NYC Trip - 3/17/2025

 

We arrived at La Guardia, coming from Kansas City, late afternoon on Monday and grabbed a cab to the Hotel Riu Plaza Manhattan Times Square Hotel. People drive so crazy here! But it was interesting to see a different way of life.  Got checked in and headed right back out to begin exploring the city.  Our first impression – how close everything actually is in NYC?  We started walking toward Rockefeller Center for our early evening check in to Top of the Rock, stopping at FAO Schwartz (our son had to check out the big keyboard from the Tom Hanks movie Big) and watching the ice skaters.  We watched the sun set from Top of the Rock and absolutely loved the views!  On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in at Serendipity3 for a late night dinner of hotdogs and burgers, followed by an amazing sundae with humble pie – talk about decadent!  Then it was time for some much-needed rest after a day of travel.

 

Our first full day started with breakfast at our hotel –  Our impression was how they are making sure they have options for those who are from out of the United States and eat different breakfast foods.  After filling our bellies, it was off to check out Times Square! Our son loved the tv show Glee, and HAD to see the iconic red stairs and take pictures like he was Lea Michele when she first saw the city in the show. We slowly made our way to the Museum of Broadway and spent quite a bit of time here.  I thought it strange how quickly people flew through the backstage area, where it has how a show is put together.  Our son is in university to study Theatre and Stage Management and I found this part of the museum the most interesting, though I did love seeing props and costumes from various shows.  We may, or may not, have stopped at Saks 5^th Avenue for a restroom break– we can’t afford anything there, so that was the next best thing.  HAHA! Things are so expensive there, they don't even have price tags on them!!  From here we went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and lit candles for some loved ones and spent a few moments taking in the grandeur of this amazing building! My husband wanted to walk into Trump Tower so my son & I waited outside, then we headed toward Central Park.  We found a bench and listened to the, surprising, quiet of the park – right in the middle of this big city, I was shocked at how peaceful even the edge of Central Park is. We then stopped at Carnegie Diner & Café where we had a burger, chicken sandwich, & a ham sandwich. It was delicious and the atmosphere is exactly what you think of when you think of a Diner.  I will definitely return next time I visit the city.  Walked around the M&M store, followed by a visit to Krispy Kreme (even though we have those in KC) and had the Big Apple donut – it was yummy, but obviously not worth $12.99 for the one donut. Still, it was fun and a much needed rest from all the walking. Then it was time to make our way to the August Wilson Theatre to see Adam Lambert in Cabaret – what a fantastic show and got photos of Adam at the Stage Door afterwards!  We opted for late night pizza at Joe’s and it did not disappoint, even though we waited in line for nearly 30 minutes!  We ended the evening watching the Times Square “Midnight Moment” and then to bed. 

We awoke somewhat early the next morning and decided to pick up breakfast on our way down to Hudson Yards. We found Hudson Bagels and sat on the side of the street and enjoyed breakfast.  The cruise was a lot of fun! We learned a lot about the city, the Statue of Liberty, and got some amazing photos!  We had to check out the subway system and were amazed at how easy it really is to navigate!  We made sure to stop and pay our respects at the 9/11 Memorial Pools – what a humbling experience.  We walked around one of the pools, reading names and remembering that day.  Our son wasn’t born until a year later, but even he could feel what we felt as we walked around. We truly became “one nation under God” that day – I pray we can find that again in the U.S.! Then we stopped by The Stonewall Inn and looked inside the bar for a few moments, thinking about the riot that occurred all those years ago. It was then time to head back toward Times Square, where we grabbed a yummy adult beverage and dinner at Margaritaville – very pricey but worth it as a celebration for my son’s upcoming graduation! After our dinner, we found a cute Broadway Theatre shop that sells shirts and books and scripts.  My son found a script for one of his favorite shows and we found a couple shirts.  Across the street is the Majestic Theatre, where we saw Gypsy with Audra McDonald.  Theatres are over 100 years old, so stairs everywhere – we thought we were going to die or have a major asthma attack walking all the steps in this theatre.  But we made it and the show was phenomenal!  I will be surprised if Audra is not nominated for a Tony and if she doesn’t win one, I will be very sad.  Her performance was DIVINE!  We ended this night with a stop at Junior’s Cheesecake for some Strawberry, Cherry, & Apple Crumb slices . They were so rich and delicious and couldn’t eat all of it!

Thursday morning, it was time to head home.  We opted for an Uber and it arrived in literal seconds after we ordered and paid.  The driver was very nice and a much safer driver than the cab driver days earlier.  We had so much fun and are already looking forward to our next trip – hopefully before our son moves to NYC. 

Missy :)