Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter what you do for a career, pretty much everyone lives for the weekend. Even better if it’s a long one. The thought of having just one extra day makes Sunday so much more appealing. So what do you do with that extra 24 hours? Spend a day lounging and watching movies? Meet up with friends? Here’s a better option: road trip!
We’re pretty fortunate to be within driving distance of NYC and even more fortunate to have some great friends in the NYC area. Thankfully there is tons of stuff to do in New York, plenty of it is free, but having spent pretty much the last two years being tourists, we wanted to avoid anything that remotely resembled a museum/cultural attraction/exhibit, and instead cover some places we’ve missed and love about New York.
The New York Food Scene
Danny’s traveled the globe in search of yummy pizza, but to him there’s just nothing that compares to a good NY slice. Pretty much every trip to NY includes our favorite tradition- walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, standing in line for Grimaldi’s, and eating pizza and drinking wine until the red and white checkered table cloth appears pink. Sure we’ve broken with tradition a few times, checking out some other equally delicious and gourmet pizzerias in the city, but there’s just something about the surly man shouting outside the door that makes me smile. That and it’s hard to beat the Brooklyn Bridge for atmosphere.
Having lived in Florence, I was excited to stop by Eataly the last time we were in New York. It was incredibly crowded and the $93 cheese grater was a little ridiculous, but the place was still pretty impressive. Fortunately the food didn’t disappoint, and although the advertised $1 hot chocolate turned out to be a three ounce sample of melted milk chocolate, we left the building pleasantly groaning about how decadent it all was. I could definitely see myself parked in here for a few hours.
The To Do List
With museums, exhibits and anything resembling a tourist attraction crossed off the list, we were looking for some quirky things to do in New York this winter. Having dug ourselves out of a blizzard in Long Island, we ventured into the city hoping to be able to get out of town. As luck would have it, a taxi cab broke down in front of our friends place, blocking any possibility of being plowed out. So we did what any adventurous soul would do when faced with bitter cold and nearly two feet of soft, powdery snow. We grabbed cookie sheets and cardboard boxes and headed to Central Park.
That’s right, with a little ingenuity we hit the slopes. No, not skiing, sledding. Sure cardboard doesn’t make the best of toboggans, but we held our own and even made it over some jumps where we narrowly avoided several urban obstacles. New tradition? Maybe, but next time I’m opting for a real sled and some boots.
Having overlanded Africa without ever having ridden a zebra (trust me, Danny was dying to do that, it’s #32 on the bucket list!), I knew the best place to cross that off the list was in New York City, FAO Schwarz. When we were first dating Danny took me up to NYC for a birthday weekend and I remembered the ridiculous variety of stuffed animals. Walking into the store we were greeted by safari animals and yup, you guessed it, a zebra. Although a bit small, Danny did his best to ride it long enough to snap a photo.
With another thing crossed off the bucket list, we went looking for that famous $250,000 “Big” piano. Yup, you saw it 20 years ago in Big with Tom Hanks, and yes, it’s still alive and well on the second floor. You can actually stash your shoes and play a tune if you want. Considering neither of us has ever taken a piano lesson nor played a 20 foot piano before, it is no surprise that our attempt at a musical masterpiece came out something like howling monkeys. Fortunately the pros do it a little better:
If You Go: I won’t pretend to tell you how to get to NY. But, if you’re coming from DC to Boston don’t be shy, check out Bolt Bus (our favorite) and Mega Bus. For a great slice, stop at Grimaldi’s. Take the subway to the Brooklyn Bridge stop and walk across like we did or take it to Brooklyn and walk from there. Be prepared to wait, but its worth it. Eataly is in the flatiron district, easily accessible by subway from anywhere in New York. Check the boards outside for meal and grocery specials, you might score $1 chocolate like we did! For that big piano head to FAO Schwartz (58th & 5th Avenue).
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Believe it or not, I’m addicted to walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. I don’t know why I find that so fascinating. Thanks for all the other great tips. Will bear them in mind when I visit NYC in April.
@inka- Glad to hear we’re not the only ones. I think it’s the boardwalk like feel that I find so appealing. Either that or I love it because it always means we’re going for pizza!
Love that you covered NY food, my favourite part of the city!
I love NYC in winter-time. And I also love walking the BB. Ah, this is making me want to visit NYC right now 🙂
I’ve never seen that piano before, that’s great! I’m sure they would also be incredible at that dancing video game (I think it’s called dance dance revolution)!
Great post. I’m a New Englander so I have a slight aversion to NYC, but even I have to admit the food is amazing!
Awesome! I’ve only ever been to NY once, and it was only for a few days. Would love to walk the Brooklyn Bridge!
I love FAO. It makes anyone feel like a kid again! Next time you guys should do the walking or bus Pizza tour… Just thinking about Lombardi’s pizza makes me drool…
Next time you’re in the city give me a shout… We might get a chance to meet! 🙂
I LOVE sledding and I will use whatever I have available to me to partake it in when I have the chance.
That giant piano looks like so much fun too, but you’re probably right about leaving it to the professionals!
I, too, love a weekend in NYC. I try my best to maintain a slice per day average at the minimum. I’ve only walked the Brooklyn Bridge once and it was specifically to get to Grimaldi’s. So worth it!
We saw the pizza tour once outside of Grimaldi’s. It prompted a very seinfeld like discussion on the best slice in NYC. Interstingly enough, I saw a similar discussion on Chowhound the other day… hmmmm….
Glad you guys share our favs!
@Steve- a slice a day huh? I think we’ll be going for that as well! Thankfully we don’t live there!
I’m bummed that I’ve been to NYC twice now, and have missed out on FAO both times! I’d also love to spend more time in Brooklyn. My last visit to the city consisted of all the uber-touristy things (Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Top of the Rock, seeing a Broadway Show, etc.), so next time I definitely want to branch out. Some NY-style pizza sounds delicious right now.
You have to go to FAO, if only to play the piano! In the summer there’s a trapeze troupe in Central Park- I have no idea when- but we caught it once and spent hours watching them practice! I love Brooklyn as well!