Tommy and I went on a weekend trip to NYC in August for my 26th birthday!
- Friday night: Flew to NYC – the JAX airport offers so many direct flights to NYC which is perfect for a quick weekend get away. We headed to the airport once we both got off of work. The flight is approximately 2 hours, sometimes a little bit more. The flights are fairly inexpensive too!
- We checked into the Plaza Hotel – I’ve always wanted to stay at The Plaza so when Tommy said we could book it for my birthday, I was so excited!
- We ordered room service and relaxed since we got into the city late at night – our flight was delayed and then the airline broke my suitcase so once we landed, we had to go to the airline service desk (they replaced my bag!). Then after that, you have to take a taxi or an uber into the city which from JFK airport can take anywhere between 45mins – 1.5hrs, generally it takes an hour but it all depends on traffic. When we finally checked into our hotel, we put on the fluffy robes and ordered room service and just relaxed!
- Saturday
- Bike ride thru Central Park – we woke up early and rode bikes thru Central Park. We rode thru the whole park. I definitely recommend bike riding thru the park if you have time while visiting the city. The weather was nice so we weren’t too hot but there are some hills so my legs were pretty tired by the time we were done!
- Bagels for breakfast – we stopped and had bagels from a hole in the wall bagel place after bike riding! I love NY bagels!
- Yankee game – the Yankees were playing the weekend we visited NYC so we thought it would be a fun to go to a game! We took the subway to the stadium.
- Dinner at Il Mulino – after the Yankee game, we went back to the hotel. We relaxed and got ready for dinner. I made reservations at Il Mulino Uptown. The food was amazing! I definitely recommend going there. I actually was in NYC a few weeks ago and went to the original Il Mulino which is their downtown location. As soon as you sit down for dinner, the wait staff immediately brings you samples of cheese, meat, fried veggies, and bread! For dinner, I had penne alla vodka and Tommy had the chicken parm.
- Sunday
- Brunch at The Palm Court in the Plaza – we slept in and had brunch downstairs at The Palm Court. There was a breakfast buffet so that is what Tommy and I both ate.
Dress is from Tobi!
- Shopping
- We went to The Cartier Mansion – I got to pick out my birthday present! A Cartier Love ring that sits with my engagement ring and wedding band. Shopping tip: Have stores ship the item back to your house so you don’t have to travel with it and you pay sales tax in the state where you live which saves some money! Florida sales tax is 7% and New York sales tax is almost 9%.
- We went to Grand Central Station – Tommy always wants to stop in Grand Central Station so we were able to do so on this trip! It is huge and people are moving in every direction to get to trains and subways. There are shops and a food court inside.
- Ate the worst food in Chinatown – we went to Chinatown because Tommy wanted to get Dim Sum. The place we looked up on Yelp that had great reviews was super busy with a long wait which we didn’t have time for since we were flying out later that night. We chose another restaurant instead that was nearby. The food was really bad! We definitely should have planned better so we could have went to the restaurant that had better reviews!
- Headed home – checked out of the hotel, grabbed a cab and headed to JFK to fly out!
XO, Danielle
