There’s no place like home for the holidays, except maybe good ole’ NY, NY! My younger sister and I started (what we hope will be) an annual trip to NYC last winter as a way to connect and spend a little extra time together. Last year we had tickets to “The Bethenny Show,” but this year we decided to go without any plans and see what trouble we could find!
Bouchon Bakery deliciousness!
On Wednesday morning, we left our parent’s home in Lancaster around 4 am and headed to the AMTRAK station in Philly to catch the “MegaBus.” This is a great option if you are on a budget; for two roundtrip tickets it cost $57.50. The bus trip took about two hours and dropped us off at 7th Ave and 28th St.
After we were dropped off we headed straight to Rockefeller Plaza to see the Christmas Tree and visit the “Today Show.” The “Today Show” is one of our favorite places to go. We love seeing all of the anchors and celebrities that stop by, we even push our way to the front of the crowd to wave at the cameras!
Just behind the NBC studios is a bakery called Bouchon Bakery; they have amazing pastries and delicious coffee that make for great pick me ups. My sister and I shared a cheese Danish that was delicious and we each warmed up with a mocha latte.
Once we warmed up we headed to Bryant Park to check out the Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park. Let me tell you, if you have someone who is difficult to buy for, this is the place to go! There are tons of boutique style shops with everything and anything you could ever want. The park itself was absolutely beautiful! It had a magical feel with the big Christmas tree and French style Carousal. At the center of the shop tents is an ice skating rink, we weren’t brave enough to skate but we did have a great view of the people who were. We ate a wonderful lunch at Celsius, a restaurant that overlooks the skating rink. The food and cocktails were amazing and so was the view. We each started with a Winter Fizz cocktail, which was super refreshing and for lunch my sister had the Warm Winter Spinach Salad, and I had the Tuscan Chicken Sandwich. Both of our meals were just the right amount and we our final bill was about $80.00 (with tip). Not too shabby for NYC.
Great food and company…the ice skaters were pretty entertaining too!
We wandered around the city for the remainder of the day, window shopping and people watching. I picked up a few things for my girls for Christmas and we met Olaf and Elsa in Times Square, but the best part of the day was sharing it with my sister. We had the best time exploring and sightseeing, just the two of us. I look forward to continuing our new tradition!
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