My husband and I had an impromptu kid-free weekend with no plans after my business trip fell through last weekend so we decided to take a quick trip to New York City. We've been there many times before but never kid-free.
The decision to get on a bus was pretty simple since neither of us wanted to drive. My husband had never ridden the bus to NY before so I had to give him a full report on all of our options. We ended choosing the one that got us there the earliest as the best times were sold out. We didn't have breakfast before our Lyft arrived to pick us up because sleeping without kids is quite good and we overslept. Well since we didn't read the fine print that it was an actual express bus that didn't make stops, we were starving by the time we arrived in NY. The ride in itself was not bad, so I'll recommend it.
Our goal for this trip was to eat at places we haven't tried and to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I would say we succeed in both.
The bus let out at the NY City Bus Terminal which is in Hell's Kitchen with lots of great places to try. We gravitated towards Gotham West Market because there are several great options in one building with alcohol if you so desire. It was too early for us though. I had my first experience with Jianbing pronounced jean-bing with side of dumplings and it was delicious. The staff there was super friendly which made for a better lunch conversation. I have a video on my Facebook page on how it's made. My husband had Toyko Shoyu Ramen from Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop with pork belly steamed bun. The food from both places were delicious. There are ice cream, pizza, Italian among others all in one place.
Our next target was to figure out the NY subway system without calling in a life saver to get to the Brooklyn Bridge. We were successful in navigating the subway and the streets thanks to our handy phone maps. I tell you when you are venturing to new places, it's great to have a plan but sometimes winging it is just as good. Now I must be honest, my husband and I are great at traveling but we almost always disagree in following the same route. We had two options of stations to get off to walk to the bridge, my map was saying one thing, his "research" said something else. After a friendly discussion on the train, we decided to get off at his stop. It did end up being further away but we were right down the street from the 9-11 Memorial so WIN on his part. We decided we'll go on another day, but he captured this beautiful picture.
The walk was easy and there were lots to see since it was St. Patrick's Day weekend and there were lots of characters out and about. I had no intention on walking all the way to Brooklyn from the Manhattan side of the bridge because I've had knee pains lately but once you start walking with the crowd and chatting with folks, you find yourself on the other end. It's an easy walk just stay out of the bike lane if you don't want to be trample on (seriously). If you want those poster style pictures of you on the empty bridge, plan on being there early or late. I'd say we captured our fun walk without too many people in the background.
We had dinner at The Cecil Steakhouse in Harlem. It's an upscale restaurant that has a jazz bar attached next door.The food and service was great on a very busy Saturday night. I was happy we didn't have to make reservations by getting there exactly at 8 pm AND there was no dress code. When taking a quick weekend trip, I didn't want to pack dressy clothes or shoes, so this place was perfect. I didn't like the loudness of the "birthday" music though and there were plenty of birthday celebrations happening. We topped the night by going back downtown to Time Square for more walking and M&Ms because, why NOT? We had breakfast the next morning and didn't have to rush to get back to the bus. We of course pick up lunch (remember express bus) to take on the ride and I wanted to tour a hotel to recommend to my clients but that fell through as well but I won't go into details here. All in all, the trip was great, it was fun, we got in our steps (hubby's counter kept track for us) and we enjoyed a much needed kid-free weekend.
What do you do when you find yourself kid-free? What quick getaways are in your area? Do you have recommendations for other places for us to check out? Leave a comment below.