God hears us. And He answers us.
Even in the most populated US city, He answered prayers in amazing ways. May I never forget His goodness in the land of the living.
DAY ONE: WElcome to new york!
Tears definitely fell onto my airplane drink napkin, flying over and into NYC for the first time. Earbuds in, I pressed play on my NYC playlist, created years ago in anticipation of this dream trip, blinking back the floodgates of emotion. My first experience, in the City that Never Sleeps, was about to begin.
My sister and I snagged direct flights (bless up) from DSM to NYC, which is the only way to travel if one can help it. We had to be up ridiculously early, but it was worth it to be able to get into the airport, figure out taking the bus and then metro to our hotel, and being free to explore that afternoon! We stayed in Midtown on Wed & Thurs nights, at the Pod 51 hotel. It was a great location - easy to use transit or walk, whichever you preferred. I think for 2 nights, the cost was about $750 total. The room was small (bunkbed) and there was a shared bathroom, but seeing as we booked 6 weeks before our trip… worth it. We also wanted to maximize our time and didn’t want to waste travel time coming in from Brooklyn or further away- save that for the next trip!
We grabbed lunch at a little diner (!!) around the corner from our hotel, then walked to Sutton Park (iykyk!!) and snapped some photos of the city, and this view of Roosevelt Island. We have family friends who live on the island, but weren’t able to see them this trip- guess we will have to venture over next time. ;)
Honestly? I was exhausted. So we took a nap in the hotel, then woke up and rushed over to Times Square, where we met my friend Sarah to get tacos (per her recommendation!) and took them back to her apartment to eat and catch up a short bit! SO fun to see inside a “real” NYC apartment! Then we walked to the Gershwin Theatre for very possibly the only reason this trip happened…..
WICKED! On Broadway!
Basically, I’ve had tickets to see the tour of Wicked twice and both times- couldn’t go for reasons beyond my control. After falling in love with the sisterhood of the Double Name Witches, and seeing MK on tour of Mean Girls in 2019… I knew I had to see Wicked as SOON as I could, and not just on tour, but on BROADWAY. After all, this music was so much of my high school theatre nerd experience, and I’d waited this long. Why not see the show in the Mother Theatre!?
A little more backstory- I knew that Mary Kate was still standby (she’s principle now! I need to go back!!) for Elphaba, but the chances of seeing her on stage are slim and unpredictable. I definitely prayed she’d go on, and even commented on the Official wicked IG that it was my dream to see her—but didn’t think it would truly happen. So when the tiny paper fell out of my program before the show, I cried. And Clarissa was SO confused hahahaha.
The show was incredible, I wept and laughed and finally learned the WHOLE story and the spoilers I’d so long avoided! And then we left the Gershwin, took a photo with the posters outside… and saw Meredith. No time to explain, let me sum up: been following her on IG for close to a decade, we have similar hearts for asia, the world, and the humans in it…. and given then chance, I think we’d be besties in real life. Of ALL the people I could have gotten to talk with for a few minutes in NYC, Mei is 1000% the one I would have chosen. Such an honor to meet her!
DAY TWO: walking walking walking!
Wicked aside, the other two things I most looked forward to on this trip was to get to experience Central Park, and to eat lots of good FOOD!
As a child, I was a “bird-like” eater and just didn’t enjoy food. Something switched in college, and now food is one of the biggest joys & motivators in my life. I wish we had more diversity of food in Des Moines (particularly Japanese and Korean cuisine!) so I knew that would be on my list. But, one must start off their first full day in NYC with a bagel. There just is NOT another option!! And thankfully, this was just around the corner from our hotel! Worth the line, for sure.
If you know me, You’ve Got Mail is core to who I am and my love for NYC. I know B&N is the equivalent of Fox books, but it was still fun to run inside one and pretend to be doing “market research” for Kathleen Kelly.
We walked until we made it to the Empire State Building. You have to reserve your spot ahead of time, and it was a little confusing figuring out some of that, but we made it in- and loved getting the 360 views!
growing up, I NEVER found my name on this. I guess this is the one perk to having it be a popular baby name now? (well …and also people can spell it more frequently)
we were HUNGRY after a lot of walking, and stopped around 2pm for lunch at a little bodega. this ramen bowl hit the spot!! I wish we had spent more time around here… I still have to go back so I can get a matcha from Cafe Maiko.
a Gutenberg Bible sighting at the public NYC library. so cool.
first time walking in central park on the perfect fall day? surreal.
plz ignore the food in my teeth lol 🥸🫠
I make it a point to see the people I know in cities and places I visit, so we took the metro to have dinner with my old college ministry staff/co-workers and friends, the Parsons (and meet their cutie kiddo!!). It was fun to get to see another home in New York and a little bit of Brooklyn!
we somehow made it back to manhattan, and celebrated our first full (and only full day RIP) in the city with drinks a wine bar around the corner.
I love saying “around the corner”!!! It’s incredible to be in a city that is so walkable, so full of opportunity.
DAY THREE: connecticut in the fall
After a rainy walk to breakfast, and then facing my fears of the subway to get to Grand Central Station for train tickets out of the city to see my sister’s bff. Honestly, it was sad to leave the city- but also a relief to be warm inside the train with a good book, instead of getting soaked. God knew!!
Eunice taught me that the phone eats first and she’s not wrong.
driving to find lunch- stopped at a TINY family owned restaurant and I finally got my lobstaaaa roll
(did I come to the east coast just for food? it’s possible)
the nature area where we took a few photos of Sara & Joseph
DAY Four: Back to the City
After a dunkin’ drive thru breakfast, we hopped back on a train (just over 12 hours later hahaha) and chilled out until we made it back to Grand Central. Being in such an iconic train station was overwhelming in the best way. I wish that I’d had a gossip girl moment… guess next trip I can do that?!
We stayed at the LIC Plaza Hotel in Queens- you can see our view from the room below. I would for sure stay here again! A walk around the corner to Sansan Raman for lunch, and then back towards Manhattan we went.
more engagement pics in CENTRAL PARK ITS ALL FINE NO FREAKING OUT HAPPENED and then got kicked out cuz they were setting up an event sooo we moved on to the next agenda item- the MET 🤩
played with C’s new phone camera cuz mine is 5 years old and def doesn’t have a wide angle lens!!
stopped in to this cute spot for drinks, ended up staying for dinner. I love the spontaneity of travel!
DAY FIVE: We can sleep on the plane
Our hotel offered breakfast, so we ate and dropped our luggage off at the front desk, then hit the subway to head into Manhattan one last time.
last morning in NYC - and what a beautiful sunrise!!!!
I requested that we stop by the 9/11 memorial. We didn’t have time for the museum, but just walking around was reflective. I hated seeing people taking touristy/smiling photos there- it just felt wrong for such a somber location.
found Eddie’s name. sobering for sure.
walking the brooklyn bridge was a full experience. I’d love to see it at sunrise someday- it was definitely crowned in the late morning hours! but I’m glad for the experience- it’s just so amazing to be around people from all over the world, all in the same spot for this moment.
SO MANY TALL BUILDINGS
getting to the bus for the airport was actually not smooth- we misunderstood the directions for the subway, took a wrong train, and then were running behind. thankfully, we still made it to the airport and got through security and all that, but it was stressful and not my best travel moment. I’m glad it was at the end of the trip, and not earlier on (my anxiety would have had a DAY with that). It was great to sleep in my own bed again, but I’m already making lists for my next visit to NYC!
There it is- I wish I’d blogged this earlier, but fall was crazy with work, and then I forgot. 🫥 This post has been FAR too long, so I’ll leave it here- but please do comment with any ideas for my next time in NYC & what I should do/see/eat! ;)
Amelia
PS See the vlog here!