Anyone who has watched Suits (or any other TV programme set in New York) will know that the thing to do for breakfast is to buy a bagel from a food cart on the sidewalk. We had bacon, egg and cheese bagels (Jenny without the cheese, a decision she immediately regretted). This set us up for the day ahead at Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and lots more besides.
Ok guys, I know we are back in the UK and back at work now, but I still want to detail out our amazing trip! so bear with us.
Central Park
Central Park is lovely and green, well tended and has a few nice hills across the area. It must be one of the few green areas to walk dogs because there were dozens of people, all with multiple dogs, walking around, sitting down and eating treats. Jenny was in heaven.
Beautiful bridges Breakfast Bagels Peace and Quiet in the park
We were expecting the whole park to be peaceful and quiet, and although there weren’t any cars, the distance from the wide avenues of Manhattan was so short that it was still quite noisy. In fact, at one point a convoy of huge trucks started driving through the park to do some maintenance and blocked off the whole pathway, pushing pedestrians and cyclists left and right.
As we moved north, we eventually found a lovely peaceful part of the park and took a long walk around the entire circumference of the reservoir. Luckily, we found a little hot dog stand on the way. American hot dogs are soft, melt in your mouth and are super tasty, but because of these features, once you finish one hot dog you immediately want another five.
Hot dogs by the reservoir A lovely green spot Tranquil parts of the park do exist
The Statue of Liberty
The great copper statue in the sea between Manhattan and New Jersey is impressive even if a bit small when viewed from the city. However, deciding the best way to see it is a predicament in itself. The paid-for ferry takes you right up to the island with the statue, but takes a bit of time. On the other hand, the free ferry to Staten Island takes you right out into the middle of the harbour and you get a great view of Brooklyn Bridge, the Start of Liberty, Ellis Island and the skyline of Manhattan.
We took the free option (obviously) and bought a super tasty cinnamon sugar pretzel and lemonade from Aunt Anne’s. This, by the way, was one of the best things I had to eat on the whole trip to New York. The view from the Staten Island ferry is actually really amazing, you get to see all the little boats and helicopters bobbing around the statue and get a cool view over Brooklyn and New York all in one.
Aunt Anne’s Pretzel
To be honest, going to Staten Island itself isn’t really worth it, so if you do take that ferry it’s a good idea to walk straight from arrivals to departures to get back on the ferry back to Manhattan.
We don’t drink!
Since we have been back in the UK, all our friends have told us that all we did in NYC was drink. And although I resent that comment (as true as it might have been) this evening we went to an absolutely amazing bar. The Bar Room at the Beekman Hotel is absolutely amazing. Jenny originally planned to go here on my birthday, but we didn’t get time. The whole hotel and bar is laid out and decorated in an very delicate art-deco style, with beautiful leather chairs, dark wood bookcases and cushions all around.
More food, surely not!
As if we hadn’t gorged enough for one day, we headed up to East Village again to a place called Dallas BBQ. Now, this place doesn’t have the best reputation, but they do southern style american food and frozen margaritas at low prices. We had a huge plate of buffalo wings with a frozen margarita each, at which point the waitress thought we would be done. But then we ordered ribs as well! And with another couple margaritas we stumbled off on our way home.
Buffalo Wings to share… … a rack of ribs to wash it down.
Turns out we went the wrong way, so happened into another bar for a quick drink, they even have cider here! Ok, ok turns out we did spend a lot of time drinking in bars! Well this night, be it the food or the drink, ended a little messily for Jenny with her head in the toilet. She says it was too much food, I think maybe otherwise…
Definitely an enjoyable final night in New York. See more of our blog posts to hear more.
See you next time!
R&J
Xx
