Hello everybody! Hi from Nyc!
We are the brave people that went to New York at hopefully what is the slow end of this pandemic. I got news for you New York City isn’t that scary as how you see it on TV! Frankly I was worried, but for the most past it’s the same still memorable places to visit. So I want to encourage travel back to this amazing city by giving you some tips on enjoying iconic NYC with your kids especially if you always dreamed of coming.
Where I grew up
I grew up very close to the city (that’s what people in my area called the Tri-State: NY, NJ & CT) refer to as NYC. I’m from Connecticut which is about 30-40 minutes away by train. My father worked in the city, he would take Metro North the commuter train in every day. He originally had lived in NYC but like many professionals decided once having kids to move out to the suburbs. So after arriving from Korea, I grew up on the periphery of NYC area.
When I was in high school my real love of the city began. I remember sneaking out of school, cutting classes and going into the city for the day. During my university days I had internships in the summer and would live in the city. I totally grew up admiring the Sex and the City crew, so I loved trying to make NYC my playground.
Tour with Kids
Since I now have children it’s harder to make it into lower Manhattan. To me it’s a bit less kid friendly. I really want my kids to fall in love with the magic of it all, so I try to focus on the amazing iconic sites uptown. So whenever I’m home I take the kids in by myself (even when Teddy was in a stroller). I want to give you some advice, if you have been scared to come but you want to visit. How to do a short but amazing tour of the city in 4 hours (if you add a museum it can be an all day thing too).
Prepping is necessary
If you are driving in, I always recommend that you park in the East 50’s or closer to the Upper East Side. I use this great APP called a new York City Best Parking and it saves me about fifty percent in fees. You can always take in the train, I personally love Grand Central Station but with Covid going on it was a headache.
Look or this APP icon in your App Store or Google Play!
Start
Start at Rockefeller Center, it has so many iconic sites to visit. One of my favourite childhood memories is visiting during Christmas, it’s absolutely amazing but COLD. There’s also Thirty Rock (top of the skyscraper) and Radio City Music Hall. They also have the world famous FAO Schwartz and Nintendo store. My daughter’s favourite is to visit the American Girl Flagship store.
Be a tourist
And from that point you can walk uptown towards the 5th Avenue promenade, there’s also a Lego store. You may see and smell all those hot dog vendors on the city streets. I would save my appetite for the vendors closer to Central Park, if you are the type to eat street food. So approaching Central Park on your left side there will be the Plaza Hotel. If you want to really be a tourist, you can take a carriage ride in the park. I always loved it, but I don’t do it every time it’s expensive. So instead try the carousel, another lovely experience!
Hungry
From the park, I usually right go towards Madison Avenue, and right there is a favourite old haunt Serafina Fabulous Wood Grilled Pizza. That’s our place to lunch. Recently I started going adding for dessert LA based cupcake company Sprinkles. These are my favourite cupcakes in NY, I prefer them to Magnolia!
MORE SWEETS
Then head over to Bloomingdale’s, I have a favourite frozen yogurt cafe called 24 Karats. My grandmother used to take me there as a kid, they used to have one at every Bloomingdale’s location. It just reminds me of my grandma, so I love it even though I can get froyo so many other places! Then right next to Bloomies is Dylan’s Candy Bar. Fun fact, the Dylan in Dylan’s Candy Bar is POLO by Ralph Lauren’s daughter Dylan! We go to Dylan’s where we pick up all the fun candy. My kids absolutely love it. They have a photo booth, and they always go nuts.
End
Sadly my last trip, this past week we wanted to go to Serendipity 3 (home of the famous frozen hot chocolate) was closed. I checked their website and it seems they are closed temporarily. I hope they open up again.
Extra…
If you have extra couple of hours and you want to do some “culture” with kids, mine always love the Museum of Natural History! You can see those cool dinosaur skeletons and this huge blue whale hanging from the ceiling!
All Links Below
BestParking
Rockefeller Center | NYC’s Famous Cultural Landmark & Observation Deck
FAO Schwarz at Rockefeller Center
American Girl Store – 75 Rockefeller Center
LEGO | NYC Shopping at Rock Center
New York City’s Central Park
Serafina Fabulous Wood Grill
Sprinkles Cupcakes