I stepped off the plane into an airport packed with people. It was Columbus Day weekend, and I had organized the perfect itinerary for spending a few extra days away with my mom and aunt. Our goal was easy: Tackle New York City and hit all the touristy spots.
Our family does a girls’ trip every year. When my mom mentioned a few months ago that she was booking flights to New York City, I knew I wanted to be a part of that trip. It had been a couple of years since I visited the area and wanted the chance to see it again.
With flights booked, it was time to organize what we planned on seeing while we there. I am usually the one that puts together itineraries for our trips (I secretly love planning). When putting together the itinerary for this trip, my first priority was to figure out what was most important to each of us to visit. There is so much to see, and we had three days to visit as many places as we could.
On my first trip to NYC, I was unable to visit the Statue of Liberty due to weather conditions. So, visiting the Statue of Liberty was high on my “must-see” list. Along with that spot, attending a Broadway Play, visiting St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and seeing the 9/11 Memorial/Museum were equally as important.
We arrived to beautiful weather in the city. And, after a long day of traveling, we grabbed dinner and made our way to the hotel to prepare for the next few days.
First on our list of areas to visit was the Empire State Building, which had beautiful views of the city. Next, we headed to Times Square where we sampled chocolates from Hershey’s and grabbed coffee and macaroons at a bakery close to Rockefeller Center to relax that afternoon. We finished the day with a walk along Fifth Avenue leading into Central Park. The day began overcast and ended with light rain throughout the afternoon. We popped in and out of stores to dodge the weather as needed.
The weather. Let’s talk a minute about the weather. While we were there, it ranged from the 70s when we arrived to complete rain the next day with a cold front making its way through the following day. Because of the overcast-rainy days, I opted to photograph our trip mostly in black and white. After editing the photographs, I love the way the images of the trip came together.
Our second day began with heavy showers, which gave us a late start to the morning. We walked to Grand Central Station. Then headed over to the Shubert Theatre to watch Matilda that afternoon. By the time the play finished, the rain had stopped with colder weather coming through. We headed over to St. Patrick’s Cathedral where we listened to the end of mass. That church was absolutely beautiful. We finished the day with a view from the Top of the Rock Observatory at Rockefeller Center.
Day three was packed. The first spot we visited for the day was the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Once we completed that tour (it was one of my favorite tours that we did), we headed to Battery Park to board the ferry for the Statue of Liberty. If you are looking to visit the Statue of Liberty, arrive early (before 10 a.m.) as the afternoon seems to be a prime time to tour the statue. We finished the day by walking on the Brooklyn Bridge.
The photographs from the 9/11 Memorial are my favorites. We arrived at the memorial as they were cleaning the names. At first I wasn’t going to photograph as they cleaned. I figured I would wait until they were finished. However, as they cleaned I began to change my mind and snapped a photograph of that happening. That photograph turned out to be one of my favorite images of the trip. Who would have thought?!
Here was our itinerary for the trip (in case you are looking for ideas on visiting NYC):
Day 1: Empire State Building (as it opens). Times Square. Fifth Avenue. Central Park.
Day 2: Grand Central Station. Shubert Theatre. St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Rockefeller Center.
Day 3: 9/11 Memorial – Museum (as it opens). Statue of Liberty (arrive around 10:00 a.m.). Brooklyn Bridge.
Tip: We snagged a City Pass here as we knew we would visiting most of the places on the list, and that decreased the amount of time we had to wait in line for tickets.
And that was our trip! My mom always picks great locations to travel to and my aunts are always fun to travel with… I’m looking to forward our adventures for the next round!
Have you visited NYC? Any suggestions on the area or fun things we need to check out the next time we are there? I’d love to hear your NYC stories!
Have a great day, everyone!
XOXO – Ashley “AKA the Future Mrs. Hooker”
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