Our New York City Trip in 2021 Recap

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We’ve been back for about a week from our quick trip to New York City and we are STILL exhausted. It was such a whirlwind (and fun) trip! We arrived to our hotel late on Thursday night, and only had a total of about 36 hours in the city. We had to leave the city Saturday afternoon because we were headed to a friend’s wedding nearby in New Jersey. But I had never been to New York, so we wanted to take advantage of being in such close proximity! We wanted to make the most of our time and see ALL of the important stops.

I’m planning to write a post about how to see the city with a limited time – which will include our walking route. It should be a great guide for those if you’re visiting New York City for just a weekend or a day. Until I finish that, I wanted to share my recap of our trip.

With all of the COVID restrictions in New York City coming to an end, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about New York City travel in 2021. I’ve included answers to some FAQ’s I’ve been getting from Instagram followers about New York travel restrictions, travel tips, and where to eat in New York City.

Our New York City Trip in 2021 Recap

What I Wore in New York

My packing list for this trip was all over the place because we were heading to a black tie wedding in New Jersey. I knew we’d be doing a lot of walking but I WAS hoping to dress kind of cute while we were there. Being the beginning of June, the New York City weather was really starting to heat up. It was extremely humid (reminded me of home) – and we got hit with a crazy thunderstorm in the middle of our sightseeing.

With all of the heat, humidity, and storms, my cute outfits had no chance of survival. So I opted for athletic outfits instead. I’m so thankful I did because we ended up putting a lot of miles in (read more to see just how many) and I would not have lasted in sandals or even my cute sneakers. I wore my favorite basic tees, my favorite pair of athletic shorts, and my super supportive On Cloud Running shoes pretty much the whole time we were in the city. I thought I’d regret not taking a few cute outfit photos for my blog but comfort definitely took priority.

Must-See Sights in New York City

Our first day there we walked about looking at all of the must see sights in the city. Luckily, we had a friend with us who experience and knew how to get around the city. We took a couple of trains but could have probably utilized the subway system more on our first day. Either way, if you visit, make sure to take your good walking shoes.

Must-See Places

Our friend helped us navigate to find all of the must see places. On our first day, we saw Central Park, Times Square, The Statue of Liberty from Battery Park, Carnegie Hall, Grand Central Station, the 9/11 Memorial, and Wall Street all before lunch time. We meandered down to Chinatown and Little Italy shortly after. Dale and I spent the afternoon seeing Bryant Park, walking over The Brooklyn Bridge, and seeing some areas in Brooklyn I was happy to be able to check out. Dale told me the next morning that we had totaled over 15 miles our first day there. No wonder my legs were so sore.

The second day we took it a little slower and clocked about 8 miles of walking. We had breakfast, went to the Flatiron District and stopped in at Eataly to get some Italian cookies to take home. Then we went to see Washington Square park, and saw some other Manhattan neighborhoods. I’m sure we walked by so many important places that I didn’t recognize or know. We had lunch and also hit 5th Avenue for some shopping. Then we saw Rockefeller Center, and stopped in to FAO Schwartz to pick up a souvenir for Dean. After that we threw in the towel and checked out of our hotel to head to New Jersey for wedding festivities. Stay tuned for my blog post on just HOW we saw all of these sights in a day and a half!

Where We Stayed

Manhattan was the place to be for us, since that’s where most of the major landmarks are. There were tons (seriously tons) of hotel options in Manhattan. We found an AC Hotel near Times Square which was pretty central to everything we wanted to do and see. The thing that surprised me (but also didn’t) about NYC hotels is that they are tiny. We barely had room for our luggage. But the staff was very helpful and the room was nice too. And it was clean – and honestly that’s all I cared about after walking through the city all day.

Where We Ate in New York City

Luckily for us, we got great recommendations of where to eat from native New Yorkers and frequent visitors. Our first meal in NYC was a bagel for breakfast. You must try a hand-twisted New York bagel. There’s truly no bagel quite as good, and there are so many places to get them. Dale also wanted some true Italian cannoli while we were in the city. So when we were in Little Italy, we stopped in at a few places to get some Italian treats. They were all so good! Here are a few other places we ate:

Emporio

Emporio had the most delicious, authentic Italian food. We had a great calamari and fried shrimp platter for an appetizer. We also had a Margherita pizza with fresh mozzarella and basil. Emporio had really great cocktails and we enjoyed the atmosphere! There was no wait to get in at lunch time.

Maman NYC

We ate at Maman for breakfast on Saturday. It’s the cutest little French cafe with a great chai latte. We sat outside and the atmosphere is so charming. I had the Pain Perdu which is challah bread with lemon ricotta and blueberry compote and hot honey drizzle – I’m still thinking about it. This is a place you MUST eat at if you’re in town but make sure to get there early – it did get pretty busy.

Jack’s wife Freda

This spot came highly recommended by Instagram followers and a couple of friends! Saturday afternoon we stopped at Jack’s wife Freda for lunch. It was delicious – I had a duck bacon, egg and cheese sandwich with tomato jam and an arugula salad. Dale had the Eggplant Baguette and it was delicious too! I also had a fresh watermelon margarita that was perfect for the hot summer lunch. We waited a few minutes to be seated as it was really busy, but they encourage walk-ins or you can book a table or order online for takeout.

New York City Travel 2021

One of the most frequently asked questions I’ve received since our trip is, “what’s the city like right now?” I’ve never traveled to New York City before the pandemic, so it’s hard for me to compare. But my husband has been and was able to tell me a few times when it looked empty. He told me that Times Square is usually standing room only. It did get pretty busy on Saturday but the other two times we walked through, it was almost empty. New York plans to bring back Broadway shows in September, so we did miss out on that. But otherwise most places were open for business.

Most of the restaurants were packed both Friday and Saturday, however we didn’t have to wait long anywhere. We were told by a friend that it’s almost impossible to get reservations right now and that wait times are very long due to everyone finally being able to dine out again. I did try to make reservations at the Restoration Hardware rooftop a week before our trip and they were booked out for several weeks. So if you’re planning to eat at a popular place for dinner, make sure to make reservations well in advance.

I hope all of this was helpful in case you’re planning a trip to New York City soon! It was truly such a great trip. I really enjoyed getting to try all of the foods and see all of the must-see sights. Be sure to send me a DM on Instagram if you have any questions about our trip or are considering a trip to NYC! If you’re not ready to fly or just prefer to road trip – be sure to check out my Road Trip Travel Hacks for Kids!