Richmond Travels: New York City

I peaced out of Richmond for Labor Day weekend and took the train to NYC with my mom and sister. We planned this trip as a birthday celebration for all of us.

We left on Friday early in the morning and made it to New York by 2:30pm. There is nothing quite like walking out of the train station and into the hustle and bustle of the city. It takes a few minutes to get into the swing of things but within a few minutes we are hailing a cab and are tuning into the city.

We headed to drop our stuff off at the hotel. We were staying at the Roger Smith in Midtown, which was a perfect location. It was located at Lexington and 48th. The hotel was quaint and comfortable.

As soon as our bags were dropped off, we headed straight to the Met. I specifically wanted to see the Comme des Garcons costume exhibit. This is the one from THE Met Gala. If you like fashion at all, you know what I am talking about. Beyonce has been to this exhibit, so naturally I had to go. We explored all over the museum - the Egyptian gallery, Impressionists and more.

But nothing was like the costume exhibit. I think I may have screamed a little when I walked in (much to the chagrin of my sister). The pieces were funky and fresh. They were pretty and punky. The place was packed, but we managed to see it all.

After that, we headed up to the rooftop. Again, my breathe was taken away (maybe New York is bad for my health). We stepped out onto the rooftop of the Met and we saw the whole city. The skyline was right there. It was like you could touch it. We grabbed some drinks and enjoyed the view. I could have spent all night there, but we had reservations.

Dinner was at Butter. Alex Guarnaschelli is one of my favorite Food Network chefs and I was so pumped to try her restaurant. We sat down in the funky but homey restaurant and checked out the drink menu. We decided on cocktails. Mine came flaming. It was a lot of fun.

True to their name, butter was the first thing we were served (with bread of course). I was obsessed. They had an herb butter I wanted to rub on my body. We also got the burrata app. Damn I wanted to die after the first bite. It was the best cheese plate I’ve ever had. The burrata was infused with truffles and had sea salt cracked on top.

I got the shrimp special. My mom got the mussels and spaghetti, my sister got the chicken. It was all classic American and Italian with a little twist. It was all so yummy and we topped it off with a chocolate espresso cake for dessert. Delicious.

Saturday was a big day for us. We started off at Dry Bar Midtown. It was my sister’s suggestion that we go do that and I am so glad she did. It was a ton of fun and our hair looked absolutely fabulous.

After that, we hit 5th Avenue for the best shopping. Bloomingdales, Barneys and Bergdorfs. All the little boutiques. We hit up Saks and had lunch in the cafe. Drank Veuve and looked out over 5th Avenue from five stories above. After lunch, we did more shopping. We ended up near Central Park and walked through for a minute. Mom was tired so she went to rest. Sister and I decided we MUST go to the Plaza for a drink. We sat there for awhile and watched all the fabulousness.

We wandered over to Hermes and got a fun surprise - free ice cream! After that, it was time to go back to the hotel to get ready for our big night. We got ready and decided to grab dinner in the neighborhood. We walked until we found a great italian spot. The service was impeccable and the food was wonderful.

It was Hamilton time now. We grabbed a cab to Broadway and headed to the Richard Rogers. We stood in the rain for a few minutes, but it didn’t matter. We were so pumped to go see the most popular play on the planet. We got in the mad crowd dash and grabbed wines and water at the bar. (They are genius and give you adult sippy cups for the wine.) We settled into our amazing seats (a gift from a friend) and got ready to watch. The play was spectacular. I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to the hype and expectations, but I was blown away. The acting was superb and the story was great.

We stepped out of the play around 11pm and it was pouring. Since it was impossible to get a cab, we ran to the closest bar, which just happened to be The View at the top of the Marriott. It was a rotating bar with views of the whole city. It was a pleasant accident and we ended up staying for drinks until the weather died down and all the show traffic died down too. We went home around 1am.

Sunday was for brunching. We went to The Smith. It was very cute! A big boisterous brunch crowd definitely added to the atmosphere. We got skillet mac and cheese that was out of this world. We had bellinis, burrata and awesome bennys.

We did a little more shopping and headed to the High Line. We walked it for a little then went to Chelsea Market. I absolutely loved the market. They have all sorts of great shops and little places to grab coffee and quick bites. We found a sample sale and some other fun goodies.

Sunday night was the Virginia Tech, West Virginia football game and I dragged my mom and sister to the VT bar in Union Square. Brother Jimmy’s was a typical football bar. We got a table and settled in to watch the game. It was quite the environment. My mom drank liquor from the bottle served by a bartender in a penguin costume. It was an evening for sure. It helped that we won too!

We were leaving on Monday, but not before we walked around the Upper East Side, pretending like we were true New Yorkers. We went to Dean and Deluca and had coffees. After our walk, it was time to pack to head home. It was a truly great weekend in NYC and a wonderful way to spend Labor Day weekend.

#travel #newyorkcity #nyc #food #drinks #broadway #shopping