“Long Weekend” in The City That Never Sleeps

I arrived a day later than my family, but I made it. We had a little apartment in New Jersey, thanks to Airbnb. It’s a lot more affordable in this area and it looked extremely safe after all my research. We commuted to New York City every day trying to figure out the best mode of transportation for us.

Let me give you a piece of advice before I share my experience:

• Uber is more expensive from New York to New Jersey than vise-versa.
• Lyft is cheaper to get around in the city.
• Taxi is only fun once for the experience in New York. I did it a while back but it’s just so expensive, so I would recommend it more for a “once in a lifetime” type adventure.
• Check the metro/train stations before traveling because they may or may not be under construction. We worked around their times, so it cut some days shorter than we expected.

Midtown South / Korea Town

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Something I love to do when I travel is wear clothing I wouldn’t normally wear in my day to day routine. It’s probably everyone’s mindset because a girl always wants to look cute. Especially since moving to this Naperville, I’ve only been wearing sweaters and layers to stay warm. I absolutely loved my outfit at the Empire State Building and all the photos my aunt took of me.

Only 10.5 Floors High, No Biggie

Coming up, one of the largest department stores in the world… Macy’s! We climbed ALL 10.5 floors, in the escalator. The funny part is that as we took each escalator up. They would change in structure, age and type of material. It felt as if the higher you climbed, the older the escalator looked. Maybe I’m the only one who noticed that type of detail. *Call me a weirdo.*

Did you know, this Macy’s in New York City covers an entire block?! Too much retail if you ask me! Surprisingly, I felt a little overwhelmed. I didn’t know where to start shopping. So lately, I’ve preferred online shopping in the comfort of my home. Who’s with me?!

New Jersey

We had dinner at Del Frisco’s Grille in the Hoboken strip for my aunt’s birthday trip celebrations. It was a fancy shmancy place, but very cute! The Hoboken is similar to a boardwalk with a breathtaking view, and I would recommend a light jacket if you want to walk around in the 50 degree weather.

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Back at it with New York:

If you know what SOHO really means, I admire you…

SOHO originated from “South of Houston” referring to South of Houston Street. It represents one of Manhattan’s trendiest neighborhoods.

Catch me out there!!!

9/11 Memorial

One of my all time favorite historical landmarks is the 9/11 Memorial. I love learning about its history and visiting the museum. Although I didn’t have a chance to visit the tribute this time around, I was able to walk around the memorial and read the names of the victims.

Side note: My photography has gotten better since I first started my blog in 2017… something I noticed with the first photo. Such a beauty!

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Color Factory

If you know what the Museum of Ice Cream is, you’ll have an idea of what the Color Factory is. Here’s my post on the Museum of Ice Cream to give you an idea.

The Color Factory was the cutest place ever. There were 16 rooms (including the shop) and so many snacks to munch on! First stop, the mochi!!! Ice cream makes my tummy happy. Just look at my face below.

I went with my whole family and took a cute face photo using the colors on the roof. I’m going to point out now that I’m not covering all the rooms, just the ones I really liked. They also may also be out of order… So don’t quote me on that!

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There was a music room with a dance floor a few doors down! Can you see how much fun my family and I were having?!

The last room was the ball pit!!! Similar to the sprinkle pool in the Museum of Ice Cream, but less messy. We basically drowned in it because it felt like quick sand, but the memories will last forever! I absolutely LOVED the Color Factory and would recommend it to anyone!!!

Dominique Ansel Bakery

You will never understand how long I’ve been waiting to visit this bakery. It seems like an ordinary bakery until they hand you the best shots you’ll take in your life (hoping you like chocolate).

Look at these beauties.

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It’s a chocolate chip cookie shot with milk in it. *Perfect for all ages and chocolate lovers.*

Brooklyn Bridge

I FINALLY GOT TO CROSS THE FAMOUS BRIDGE! We didn’t even walk the whole thing, just to the half way point and back. Because I regretted is wearing cute four-inch booties all day long in New York City. However, PAIN IS BEAUTY or beauty is pain; however the young people say it nowadays.

Here are my basic Brooklyn Bridge photos:

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“Statue of Liberty”

This is the part where you say, “why the quotation marks?” Ahhhh… I’m getting there.

We weren’t the only ones fooled… so was Alec Baldwin. Here’s his story. I had a bad feeling from the beginning because I’ve had a similar experience in another country. It’s one of those moments where you just have to trust your gut.

We had purchased the gocity pass that included the Statue of Liberty and decided to pay for the attraction out of pocket because it was very cheap. Cheap like $18.90 per adult and $9 per child. I looked it up.

Some people that looked like they worked for the States Cruises we’d be going on, approached us and asked us to purchase a $40 ticket, but gave us a “discount”. It would be the “express trip” around the Statue of Liberty and some other little places. We paid with a card and they walked us to some sketchy area to wait for the bus.

We waited the 10 minutes for the bus… nothing. The next person told us 15 minutes… nothing. Enough.

Thank you Alec Baldwin and his fans, because those in front of us looked up the tickets and read that it was a

S C A M.

Little did we know, they would pick you up in New York and drop you off in New Jersey.

We walked back to get a refund and guess what. The sales people were NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. We immediately called the card company to mark it as fraud.

Something I definitely learned on this trip was to never take the shortcut. If you have to walk a few extra miles to get to the ticket counter for the REAL tickets, DO IT. And do your research!!! Because the estimated $19 was no comparison to the $40 they were charging us.

What an experience!!! New Jersey and New York have a lot to offer, but I definitely want to explore New Jersey a little more.

New York gave so much insight to the way we travel, what we can explore, and to never pay for a taxi in the city. Thank you, Uber and Lyft.