NYC: I did it my way!!

So I thought it was about time that I blogged about the last two months of my tourist activities in NYC. I am here on business and about every two weeks, I stay over the weekend instead of traveling home to Chicago. The company pays for me to stay (hotel and meals) and all I have to do is pay for any activities I participate in. Pretty damn cool!!

So here is my recap of some of the things I did over the last few months here in NYC:

·         State of Liberty/ Ellis Island

o   You pick up the boat to State of Liberty and Ellis Island near Battery Park (taking the South Ferry subway stop). If you order tickets online in advance (highly recommended) it is $25 for the ride to both national parks. The parks themselves are free. I highly recommend doing this tour. It was sooo cold the day that I did this tour (in January)! You basically have to go through two airport type security to get onto the boat and also once on the island. But well worth it. Really an iconic thing you have to see if you are in NYC.

·         Broadway shows:

o   Kinky Boots: Cannot say enough great things about this show. There is a reason this won the Tony award. Do yourself a favor; spend the money, buy the tickets and prepared to be completely entertained!!

o   Chicago: I had seen the movie and this show is even better. Slight differences than the movie (of course) and I really enjoyed the humor that was put into this show.

·         Wall Street/Financial district/ Trinity Church:

o   This is one of those things you go see once, and then you are good. It’s another tourist area that is on everyone’s list. Really not much to “do” but you go, you see, you take some pics and then you move on. I would have liked to go into Trinity Church and the adjoining old cemetery, but it was Sunday morning when I was there and they were having their church service.

·         The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

o   There is a reason that this is a highly rated museum. It is incredible. Tons of stuff to see, from paintings, sculpture, photographs, even dudes wearing armor on horses. I spent about 4 hours here (including my lunch that I had in their café) and anyone who knows me knows that for me to spend 4 hours in an art museum it must have been a great museum. It was! And as a bonus: free admission for military if you ask!

·         Grand Central Station

o   Yes, I know talking about a train station is kind of weird. But this station apparently just went through its 100 year anniversary renovation. And I was surprised as how lovely it was. And there are quite a few shops within the station area (although I seemed to get there during non-business hours! I highly recommend you just stopping by and looking. And don’t worry, everyone takes pictures there! So go ahead and be a tourist!!

·         World Trade Center site:

o   A must see. Here’s the thing: I expected it to be emotional. I expected there to be many layers of security to get there. I expected it to be a bit of a walk as it is still under construction. All of these things are true. What I didn’t expect was for it to be honestly so incredibly beautiful! I know that this is hallowed ground. But for it to be so beautiful it almost brought tears to my eyes. Go. Just go.

·         Lower East Side Tenement Museum:

o   This was a small museum that many New Yorkers I spoke to (at work) did not even know existed. It is a wonderful find (thanks, TripAdvisor!)!  This is a restored tenement building that was actually used in the 1860’s through the 1930’s. I won’t go into all the history in case you visit but it has several tours that you can take (about $25 each, about an hour long in each case). I took the Hard Times and the Irish Outsiders tour. The cool thing is that the tour guides are more like history teachers and are really passionate about their work. Some of the restored rooms are furnished with help from decedents of the real life residents. Very, very cool! Be warned, not really for small kids, you can’t touch and there are a lot of stairs. Buy your tickets online in advance to reserve a space (small tours of 8 folks only) and I think the age limit is 8 and up.

So there you have it! My visit so far in NYC. Just a few highlights! I am grateful that I have the opportunity to stay in the city on the company’s dime and want to see as much “touristy” stuff as possible. Why not? It’s travel, even if it is in our own backyard!