NYC PART 2: TOP THINGS TO DO

Hey guys! So this is the second part of my NYC series. This part is about all the sites you should see while visiting the Big Apple. I’ll be honest with you, even though we were here for a week, we did not get to see everything we wanted to. You never realize until you start walking around Manhattan and all the other boroughs just how enormous everything is and you think to yourself, “How am I ever going to experience everything with such an insignificant amount of time?” Well, unfortunately, you probably won’t. That’s ok though! New York City is probably one of the liveliest and and unique places I have ever been.  There are new and exciting experiences in every district and basically around every street you turn onto.  So basically what I am trying to get at is that even though you probably won’t hit up every site you want to go to you will still have a blast!! Here are the top sights/districts we recommend to check out when you visit the Big Apple.

1.       Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island – I put this as our top because I really believe this is the top place you have to go when you visit New York.  Both of those sights are grained in American history and culture and as such, should be appreciated. ***Fun tip: The building across from the main site on Ellis Island was a hospital for the sick who docked into the port. The hospital is said to be haunted and can only be reached with a private tour.

2.       Empire State Building or Top of the Rock – If you’re looking for views go to either of these buildings. They both offer incredible views of the city and both are very established landmarks in New York City. The only difference I would honestly say about the two is that if you go up to the Top of the Rock if has more than one balcony you can check the view of NYC out on.

3.       Museum of Natural History- Out of the three museums we checked out, this was MY ultimate favorite. If you are a huge history nerd (like me ;P) you will believe you have died and gone to heaven in here. This museum has every awesome exhibit you could possibly think of: Space, Ocean Life, Cultures of the World, and DINOSAURS!!!!!

4.       MOMA-If you are a huge modern art lover like Ryan, then MOMA is definitely the right museum for you. They have all the great modern artists in here such as Picasso, Dali, and Warhol. The views from MOMA of the New York streets are also great J.

5.       The Metropolitan Museum of Art – This was a love and hate experience for both Ryan and I. We LOVED it because it combined both of our favorites, art and history. We HATED it because of we did not plan our time there very well and before we even got barely half way through the exhibits we practically thrown out on our butts because it was closing time. As a young girl who used to work in the service/hospitality industry I completely get this concept, but as a history buff I was left feeling unfulfilled by my experience there.  This leads me to a helpful, but obvious TIP: GO TO THE MUSEUMS IN THE MORNINGS AND PLAN TO SPEND AT LEAST A HALF A DAY IN EACH. I’m not even kidding you….that is how massive these museums are.

6.       Brooklyn Bridge/DUMBO neighborhood – This was probably one of our favorite walks in NYC, we did it in early evening so by the time we got across the bridge we could see Manhattan from across the river.

7.       Meatpacking District/Chelsea – This is an awesome part of the city that you should definitely check out. While you’re down there also check out The High Line which is an elevated park about a mile and half long that runs from the Meatpacking district up to 34^th street.  ***TIP: Check out Chelsea Market and go to Ronnybrook Dairy, you can get farm fresh ice-cream and believe me, you will never think of ice-cream the same way.

8.       9/11 Memorial Site – Memorial sites are always a love hate relationship with me. I hate them for obvious reasons; I am typically a happy and laid back person and would love to believe that we live in a peaceful uncomplicated world. Unfortunately we do not and when tragedy happens it’s amazing to see how a community and a country can come together.

9.       Times Square – I don’t think an explanation is really needed as to why this is a place you should go and see when you visit NYC. My only advice for when you explore the Times Square area is to check it out during the day and then at night to see how exponentially different it is. It’s literally like night and day (pun was definitely intended there).

10.   Central Park – Some of you are probably thinking, why on earth is this at the bottom of her list? Well, it’s partly because I’m biased when it comes to parks and nature because our geographical location is surrounded by at least 5 national parks not to mention state parks and then of course city parks. I will give credit where it is deserved though Central Park is very beautiful with some great attractions inside the park itself including: Belvedere Castle, the obelisk, and the Central Park carousel. Those are just to name a few.

So there are just a FEW of the places we checked out during our stay that we really think are definitely worth a visit too especially if you are a first time visitor to NYC. If this is not your first time however and you want to experience New York as a whole, go and check out some of the other boroughs and sites such as Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Coney Island, Chinatown, etc. Manhattan is only one part of what makes New York City and its surrounding areas definitely deserve some recognition.

If you guys have any questions feel free to comment and if you liked this post check out NYC ON A BUDGET and follow along for more Complex MOMents. J