Have you ever stayed in your local city? Sometimes it’s hard to have the luxury of being able to get so much done without the hassle of rushing around. That’s how it feels for me at least! Keith and I spent last weekend in the city and there was no stress required. We have stayed in the city once before, which we realized is such a better city going experience. This time and the last we used Airbnb and found great places at a great price!

We were able to plan out things we wanted to do with time in between each, with the ability to take a breather. We tend to do a lot of walking when we go to the city so it was nice to plan out what we wanted to do over the course of a few days. Plus, it gives us the ability to get away for a few days even if we are still close to home!

Friday.

When we planned the trip, the day of the week did not register in our minds. We were staying the weekend of 9/11, which fell on a Friday this year. It wasn’t something that bothered either of us. It was more of a joy in the sense that we got to experience this day in a different way. Once we realized that we would be in the city day of 9/11, we knew we wanted to visit the World Trade Center, along with the Tribute in Light.

We were unsure of the mood that entailed when we would arrive. This was a big day in our history that effected so many people in different ways. I was young when this event took place 19 years ago and I did not lose anyone in this tragedy but I think it is nice to be able to honor those who lost their lives, put their lives on the line and did all they could. Seeing the handwritten notes, flowers, etc. that were left by loved ones was beautiful. I got a little teary eyed at some point but it is so nice to see all that come to show their love and support.

We have been before to visit the pools, museum and Freedom Tower but we had not seen the Oculus or lights. We spent quite some time at the WTC and then made our way to the lights that were located about five blocks down. There is a rooftop to observe the lights at the same level for a great view. I was very happy this was how we started out our weekend.

This was nice too because it was close enough distance to the hotel that we were able to walk there and “home”. We were pretty tired but we wanted to make the walk back to see if we could find some food on the way back. There wasn’t much open since it was a little on the later side of the night. There was a pizza place by the hotel that was closing up so their selection was very limited but we made due. We finished our slices and got some rest for the following day.

Saturday.

This was the day we really had planned out considering it was our full day in the city. We woke up pretty early and got a good start to the day. We planned on getting breakfast on our way to the Hudson Yards and taking the subway the rest of the way. We ended up not finding anything until we got there so essentially we walked the entire hour. We decided in that moment, we would take Uber the rest of the weekend. I didn’t have to pay for parking for my car and Uber was pretty cheap so our feet thanked us.

Despite the hour walk, we did find a few cute parks to walk through. This was a nice little segue to make the walk a little more enjoyable. Also! We walked past a spot that Tekashi 69 was the day prior. Keith said he was even handing out CDs so I was a little disappointed about that…

Once we were at the Hudson Yards, we had three excursions planned – the Edge, the Vessel and the Highline. They are all within ten minutes of each other so it is easy to get each done in one day! Each provided such beautiful views of the city and I think they are all so perfect because they provide different views. They are all at different levels so you can see at various heights. Personally, the Edge was the most enjoyable and I would even love to go back. That would be one I would love to visit again at night!

Once we were done with the Highline, we were lead back to the Vessel. In this area, there is a mall, an ice cream truck and other things to check out. We took a short survey based on this area earlier and the day and it got us free ice cream from the truck. Naturally one of the highlights to the day 😛 . After we had our ice cream, we called our Uber and we were on our way back to the hotel.

Keith decided he wanted to treat us to a fancy steak dinner at a place he went to years back. Apparently it’s the oldest steakhouse that is still around today, which I thought was pretty cool! Due to Covid, in NYC there is still only outdoor dining, which added a nice atmosphere for our meal. It was quite chilly since it was later into the day but I’m glad regardless that we went!

Sunday.

Today was our last day of our weekend city getaway. Another early start to the day, to get all packed up and ready to get our things cleaned out of the room. We walked some of our stuff to the car so we didn’t have to carry it all at once and got some bagels on the way back. We enjoyed them on the roof of the hotel, got the rest of our stuff and said bye to our “home” for our short stay.

The weekend provided us with a nice getaway, time to ourselves, beautiful fall like weather and memories I won’t forget 🙂 .

Pricing and such:
The Edge – $36 per person with a scheduled time, $56 to go anytime of day. Located at 30 Hudson Yards.
The Vessel – Free with a scheduled time, $10 to go anytime of day. Located at 20 Hudson Yards.
The Highline – Free anytime of day. Located at 23rd St and 10th Ave.

See ya,
Samm 🌻