopping. We visited American Girl Place (pretty much a must with a 10-year-old in tow) and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is always awe-inspiring. Once we had our fill of shopping, we went to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for afternoon tea in their Lobby Lounge. It was such an amazing experience! The Mandarin Oriental is right on Central Park, and the Lobby Lounge is on the 35th floor of the hotel, overlooking the entire park. It’s such an incredible view! We got a table right next to the window and enjoyed our little cucumber sandwiches and scones. That night, we had our first Broadway show of the trip, WICKED!! It was Mom’s and my 6th time seeing the show, but we loved it just as much as the first time, and Payton loved it too.

Today, we spent most of the day at the American Museum of Natural History. While we were there, we saw a show in the Hayden Planetarium, which was really good. We took it easy the rest of the afternoon and hung out for a little while in the hotel lounge enjoying the free wi-fi and then went for a stroll over to the Waldorf Astoria hotel so Payton could see where we stayed when her mom came to New York with us a few years ago. We ended the evening with dinner at the Brooklyn Diner in Times Square.

The first half of our trip has been wonderful and we still have so much more to look forward to!

Me & Payton at the Statue of Liberty

Payton & Mom on the Brooklyn Bridge

Me & Payton at Top of the Rock

Payton at the Empire State Building

Afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental

Afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental

Payton at the American Museum of Natural History

I’m using up the 5 vacation days I earned after being with my company for 6 months to spend a week in my favorite city—New York!! I’m here with my mom and my 10 (soon to be 11) year old niece, Payton. My mom and I have been to the city at least half a dozen times, but it’s Payton’s first trip (and first plane ride) so we’re doing a lot of the first-time touristy stuff, and since that never gets old to me, I’m looking forward to seeing it all again. We’re seeing several Broadway shows while we’re here, so that will be quite a treat. I’m also ridiculously excited to go to the Yankees vs. Mets game this week at Yankee Stadium! We have a lot to look forward to!

We’ve already gotten off to a good start. After checking in to our hotel in Times Square, we did a little bit of walking around the area. We checked out M&M World and Toys ‘R Us and then had dinner at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, which was such a blast! All the servers sing and dance in between serving tables, so it’s very entertaining! We wanted to finish up the night at Top of the Rock, which is the observation deck at Rockefeller Center, but they told us the visibility was very low, so we decided to save it for another night. All in all, we had a great first night in the city!

I haven’t uploaded any pics yet, so my iPhoto snapshot will have to suffice for now!