Christmastime in New York City

I know, I haven't touched this blog in a year. I'm so ashamed. Here's hoping 2022 will be the Year of the Return of the Blog. I think I said that last year, but hopefully I'll mean it this time. :) 

But for now, I did want to post at least once in 2021, so I figured I would post about my trip to New York City from earlier this month. Unlike last year, I was able to take a few big trips this year.

My niece Alice and I (we are six years apart) starting planning a Christmas NYC trip in December of 2019. We originally had planned to go in December of 2020, but we all know how 2020 went. THANKFULLY we got to go about a week before things started shutting down again this month (because I would have been devastated if we had finally gotten there only to have everything get canceled on us). 

I had been to New York City twice before, in 2007 and in 2018, but had never been at Christmastime, and that was something on my bucket list. Yes, I have a long bucket list.

We landed mid-afternoon on Dec. 8 and had just enough time to check into our hotel before we headed out to meet my friend Cara for dinner. Cool story about my friend Cara- I "met" her last year when my friend Eric starting having Facebook video group calls with a few of his baseball friends. It was something to do during shutdown, and I was able to meet some amazing people. She and I realized we had so much in common and became fast friends. We were both super excited to finally meet in person. 

Me and Cara-the best of friends finally meeting in person!

We ate dinner at an amazing Sicilian restaurant called Norma (not the same as my Norma's in Dallas, but still good) and were able to get a mini tour from Cara around her part of NYC. While we were out walking, it started raining lightly. Alice and I were like giddy little kids when the rain turned to snow. It only snowed for a little bit, but we got to be in NYC in winter and it snowed. The trip was a success at that point, and we had only been there a few hours. Lol.

We were very happy we bought warm winter jackets for our trip. We definitely needed them for the majority of our trip.

Snow!

Since I had been to NYC before, I made sure Alice got to see everything she wanted to while we were there. The first stop on our first full day was the Statue of Liberty. I went in 2007 but was excited to go back. We booked tickets on the first ferry of the day. I highly recommend going early in the day- it won't be as crowded. Last time I visited the Statue of Liberty, the pedestal was closed, so I was looking forward to touring that. The crown is still closed, so that wasn't an option for us. Let me tell you-it was freezing. It was 24 degrees, the wind was blowing, and we were by the water. We decided not to complain about our 75 degree winter in Texas after that moment. 

On Liberty Island

When we got into the pedestal, there was a sign that said it was 176 steps to the top of it and we thought, "oh, that's nothing, we will take the stairs instead of the elevator." By the fourth flight of stairs, we were regretting that decision (as you will see in a photo below). Lol. But we persisted. The view from the pedestal was great, I'm glad we got to go up it. I bet the view from the crown is even better, maybe one day I get to see it. We also went to the new(ish) museum on Liberty Island, which was cool. The original torch is on display there, as well as a replica of Lady Liberty's foot (I did a comparison with my foot). I even earned my junior park ranger badge. This is a long story that started earlier this year on my baseball road trip with my friend Lisa. I'll try and recap that trip at some point so you can see how my goal to become a junior park ranger at national parks is now a thing. Lol. 

Liberty Island

We spent more time at Liberty Island than I thought we would. We had plans to meet my friend Eric for lunch, but we didn't leave Lady Liberty until almost 11, and we still had Ellis Island to visit. We told Eric lunch was going to be late. We didn't get to spend as much time as we could have at Ellis Island (honestly you could spend a whole day doing both). But it was still cool to visit again- some of it I remembered from my 2007 trip and some of the exhibits and layouts were newer and not familiar to me. And yes, I got my junior ranger badge. 

Top: My trip in 2007. Bottom: My trip this year.

It's crazy to think how many people passed through this room on their first stop in America.

Pretty sure if all the other park rangers aren't available, I'm in charge. Lol.

By the time we left Ellis Island, we were STARVING and ready to meet up with Eric. We decided to meet at the dining area of Grand Central Terminal, since it was near Eric's office. It was so good to see my friend Eric again. I met up with him during my NYC trip in 2018 and also got to see him this past July when he and our friend Rob came to Texas to visit me (I'll try and recap that visit at some point). Eric only had a little bit of time to hang out that day, but he was able to give us a tour of his office lobby, which is the building used as the Daily Planet in the 1978 Superman movie. It's a good thing we knew him because a security guard was about to kick us out until Eric said he was an employee. Normally you have to be part of a tour group to be there. Eric agreed to meet up with us the next day so we could hang out longer.

We had just enough time after saying bye to Eric to take the subway back to our hotel in Chelsea, change clothes, and get over to Radio City Music Hall for the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Seeing the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall was a MUST for me on this trip and I'm so glad we were able to go. We saw them on Dec. 9 and by Dec. 17, they had canceled the remaining shows of the season due to COVID outbreaks. 

The show was amazing and better than I could have imagined. Now, I wasn't that person who took photos and videos during the whole performance (like the lady on the row in front of us), but I did snap a quick photo during the curtain call, just to get a photo of the stage. Everyone working at Radio City Music Hall was so nice- from the concession workers to the ushers. It was just a wonderful experience.

Not gonna lie, I teared up when the show started. I was so happy to be there.

After leaving Radio City Music Hall, we made our way to Rockefeller Center, because seeing the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was another MUST for me on this trip. Did I tear up again when I saw it? Maybe. You don't know my life. After we took all the photos of the tree, we walked around 5th Ave. and looked at the window displays and Christmas lights. We also made a stop at FAO Schwarz toy store. The doorman was dressed as a toy soldier and was so nice. He kept everyone waiting in line entertained (because yes, there was a line to get inside). 

Saks Fifth Avenue had a great Christmas light show on their building. I didn't take a video of it (because I always forget to take videos on my trips), but I found this video of part of it on YouTube. 

Friday morning we went ice skating at Bryant Park. We were told that ice skating there was better than Rockefeller Center because 1.) it was cheaper and 2.) it was less crowded. We didn't care where we were- we were ice skating OUTSIDE in New York City. And yes, those are matching Buc-ee's sweaters. You can take the girls out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girls. :)

Yes, that S'mores hot chocolate was amazing.

After ice skating, we met up with Eric again and walked from Bryant Park over to Central Park and to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (we didn't go in though). Eric gave a great New Yorker tour of the city. I told him he should charge people (except me, of course) for these amazing tours. He also gave a great tour when I visited in 2018. 

We went by Tiffany's but didn't have breakfast. :)

After being able to spend a good part of the afternoon with Eric, we went back to our hotel to drop off some items we had bought, and then headed to Brooklyn to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and to see the Dyker Heights lights. 

We paid for a tour of the Dyker Heights lights and really enjoyed it. You could see them for free but since we were from out of town, it was nice to have a guide walk us through the neighborhood, and even give us insider information about some of the homes. There was security and NYPD around the whole neighborhood directing foot and car traffic. The tour ended with a cup of hot chocolate from John's Deli (we were told it was the best deli in the area). If you are ever in that area around Christmas, I highly recommend this tour. 

Bottom left: Our tour guide was actually a guy who portrays Santa in the area- he was super nice. Check out his Instagram page.

While on the tour, we passed by a house decorated all in green lights (to resemble The Emerald City from The Wizard of Oz). A man was at a table talking about his son Michael, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. We stopped to talk to him and give a donation. He asked where we were from and when I said Dallas, he said he was a huge Dallas Cowboys fan (yes, they exist in New York!) He was so nice, we became instant friends. I highly recommend checking out their webpage or Facebook page for more information on Michael and their non-profit.

New friends!

Saturday morning we were supposed to go to the Empire State Building but it was super foggy near the top and we were told we wouldn't be able to see anything. Thankfully, they let us inside to the second floor so we could switch out our ticket for the next day. 

A foggy Empire State Building

We did stop for a quick photo op before changing out our tickets. And yes, we were all about matching outfits this trip. We used to do that as kids, so we brought it back. Lol.

After the change of plans that morning, we were able to meet up with my friend John for a few hours. Yes, I have several friends who live in NYC and can't miss an opportunity to see them. He gave us a tour of his office (he creates costumes for musicals and plays), which was super cool. I don't want to post photos of those costumes without permission, but here is a photo of me and John. We've been friends for 25 years. :)

We decided to take in another show on our last night in town. We looked at getting tickets to a Broadway show, but decided we wanted to stick with a Christmas show, so we got tickets to 'Twas the Night Before...by Cirque du Soleil at Madison Square Garden. If you have never seen a Cirque du Soleil show, I highly recommend it. They were great! It was my first time to see one of their shows and I really enjoyed it. I found this on YouTube if you want to see clips from the show.

Sunday was our last day in town. Our flight didn't leave until 5pm and we used every bit of time we had before heading to the airport.

The last "MUST" thing that was on my NYC Christmas Bucket List was to get a photo with the Macy's Santa Claus. Miracle on 34th Street (the 1947 version) is one of my favorite Christmas movies so of course, that is what inspired this. 

You had to book a reservation online (no more than 5 days in advance) to get a photo with Santa. They don't even allow walkups to see him. We tried so many times to get a reservation, but there kept not being times available. I got a tip that they released time new slots at 5:30am EST every morning. The Monday night before our trip, Alice (who is an overnight ER nurse) logged on at 4:30am CST and was able to get us a reservation for that Sunday morning. Weehoo! 

Santaland was great-we got there five minutes before our reservation time and were allowed to walk right in. You went through a maze of decorations and photo op spots. Once again, everyone was super nice. And yes, we dressed alike once again. When we finally got to the room with Santa (fun fact: there were multiple rooms with a Santa so they could see more people) he was so friendly and asked us what we wanted for Christmas. I said I wanted the Texas Rangers to win the World Series and he chuckled (umph). We all had to wear our masks, but it was okay- we got our Santa photo. We were probably giddier than we should have been about it.

After our photos with Santa, we went down the street for our tour of the Empire State Building. It was a BEAUTIFUL day- I'm so glad we were able to reschedule our visit. We only went to the 86th floor and not the very top (102nd floor) but it was still a great view. I had never been before in my other two visits to NYC, so I'm glad we went.

Me: Don't be dramatic.
Also me: 

Our hotel was about a 12 minute walk from the Empire State Building. We were able to get a tour, visit the gift shop, and get back to our hotel by 2pm. A car service was picking us up at 2:25 to take us to the airport, so that gave us 25 minutes to spare. 

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn New York/Manhattan-Chelsea and it was a lovely stay. Everyone was super friendly and they provided free coffee and hot tea all day. People complained online about the rooms being small, but honestly, the only time we were at the hotel was to sleep, so it didn't matter. And it didn't seem super small to me. It was clean and we had no issues while we were there. It was a close walk to so much that we wanted to see, and we were one block from a subway station when we needed to take that. 

View from our room on the 19th floor

So that's a recap of my NYC Christmas trip. I'll try and recap my other 2021 trip by Saturday. If not, maybe next year. As always, thanks for reading!

XOXO!

New York City 2018

Now that 2019 is coming to an end, what a great time to finish my trip recaps from 2018. #facepalm

I really hope 2020 is the year I get back in my blogging groove. But for now, I will keep recapping my 2018 trips AND the big trip I took earlier this year. Luckily I didn't travel as much in 2019, so I won't have as much to update once I get to it.

I know in the past I've divided long trips into multiple post, but I'm going to keep my five days in New York City all in one post. So bear with me- you might want to grab a snack and beverage, because this is going to be a long post.

ANYWAY....after my amazing trip to Cooperstown in July 2018 (see recap here), I parted ways with my awesome travel buddies and headed out to have many adventures in NYC.

I stayed with my amazing friends John and Ryan. John and I go way back to our college days so we have been friends FOREVER. John was delayed on a business trip the first day I was there, so Ryan played tour guide my first evening in town. I visited NYC back in 2007, but of course, there was so much I didn't see my first trip, so I was excited to do some more sightseeing. 

I'm a history nerd (anyone who has read my blog or follows me on Twitter knows this), so Ryan took me to do some sightseeing around their neighborhood. Our first stop was in Harlem at the former home of Harry Houdini. It's not a well-known tourist spot- I think mainly locals know about it. But it was still cool to see. It's now a private residence, so we couldn't go in or up to the door. But of course, I posed by the gate (because I'm a nerd). 

We decided to walk the 37 miles to General Grant's National Memorial-aka Grant's Tomb. Okay it was really like 2 miles, but to my feet, it felt like 37 miles. Lol. The festival, A Great Day in Harlem, was going on that day, so we got to hear some good music while we were there. We stopped for a bit on the stairs to rest, so we got to enjoy it for a while. It was awesome.

Resting our feet after walking

A Great Day in Harlem. There was a fashion parade going on at this time

Paying my respects

We were starving after all our walking (and I hadn't eaten since earlier that morning), so we stopped at a place called Hop House Harlem. The pizza was amazing. This was NOT the last time I had pizza while I was in New York. Lol.

I knew I had a busy schedule the next day (Monday), so I went to bed early(ish), but not before making friends with Clyde. Bonnie was too shy to come out and meet me (although she made a quick appearance on my last night).

Just call me the cat whisperer

That Monday I took my first ever solo subway ride. I know this isn't a big deal to most people but it was to me. Thank goodness for the map on my phone so I didn't look like a tourist trying to figure out my stop. (NARRATOR: She still looked like a tourist). My good friend Eric (more about him in a moment), managed to get me a VIP ticket to Live with Kelly and Ryan. Kelly Ripa was on vacation that week, but it was still cool to be in the audience. Evidently I was on TV more than once (friends back home texted that they saw me). It was neat to see how a talk show was filmed and what went on during commercial breaks. Ryan Seacrest and his guest co-host Jenna Dewan mingled with audience members during the breaks. 

After the taping, I met up with Eric, who was going to be my tour guide for the day. Eric and I had been social media friends since 2014. We became friends when I mentioned his book, Rally Caps, Rain Delays and Racing Sausages on my blog. Shameless plug for Eric, check out my review of his book here. His book is available on Amazon (click here), in case you are looking for a Christmas gift for a baseball fan in your life. Anyway, he found my post and reached out that he hoped I liked his book. We became fast friends. When his son was born, I mailed a little gift to him and his wife. Eric is a Yankees fan so of course I had to send the baby Rangers stuff. :) I'm now his son's honorary aunt- it's amazing how social media can bring such important people into your life. For all the bad things on it, I focus on the good that it brings.

My amazing friend and tour guide, Eric!

SIDETRACKED. Sorry, back to NYC 2018. So, Eric had planned an entire Rachel Tour for the day. It started with behind-the-scenes at Eyewitness News 7 and Kelly and Ryan Live. I told him he needed to start his own tour guide business- it was fantastic. We did A LOT of walking, but it was all worth it. We went through Central Park (something that I had wanted to do my previous trip but didn't have time). There was an Alice in Wonderland statue, but it constantly had kids on it (of course), so I couldn't get a great photo with it. It was still fun though.

Friends in high places allows you to get this photo op

Maybe next time I'll get a photo with Alice

So we walked onto a set where they were filming an episode of God Friended Me. Because of that, I decided to try out the show (I like it!)

Eric knows that I love the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's (okay, everyone knows that), so we stopped at some locations used in the film, including Holly Golightly's apartment (well the outside scenes were filmed there). I did research online to make sure I was standing on the correct apartment steps. As we were leaving, a group showed up and it was obvious they wanted the same photo op. 

Breakfast at Tiffany's filming locations

A photo of me in 2007 having "breakfast" at Tiffany's during my first NYC trip

We met Eric's lovely wife Chrissie for lunch and we ended up going to Wahlburgers (the burger chain owned by Donnie and Mark Wahlberg). It was a fantastic burger! **Spoiler alert: I ate at another Wahlburgers location on my road trip this year. You'll eventually read about it. Lol.** 

The tour wasn't even close to be over. After lunch, Chrissie had to return back to work but Eric and I continued on. What's cool about having a local be your tour guide, is that you find interesting things most tourists wouldn't recognize. We went by the apartment used in the opening of The Jeffersons and we also went by a place where the Marx brothers once lived. There was no sign, so unless you knew to look for it, you would have just walked on by.

Moving on up...to the east side.

The Marx brothers once lived here

Our afternoon tour made stops at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center (I got to see where the ice skating rink is during the winter-during the summer it is a patio seating area), Radio City Music Hall, New York Public Library, and Grand Central Terminal. After a very long, but fun day, I had dinner at Eric's apartment with his family (where his toddler son and I became fast friends) and then took an Uber back to Harlem where I showered and immediately crashed. I had almost 30,000 steps and walked 13 miles that first day. We won't talk about the condition of my feet after that first day- it wasn't pretty.

St. Patrick's

Rockefeller Center

Yes, all of that was just the FIRST full day. I know, I squeeze a lot into my trips. I don't go on vacation to rest, I go on vacation to explore. Lol. So John wasn't able to meet me until lunchtime the next day, but that meant I was able to sleep in on Tuesday morning (I got some much needed rest). I read that the location of the first baseball game was in New Jersey, so I figured since I was RIGHT BY New Jersey, I should just "pop" over for a quick photo op, and I could cross New Jersey off my states to see list. Poor John. It took a lot of walking, several misguided subway rides, a water taxi ride, and an Uber to get to it. And he doesn't even like baseball. Lol. Yes, we went all the way to New Jersey just so I could get a photo. Don't judge. We did eat a late lunch/early dinner at a fantastic little diner while we were there though. And I got to keep the cool place mat (after a little begging to our server).

After that "much longer than expected" adventure, John was ready to call it a day, so Ryan was sweet enough to go to the Yankees game with me that night-that way I wasn't taking the subway alone. I was okay during the day, but alone in NYC at night is way out of my comfort zone (to be fair, being out alone at night ANYWHERE is out of my comfort zone these days). Ryan also isn't the biggest baseball fan (meaning not at all), but he was a trooper and sat through the whole game. And I think he even enjoyed it, but he probably wouldn't admit it. :)

I attended a game at OLD Yankee Stadium back in 2007. I thought the new stadium was cool, and the concourses were nice and wide- it just doesn't have the history that the old one had. BUT it was still a fun stadium to visit. The fans we sat by were all nice, we had no issues. I'm not a foodie, so when I go to baseball games, I stick to the baseball favorites- like hot dogs or nachos. Yes, I'm boring like that, sorry. Lol. I did like that on each level they had a map of what food was available on that level and where it was located. They also had where amenities like ATMs or restrooms were located as well.  That way you didn't have to walk around aimlessly. That's smart- I think all ballparks/stadiums need to have that available.

Outside old Yankee Stadium in 2007

On Wednesday, John took the day off work to hang out with me (I promised him no more trips to New Jersey). We decided last minute that I needed to see a Broadway show while I was in town. I saw one in 2007 when I visited and didn't think I could squeeze one in (I also didn't think I could afford a ticket). We went down to Broadway early to get rush tickets (which are last minute seats to performances, they cost $45 and are normally VERY good seats). John had seen The Play That Goes Wrong and said I would love it (we were both in theater in high school), so we went and got in line for rush tickets for it. There was only one person in front of us when we got there so we knew our chances of obtaining good seats were very good. We ended up with tickets on the second row- those normally cost $125 a piece.

Times Square 2007 vs 2018

NYC street art

Our next stop was at One World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial. I had decided to skip the 9/11 Museum this trip (I will definitely check it out next time I go). The line just to get tickets for the museum was a four hour wait (word of advice- get your tickets in advance online if you want to go). We didn't go up One World Trade Center, but I did pay my respects at the memorial. During my last visit to NY, that area was fenced off and still being called Ground Zero. 

Across the street is St. Paul's Chapel- which is the oldest public building in continuous use. In 1789 George Washington prayed at the chapel after his inauguration as the first president of the United States. The days and weeks following 9/11, the chapel was used by Ground Zero rescue workers and volunteers as a place to rest.

My history tour continued as we went to visit the birthplace of Teddy Roosevelt. For newcomers, I try and see anything related to a president (childhood home, presidential library, etc). It's so interesting to see this old house in between all these skyscrapers, but after all, it was there first. I highly recommend this tour if you are in New York and have time to go by. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and I learned a lot.

After a pizza lunch (told you I ate my share of New York pizza), we went back to the apartment to rest and get ready for the Broadway show. Now, I didn't pack like I was going to see a Broadway show, so I didn't have much to work with outfit wise. I did the best I could. Lol.

The Play That Goes Wrong was FANTASTIC. I highly recommend seeing it if you ever get a chance. This past summer I saw a traveling production of it here in Dallas and it was just as amazing. Hands down one of the best plays I've ever seen.

In true Rachel fashion, I waited at the stage door for autographs and photos

Thursday was my last FULL day in NYC (stay with me, you are almost to the end of this recap). One of my dear high school friends lives in New York and works at the Tenement Museum in lower east side Manhattan. Before I knew he worked there, it was actually on my list of places to visit, so it was perfect. I hadn't seen him in several years. I highly recommend visiting the Tenement Museum if you are ever in NYC. They have several different tours to choose from, sadly I only had time for one (and of course I picked the one my friend Kirk was giving). :) You can't take photos inside so I only have outside shots.

My cousin Richard also lives in New York (yes, it's good to visit cities where you know people), so I went from lower east Manhattan to Brooklyn to have lunch with him. It was a cute little place called Delaware and Hudson. The food was very good. I hadn't seen my cousin in a while, so it was good to catch up. I'm sad we didn't have more time together but I'm glad we were able to work in lunch while I was there.

After lunch I had just enough time to head back to the apartment to start packing. My flight was going to leave VERY early the next morning and I knew I was going to be out late with Eric at the Mets game and would be too tired to pack afterward. Once I was all packed, I hopped on the subway (I was becoming a pro at riding the subway at this point) and met Eric at his office and then we were off to Queens to Citi Field to see a Mets game. I was glad it worked out that both the Yankees and Mets were home while I was in town. I never made it to Shea Stadium, so this was my first time seeing the Mets. And they were playing the Braves (my favorite National League team). I was worried that a potential storm was going to delay or postpone the game. There were storms in the forecast every day of my trip and the most I saw were scattered showers, and none that lasted very long or were that strong. The clouds looked threatening at the beginning of the game, but the most we saw were very few sprinkles.

This was my 7th ballpark to see in 2018. I loved the dog, he was so sweet. And yes I tipped him. I'm not sure where his owner was at, I assume somewhere close, keeping an eye on him. The home run apple at the top is the one that was in Shea Stadium

Citi Field was great. I loved the layout, the concourse area, and the fans were super nice. So when you hear that New York has horrible fans, please know that some of their fans are very nice!

We had AMAZING seats (shout out to Eric for finding them). We were in the section where a server waits on you, so you don't have to get up during the game. **PINKIES OUT** Although I did go get my own ice cream because I wanted the Home Run Apple souvenir cup (and that was in a different area). I was afraid I was going to overpay for ice cream, but they were not shy in the amount of ice cream they gave you. Holy cow. It was worth every penny.

Our love of baseball is how we became friends, so it was so great to actually see a game with Eric!

After the game, we took the subway back to Eric's, and I got an Uber to go back to Harlem. My New York trip was coming to an end. My sweet friends knew I would be exhausted when I got back to their apartment, so they had my bed on the couch all ready for me. And they even had Netflix playing The Dick Van Dyke Show when I got in. Top notch service. They were amazing hosts, so thankful they let me take over their living room for five days. :) I got just over three hours of sleep before my alarm went off. I had scheduled a car to pick me up to take me to the airport (so I didn't have to risk finding an Uber at like 4am). It was an exhausting week, but was so much fun!!

So, okay, that was my week in New York (yes, last year). Again, sorry for the delay. If you stuck out until the end of this post, God bless you. That was a lot of information and photos. But I had so much fun so I didn't want to leave anything out. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do. I wish I could get paid to travel for a living. Lol.

One of these days I'll wrap up the last trip I took in 2018. And then my 2019 trip. And then you will be caught up. I hope everyone is doing well!!

XOXO!