Hi!Oh my goodness, y'all. We just recently returned from the MOST magical stay in NYC!This was my second time going to New York and I feel like it's one of those places that the more accustomed to it you become, the easier it is to navigate. BUT you just can't get used to the sites and sounds of this place. It really is just amazing.Here's a recap of how we spent our first day in New York!
[showshopthepostwidget id="2245187"] We decided to take a really early flight out Friday morning so we could take advantage of having a nearly full day of site seeing. As soon as we got to our gate, we fueled up with Starbucks and chick fil a biscuits. Just the essentials, y'all. Our flight was great (thanks, Delta!) and fairly quick. Once we landed and located our luggage, we called an Uber and headed to the hotel.
We weren't supposed to check in at The Lotte New York Palace until 3:00 in the afternoon so we were just hoping we could store our luggage. But when we checked in, they already had our room ready. Holla! Oh, what a room it was. When we walked in, there was soft music playing and the most beautiful view of St. Patrick's Cathedral across the street. The room was HUGE, the bathroom was also HUGE. Praises. We spent a few minutes getting unpacked and settled in before we hit the streets.
Coming in and out of our hotel lobby was one of my favorite parts of our whole trip. It was breathtaking! The tree near the entrance was stunning so it was delightful to walk past it multiple times a day.We were also only about a block away from Rockefeller so we got to see that tree as well!
We got our first meal at Melt Shop. I had the grilled cheese with caramelized onions and it was delicious. I'd also highly recommend the tots as a side. The tomato soup was ok but nothing groundbreaking.Next we headed over to Bryant Park to meander thru the open air shops. It's a beautiful spot for ice skating if you want to avoid the craziness of Rockefeller and Central Park.
We ended up right near the New York Public Library so we decided to pop in there real quick and I'm so glad we did. The architecture was so beautiful and I loved reading about some of the history.
Once we were done exploring the library, we went to Herald Square to see Macy's and 34th Street. The entrance to Macy's is unreal but the rest of the floors just look like a department store so don't waste your time going upstairs!
By this time it was late afternoon so we decided to head over to The Empire State Building. We hadn't even thought about the fact that we would be getting up there right as the sun was setting. But gracious it was gorgeous! We got to watch the sun set over the city and felt like we were going to nearly blow off the top due to the incredible gusts. Totally worth it!
Since we were getting close to our dinner reservation, we decided to head back to the hotel to rest, change, and get ready for supper. We ate our first night at PJ Clarkes at Lincoln Center. It's a quaint little spot that has some really great menu options. I'd recommend the burger.After dinner we went back to the hotel to change into some warmer clothes since we had planned on being outside most of the remainder of the night. We headed straight to Rockefeller to see the tree and watch the amazing light show in front of Saks 5th Avenue.
A short walk from Rockefeller is Magnolia Bakery, which is known for its banana pudding. Thankfully the line wasn't too bad but there really is no place to sit inside so we decided to take our dessert to go and enjoy it at our hotel.I'm pretty sure we all fell asleep the very second our heads hit the pillow. And it was a good thing because we had another very full day ahead of us.Later in the week I'll recap our second day, which included some hilarious misadventures.
By Laura Godfrey
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