LIVE FROM NEW YORK…. IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!

“there is something in the new york air that makes sleep useless” - Simone de beauvoir

It’s no secret that Kevin and I LOVE to travel. Food, entertainment, bright lights, big city, sports, music, history… it seems there is nothing New York is missing… yet, we’d never been! To say I had dreamed of visiting New York for a long time would be an understatement! I had been wanting to see the lights, sounds, buildings, and feel the energy of New York for as long as I can remember. What interested me in New York? Well, so many things… first, I love business and economics (I majored in economics in my undergrad) so the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street were something that interested me a ton! I grew up watching Saturday Night Live, Friends, Seinfeld and Sex and The City and the Big Apple seemed to be a character all in its own on these shows. One of my favorite movies is Gangs of New York and after watching that film for the fifth or so time I really dove into a Wikipedia and google wormhole reading all about the history of this incredible city. New York is where people went to make their dreams come true. It always seemed so far away but so close and I had ALWAYS wanted to visit. So, one day Kevin and I were going over our travel plans and we were going to go away the next month. We ran through the ideas of where to go. We had time off in early September (after Labour Day Weekend) but only had a week so figured a long plane ride across the globe wasn’t the best use of our time. And then I looked at Kevin and said… NEW YORK! This is the PERFECT time to go to New York! He agreed and I began to plan our trip! With a month to plan and a week to visit, we began making a list of what we wanted to see and do. We realized that this city was bigger than big… but we truly wouldn’t understand how vast this city was until we arrived. It’s a whole-lotta city! I don’t take it lightly when I write that New York is an amazing city… and do I dare to say it… could it be… the BEST city in the world?

Read along as we visit where Simon & Garfunkel first sang their beautiful tunes, where New Year's strikes midnight at times square, where George Washington took the Oath as the First President of the United States. Where the best television show of all time takes place at 11:35 on Saturday Nights. Where people go to fail, succeed and find the American Dream. Where window shopping on 5th avenue is as historic as the art that sits on the walls of The Met. Where amazing celebrations are had and terrible tragedies have happened. There's one thing I know to be true... "I want to be a part of it... New York, New York".

Accommodations: The Langham 

Kevin and I have been lucky enough to have stayed in some pretty nice hotels during our travels… but this hotel knocks it out of the park (Central Park that is)! If you want to have a luxurious experience with white-glove service where you are treated with the best hospitality ever… I don’t think you'll find a hotel that beats the Langham. So to start, this location is ideal (at least it was for us) being in Manhattan, it is a wonderful and clean part of the city that feel super safe (something us Canadians worried about when traveling to the “Big City”). Being right on fifth avenue (considered one of the most elegant streets in the world), you are surrounded by some of the best sightseeing and walkable locations including the Empire State Building, The Flatiron Building, The New York Public Library, Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. While you walk along this amazing street you’ll see some of the most luxury brands in the world including Tiffany & Co (and you can pretend to be Audrey in Breakfast at Tiffany’s), Chanel, Harry Winston, Bergdorf Goodman, and of course, Saks 5th Avenue! So, not only is the street incredible but you are a ten-minute walk to Grand Central Station and a 15-minute walk to Times Square. If the location doesn’t convince you when you see the beauty and style of this hotel you will be blown away. From the fully lighted entrance to modern art and architecture on the inside, you will be mesmerized. The service from the point of check-in and throughout the stay was incredible. Hospitality is through the roof and the staff is more than happy to accommodate any and all requests. A BIG bonus of this hotel was complimentary use of the house car/driver. You can schedule pick up and drop off in the house jaguar to and from anywhere in Manhattan, just be sure to pre-book in advance. This hotel was OUR FAVOURITE of all time and we hope we will stay again.

THINGS TO DO

(In time-sequential order, not in preference order)

• Times Square. How can you go to New York City and not go to the infamous Times Square? The hustle and bustle, the huge flashing billboards and of course, the big ball drop on New Year’s Eve. We walked to Times Square many times during our stay in New York and it was always great for a casual stroll and some amazing people watching. The Square has a totally different vibe in the day then it does at night so it is worth checking out during both. Until I had visited I actually wasn’t even aware that the hub of the Broadway Theatre district is actually located here. Until I started watching HBO’s The Deuce, I didn’t even know what a seedy history this now-famous tourist destination had so worth doing a little Wikipedia research before your visit. Definitely worth visiting on our trip and would most definitely cruise through on our next time visiting The City That Never Sleeps.

• The Ride. Okay, this tour… cheesy? YES. Fun? Yes. Informative? Yes. We LOVED our tour with Ride The Experience! They offer lots of different experiences, but the one we did was The Tour, powered by the ride. The tour is done in a special motorcoach with floor-to-ceiling glass windows with stadium-style seating so that you don’t miss anything. The guide is funny and professional and tells great stories and the history of New York with a theatrical spin. The 90-minute multimedia tour goes through Midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side. We did this on our first real day in New York and was so great as it gave us our bearings of where things are in this large city. It helped us understand where we wanted to walk around, a full scope of how large Central Park is and showed us some historical locations such as The Dakota Hotel (where John Lennon was shot in the entrance). This was a great, but highly touristy experience and although we wouldn’t do it again, we would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting New York for the first time.

• Central Park. I don’t think any trip to New York would be complete without a visit to Central Park. The over 800-acre park in central Manhattan is vast, beautiful and has just an amazing relaxed vibe in a busy city. There is lots to see including The Central Park Zoo, The Carousel, Sheep Meadow, recreation Centre, and beautiful vast parklands. There are also often street performances happening in the park including musicians, artists, and dancers. We did a bucket-list item that had been on my list for a long time and hired a horse-drawn carriage through central park, and in all honesty, it was a little bit disappointing. We felt we could have seen more on foot and that walking around would have been better. Our host also wasn’t the most friendly and it left us feeling like we had wasted our money. The highlight of the park for me was Strawberry Fields for sure! The memorial dedicated to John Lennon is beautiful with the “Imagine” mosaic and Lennon songs being sung by street performers. The vibes here are calm and peaceful…perfect for a memorial to John Lennon.

• Central Park Boathouse. Having lunch and champagne at the Central Park Boathouse was INCREDIBLE. The views of the lake with a fantastic lunch and bubbles was FANTASTIC. The whole experience was great and would do this again FOR SURE!

• Broadway Shows. Okay, I had always dreamed of going to a Broadway show. After talking to lots of people, we had decided on The Phantom of The Opera. To be honest, we didn’t love it. It was good, but maybe it just wasn’t our thing and I don’t think we would see any of the big musicals again (like Cats, Lion King, etc.). A few days later we decided to try something different…we went to an off-Broadway show and we LOVED it. We saw the adaption of George Orwell’s classic 1984. Starring Tom Sturridge and Olivia Wilde. It was outstanding. The acting, story, strobe lights, blackouts, and theatre were incredible. I think this was definitely our style and we would see an off-Broadway show again, for sure! Especially something as “experimental” as this one! One tip I have for booking shows is to use Today Tix. We were able to purchase cheap last minute tickets on the day of for 1984. When we originally went to purchase tickets the week before from the box office online they were over $100, but day of they were under $20 per seat using Today Tix. Yes, you are taking a risk by having the show sell out by waiting, but if you aren’t stuck on seeing a particular show or taking a chance it is so worth it!

• The Comedy Cellar. My FAVOURITE place in New York. We love seeing comedy shows and this venue has so much history! The cellar regulars include Dave Chappelle, Dave Attell, Nikki Glazer, Aziz Ansari, Amy Schumer among others. It’s cheap to get into a show and a fun time. Even if you don’t see any BIG names you're guaranteed to see hilarious professional comedians and laugh your butt off! The Cellar uses a “showcase” format meaning you won’t be seeing one comedian for a long set but instead a series of comedians performing shorter sets with one “host”. Above the Cellar is The Olive Tree Cafe where you can enjoy live music. If you're lucky you might even see some of your favorite comedians hanging out before or after their sets in the back of the Olive Tree. We were lucky enough to see Chris Rock our first night at The Cellar. I say first night because we came to The Cellar a handful of times during our stay in The Big Apple and will most definitely be back!

• Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty. The tour we did of these two locations was great. The ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty and the tour and historical information about the statue was very interesting. Even more so on this tour, we LOVED learning all about the history of Ellis Island. On Ellis Island, you can explore the museum of immigration which was America’s busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 to 1952. You can really get a glimpse of how intimidating yet hopeful you would feel coming to this new and exciting land. If you visit New York, you NEED to check out this glimpse of history.

• Rockefeller Centre Cue the 30 Rock Theme music…. this was one of the HIGHLIGHTS of my trip. I loved visiting 30 Rockefeller Plaza for one BIG reason... LIVE FROM NEW YORK…. IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT! Okay so the show was not filming when we arrived and I’ve entered the ticket lottery for as long as I can remember, but just doing the studio tour was INCREDIBLE. Being that close to the famous stage where so many of my favorite cold opens, musical acts, monologues, and my favorite... “Weekend Update” happens. Being this close to the stage was amazing and I could really feel the energy in that room. Besides just SNL, we got to visit some news studios, Jimmy Fallon’s Set, and the famous elevators and hallways from 30 Rock. The icing on the cake was visiting “The Top of The Rock” which has amazing views of the city and where a lovely security guard offered to take our photo and it ended up being one of my most favorite photos of Kevin and I. YOU MUST visit Rockefeller Center when you visit New York!

• Wall Street Financial Crisis Walking Tour. I LOVED this Wall Street Tour. The tour was hosted by a retired Wall Street Insider who taught us all about the history of the different buildings in the area, some insights into things we would not have known on our own (like the crack in the wall of Federal Hall that occurred when the plane hit the Twin Towers), learn about the most recent financial crash in 2008, insider gossip and stories of “Wolf of Wall Street” style financiers, and tours of Federal Hall, The House of Morgan and Wall Street. I loved this tour, and our guide and honestly… I would probably do another Wall Street walking tour… but I am a business dork!

• Chelsea Market. Located in the meatpacking district, Chelsea Market is a ginormous food market with vendors from fresh pasta, dessert, seafood, butchers, and CHEESE! Not only can you purchase fresh food for cooking lunch or dinner, but you can also buy a freshly made lunch or dinner to eat in! After gaining ten pounds from eating your way through Chelsea Market, be sure to walk it off on The High Line — a 1.45 mile long elevated park that is built on an old railway line. It’s a beautiful place to grab an iced coffee and walk around!

• Yankee Stadium. We are sports fanatics and thought, while in New York… Take me out to the ball game! A visit to Yankee Stadium was so much fun. Even if you aren’t a baseball fan, the electricity of Yankee Stadium is not comparable to anything else. From the fans swearing at the players, refs, and opposing team to the Hawkers yelling “Cracker Jacks!”, we LOVED donning Yankees hats and cheering on the boys in the pinstripes! Be prepared… the stadium is a trek from the city being located in The Bronx, but it was such a fun experience. We’re not even Yankees fans, we love the Jays!

  As Ol’ Blue Eyes sang, “I want to be a part of it… New York, New York” and we really got to be a part of it for a small slice of time and we enjoyed every minute of it. New York, it was great to visit, and I can’t wait to return!