Right before Thanksgiving, Nathan and I got away for a few days in NYC to celebrate our anniversary. We had so much fun getting to spend time talking, playing around the city, and eating so much! Earlier this week I shared all of the amazing food and drinks that we loved in NYC. Today I’m going to share some of our favorite activities from this visit to NYC! I’ve saved down to my Instagram Highlights all of my favorite clips from the trip too.

Nathan and I have been to NYC numerous times, both together and as kids with our families. So, the things that we chose to do this time around were mostly off the beaten path. If you’ve never been to NY before, you absolutely need to to the big touristy things – The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the World Trade Center Memorial. They are not to be missed things as an American city, or anyone visiting NYC.

Nathan had never done the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island before, and it had been 15 years since the last time I went, so we did hop over to Ellis Island for the afternoon one day.

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Brooklyn Bowl || We love Brooklyn. It doesn’t get enough credit in the scheme of NYC things to do, but Nathan and I love to walk around Williamsburg or stop into Brooklyn Bowl for a quick game of bowling. Or hop over to the Brooklyn Brewery next door for a pint.

Food Tour of Greenwich Village || One of my most favorite things to do in a city is to take a food tour, and this one was fabulous. Our guide was so knowledgeable about this little neighborhood, and the shops have been around for multi-generations, usually specializing in one specific thing (i.e. just pizza, or just cheese, or just olive oil). It’s a great way to learn about the city while getting the lowdown on some fantastic restaurants.

Walk the Brooklyn Bridge at night || We walked the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan at night after our afternoon and evening eating pizza, bowling, and checking out the flea markets in Brooklyn. This view of the city is breathtaking, and at night with the city lit up, it’s not to be missed.

I’m a theater kid at heart. Broadway theater in New York is, in my opinion, not to be missed. There are so many good blog posts and articles about how to get good theater tickets. There are lotteries, the TKTS booth in Tims Square, or simply walking up to the box office. I prefer to not waste my time by standing in line, and end up paying a bit more and buy them either directly from Ticketmaster or through Stubhub.

This time around we saw Hamilton and the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. They were both mind glowingly good in very different ways. The Rockettes are easy to appreciate even to the untrained eye. Their high kicks, and perfect synchronization are undeniably mesmerizing. And Hamilton was. Well, Insane. If you’re at all tuned into the theater world, you don’t need me to tell you that. 🙂

Stay

We had hotel points to use, so Nathan picked out the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever stayed in with an incredible view. Every morning, I had to pinch myself because I couldn’t believe just how breathtaking it was with all of the Central Park trees adorned in their fall colors. It was the kind of stuff movies were made of. This was our view for four days:

JW Marriott Essex House || The hotel was beautiful, and had dark wood and old glamour throughout. It was truly a dream, and I can’t believe that we were lucky enough to live like this for a few days.