New York Trip

One of my (more realistic) dreams has been to go to New York. I'm infatuated with city-life and wanted to experience the big apple for myself. My birthday was in May and a couple months back, my roommate and I decided to go for our birthdays (hers is just a couple days before mine). We booked flights, Airbnbs and bought city passes.

 My roommate Cassie in the SLC airport

We flew SLC to Denver for a layover, then into Newark, NJ where we stayed in our Airbnb. I would seriously recommend staying in an Airbnb no matter where you go. It is SO much cheaper than staying in a hotel and you get to meet new people. We rode the NJ bus each day into New York, cheap option, but took us about 45 minutes each time. Not bad if you want to save on money. We decided to buy a Metro Card for within the city and with the number of times we rode the subway, I'd say it was definitely worth it.

Day 1: We got into Newark around 2 p.m. and met a friend there (he took a different flight from SLC) We had to Uber from the airport to our Airbnb, which was pretty pricey, but between the three of us, it wasn't too bad. After dropping everything off, we left for NYC to Grand Central station.

Trace, me, and Cassie at Grand Central Station

It just so happens that when we got there, it shut down due to trees fallen onto the tracks. (there was really bad hurricane weather in North New York) There were hundreds of people crammed into the building who couldn't go home from work.
Afterwards, we headed to the famed Shake Shack. We were unimpressed... it was good, but reminded us of an In n' Out, nothing too fancy.

Next we hit up Times Square

Times Square is definitely a tourist location and I was warned not to go there because it was dirty and crowded, but I didn't notice that too much because I was so enamored with all the lights and signs and just the fact that I was actually in New York City. The things I had seen in pictures on screen were now right in front of my eyes.

Day 2: Our first stop (after we stopped at Zucker's Bagels) was the infinity pools by the 9/11 museum.

Absolutely beautiful, breathtaking seeing these in person.

This was my birthday and I scored three tickets to watch Jimmy Fallon live. We weren't allowed to take pictures once we got inside, so we took pictures with the outside.

Jimmy Fallon even wished me a happy birthday.

We then visited Joe's Pizza, the pizza shop Spiderman worked at in the original movie.

New York's pizza is very flat and often times much larger than your hand. I really liked the style of pizza rather than the thick crust.

We ended the night at Black Tap, known for their crazy shakes.

Day 3: We went to the Natural History Museum after eating at a hole-in-the-wall taco place.

Next, we went up the One World Trade Center, I'd recommend this over the empire state building. The empire state building is ridiculously expensive and not even as tall.

This was the view from the top. There are 101 floors and the elevator on the way up shows a timelapse of New York over the years.

Day 4: We ate a quick breakfast from a food cart and then went on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Brooklyn Bridge

Riding bikes on the Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn City

We stopped at a Brooklyn pizza shop with unique flavors, such as Mac 'n Cheese, hamburger, and Elote. My favorite was the Caprese and the Mac Attack.

Day 5: 9/11 memorial, The Met, Spot Dessert 

We visited the 9/11 memorial, very emotional and humbling. We saw famous work at The Met, art from Picasso, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Jackson Pollock. I'm a sucker for unique foods, so I got a Lightbulb bubble tea from Spot Dessert Bar.







We Ubered to the airport the next day and flew home. I thought this would quench my thirst for city life, but it just made me decide that I want to live in New York sometime for at least a year.

-Heather Lynn