This page may contain affiliate links, for which I could earn a small commission. You can review my full disclosure here.
After you bring an Irishman to Beantown, he’s going to want to visit the Big Apple. Obviously. So we ventured to NYC on a Greyhound bus for $18 each to set off on a new adventure!
We took a cab (don’t worry, the first thing he mentioned to the cabbie was that it was his first New York City Yellow Cab and he was SO excited! adorable…) and met my friend Kate at her office straight from the Port Authority. First NYC rooftop views!
Our first morning, we went for a run through Central Park, stopping to take a few photos along the way.
We took the Subway to Times Square so he could check out the chaos. First thing he did: befriend a man selling random CDs on the sidewalk. Don’t worry, it’s autographed.
Next, we of course found the only Scottish pub in NYC to serve Irn Bru. Beers and Brus for a mid-day treat!
Then we set off for the Financial District to check out the 9/11 Memorial and the new construction. The last time I’d seen it was probably 2006ish, so it’s quite a change!
From there we wandered to Wall Street…
And then we shared a hot dog and a pretzel from a street vendor…
And then we wandered to the Ghostbusters fire station!
The coolest part of this day – for me at least – was a Midtown Cruise we took at sunset. It wasn’t intentionally at sunset, we just had a late start getting out that day after our run so by the time we went to pick up our tickets the options were to wait around for 45 minutes to get a mid-afternoon tour, or to return at 6pm for the last tour of the day. I am SO glad we waited! Not only did it give us plenty of time for all the other shenanigans that afternoon, but the views were gorgeous as the sun set along the buildings of lower Manhattan. Here’s a glimpse:
To finish off the day, we met up with Kate at the dock after our tour, walked back through Times Square to see the bright shiny lights, and then picked up two giant pizzas and beer to take home for dinner. AWESOME.
Day two started off at the Empire State Building for some incredible views of the city. I’d been there before a few times, but we opted to buy the audio tour and I was so glad – there is NO way I could have provided as much information about the different neighborhoods and buildings. It was also really entertaining! Highly recommended for sure.
From there we wandered to Bryant Park…
To the beautiful Grand Central Station…
Past the impressive Chrysler Building…
And then over to Rockefeller Plaza.
Here’s the sad part of the story: when we went on our Midtown Cruise the night before, we saw the massive USS Intrepid sitting just a few docks over. We decided to try to add it to our schedule for the next day since we were there at sundown and it was too late the first day. So we took a bus from Rockefeller Plaza across town that dropped us right in front of this massive aircraft carrier. He could not have been more excited! Despite being fairly exhausted from walking around two days in a row in an overwhelming city after already being on the road for almost two weeks and meeting a gazillion people, he was a giddy little kid. Until we walked up to buy our tickets. And the sign staring us in the face said the last tickets were sold at 4pm. It was 4:15pm. Sadness…utter sadness. We could still see people wandering around the ship and yet we were stuck outside. He was gutted. But we got a few good shots from outside and he told me all about the airplanes he used to dream about flying as a kid. Seriously, he knew ALL about the planes. I think I learned more from him than I would have if we’d actually boarded the ship and looked through a pamphlet.
And what do you do when you’ve missed out on a great experience? Buy him a consolation beer. It won’t help, but it won’t hurt either.
NYC, you were fabulous for such a short period of time! We had a fantastic time and loved spending it with such an amazing friend. Until next time…
Comments are closed.