Sister Trip to NYC - Fall 2013

I was online one day and found a really good deal for flights to Philly. I have never been to Philly and thought it might be fun for a girls weekend getaway, so I talked my sisters into buying tickets with me!

We were talking about our trip one day and someone brought up the distance to NYC and how much the train tickets would be....so we decided we were going to NYC for the weekend!

Thursday night I stayed with them since we had to leave to head to the airport at 5am...

Friday morning - 

5am:

Fill up on gas so we could make it to the airport

5:30am:

The north entrance to the airport is closed...we now have to head down to the south entrance

6am:

Arrive at the airport

6:15am:

Security check...we brought carry on's instead of checking our bags because

 we needed to jump off the plane and head to the train station

Coffee run

Magazine run

Now headed to the gate....we are told there is no more room for luggage and our bags have to be checked...think I'm going to cry at this point

7am:

Finally boarded the plane......now being told the flight is being delayed

7:30am:

Finally taking off! 

10:45am:

Landed in Philly...now we have to wait for our luggage!

11am:

Luggage finally arrives....grab it and run!

We ran outside and grabbed a taxi, jumped in and headed to the train station. They say you need to arrive 30 mins before your train departs...so we needed to arrive at 11:15am

11:35am:

Finally arrive at train station...so late and we are now starting to freak out a little!

The line to wait to go underground was just now starting to form so we made it in time!

This is us at the train station in Philly.

11:45am:

Board train...made it in time, phew!

Mandy and I fall asleep, Stacey stayed awake and watched our belongings :)

1:05pm:

Arrive in Penn Station

I convince the girls we need a snack, so we bought the soft pretzeled hot dog thing from Auntie Anne's.

I run into Duane Reade (Our CVS) and grab 2 bottles of wine and sneak them into my luggage to surprise the girls when we get to the hotel.

We jump on the Subway and head to Brooklyn (where our hotel was)

We finally make it to our stop and Mandy gets off first with her luggage dragging behind, then I get off and I have my luggage dragging behind me, well by this time it has taken so much time that the Subway doors shut between me and Stacey and the look on our faces had to have been hilarious! Mandy and I tried to pry the doors open...it didn't work...obviously.

So we went upstairs to street level and started walking towards where the next stop is and she called me as soon as she got off the Subway. I was surprised she had signal underground because my phone never works down there, but she couldn't find the exit because it was a really weird set up stop. Finally she finds the exit and makes it upstairs and we meet each other on the street.

With all of this stress we decided we needed to just relax for the rest of the weekend and have no cares in the world. So we went to the hotel, checked in, went to our room, I surprised the girls with wine, and freshened up and headed out. 

First stop on my itinerary (of course I made an itinerary!) Eately!

The girls loved Eately. I knew they would! Thankfully the weather was perfect tonight so we went on the rooftop, which I didn't know existed when I was here with my mom earlier in the Summer.

This is Stace and I in the Subway

Later that night we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner...and I had a surprise for them ;) We walk into the hotel and run into Chance's uncle and his fiancee, Kevin and Louie! I told them we were going to be in town and they drove into the city to hang out with us for the night. We were all so excited to see each other!We went to a really cool place for dinner called Anejo Tequilera on 47th and 10th and after that we went to a rooftop bar for some drinks, called The Press Lounge on 48th and 11th.

Kevin, Stacey, Mandy, Louie and me

Saturday morning we took the Subway to Manhattan and started down south

NYSE

WTC

Had to take the girls to Chinatown!

Little Italy 

SoHo

Chelsea Market - we ate Lobster Bisque here on the steps on the high line!

Then off to Washington Square Park, one of mine and my moms favorite parks...other than Central park of course!

These pictures are actually out of order. We went from WSP to Columbus Circle, Central Park and swung back down the East side to Midtown.St Patricks Church

Rockefeller Center - Didn't do tours this time since we were short on time

A picture we took on Friday afternoon when at Eately - Flatiron Building

We ended the day here at Grand Central Station

This was a street fair they were having outside of Grand Central and I had to buy a lamb gyro for  my sisters...they weren't fans of the lamb, but they liked the chicken. I love lamb gyros!

Columbus Circle - it was set up for the triathlon that was on Sunday 

Central Park - Bethesda Foutain

Then we headed back to our hotel to freshen up before going to see Mamma Mia. My mom and I loved the show SO much she bought us tickets for an early Christmas gift. Mandy had never been to a musical before and Stace had never seen Mamma Mia, so I was anxious to find out if they liked it or not, but when I looked over and saw both of them signing and moving their feet, I knew I had them hooked ;)

During the show, I FaceTimed my mom...tisk tisk I know, you aren't allowed on your phone, but I knew how much my mom loved it and she bought us the tickets so I wanted her to feel like she was with us!

After the show, we headed across the street to this cool pizza restaurant.  I wanted to take the girls to Stardust Diner but Mamma Mia moved from Winter Garden to Broadhurst so we settled on pizza.

Then to Times Square to show the girls what all the talk is about. They loved it! 

We didn't stay for too long because Mandy's feet were killing her and she couldn't figure out why...later that night in the taxi Stace looked down at Mandy's feet and asked, "Mandy, why are you wearing my boots?" We laughed so hard...this might explain why Mandy's feet hurt so bad because she is almost 2 sizes bigger than Stace. When we got back to the hotel we realized their boots are almost identical....except for size of course ;)

The next morning we woke up early, packed our bags and made a stop at Starbucks before heading to Central Park. It was such beautiful weather and the leaves weren't like anything I've ever seen down here in Texas.

I collected a bunch of leaves and brought them home to my mom because I knew she would be decorating the dining room table for Thanksgiving. She used all the leaves and loved them.And I FaceTimed her so she could be there with us :)

Headed to grab a taxi so we could go to Penn Station

These were taken from the train from NYC to Philly.Overall, this was such a fun and exciting trip. Great time with my sisters as always!I think I showed them every thing a tourist would want to seeCentral Park - MET, Alice in Wonderland, Bethesda Fountain/Terrace, Bow Bridge, Loeb Boathouse, Carousel, Columbus Circle & Wollman Ice Skating RinkFAO SchwarzThe Plaza HotelSt Patricks CathedralRockefeller Center & Radio City Music HallChrysler BuildingEmpire State BuildingGrand Central TerminalBaked by Melissa - we got our cupcakes to go and brought them back to Dallas to share with everyoneNew York Public Library Bryant Park Times SquareA Broadway Show - Mamma MiaMadison Square Park EatelySoHo - Dash Chelsea Market The High LineChinatownSouth of Manhattan - Brooklyn Bridge Battery Park - Statue of Liberty NYSESt Pauls ChurchWorld Trade CenterNew York style pizzaRooftop bar
I think that about covers everything...