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.
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
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