Hi Ladies and Gents!

By now you know we had a great time in NYC! Just read Ashley and Abigail’s recent posts here and here and you’ll instantly know we saw A LOT while we were in the Big Apple. So much so that we walked about 12 miles every. single. day. Oh and in 95 degree weather. Let me tell you, we earned that pub crawl Ash talked about!

I’m here today to round out the trip with my favorite NYC activities.

 

CENTRAL PARK

Everyone knows Central Park is a must see. But does everyone know they should take a tour of Central Park by pedicab? We certainly didn’t, but are sure glad we did.

I personally wanted to tour the park by horse drawn carriage and pretend I was one of the Olsen Twins in It Takes Two. (Please tell me you all have seen this movie!) But, when we started talking to the millions of people offering to give us a tour, we quickly learned the horse drawn carriage rides only take you around a small section of the park. Cue the Pedicab tour which not only takes you through the entire park, but also gives you a little history lesson at each stop (Gossip Girl fan girl moments were warmly welcomed too).

 

We also lucked out with the very best tour guides. When they weren’t sharing the history and pop culture references of each attraction, they were busy acting as our paparazzi (100% suggested by them I might add). They even got Dad to partake in some of the photoshoot fun.

       

 

CHELSEA MARKET

I’ll admit, I didn’t have a clue what the Chelsea Market was. Ash had mentioned seeing it so I thought why not. But when we arrived – and I learned it was a giant indoor FOOD hall – I knew this was going to be right up this foodie’s alley.

              

Although it boasts of 35+ vendors selling everything from ice cream and cheesecake to wine and pasta, there are also a number of clothing and accessory vendors. At one end of the market there is even this super fun daily market called Artists & Fleas which showcases the art, clothing and accessories of over 30 independent makers. If you love to shop like we do, you don’t want to miss this. I picked up an eclectic handmade metal ring and Abigail found a hat that says “Cake”… something that suited the cake loving girl oh so perfectly.

                  

 

THE HIGH LINE

After visiting the Chelsea Market, you must stop to see The High Line (only a few blocks away). This public park is built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets of West Side Manhattan. When I say elevated, I mean the park is situated far above the ground – level with many of the surrounding building’s rooftops.

For a couple of girls from the Pacific Northwest – where parks and greenery run rampant – this was something we had never seen before. While there was still still lots of concrete (but hey we’re in the concrete jungle), people were still out enjoying the fresh air – having picnics, doing yoga, reading in the sun, or enjoying a yummy frozen treat to beat the heat.

I highly recommend visiting The High Line when the sun is slowly beginning to set for the day. Not only is it cooler (did I mention it was 95 degrees?!), but you get lots of great photo ops like this…

                    

 

TIMES SQUARE

And we couldn’t visit NYC without paying a stop to Times Square. We actually made our way through Times Square many different times throughout the trip (see Abigail’s post about the TKTS broadway show ticket center), but of course had to pay a stop to it our first night in the city.

                     

 

Well friends, that concludes our New York City must-see’s! Hope you enjoyed our travel diaries.

Cheers!
Hayley