Today we are taking a trip to the famous New York City! Ask anyone who has been and they will tell you how magical NYC is during the holidays! One of my best friends is one of those people! She had quite the adventure and has agreed to share it with us! Mary Fritz has been a guest writer before on the blog, you can find her other posts here!

Mary Fritz

Remember the days we could travel freely and not worry about germs and face masks? My husband and I are over here praying that those days come back and come back soon! For now, though, we will stay home, prepare for winter, dream of the future, and remanence of the past.  

My current reminiscing includes Christmas 2018. It was one for the books. My oldest sister and I surprised our middle sister with a Christmas trip to New York City. She had always wanted to go, and as a December birthday girl, she is always jipped of good birthday presents. 

Top NYC Recs

Now, this trip had some Christmas only fun in NYC but also included other NYC things one must do on their first trip, in case it is the only trip. We recognize life gets in the way sometimes of grand travel plans. Therefore, I am going to share our 3-day highlight reel in case you need some help planning a trip to NYC, want to dream about a new place to explore, or just need some good entertainment. Well, let me set expectations. This is probably not “good” entertainment. None the less, here were our top experiences and my recommendations. 

Follow the crowds and sightsee all of the winter wonderlands. Keep in mind the need to dress warm and in many layers transitioning from outside to inside to subway is very confusing for your body temperature and your comfort level. 

Spots to Hit

You have to be sure to stop by all of the high fashion shops to see their out of this world window displays. On the way, you should be sure to peruse one of the many outdoor winter markets. Get a warm tasty treat while you walk around and look at the homemade artisan gifts or watch people attempt to ice skate. Don’t try to see every market or every outdoor ice rink. There are so many and they mostly have the same level of entertainment.

NYC Must DO!

Plan time at the Herald Square Macy’s. If you like the movie Elf, this is the place to make dreams come true. We spent hours at Macy’s between actually shopping, getting treats, taking a rest, and sightseeing on the upper Christmas floors. The flagship store even has a bridal department within Macy’s. The whole store is pretty spectacular and feels very Manhattan. 

Do something from your bucket list! My item we fit in on this trip was seeing the Radio City Rockettes. The show was stunning, and it is obvious the amount of practice required to have so much precision. As a little girl, I always wanted to be a Rockette. I had the kicks and I even had the height. Somehow I am now an accountant instead. Bummer.  

We had to snap photos of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, but do not let me kid you, that place was packed shoulder to shoulder with tourists. I cannot imagine spending more than a few minutes there unless you were are able to escape the thousands of tourists. 

Other NYC Things to Do

Less Christmas related activities include walking the Brooklyn Bridge and trying to get a photo alone while not getting hit by passing bicyclists. Pro tip: walk the bridge in one direction and plan to take the subway from there wherever else you want to go. We did a lot of other walking, but it is so fun to walk the High Line. It used to be a railroad that is now a raised walkway through town. It is a nice little escape to be above the bustling streets below.  

Biggest Tip

I think the most obvious tourist stop is Times Square. I will advise visiting at different times of the day. The city seriously never sleeps and it changes every few hours. I would also say that I have never been more tired on a vacation trip. NYC drained me. I am an extroverted, love to be out and about, see all the sights type of person, but the constant stimulation at 150% is a lot for your brain to consume. Make sure to plan time to rest. Rest at your hotel/Airbnb, at Central Park, or find a cozy coffee shop to reenergize with some caffeine. 

On this trip, we also squeezed in a night at a speakeasy. If you have not been to one before, it is definitely worth the experience. The best one I have been to was in Dublin, Ireland. I say it was the best because it was legit in the middle of a very sketch area, unmarked, and you had to have a password to get in. That is the level of entertainment I am willing to pay for through $15 cocktails. It just gives you all the feels of times before and makes you feel very cool at the same time. The Apotheke is in Chinatown and is well worth the visit, especially after a good Chinatown dinner (keep reading). 

Chinatown

Chinatown is a must for lunch or dinner. We had a recommendation to do Dim Sum at Nom Wah and I can honestly say, I have never had such a good Chinese meal. Also, to be honest, I had no idea what Dim Sum was before this meal. I quickly learned though that it is just a meal of small plates, like Spanish tapas. Who doesn’t love the ability to order lots of food and get to sample everything?

Also, ask questions. We learned it is perfectly okay to ask the server how in the world we were expected to eat the food presented. The waiter was so kind and genuinely enjoyed explaining proper techniques. For example, one dumpling looked like something I would have just taken a bite out of, probably bitten in half. However, once we learned the dumpling was full of liquid, we knew to take a small bite out of the top or just eat the whole thing at once. 

Another NYC activity is shopping. Even if you buy nothing, there are so many places to explore. By the end of our trip, I had almost convinced myself to buy a fur coat. Not because I needed one (or could afford one), but because they were everywhere and I could see myself as an NYC gal rushing around in my furs. 

Bucketlist Items

My birthday sister had always wanted to see Wicked on Broadway, so we made that happen too. She even got to request another of her bucket list items, going to the Today show. It was cold and we did wait for a few hours to see the taping, but it was very NYC. We got Starbucks while waiting, made signs, got to interact with the staff, and we even saw some celebrity guests that were on the show for the day such as Howie Mandel. 

The NYC Food

Last, but not least of course is the food. In general, New York has everything you could want. Go to Brooklyn. Get the pizza. Go to Chinatown. Get the Dim Sum and Bubble tea. Go to Little Italy. Get the cannoli. Go to Dō. Get the edible cookie dough. Go to Carlo’s Bakery (Cake Boss).

Visit the famous restaurants you want to visit. You can always get drinks, appetizers, or dessert if it is out of your dinner budget right now. I am very much about doing the things you want to do and not planning for “next time” when you are traveling. Get street food from a vendor. You should not be hungry when visiting NYC. There are just too many great options to keep you full. You can always indulge a bit more than normal if you walking around sightseeing as much as we did on this Christmas trip. 

So that’s it! That was our quick trip to NYC for Christmas. Of course, there are a million and one things to do in NYC and everyone has different preferences for activities. However, there is really something for everyone in New York City, especially at Christmas. You may need to take some time to research and investigate before you go, but the trip to NYC is one I would recommend for everyone. 

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Man, I love NYC! I went back in 2018 with my husband and it was amazing! We actually went in the summer for the 4th of July and it was a totally different experience! That’s what I love about the city, it’s different every time you go! Perfect for an enneagram 7/extrovert/travel junkie!

Anyways, doesn’t this post just make you want to travel even more? It does for me! I can’t wait to get back to exploring new places! Have you been to NYC and if so, when did you go? Drop your answer in the comments below and share this post to your social media to be entered in the Blogmas giveaway! You don’t want to miss out on the fun!