New York in 48 hours? Can be done. My daughter and I are living proof that we did exactly that!
Taking advantage of a 3 day weekend, we boarded a red eye on a Friday night and landed at Newark airport at 5:10am on Saturday morning.
(Before we go on, here’s a great time-saving tip when making a fast-paced trip like this: DON’T CHECK ANY BAGS, just carry carry-ons, and you can just walk to the transport of your choice instead of circling the terminal. baggage)
We rented a car (worked out $10 more than Supershuttle due to toll roads) and were in our Manhattan hotel room by 6am. Since it was a public holiday, the city and the roads were very light, so we made excellent time. We stayed in a boutique hotel called Flatotel. It was in a perfect location to walk to many of the main sights in the city. First on our agenda was to take a nap, shower, and take a cab to Union Square Park to meet up with a dear friend of mine from high school. He was friends with some models (husband and wife team) who bought the trendy restaurant “The Coffee Shop”, so we met there for lunch. In the same area as the restaurant and park, the famous “Green St.” was up and running. We were all foodies so this was a fantastic walk after a really good breakfast. My friend and his companion dropped us off for their day trip and pointed us in the direction of the famous Chelsea Market.
It was a 15 block walk for moms, so my daughter and I headed out, passing parts of 5th-7th avenues along the way. We also found Balducci’s Market and walked in. What a wonderful upscale place to shop. We met a real monk named Renita who was giving a tasting of Mayorga coffee that is roasted in small batches at the Mayorga Mission. 75% of the beans are certified by the Rainforest Alliance. All I can say is that it was delicious and Starbuck’s could use a lesson.
Chelsea Market wasn’t as big as we had imagined from the Food Network, mainly because we were so excited to see as much of Manhattan as we could, we didn’t realize we were in a small area of the complex! While there we found out that there was a tour that did the “tasting of New York”. But alas, 48 hours only allows so much!
We had to walk back to Union Square Park to take the subway (an experience in itself) to 42nd Street. Once there, we toured Time Square, Rockefeller Center, Broadway, many sights in and around the streets, including what turned out to be the cheesiest excuse for an afternoon improv show. But that was fine as we were already pretty tired. After our short break, my daughter wanted to do the NBC tour and do Top of the Rock. The tour sold out but we had the fantastic Top of the Rock experience.
What can be said about Top of the Rock? It should be named an eighth wonder of the world! You literally shoot up 67 floors (the top of the car is glass so you see the rise) and you come out on the first of 3 viewing platforms. Each has a 360-degree view of Manhattan. It was absolutely awesome. When my husband asked me if it was as beautiful as Waimea Canyon on Kauai, I told him that he was so over the top (pun intended) that there were simply no words to describe the sights.
After this day we were hungry and exhausted. Luckily we found a local casual chain called Heartland Brewery. It had been a hot and humid day, we stuck to some nice light salads which were very tasty and lots of ice water. On the way back, we stopped at a 24/7 bakery and picked up a sandwich to have with coffee in our room. We collapsed at 10.
Our wake up call got us up and out the door at 8. We went to a nearby deli our dinner waitress suggested. Of course we had bagels. We found the ubiquitous Starbucks for coffee, since the deli didn’t have a single seat free, and had breakfast there. He then went to meet our van for a 6 hour city tour. There was a street fair going on, so we did a little exploring.
The 6 hour tour was perfect for two still tired women. It was a small group of about 16 and our tour guide Tom was knowledgeable and a real hoot. They took us to so many places and told us so many things that we couldn’t even digest half of the sites and information. The highlights were Strawberry Fields (the John Lennon memorial) in Central Park, Pier 17, Staten Island Ferry (which gave us views of Ellis and Governor’s Islands, the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan) Wall St, many others buildings and neighborhoods and then Impact Zone. Ground Zero and its surroundings brought tears to most of us. Touching the area seemed to make everyone feel sadness, as well as hope.
As our 48 hours were drawing to a close, the girls shopped a bit. Sarah at H&M, me at Ann Taylor’s. Then came our special dinner, since theater tickets weren’t on the cards. We were lucky enough to be right across the street from celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain.
An upscale place with dark paneled walls, a 1940’s feel. Beautiful restaurant, great service and wonderful food. There is a reason it is successful.
We return to our hotel and prepare for our departure early in the morning. We were tired, happy and reconnected. This was thanks to my daughter’s wish for a weekend of girls and Manattan.
