Category: Southwest Destination

New York

Day 1 – Wednesday, July 18th, 2018

We arrived at Newark around 4:30 pm. We took and Uber to Sheraton Times Square. We went to dinner at Lillie’s Victorian Establishment. I ordered a chicken pot pie and it was delicious. The decor here was gorgeous but it was loud, more of a bar scene. After, we got a slice of strawberry cheesecake at Juniors.

Day 2 – Thursday, July 19th, 2018

We had breakfast at Juniors, I loved it. Joseph and I shared the lumberjack, and I also got a bagel on the side.

We took the metro down to the 9/11 memorial. Metro cards are $1, and then it’s $2.75 per ride, no matter how far you go. You can also purchase metro cards based off of time (7 days or a month). We purchased the card and $22 worth of rides, since there is also a small bonus depending on how much you put on the card. Enough for all 4 of us to take a trip down to the memorial and back. At the 9/11 museum and memorial there was a bit of a line, but it only took about 20 minutes. We used our New York pass here. After, we walked to the bull near Wall Street. There were so many people we couldn’t get a picture with it. Then we headed back to the hotel to rest.

We had reservations at Carmine’s through OpenTable, I booked them about a month in advance. We barely made it to our reservation within 5 minutes. There were a lot of people in the restaurant. We ordered the spaghetti and meatballs and the chicken marsala. The spaghetti was a little harder than what we were used to, but I was thinking maybe that’s what al dente is supposed to be. The meatballs were delicious, melted in your mouth. The chicken Marsala was also good. Our dinner reservation was at 5, and we were done with Carmine’s by 6:30. We walked around Times Square for a while until it was time for Frozen the musical. We bought the cheapest tickets in advance and we were so high up it was as though we could almost touch the ceiling. The front of the stage was obstructed from that view. The show was good fun, they had some cool effects.

Day 3 – Friday, July 20th, 2018

We got breakfast at Toasties, I enjoyed my bagelwich. We took the subway to Battery Park for the Statue of Liberty cruise. Statue cruises in liberty park is the official cruise for going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island. We didn’t have tickets yet, and decided not to use our New York pass for this since it was $18.50 per ticket. We arrived a little after 8 since we had some troubles navigating on the metro. We bought tickets at the kiosk and there wasn’t that long of a wait, there was actually a longer wait for Will Call tickets. We got our tickets and waited in the long line. But once the gate opened the line moved fast. It turned out we had purchased flex tickets, so we had to go to the flex line, which had no one else in it—so it was like a fast pass. We were able to get on the first boat to the Statue of Liberty. When we arrived, we picked up the free audio tour and walked around the front of the island. I bought a shirt and a hat here, but later wished I had waited for a cheaper souvenir shop since I found one of the two items for cheaper.

Then we boarded the boat again and went to Ellis island. Ellis island also had a free audio tour. By the time we got back from both islands, it was around noon.

We walked over to Adrienne’s pizzabar. We walked in from the street side, but turned out there was a line on the other entrance. We only waited in line about 15 minutes. The pizza here was delicious. Then we went on the subway back towards our hotel. We ended up taking the wrong line, so we walked a bit to get back to our hotel. We rested and then headed to the TKTS booth around 6pm. We got tickets for Anastasia at 8pm at around $60/ticket. This was a pretty good price, especially since we were seated in the orchestra section and had a good view. I absolutely loved the show since I had listened to the soundtrack many times and love the music from it.

Day 4 – Saturday, July 21st, 2018

Got breakfast at La messerie, and then headed to the big bus tour office. We got there around 7:50 and there was a line of about 20 people. The office opened at 8 and it didn’t take long to get our tickets with the New York Pass. The blue line uptown bus started at 8:20. We got off at the met stop and walked into Central Park to people watch. We sat on a hill and watched people with their dogs, and saw the Alice in wonderland statue by the pond.

We got back to the Met around 5-10 till opening at 10am. There was a line of probably 50 people, but the line went fast. We used our New York pass for this entrance as well. Behind the desk you can proceed into the Egypt exhibition which is huge. It was extensive, I was surprised at how large it was. Then we went to the American wing, the armory displays, and the European displays. Then we headed to the Versailles special exhibition. On the way there we saw the Heavenly bodies exhibition, fashion and the catholic imagination. It had music going and had some gorgeous fashion pieces. The Versailles exhibition had a 3-D audio tour which was really cool.

After the Met we got a hot dog from the NYC hot dogs stand right in front of the Met. The larger hot dogs were $5 and it was pretty good. We then took our hop on hop off bus down to the next stop and walked to the Bethesda fountain and The mall in the middle area of the park. The fountain was a good photo spot, then we walked under the bridge onto the mall. We walked the mall and found some other good photo ops. We walked down to the plaza hotel stop of the hop on hop off bus. We stayed on the bus until the last stop, the Empire State Building. We skipped a line using the New York pass since they are able to scan it as a ticket. We went up to the 80th floor, an enclosed area to observe the views. Then went up to the 86th floor for the open air observatory. We were able to get some good photos, but of course there were quite a lot of people up there.

After, we took an Uber back to our hotel, since the big bus tour doesn’t have busses that go in the opposite direction. We could’ve taken a large loop on the red line but that would’ve taken too long, and the rain was coming soon. We rested a while at our hotel, then we were ready to grab dinner. We first walked over to Juniors and purchased strawberry cheesecake and a cupcake. Both were delicious. Then we walked to Halal guys, I had tried them before in Orange County but decided to also get them here. They have 8,800 reviews on yelp with 4.5 stars. At first we were waiting in a very long line. Then we saw across the street that there was also a halal guys stand but with a short line. So we crossed the street and only had 5 people in front of us. They serve large portions so you may be able to share. They tasted as they do in Orange County, but you should try them if you’re a fan of that kind of food. The white sauce combined with it is delicious.

Day 5, July 22nd, 2018

We went to Pick a bagel, there was a line but it went fast. Their strawberry cream cheese was yummy. We then went to Grand Slam NY for souvenirs since they had good reviews. We got all of our souvenirs there, they had some good deals. It’s by the TKTS booth, 48th and broadway. Then we came back to our Sheraton Times Square hotel to check out. The cost to leave our bags there was $4 per bag, and we had 8 bags (back packs and carry-ons). My dad and Joseph stayed with our bags in the lobby, and my mom and I went to 5th and saw St. Patrick’s cathedral. We also went to Zara, and I got a good deal on a dress. Then we went back to our hotel, grabbed a bite at cafe 54, and took an Uber ride back to Newark airport. The Uber was $68, about $10 more than the ride from the airport to Times Square area.

Niagra Falls

Day 6, July 23rd, 2018

We flew in to Buffalo, NY and stayed on the U.S. side of the falls. We walked into the state park and viewed the falls. There isn’t a whole lot to do besides viewing the falls; there are various viewing points. We then went on the Maid of the Mist. They provide ponchos, and I was happy to be wearing waterproof shoes. We quickly grabbed a spot on the boat along the rail, and were glad to have a nice viewing point. Once we got near the falls the water really poured down, it was how I’d imagine being in a hurricane would feel with the water and wind. Maid of the Mist was definitely the highlight of our visit to Niagara.

Another viewpoint you get to after getting off of Maid of the Mist

Day 7, July 24th, 2018

We checked out of our hotel and made the short drive over to the Canada side of the falls. The wait to cross the border took only about 10 minutes. The Canada side of the falls has a much better view. I wish we had stayed on the Canada side as opposed to the US side.

We spent some time taking photos of the Canada falls side, and also checked out the gift shop that had a lot of “Canada” items. Then we headed over to the nearby casino, pulled out some Canadian dollars at their ATM, and gambled for a bit.

After the casino, we grabbed a bite to eat before we headed back to the Buffalo airport. We went to Anchor Bar, the home of the Original Buffalo wings. I didn’t care for the wings, but I’m also not big on Buffalo wings. We did like the pizza.

Overall thoughts

New York has so much to do, and also has so many people–its a great place to visit. Niagara Falls are worth a quick visit, the falls are gorgeous and its really cool experiencing the feeling of being up close with them.

Recommendations

New York

Use TKTS for your broadway show (if they offer the show you want to see)
Try out Juniors whether it be for breakfast or a slice of cheesecake
Eat at Adrienne’s Pizzabar
So some people watching in Central Park
See the main sites – Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, 9/11 memorial museum
Check out Grand Slam NY for your souvenirs

Niagara Falls

Maid of the Mist
Get a hotel on the Canada side

Weekend trip: San Antonio

By VanessaBTravel

On May 20, 2018

In Southwest Destination, Weekend trips

Day 1
We started our first morning by trekking over to Pancake Joe’s, the highest yelp rated breakfast restaurant in San Antonio. We ended up not caring a ton for the food, the pancakes weren’t what we’re used to. My favorite part was the hash browns, those were good. After we headed to the San Antonio stock show & rodeo. That was a lot of fun. We saw many pigs being led by their owners to get weighed. I’ve never seen so many big pigs. We got to observe a horse auction, a first for us. We also saw a roping competition for the first time.

My favorite was the petting zoo which included lots of soft animals including alpacas, pigs, deer, goats, chickens, and more.

There were a lot of vendors selling many cowboy boots and cowboy hats. Even the police at the event had their cowboy hats on. That was definitely a fun experience, my first visit to a rodeo was a rodeo in Texas. After the rodeo we went back to our hotel to nap, and then headed back out to have dinner at Rosario’s, the highest rated restaurant in San Antonio. We were able to queue in line on the yelp app, and wait at the bar inside. The food here was sooooo good. I ordered the chicken flautas and Joseph had the beef and shrimp fajitas. We especially loved the fire roasted salsa that came with the chips.

Day 2
We started our morning with a trip to The Alamo. We parked at the Shops at the River Center parking garage and walked over to The Alamo which is very close to there. There was a long line to enter the Alamo church but it went by fast. We picked up the audio tour in front ($7 per adult) and walked around.

Then we went to historic market square, and i enjoyed shopping all of the various shops. I love mexican clothing, so i especially had a good time here. They also had some live performances for local folkloric groups. As a snack, we got some churros in the plaza and they were the best churros we’ve ever had.

Once we finished up with market square, it was the afternoon and we didn’t have anything else planned for that day. We decided upon going to the San Antonio botanical garden. I am a lover of succulents and cacti, but they didn’t have many succulents there. They did have a lot of cacti and agaves though, so i enjoyed that.

After we left the botanical garden, we went to the Pearl Brewery. This is an area where people sit and chat, near a place where there are various food vendors, as well as a bar. We bought some fries and beer, and people watched outside as the sun set. This was really relaxing, and there were a good amount of people and some kids here. We also grabbed ice cream at Lick honest ice creams, and they had the craziest flavors but it was absolutely delicious.

Day 3
We had free breakfast at our hotel, checked out, and headed over to Mission San Juan around 9:30am. They had a free ranger guided tour at 10am (there are various tour times on their website). The mission was gorgeous, but sadly by the time we got to the point of the tour to go inside the church it was closed for a special event. The tours are about 45 minutes long and do teach you a lot about the history behind the missions. We left the mission close to 11am and headed to the San Antonio airport for our 12:55 flight.

Overall thoughts
We had a fun trip, but felt like we ran out of stuff to do. I hadn’t thoroughly planned a schedule for this trip, but wish I had. Thankfully we did know of some items that were mentioned to do, such as the Pearl, and we really enjoyed that relaxing time and environment there.

Recommendations
Rosario’s is a must
Historic market square and their churros
People watch and drink Pearl beer at the Pearl District, then grab a cone at Lick Honest Ice Cream
The Alamo

Weekend Trip: Seattle

By VanessaBTravel

On February 12, 2018

In Southwest Destination, Weekend trips

Joseph and I traveled to Seattle for a weekend trip October 20^th to October 23rd, and we had a really good time. Seattle is a perfect weekend trip.

Day 1 – October 21st

We stayed at a hotel in Renton about 20 mins out of downtown Seattle. We had breakfast at the hotel and drove to the Seattle Center around 10:30am. We parked across from the Museum of Pop Culture at the Seattle Center 5^th Ave N. Garage which has cheaper rates than the official Space Needle parking ($6 for first hour, $13 for 1 to 2 ours, $15 for 2 to 12 hours). We walked over to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. That museum was worth a visit, the glass is beautiful. There are also definitely a lot of places for photo ops here. They have free photos that they take with professional cameras at the museum too, they give you a card that they scan and you can use a machine there to email the photo to yourself (or you can access the photo online). The Chihuly garden and glass is right next to a few other places including the Space Needle and Pacific Science center. You could definitely hit up a few of these places in day. We decided just to do the Garden and Glass for day 1.

After Garden and Glass, around noon we hopped on the monorail and headed to the only stop—Westlake Center near Pike Place Market. We got passes that included a ticket for each of the following: the tram, garden and glass, space needle, and pacific science center. It’s a good deal for $59, but I don’t suggest visiting the Pacific Science Center so I suggest a different package from their offerings. From the Westlake Center it’s a quick walk to Pike Place Market. We arrived to Pike Place around 1pm. We walked through the market area and shopped around. We stopped by Bubblegum Alley for a photo op. Most people there took photos blowing a big bubble of gum. I had gum handy to try and do this myself but my stick of Extra didn’t cut it. Make sure to bring a big piece of gum if you’re planning to take that photo. Joseph was grossed out being surrounded by all of that chewed up gum. After, we walked to Pike Place Chowder and the line was very long. But, it went by pretty fast. The chowder is the best chowder I’ve ever had, totally worth waiting in that line.

Day 2 – October 22nd

We started early on day 2 and arrived back to Pike Place around 9am. We got in line for Piroshky Piroshky and got some baked goods. We took the baked goods over to Storyville coffee (across from fish market up the stairs, look for a logo of a woman with an umbrella) and ordered a mocha and latte. The mocha was sooooo good, best mocha I’ve ever had. I had a lot of “best ever” experiences in Seattle. I didn’t end up caring for what I ordered from Piroshky Piroshky, I wished I had just ordered one of the baked goods at Storyville.

After breakfast, we walked over to the first Starbucks, this is right by Piroshky Piroshky. The line looked long, and Joseph definitely didn’t want to wait in that line, but I decided we would for some souvenirs. The line went fast, and there were lots of cute mugs that said “First Starbucks” on it, for a good price. Most everyone in line is in line for the merchandise, but they also sell drinks there. We drove around 10:30 to the Troll and took a quick photo.

Then we drove to the Fremont Sunday Market and walked along this short flea market. It was smaller than I expected, but there was a beautiful nature area nearby.

We hung out at the park for a bit, and then drove over to the Hiram Chittanden Locks. We arrived to the Locks around 11:30am. The Locks are in the water and used to help boats go from saltwater to freshwater, and vice versa. At some points in the year you can also view the salmon ladder, where you see all the fish passing by. When we visited it was nice just walking along by the trees with their leaves on the ground and all of the fall colors.. We took a look at the salmon ladder for a bit but there weren’t any fish. Then we walked along the bridge and got to see the process of how the boats make the transition, and that was pretty cool. I never knew that such a system was in existence. After the Locks, we stopped nearby at Red Mill Totem House for lunch. It wasn’t too memorable from what I remember.

Day 3 – October 24th

In the morning we stopped at another Storyville location and ordered delicious mochas. Then we headed over to the Space Needle. The view was nice, but that was only about a 30 minute visit. After we went to the Pacific Science Center. This place was more suitable for children, we still had a good time but it didn’t meet my expectations. I don’t recommend visiting there. We walked about 15-20 minutes from the Seattle Center area to Serious Pie and had amazing pizza. We ordered the mushroom and truffle pizza, it was so good. It was definitely in the top of all pizza’s I’ve eaten.

Overall, perfect weekend trip, so many good places to eat, places to see, photos to take. I recommend Seattle for you next weekend getaway.

Recaps on the “best ever”’s

Chowder at Pike Place Chowder
Mocha at Storyville coffee
Runner up: Mushroom and truffle pizza from Serious Pie

Also, for things to do, I recommend:

Chihuly Garden and Glass
Pike Place Market

Traveling with points

Category: Southwest Destination

New York City + Niagra Falls in July

New York

Niagra Falls

Weekend trip: San Antonio

Weekend Trip: Seattle

Day 1 – October 21st

Day 2 – October 22nd

Day 3 – October 24th