5th Avenue - New York City

5th Avenue is a true shoppers paradise! Even someone going to NYC on a budget just can't stay away from the temptation! 5th Avenue runs parallel with Central Park along the east side, originating at Washington Square and running through midtown, and terminating at the Harlem River. 5th Avenue is a symbol of wealthy New York and is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive streets in the world. Two of the biggest department stores on 5th Avenue, in my opinion, are Saks 5th Avenue, and Macy's (which takes up a whole city block)!

5th Avenue is a very popular parade route. Parades that dominate 5th Avenue are the St. Patrick's Day Parade, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. During the warm months, one will find parts of 5th Avenue blocks off almost every Sunday due to parades.

While in New York City, we stayed away from the department stores, but all along 5th Avenue were vendors selling different treasures on the streets. Great deals that we found from streets vendors were: purses, watches, jewelery, sunglasses, and wallets. Granted most of these items are off-brands, they are probably more than half the cost. I remember coming home with a purse, a bracelet, and a watch, all for just under $20!!

5th Avenue is a great stroll, especially after just coming from Central Park. 5th Avenue is another low maintenance attraction that will be sure to please everyone!

Tips on 5th Avenue:

- If you are shopping along the street, try bartaring. It may just work.

-This is true with any shopping....if you want to buy something, buy it now because you will most likely never get back to the store/vendor.

Central Park - New York City

Central Park is one of the largest open areas in the United States, occupying about 1.3 square miles in the heart of Manhattan. Before we arrived in New York City, I really had no idea just how big Central Park was going to be.

My family and I devoted a half day to Central Park itself. We decided the best way to see it all was with a horse and carriage ride. Much like in my Chicago Horse and Carriage blog, the driver of the Central Park carriage told us of important landmarks, sculptures, and bridges in the park. Included was a history lesson of how the Park came to be. What amazed me was that this Park was at the disposal of all New Yorkers! What a cool place to call your own.

There are many things to do in Central Park. Many of you may be familiar with the Great Lawn. In previous decades, the Great Lawn was popular for hosting many concerts such as The Supremes, Elton John, Simon and Garfunkel, Diana Ross, and Garth Brooks. Although these types of concerts are mostly a thing of the past, due to wanting to preserve the lawn and noise constraints, there are still annual local concerts given on the Great Lawn, including the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera.

There are two skating rinks in Central Park, one of which converts to a swimming pool every July and August. In addition, Central Park is home to its very own zoo, baseball diamonds, the world famous Carousel that was brought over from Coney Island, and a conservatory garden.

When you decide to move on from Central Park, hopefully you will be left with a sense of relaxation, and new spark of energy, and the honor of just having been in the greatest park in the US of A!

Tips on Central Park:

-Plan on devoting at least a half-day in Central Park.

-Although more expensive, try to take a carriage ride. If you have 4 people going, you can divide the costs and you will be directed by a Central Park expert, cutting in half the time it would take you to walk through the whole park.
-If you are planning out your whole trip to New York City, a suggestion would be to plan a visit to Central Park after you do most of your sightseeing. I say this because you will have the opportunity to lay down, relax on a blanket, and rest your feet. There is a magnitude of quiet spots within the park, so take advantage of this!

Yankee Stadium- The Bronx

I had the great honor of taking in a Yankees game at the old Yankee Stadium just a few short years before the new one was built! Yankee Stadium ranks right up there with Fenway Park as far as classic stadiums go! You can't get any more storied that this!

The Subway ride over to the Bronx was super fun because we knew that 90% of the people riding with us were going to be at the game. We got off the Subway and the Yankee buzz was all around us! I was excited!!

The New York Yankees were playing the Detroit Tigers, and although I despise the Yankees more than any other team in MLB, I just had to cheer for them this time! I knew I'd catch a lot of hell if I didn't! Those Yanks sure are hard-core! We had seats in the left-center bleacher seats, and they were amazing! We could see everything! The best part of sitting there was the fellow fans in our section. There were about 4 Yankee fans a few rows below us, and I could tell they were season ticket holders. During the game and before almost every pitch, they would make small dollar bets on if the next pitch would be a strike, ball, etc, and then the loser would actually pay up! It was a fun atmosphere all around, and each Yankee run felt, and sounded like they had just won the World Series! It was also fun seeing sports icons like Derek Jeter play! The Yankees ended up winning that game, which was good because I can't imagine the riots if the outcome had been different. Especially since they lost the night before vs. their hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox. The score the night before was like 17-3. Yikes!

Today, the new Yankee Stadium is in use, and the architects replicated the new one to look almost exactly like the old one, as to feel like you are still part of all the history. Even if you can't get to a game in Yankee Stadium, I would suggest at least taking some time out to go see Yankee Stadium. It'll be worth it, and you'll be very happy you did!

Times Square - New York City

When we got to our hotel, The Carter, we were impressed how close it was to Times Square. Only 2 blocks away. Though our hotel wasn't anywhere near 5-Star, we didn't care, because all we were going to do there was sleep. We were ready to answer Times Square's call to us!


Times Sqaure was huge! I was on sensory-overload within minutes, but I was loving it. Times Square is where they tape segments of The Today Show, it's where they drop the ball on New Years Eve, and it has some of the biggest and brightest ads in the world! It used to be that traffic went right down the center of Times Square, but traffic was rerouted around Times Square to make it more tourist-friendly!

The week we went to New York City happened to be Fleet Week. Fleet Week is a United States Navy, United States Marine Corp and United States Coast Guard tradition in which active military ships recently deployed in overseas operations dock in a variety of major cities for one week. Once the ships dock, the crews can enter the city and visit its tourist attractions. A few of the Navy Boys were talking to some media outlets, so we checked out what was up, and while we were standing there, we ended up on NBC's Panasonic JUMBOTRON in the middle of Times Square!! How cool is that?! 

Other cool things to note on Times Square: I was interviewed by some Japanese college students who were doing a project on demin jeans, and we saw the Naked Cowboy!  There is never a shortage of things to see and do in Times Square, and I wouldn't want you to miss any of it!!!

The Subway - New York City

The Subway is one of the most popular ways to get around in New York City. The traffic is always terrible, and the Subway seems to take care of all of those headaches. My trip to NYC was also my first experience on any sort of major public transit, and I was anxious to see how it worked, and how it could carry all those people and get them to their destinations in a timely fashion.

It will always amaze me at how underground Subway Systems are built. Not only is carving out miles of dirt a feat in itself, but carving out the earth under water takes it to a whole different level! And that's what I experienced even before I stepped foot in the city!  Our plane landed at JFK, so that meant we had to cross a waterway in order to get onto Long Island, hence the name. I didn't realize that we were beneath water until my brother pointed it out to me on the Subway map. Such a weird feeling!

The rest of our visit in NYC concerning the Subway was fantastic! The trains arrived right on time, and it felt like they traveled at the speed of light. There are so many Subway Stations in the city so it is a short walk from anywhere to catch a ride. The only times the Subway might be delayed is when a game or event is going on, which is almost always, but there are so many trains to ensure a speedy Subway process.

Before New York City, the only Subway I knew of was the sandwich shops, but now when I go to big city's, I swear by them!

Destination: New York City

Here are some of the great sights in New York City!

Overview
The Subway
Times Square
Yankee Stadium
Cenrtal Park
5th Avenue
Broadway Show - RENT
Ground Zero
Statue of Liberty
Empire State Building
Little Italy/Chinatown

New York City

New York. The Big Apple. The City that Never Sleeps. The most populated city in the country. New York City was one of my favorite city's to visit. There are endless opportunities and things to see and do, for anyone!

While in New York, I was at the top of the Empire State Building, I took a horse and carriage ride through Central Park, walked 5th Ave., took the Ferry across to Staten Island, saw a Broadway Show, saw the sights of Ground Zero, and of course went to a Yankees game! I did this, and more, all within 3 and a half days! So buckle up 'cuz it's going to be a wild ride!