A couple weeks ago, I turned 40 and Ryan surprised me with a trip to New York City! Super excited to quickly pack our bags and get away to such a fun city. I love this quote, “New York is not a city its a world,” it states so accurately how we all feel after visiting such a big city with so many sites to see! I’m excited to share with you some of our favorites from the trip! (click on the subtitles for links to each site)
To start off we stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Times Square! Such a fun place with SO MUCH going on! Times Square is known as one of the most bustling square of New York. Home to Broadway theaters, electronic billboards, street characters, street performers, shopping, and everything New York!
Rockefeller Center a national historic landmark located in Midtown Manhattan was beautifully decorated with pumpkins galore. Such a great area to watch the ice skaters, shop in the amazing shops near by on Fifth Avenue. At night, we even sat in a set of stadium stands and watched baseball with hundreds of strangers on a huge screen!
A short walk to St. Patrick’s Cathedral to experience God’s presence in the city. Loved seeing the amazing stained glass windows, artwork, and altars.
A trip up the Empire State Building did not disappoint! We were so lucky it was an absolute beautiful day with a clear view of the city from the top. The 86th floor of the building is and interior view and museum that details the history of building and restoration to date. King Kong was even there to greet us and take pictures. From there we went up to the 102nd floor to an outside 360 view of the city! I highly recommend this to everyone (I even have a fear of heights, but the amazing view and experience overtook it!)
Lunch at Black Tap was such a fun and tasty experience! Hip-hop diner, great music, yummy burgers and famous crazy milkshakes! Choose from the Cotton Candy Shake, Sour Power, Cookie Shake, Cake Shake, Bam Bam Shake, Classic Shakes, are just some of the fun shakes on the menu!
Shopping
Shopping in New York is some of the best, but when you are with two kids you hit up a couple different stores! We had a great time in M & M World, Nintendo, Adidas, Lego, and the NBA store.
A trip to New York is not complete until you’ve seen a Broadway Show. This was the kids first time to see a Broadway musical and Lion King was perfect! I’ve always loved this musical, from the amazing songs ,stage performance, costumes, everything the show encompasses!
Central Park has always been such a beautiful part of the city. To be able to get out of the hustle and bustle and walk along the paths in the park beside beautiful ponds, huge trees, and massive rocks. We had a great time exploring and letting the kids climb and run!
The High Line is New York’s only elevated park, made from an old railroad trestle, stretching 1.45 miles long from the Hudson yards to northern edge of Chelsea. The path is lined with areas of wildflowers, greenery, benches, outdoor art, and great views of the city and side streets! The are many accesses on and off of the pathway!
Known as “the most famous cafe in New York City!”My favorite movie of all time is You’ve Got Mail. It was so fun to be walking the streets of New York and Ryan led me by surprise to the coffee shop from the movie Lalo Café. It is just as a cute as it is in the movie! If you are in the area it would be fun to visit!
I recommending this restaurant because we loved it so much! Super fresh market style bowls with mostly veggies with local produce straight from farms! Great place to grab a quick home-cooked bite, especially if you are looking for some fresh yummy food to have the energy to walk and explore the city!
One of our favorite places to pick up a meal, snack, juice, or coffee is Whole Foods. Such a great place to pick up a picnic lunch for the park, dinner to eat there or take back to your hotel. It feels so good when you are traveling to pick up fresh food to make everyone in the family happy!
Walking through the city has a way of speaking character through the historic buildings, flower shops, newsstands, boutiques, all the NYC has to offer. We had a fabulous trip, visited some great places, and already have our list made for next time!
Hope you enjoyed our pictures and please reach out if you plan to travel to the city and have any questions!! “Show them the world!!”
Our family would love to hear from you. Please leave us a message, a comment, or connect with us on social media. Thank You For Visiting! 
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