A New York Minute

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Times Square

This past weekend, I decided to make a pit stop in New York to visit Johnathan who’s living there for the summer, before I traveled home to Baltimore.

On Thursday afternoon, I took an Über from my job straight to Tampa International Airport to catch my 2:35 pm flight to LaGuardia in New York. Once I arrived around 5:00, it took me about two hours to find the shuttle to the Über pick up area. Fail.

A view of NYC from the plane

I checked into the Best Western Plaza Hotel in Long Island City, Queens, quickly showered and changed my clothes. Then I head right back out the door where I took yet another Über to Johnathan’s apartment in the Lower East Side to drop off my luggage. I had to check out by 11 am the next morning and I certainly didn’t want to drag my suitcases through New York City all day long.

Greenwich Village

We stopped for dinner at Spice, a little Thai restaurant… It was nothing spectacular. I had shrimp pad thai and Johnathan had some sort of appetizer with nuts on it. I’m allergic to nuts and I’m convinced that he purposely eats foods with nuts so I can’t steal any. LOL. *Side eyes*

Spice Restaurant in the Lower East Side

Shrimp Pad Thai (with no peanuts)

Next we literally stumbled into the Stumble Inn bar on 2nd Ave in the Lower East Side. The crowd was mostly young adults. That didn’t last long… Everyone was already pretty drunk by the time we got there. We had two drinks, took a taxi back to the hotel, and called it a night. 

The next morning, I went downstairs and had a quick bite to eat. Yay for breakfast included with the room! About a week in advance, my road dog, Sameera and I decided that she would take the bus up to New York for a day to hang out with me while Johnathan was at work. She actually went to school in the city her freshman year so she knows how to get around and cool places to go. I’ve been to the city a million times and she lived there for a year so we really didn’t have to do much of the typical sightseeing.

42nd St. Midtown

I took the subway and met her outside of Starbucks and then we got right back on the subway to have brunch at Rosemary’s in Greenwich Village. It was a cute little restaurant. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the breeze. Sameera had blueberry pancakes and I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. It was pretty delicious!

Rosemary's in West Village 

Interior of Rosemary's

Next, we took the subway to the High Line. It’s an elevated park about 30 feet above street level, built on what used to be the New York Central Railroad West Side Line. We strolled around for about an hour and by then it was time for happy hour!

Street view from the High Line

View of the skyline from the High Line

Sameera asked one of her friends for suggestions of cool rooftop bars in the city and Pod 39 was at the top of his list. We took the elevator to the 17th floor and walked out onto the rooftop terrace. It was a beautiful warm day so as you can imagine, it was super crowded on a Friday afternoon.

View from the Pod 39 rooftop

View from the Pod 39 rooftop

Sameera ordered sangria and I had a frozen margarita. We stood around in the shade for a while; trying to finagle a table as soon as someone got up, but we had no luck. 

Sangria and margarita 

That would be me ;) 

Our last stop was to go to Harlem to have dinner at Sylvia’s restaurant. Every time I go there, I get really excited because the food is supposed to be REALLY good… But unfortunately, it falls short every time. 

Sylvia's in Harlem

 I had fried catfish, collard greens and macaroni and cheese and Sameera had baked chicken with candied yams and macaroni and cheese. In all honesty, it probably falls short because we're spoiled and used to good soul food at home and my own macaroni and cheese blows theirs out of the park!

Dinner at Sylvia's

After dinner, we swung by Johnathan’s apartment to pick up the luggage and head to Port Authority to catch our bus to Baltimore.

Subway stop 

Escalator to the train 

It was a fun day trip! It literally felt like a minute. I might go back to the city before I fly to Tampa for another day of exploration… We’ll see!

What are some of your favorite things to do in NYC? Leave me a comment!

 -A.

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