How to DO New York in Two Days

Spoiler alert, you can’t, but you can sure have fun trying! This wasn’t my first or even my fifth rodeo with the Big Apple, but it was probably the first time that I had a ridiculous amount of downtime between work to explore. If you’re reading, you’ll see that the blog post before this documents my interview with Kelly Clarkson. The interview took place in New York City, and I was flown in for a whirlwind two day/one night trip and managed to fit quite a bit in. Including seeing several friends, my COUSIN – randomly on the street in East Village – and receiving a reflexology foot massage. 

I stayed in my first ever Airbnb, ate in Chelsea Market, visited the Village, and traversed their more intricate than Chicago – but still doable – subway system, which I mistakenly referred to as the Metro and promptly got my behind handed to me during #ThisORThatThursdays. I’m still standing though, so life goes on. Anyhoo, my schedule looked a bit like this: 

MDW–>LGA–>Dumbo–>30 Rock–> Ma Peche–>Dumbo–>Chelsea Market–>East Village–>Lower Manhattan–>LGA–>MDW

I’m going to attempt to give you a rundown of all that we accomplished in this timeline, AND shout out my city buddy Laurie from Mom 2.0 who was my Airbnb roommate as well. She was so wonderful to work with last week, and this is the first time that we’ve roomed together, since I joined the Mom 2.0 team last August. Oh, you didn’t know that I was the travel editor for Mom 2.0? It’s because I didn’t announce it. YOU GUYS, I have such a hard time doing stuff like that, but I’m trying to get better. I guess a year and some months in is better than nothing, right? 

Flight was fine. Except, Laguardia. Ugh. That airport is the pits, and only slightly above LAX. It’s been under construction for a while now, and I think it’s only because a certain person decided to tweet out that it was like flying into a third world country. Pro tip: If you’re flying out of Laguardia, know that once you pass through TSA, your options for food and, well, ANYTHING are extremely limited. Get your goods – outside of liquids – before you go through security. Also know that they close down Pre-check RIDICULOUSLY early during the week. Hold on to your boarding pass, or make sure to show it on your mobile device so that you don’t have to remove coats, shoes, and stop the line because you’re used to not removing your laptop. Ask me how I know. 

Also, know that the rideshare pickup area is NOT in front of the arrivals door, and you have to take a shuttle to the area. You can order an Uber or a Lyft while you’re on the shuttle, because your ride will more than likely already be there before you even order. Random fact – there are a TON of black Toyota Camry’s that are Uber cars. Just thought you should know. Pro tip: Do Uber Pool. It will save you money, and possibly provide you with an interesting car mate for your ride to your destination. Within the city, just know that you may end up doing quite a bit of walking. Wear comfortable shoes. 

I arrived at the Airbnb which Laurie lovingly dubbed the Real World house. It was very pink with a great garage door right out front, that was perfect for photos. I’m trying to get better at grabbing photos of myself in real time so that I can really prove that I was somewhere. Because, you know, taking a picture in front of a garage door TOTALLY proves I was in NYC, right? I got acclimated with the unit which was just one big room separated by corrugated fixtures, and quaint enough for a day or two. No kitchen or television (yes, some people remove them from their Airbnb properties) but there was a hot plate, microwave and mini-fridge. The owner was awesome, and we were comfortable. It was a great spot to work, and kind of people watch from the window. 

After checking in, and meeting Laurie, we headed to 30 Rock or Rockefeller Center if you’re being literal. We took the subway there and promptly got turned around in the pedway – or at least I think that’s what it’s called. That’s what we call it in Chicago anyway. It was fun walking through and seeing all of the shops and getting turned back around and seeing all of the shops again. Also, people were ice skating, which I knew about because I’ve been to NYC before, but it wasn’t cold enough for ice skating, so I didn’t join. Plus I couldn’t, because I was on a schedule. We had tickets for Jimmy Fallon, and were quite surprised that Millie Bobby Brown was a guest along with Kelly Clarkson. It was nice to score tickets to the show before our interview with Kelly because I was able to enjoy her singing live before having to “work” while listening to her singing live. You’ll get it in a moment. We stayed for taping – and weren’t aware of the horrible incident that happened while we were there because our phones had to be powered down. It was a bit scary having to check in with everyone to let them know that I was okay. 

We then headed to Ma Peche which is a restaurant under the Momofuku umbrella and ate ourselves silly. I mean, we ate until we giggled. So, literally, we ate ourselves silly. I’m sure that I also ate like a crazed woman because there were no kids around to ask for things off of my plate because they looked better than the same things on their plates. It’s my life, and I love it, but HOT FOOD Y’ALL! Hot GOOD food! The pork buns and the crispy potatoes were the highlight of that dinner, and I’m always a fan of hanger steak. So, I’m sure I’ll make it back there with Mr. Houseful soon. 

The next morning we headed to Chelsea Market for the interview with Kelly Clarkson, but we had time to explore and eat as well. I find that Chelsea is the trendier versions of places like Milwaukee Public Market or Eataly, and I felt right at home. We ended up eating at a place called Creamline, and I was underwhelmed by the chicken tenders because they were dry as heck, but totally loved the shake. For you booze lovers, they have an option to add it to your shakes. 

After a full day at YouTube Space IN Chelsea Market (which also houses Food Network, btw) the lot of us headed to the East Village to grab .99 pizza and I ran into my cousin Erin. It’s kind of spooky how that happened. I received a text message from my aunt to make sure that I called her while I was in town, and I made a mental note to do so after scarfing down my pizza. When I turned around to prepare to eat, there she was catwalking down the street – as a Taylor grandchild is prone to do, because we’re fabulous. She’s a music blogger over at Wild Captivity, and she’s living her best life in NYC! 

 

Like I said, we had pizza and foot massages around the corner, but you don’t want to see pictures of my feet or the pizza that I ate. I will say that it was good, and crispy, and I didn’t have to fold it, which made me happy. 

I got to do far more in New York this trip than I have during any other time being here, and I was there for far less time. Amazing how that happens, huh? I need to go back though when the weather is not too hot or too cold, and stay for three or more days. That’s the ticket.