Travel Zone: Conquering New Year’s Eve in NYC... Girls Trips ... Was It Worth It?
Updated: Aug 10, 2019
New Year Eve in NYC.... I know everyone's big question as a non local would be, was it worth it? Well... with all the hiccups we dealt with along the way in short, my first answer would be YES! There is a huge story to tell here so grab your story time tea and get ready lol. Before I begin I would like to go on record and say never let anyone deter you from anything you want to do. When I spoke to all my friends and said "omg I want to go to NY to see the ball drop", I got hit with so much negativity. I was told that it would be cold several times as if I didn't know that already. Everyone was also like oh it's going to be ultra pack. My response in short was that I wanted a first hand experience to tell for myself. One thing I know by living in Miami is that tourist fun is never fun to locals because they have done it so much that they are now tired of it. Take south beach for example you can't pay me to walk Ocean Drive for fun, but to someone that has never done it they will walk it a million times.
With the right friends anything is fun! I cannot express this enough. Please never travel with those Debbie downer friends that have an excuse for everything... don't want to spend money, and want to sit up in a hotel room all day. It's a waste of your time, you will regret it and it will make you feel so unfulfilled that you travel back to the same destination with a new group.
New Year's Eve started out a bit rough because the rain Gods were not on our side. To top it off, on the radio we heard the most heart wrenching news... NO umbrellas allowed in the park. What? No umbrellas, it is COLD, and I need to protect my hair. (ugh)! Can you believe it rained the whole day up until 1 a.m. and quit? It felt like a total set up. Even with the rain we were all determined. We left the umbrellas in the car and went dancing in the rain. The regrouping was real y'all I won't lie. We almost said forget it like 5x, but we all were like we can't give up on your mission. No need to come so far and so close to just leave empty handed. With determination in mind I snagged me up a poncho and we kept it moving! The experiences was one I will not forget. Even with the huge crowds, being wet, and cold we had a blast! The main goal was set and we felt accomplished.
Word of advice that can make seeing the ball drop a lot easier, plan ahead and book a indoor roof top venue. This is something I began thinking about when it was a little too late. By the time I thought of this genius idea and began researching it, the prices were outrageous!
What's travel without a touch of the night scene. Being from Miami, every where I go I like to check out the clubs and see where they rank on a scale of 1 to Miami. I haven't met a city yet that has hit Miami, but they are always fun in their own way. Sometimes we get lucky and rub shoulders with very prominent people, other times the fun just finds you and you're lost in the moment.
Here's a list of things that are a must do in NYC and some are still on my check list for the next go round. NYC is such a big town there was no way we could cram everything in one trip.
Statue of liberty Tour
Long Island
Time square
Rockefeller Center (there’s ice skating to be done ☺️)
Angels night club
Empire State Building
D P Lounge
40/ 40 Club
Phillippe Chow (Restaurant)
Le Coucou (Restaurant)
Wax Museum
Broklyn Bridge
Daniel (Restaurant)
Le Berdain (Restaurant)
China Town
Coney Island
Little Italy Pizza
Brooklyn
Harlem
Broadway shows
Carmine’s in Times Square (Restaurant)
Tonys Di Napoli in Time Square (Restaurant)
The World Trade Center
Max Brenner in Manhattan
The Hampton's are popping in the summer
There are a number of tours that can help you swiftly move through most of these things or if you're adventurous like me you can set out on your own to conquer New York.
Happy 2019
*safety note: be careful of pick pocket-ers, scammers, and always use the buddy system when necessary.