I am just back from celebrating my 21st birthday in New York with my boyfriend Jordan. We spent 5 nights over in New York, we flew with Virgin on a Delta flight and stayed at the Wyndham New Yorker Hotel. The flight was comfortable with a complimentary bar and nice food which was a surprise as plane food isn’t always the nicest. I had creamy gnocchi and a salted caramel pudding, all meals and drinks were included in our flight. We landed at JFK after a 7-hour flight and we were in border control for around 2 hours before departing for the city.
Our first night consisted of a walk around times square and a pizza before settling in for an early night. We woke up on the Saturday which was my birthday and we headed for the 9/11 museum, a rather wet and windy day so we didn’t stay for long. We decided to go to Madame Tussauds as the weather was getting progressively worse. We really enjoyed it and we spent just over an hour in there before heading to Bubba Gumps, the famous restaurant chain featuring memorabilia from Forrest Gump, for some lunch where I was surprised by the whole restaurant singing Happy Birthday and a small cake. We headed back to the hotel before going to Keen’s Steakhouse for my birthday meal. Two fillet steaks, dessert and a few drinks later we left with full belly’s and a rather light pocket.
We spent the next few days sightseeing and attended a basketball game on the Sunday night. It was an amazing trip and a once in a lifetime opportunity! We would definitely go back but maybe in a good few years when hopefully there are some new sights to see too. Potentially at Christmas time because I’ve heard its magical.
A few highlights of the trip were the New York Knicks vs. Brooklyn Nets basketball game, where there was a lovely tribute to Kobe Bryant who sadly passed away that day and also visiting the Empire State Building. We got to try a corndog too which was surprisingly amazing, we enjoyed this as we walked through Central Park seeing some of the famous sights. One being the Lennon ‘Imagine’ memorial, just outside his apartment where he was shot.
I would recommend everyone visiting the city, we visited in the quietest month of the year and it was very busy for us so unsure about summertime! We booked through Barrhead Travel and they were brilliant, everything was so organised. Both Virgin and Delta flights were comfortable and our hotel was very central, straight across from Madison Square Garden, and the hotel was clean and comfortable and perfect for the 5 nights we were there. If you also book through Barrhead they ensure you don’t pay resort fees as you can get hit with around 50 dollar/ night fees if you book through yourself. Just a tip as they don’t tell you this until you arrive!
All in all, it was a fantastic trip! Another place ticked off the bucket list. Next stop, Australia…
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