Weekend in NYC? Yes, Please!

My family hasn’t gone on a family trip for a while. Between school, sports, and their social lives, the timing just never worked out for us. We finally found one weekend when an opportunity for us to go to NYC came around to us.

We booked our flights and then thought about what we wanted to do. Now that the children are older, you would think it is easier for them to give input as to what they would like to do there. They still didn’t really give too much input and left it up to the parents.

So–what did we do in NYC? Here goes.

Day 1 — ITO–NYC
We flew on Hawaiian Airlines from ITO–HNL–JFK. We normally would use our accumulated miles to upgrade to the wonderful lie-flat seats but none were available for purchase so we sat in the Extra Comfort section. For a red-eye flight that is 10 or more hours, the few extra inches is worth it! The sunrise from the plane before landing was beautiful so if you’re on this flight, be sure to open the window before landing. We landed in NYC at around 7 a.m. and hit the ground running–especially since our Knickerbocker hotel room wasn’t ready yet. We walked and explored our way to Grand Central Station where we shopped in the area (and bought some cheese) until our 11:30 a.m. Grand Central Oyster Bar lunch reservation. After lunch, we headed to the Lincoln Center TKTS booth to get our tickets to Beautiful: The Carole King Story musical for that evening. After that we headed back to the hotel where my husband and the two kids took a long nap while I unpacked and relaxed. I got my husband up so we could enjoy a cocktail and a snack at the rooftop bar of the Knickerbocker Hotel before heading out to our show. The kids preferred to get a few more hours of sleep rather than get a snack with us. I saw Beautiful with some friends on my last trip to NYC and recommended that my husband see it since he loves musicals and Carole King’s songs. It was a good call for our family. (Previous NYC Beautiful visit) After the show, we walked to Sake Bar Hagi 46 on 46th Street since my son loves izakaya food. We used to enjoy the original location on 49th Street but it has since closed down. (Previous Sake Bar Hagi visit) On the way, we caught a glimpse of Barry Manilow. Awesome–NYC evening–cocktail, show, celebrity sighting, food and nightcap.

Day 2 — NYC
I woke up first in my family (as usual) and headed to the Times Square TKTS booth to get our matinee tickets for the day. The line at the Times Square TKTS booth is super long but if you have purchased tickets in the last 7 days, you can use their “fast pass” line. I showed my tickets from the day before and could cut to the front of the very, very long line to get our tickets for Beetlejuice. Once I had the discount tickets in hand, we went to lunch. My daughter loves chain restaurants–maybe for the name recognition–so we ate at Olive Garden for lunch. After lunch, we headed to Beetlejuice musical and caught a sighting of the main performer as we waited in line to get in. Beetlejuice was fun. After the show, we went walking/shopping and came across a street fair. NYC seems to have street fairs every weekend during the summer. We ended up in the Koreatown area and had an early dinner at Madangsui. Meat makes my son and husband happy. We went shopping even more and then headed to a late snack at another chain for my daughter–Buffalo Wild Wings. A full day of walking, eating, and exploring.

Day 3 — Last day in the city
I wanted to eat a cheesecake so I dragged my family to Junior’s in Times Square for lunch. (Did you know they have a Junior’s cookbook?) We had soup and sandwich combos and their famous cheesecake. After lunch, we headed to Soho to visit the Color Factory interactive exhibit. Super fun! In addition to the fun exhibits, there were treats throughout the entire place. Mochi ice cream, candy, gelato, macarons, soda. If the exhibit shows up near you, you should go! It was in San Francisco before NYC and I think will be going to Houston next. We took the subway back to our hotel and got ready for dinner at the top of the Marriott Marquis at The View restaurant known for — the view. I timed the reservation so that we could see the sunset on our last evening in NYC.