Beginner’s Guide To New York City

TMPE38
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Jenn: Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Travel Mug Podcast! Meggan, what's new. I feel like it's been awhile.

Meggan: Well I was off a couple of days last week, we went to a really great Airbnb in the Wentworth valley, which was nice. Otherwise we have just. And working and normal stuff go into the gym, all that good stuff, just regular life.

But the getaway was really nice. The funny thing about going away though, a couple of nights during the week is like you have a few drinks on those nights. We had a hot tub. So both nights we were in the hot tub with a few drinks. So Saturday comes and we're home and we're both just like, this feels like a Tuesday because we've already done the usual weekend stuff, but it was a really great getaway.

What have you been up to.

Jenn: Oh, nice.

Yeah. I had my annual Christmas cookie baking weekend with my mom and my mom's best friend and her daughter. And so we had a house full, which was really fun. And yeah, we make a lot of cookies this year. We made 888. Well, we divide them up. We divide them up between the four.

Um, And then a lot of like, we give them away as gifts and, and that sort of thing. So yeah, our record amount was 1056, two years ago. So it is,

Meggan: I mean, kudos to you. That's some, that's some cookie making. I know. And what about home? Reno's when you've been doing in that department,

Jenn: we took down wallpaper, the last of the wallpaper. It is gone, very exciting and painting and that's basically it. We were really pushing to get that hallway done for the cookie baking weekend and thankfully it's done. So I think we're taking a break until the new year.

Meggan: Yeah, just enjoy it.

Jenn: I know I got to put up on my Christmas decoration.

Meggan: That's true. That season is upon us.

Jenn: So we're going to talk about New York city today and I'm really excited. New York. Obviously it was hit pretty hard during the pandemic. It's been pretty quiet, but it started to come back to life and we're super excited about it. We've each been a few times we're by no means experts. But we'd be thought it'd be fun to chat about it and chat about our experiences and the things that we've done.

So we're kind of going to do like a beginner's guide today kind of talking a lot about like major tourist destinations. But yeah, it's kind of like a base guide to kind of get you started. One thing I wanted to mention is before you go, like New York is such a crazy city in the way. You know, everybody has basically seen what New York looks like.

Right. Like you've seen it in movies and it's easy to treat it like like Disney world or something. Like it's like this magical place, but like people actually live there. And so I just wanted to mention that to like respect the city. It's not actually there just for your entertainment. People do live and work there.

And so I find a lot of tourists, like kind of getting. In the way in like you know, stopping on the sidewalk and that sort of thing. So just treat it like a city, not like a theme park.

Meggan: That's a great piece of advice. When were you there? Actually,

Jenn: when was I there? I was there 2010. I went with my family on a family, my last family vacation that my parents paid for.

Um, So it was my dad, my stepmom, and my brother. And then my husband and I went in 2013 and 2017. So my husband's best friend from university. Lived there. So we went to visit him, which was really fun. So he kind of, kind of took us around different places that we wouldn't have necessarily seen. And we also, I didn't over plan these trips because we were going and um, more going with the flow.

So. Yeah, very exciting.

When have you gone?

Meggan: It's been a lot longer ago than you. So the first time is 2004. I went with a couple of friends, 2005, Peter and I went, I will tell you about where we stayed and how that worked in a minute. And then went again with university pals, actually in 2009, which was really fun.

One of them was. A real New York aficionado. So she knew where to take us what to do, where to go. So that was really good. It's always great. Like you mentioned with Ryan's best friend, like to have that inside scoop is always a benefit. So let's get into some things. What do you want? I think we should talk about first and foremost, maybe. Where should people stay.

Jenn: Yeah. So, I mean, if you like Google, like New York city hotels, there's like five bajillion options. So I like to say pretty centrally, so every time we've gone, we've stayed sort of around the times square area. The. Second time you went, we stayed at the paramount, which is like, literally just off times square.

It was really great because it was super close to a subway station. And it was really, really good. The other two I've stayed at, I Googled while we were planning this episode and they're permanently closed. So I won't tell you about them only to say that they were, they were great, but you can no longer stay there.

I wonder. What the building is doing if it's just sitting there or I'm sure the pandemic was hard on hotel businesses. But when picking somewhere to stay anywhere, I always look for the walkability to things that I want to do. And especially in New York, the end, like a subway station close by as well.

Meggan: Definitely I'm the first time I went in 2004 was with my close friend and her friend. We were still in the travel business. Well, my friend actually still is. So we actually got a really great agent rate and we stayed at the Plaza on fifth avenue. Pardon me? It was actually really cool right by central park, right on 5th avenue. Like I really, I felt super, super special. Now we didn't have a great room, of course, because when you do use travel agent rates, sometimes they don't always need to be the best. I didn't care of like this. The location of this place is really all that matters. Now I'm one of our first and very early road trips back when I didn't enjoy the road trip with my husband back when we didn't plan them properly.

Well, we stayed in a cheapy cheapy hotel actually in like Stanford, Connecticut. Right. And we got up each morning and we took the train into the city. So while we were in the city, we had no home base, which really stresses me out. Cause I like, if I'm tired after lunch or whatever, I walked for hours, I need somewhere to rest. So that part was a little bit like disheartening or whatever, but we were on a budget. And if you didn't mind the early train and the late train back, and I mean, really you could relax on the train. It is an idea, especially if you really are on a super-duper budget to do that because you can drive to there, which of course is very economical to Connecticut and then just train it.

So, I mean, I wouldn't do it again in my life, but it is a really great way to save some money. Um, But on my last trip, we actually just stayed. I think this was like pre Airbnb, cause it was 2009, but it was an apartment that we stayed in, which was really convenient, very great location. Great walking distance, like you mentioned, which is so key in New York.

Jenn: Yeah. The first one that I stayed at with my parents was also an apartment, which is really nice because we had you know, a bedroom to like shut the door. And we also had a little kitchenette and we had space since there was four of us, like staying in the same room. It was way better than a typical, like New York hotel rooms are small.

Like if you're, if you're just a couple and you're not in the room very much, it's really not a big deal. But the last hotel we stayed at is closed now. It was called the w New York. That room was tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, but we were hardly in,

Meggan: I find it's kind of reminiscent of European hotel rooms, which are oftentimes very small as well, because of course, they're just trying to maximize the space that they do have.

So speaking of, sort of walking around, like, what is your best advice in your experience in terms of like getting around New York city?

Jenn: Walking is like the number one way I would say to get around for me. We've used the subway system each time. It's a little bit confusing if you've never used the subway system before.

But like it's alright. The train sometimes run late or just like straight up don't show up. So, and they're not always the cleanest. But they, most of the time will get you to where you want to go in maybe somewhat of a timely fashion. Uh, We've enjoyed using. Yeah. I mean, we've used them. It gets you where you want to go.

I prefer to walk we have used Uber or taxis. They can be expensive, so, and the traffic is crazy. So it does not move fast. So I think the fastest way to get around is probably the subway or your own two feet. How about you? How did you get around.

Meggan: Similar done all of those things as well.

I don't think we were there in the time of Uber that's how long it was, but the taxis one really great way that on my first trip in particular we got around was to hop on, hop off bus is a really great option. You sort of get to go at your own pace. There's a lot of stops. You get to get off where you all of a sudden see a place you'd like to see.

Then you get back on when the next bus comes around at the designated spots. There's usually multiple routes and sometimes you can even get multi-day passes. I've done it in several large cities, including New York. And I, I personally really enjoy it. If you're looking to go out and sightsee. We even got to see Harlem that way.

So it was a really great way to sort of see places that are outside that downtown Manhattan core. So I would, I would highly recommend the, and if it's a great day, you can be up on the top and your air. So it's really nice. I enjoyed it.

Jenn: I I've never done a hop on hop off tour, so I think it doesn't come to mind, but I'm like, how do you get around?

It's a really good piece of advice that I should use.

Meggan: Yes. All right. So now the people want to know what, what can we see?

Jenn: I think the first thing we have to talk about is Broadway shows because that's what you think of when you think of New York. Right? So. I've seen four Broadway shows the first trip I went on we saw the lion king and west side story.

The lion king was amazing. I think I started crying right at the very beginning thing. It was really, really amazing. And west side story was really great as well. The second time I went to New York, I saw my, what was , at that time, my favorite musical, which is Phantom of the opera. Still very high up there.

But it was sort of trumped and I'll tell you about that in a minute. The last time we went, we saw Chicago. And so each time we went like the first time, and the second time we went, we bought the tickets online in advance. And then the last time we went, when we saw Chicago, we went to the tickets booth in times square and just kind of bought from the list.

So I think if you have a show in mind that you really, really want to see, you kind of have to buy the tickets. In advance. If you're kind of like, I just want to see a show, you can kind of go to like the discount ticket booth. Right. My dream is to see Hamilton on Broadway. Hamilton is now my favorite musical.

If I could see Lin Manuel Miranda perform, that would make my life, but probably not going to happen. So that's okay. But yeah, I love, love, love shows and musicals and yeah.

Meggan: So I'm on sort of a different spectrum there. And Peter is the exact same way as me and he like loves music. But I do not like movies or TV shows where they're singing and dancing along with the acting.

Literally, as soon as it happens, I change the channel. It is just not my thing. I can't explain it. It's not my jam. But I do love live things. So.I don't love hockey, but if I see hockey live, I love it. So like, it does make a difference in that way. And so I did see in 2009 Mary Poppins on Broadway, it was cool.

Don't get me wrong. Now. I have to admit, I fell asleep. We have really long day of walking around. I was so tired. I would love to have seen the lion king, like, don't get me wrong if that would be spectacular. So there are certain ones that I would certainly another one is the witches one. I cannot remember the name of it.

Jenn: Wicked.

Meggan: Wicked. Yes. I was going to say, Bewitched I'm like, it's not the 1960.

Anyways. So it's really not my jam, but of course it's one of those things, like as, almost like a Rite of passage for New York. So I'm really happy I did it. And for certain shows I would do it again. So that's my Broadway story.

Jenn: What are we going to do next?

Meggan: Well, we're gonna go to central park.

Why wouldn't you. And really when I stayed at the Plaza, it was right across the street. Anyway. So central park, of course, it's beautiful. Literally just to walk around people do a lot of jogging there, especially if they live there. You can take a book read under a tree. It's a really, just an Oasis in the middle of the city, kind of like the public gardens in Halifax, but on a much, much larger scale, we actually even went to a restaurant in central park called Tavern on the green. It was 2004. I, I didn't have the clothing probably appropriate to go to this restaurant. And it was probably a bit out of my wee little budget. But we felt fancy anyway.

Um, And I'm sure there's a section for less fancy people and I'm sure that's where they seated us.. But it was really cool. I loved it and I really loved sort of just the aura of central park and being there I'm not really into the horse and carriage thing at all. Like, that's, that's a no for me. But it all is sort of a part of the overall aura that you do see there, but that piece is part, is a no for me.

Jenn: So I. The three times had been to New York, twice. We're in March and one was in January. So I've never seen.

Listen,

Meggan: I'd like to go to New York in the dead of winter.

Jenn: So I haven't, I feel like I haven't seen central park in like its glory, right? Like

Meggan: You haven't!

Jenn: It's dead sticks. We did get sort of lost in central park, in a snow storm trying to find the Alice in Wonderland statue and my phone died. And then we couldn't find the restaurant. We were meeting our friends at and it was a whole. Thing. But

Meggan: it sounds slightly romantic though. Like, was it like getting lost in a snowstorm?

Jenn: What happened? We were literally rushing, like running through central park. I'm like, I gotta find this frickin statue. And then I did, I took a picture of it and then my phone died and then we're like, well, I don't know where this restaurant is and, but we knew the name of it.

So we took the subway down to where we thought it was. Because in my mind, it, I was like, it's close to the empire state building. It wasn't really like, it was like, you know, 15 blocks, if you can call that close. Sure. Anyway, we ended up like walking into like a hotel or something and getting them to Google where it was . Giving us directions

Meggan: so a bit of a nightmare, then

Jenn: A bit of a nightmare. So anyway, central park, I feel like I haven't seen it in all of its glory. There were kids sledding, as we were like running through central park to get a picture of their kids sledding. And it looked really fun and of course reminded me of home alone, two lost in New York.

But yeah, I, I have done the horse tour and I wouldn't do it now. I know we've talked with us on our, our ethical technical episode that I didn't know any better. And now that I know better, I'm going to do better. So yeah, there's life. I just, I think, you know, think about that. Before you go.

Meggan: Yeah, no, I mean, exactly. And that's, we're all here to learn and evolve. Cause I'm sure back in the day I would have done the exact same thing. Like without a shadow of a doubt, I have done that in old Montreal, so I just wasn't in New York, but I've done it somewhere. So yeah. So central park is a must. One of the things that I did, I can't remember. I think it was the 2009 trip was finding the restaurant from Seinfeld. So obviously the interior was on a set. But you can go and see the diner that they used for the exterior. It is actually at 2880 broadway Morningside Heights in Manhattan. It's just fun for a photo op. You're not doing anything there, but it is really cool. Like it's in almost every episode of that show. So it is really super cool to see from the outside. So I definitely recommend doing that if you're a Seinfeld fan, of course. We did try to find the place where the Soup Nazi was located. But it was actually closed. So we were quite disappointed. I wanted that mushroom soup.

And then the other thing, TV related, cause there's just so much done in New York with TVs and TV and movies. It's the sex in the city tour which includes the Magnolia bakery. I know you've been there as well. Now I did this in 2004, but I Googled it. The tour is still alive and well, like we, it is going strong today and I also learned in the last week that you could actually on Airbnb rent Carrie's apartment.

So that's just another. I know. So if you love the show, the tour's really great. You get to see a lot of, sort of the major points that were significant in the show. The bakeries, one of them is so, so delicious. The cupcakes were to die for. It's really just whimsical fun. And it's usually a bunch of ladies maybe a couple of gay dudes mixed in just really having honestly like the best time.

So I would highly recommend it. If ifSex and the City again was your thing.

Jenn: Yeah, I love that we did go to the bakery. The first time I went with my family, cupcakes were delicious and I seem to remember that good morning, America was filming like very close by like the outside. I, if my brain serves me correctly, which it doesn't always New York smushes together to me, but

Meggan: big, great where to next. Very special, long.

Jenn: Alright. Ellis island and the statue of. Liberty have to go classic New York. So more than 12 million Americans were welcomed via Ellis island. It's a, obviously a tiny little island. If you look at it on a map, but it's a huge significance. You can find the national museum of Ima Nope, sorry.

The national immigration museum there which we did visit. And it, it is well, A visit. I really enjoyed it. So the statue of Liberty is not actually on Ellis island. It's a nearby island called Liberty island. but you can kind of do it on the same tour. So you usually book the boat and it takes you to both islands and you can kind of spend however much time in each spot that you want. The overall journey takes about an hour. So if you just like go and don't really get off too much. But I would plan to spend half a day, honestly, like statue of Liberty.

Maybe you're not going to be there for super long, but you get kind of a cool view of the city as well as the statue. And then the museum, the immigration museum does take a while to kind of go through and read And yeah, it's really fun. Did you, did you do this, Megan?

Meggan: No, I actually didn't. I know. I think you can go back up in the statue of Liberty now. Can't you?

Jenn: I, if it's open, yes. You had to pay extra for that. It wasn't like included in the base.

Meggan: Totally. So, yeah, it's on my to do list my little New York bucket list for when we do go back. So I will be checking it out for sure. Next step is sort of along the same vein, which is the nine 11 Memorial and the museum.

So the museum is open since I was there. So I have not seen it. But it's located at 2, 2 50 Vesey street. It is of course going to be understandably a somber part of your visit. But one, I feel like you should experience when I was there in 2004, whereas actually still just the hole from what I recall.

So it was very early on because this project of course took a really long time. I just think kind of when tragedy happens, We really should honor the people who lost their lives, but also honor it in a way that, you know, we don't want to repeat it so that we don't forget that piece of history going forward.

So even though it is going to sort of be that somber piece of your trip, I think it's, it's really important. Have you visited this site at all?

Jenn: The museum only opened. I can't remember what year the museum opened, but I think it was only open for my 2017 trip. It wasn't open for the ones previous.

So I did visit like the, the hole in the ground. Basically. The first time I went. And then the second time I was there, I think we went up into, I don't remember what this building was, but our friend Roy took us up into a building where you could see down where they were building. I'm not entirely certain if we were supposed to be there, to be honest with you.

But I do have a slightly funny story about being funny, not funny story about a nearby church. So let me tell you, St. Paul's chapel is really close to where the world trade center stood and on nine 11, the church remained unharmed in any way, it didn't even have a broken window. The only damage that it had was some debris got into the pipe, organ pipes, and they had to clean it out.

Like, wow, not even a window broke, like I just can't imagine. Anyway. So hundreds of volunteers worked 12 hour shifts around the clock, serving meals making beds counseling, praying with firefighters construction workers, police. People that were there. And so now you can visit the church and they have displays. From nine 11. So when we were there with our friend in 2013, he said, I'm going to take you to this church. And it was a morning. We had gotten a coffee. We were wandering around the neighborhood and he's like, oh, this church. So we opened the door and walked in.

It isPalm sunday, and we walk into a middle of a church service and we go, oh, oh my God. It was so embarrassing because it is open as like a little bit of a museum in a spot that you could go and.

Meggan: I think I was actually there. I think I was actually there. I not in the middle of a church service,

Jenn: I'm getting like embarrassed again. Just thinking about it in 2013.

Meggan: Oh my God. Well, I'm sure they don't remember you. It's fine.

Jenn: Anyway, I'm sure we weren't the only people ever to like walk in.

Meggan: Is it one of those scenes, like from a movie where everybody whips around to like, see the comes in.

Jenn: Sure in my mind, it is that I probably reality. It was probably like two people learn.

Yes. So pay attention to the calendar. If you want to go to that.

Meggan: I mean, I think that's a good tip. I think that's a great tip. Well, moving on from there, if you want to do something maybe a little more upbeat or flashy or different there's always times square. Let's be real. So this is what most people really think of when they think of New York city billboards, lights, shops, people. Uh, Street performers. There is everything you can imagine. Times square is usually pretty touristy, really busy. Like we're talking. Pre pandemic, it would, it seemed normal. And now people are probably a little bit freaked out by all the people, but I mean that's life. So it is worth a visit. There's lots of shopping, of course, over priced restaurants. I'm pretty sure I went to an olive garden, really high dining,

I mean, salad and breadsticks. Everyone needs unlimited items. Um, And there's so much stuff to see there. It's good for people watching and it's where you'll find a lot, of course, the theaters for the shows. If you want to go to those as well. I mean, it's a must do I can't imagine going to New York and not walking through times square.

Jenn: Yeah, I think it's definitely a must do, but don't spend too much time there.

Meggan: Lots more to see.

Jenn: There's lots more to see, but yes, I definitely recommend going to juniors and getting a slice of cheesecake and maybe don't go to Olive Garden..

Meggan: Maybe not, no, I was, I was on a budge. I had, I had, I just, you know,

Jenn: had to get that free salad and breadsticks to get those

Meggan: hungry.

Jenn: Let's talk about another classic New York city place, which is fifth avenue. Oh, it's mansions. It's museums. It's the Plaza hotel Home Alone 2: lost in New York. I love that movie. I love home alone. The first two, the last ones

Meggan: I've never seen home alone.

Jenn: Megan. Okay. It's almost Christmas. You need to watch.

Meggan: All right. Maybe I'll make it. I think we might've said this last year. I think I'll, I'll, I'll try to make it. I'll try to make it this year. I'll update everyone. I know. You're all dying within wondering, so

Jenn: anywho... Also expensive shops, historic buildings. It's got so many things.

It's huge. It starts at Washington square park and then moves north into Harlem. I definitely take some time, at least walking and taking it all in. You can go in obviously there's museums and things to do. But it is just kind of cool to be. On that street. We, when we went in 2010, it was St Patrick's day.

So we watched the St Patrick's day parade on fifth avenue, which was amazing. Like it was a really highlight of our trip to see that. And Just super cool. Yeah.

Meggan: Well, I mean, Hey, there's an advantage of going in March, just dead trees in the, in the, in the park, but you got to see the parade.

Jenn: We did see a parade, so there's,

Meggan: there is why aren't you next? Tell us what we should see.

Jenn: We are going to the empire state building. New York. Right? Um, The empire state building, it was built in the 1930s. It's 102 stories. And when it opened, it was the tallest building in the world. Currently it's offices, mostly. But you can visit and you can go up. So there's a few options.

So there's the main deck, is at the 86th floor. This is the original spot where you went, it's it's outside. So you go up and then you go outside, you get really great views. I've done it twice. One time we went at night, which I thought was really cool to see like the lights of the city. And then there's another option. The top deck, which is the hundred second floor. So the top, top floor it's obviously not included in the base ticket. You have to pay extra to go up there. But it goes up through it one of a kind glass elevator. So if that's your thing and then as another option, you could do the 80th floor, which is indoors. So you're just looking out through windows.

Meggan: It feels like it's comfort level options. Like maybe you don't want to be at that high and outdoors, so you could stay indoors in the 80th floor

Jenn: yeah, the 80th four thing is new from like a couple of years ago, they've added some sort of like exhibits that I haven't seen inside, which is really neat.

I definitely recommend buying your tickets in advance. You're not standing in the line and there's multiple options like there's upgrades and private tours and like, All these things. So am I actually going to link a, a blog post that I found in the show notes? Because it was really helpful to me because I hadn't done it in a while.

I didn't do it on the 2017 trip and things have changed because when I did it, I think you took an elevator up to the 80th floor and you had to walk upstairs to get to the86th floor. And I don't think

Meggan: we were 2005, so I know that I did it, but I can't remember how

Jenn: I, we definitely walked upstairs and I don't think you have to do it anymore. So that's good because it was.

Meggan: Yeah, I can imagine. Well I think besides the empire state building something that sometimes gets overlooked is actually Rockefeller center. So it is located in Midtown Manhattan. Where of course you can picture it in your mind. The big Christmas tree gets put up every year and there's people figure skating and in.

Which is the only time that I've ever been to New York. Um, There's a restaurant down there, so there's lots of like tables with little umbrellas and stuff. So people are eating there. I definitely recommend visiting top of the rock for a 360 degree view of New York. So it's often overlooked, but this is actually the way you can see the empire state building from the outside is from the top of the Rockefeller center.

So. I kind of enjoyed it almost a little bit more because it was less crowded. Don't get me wrong. There were still lots of people, but it was less crowded than the empire state building. So if you have to choose of course the empire state building iconic, but this actually will give you a view. Of that plus with less people and honestly, some very similar views to the, what you could get at the empire state building as well.

I'm sure we just bought the tickets at the time. I'm sure we were just winning that whole 2005 trip. So I, I'm sure it's probably an advantage to buy them ahead of time, but I know we did buy them on the spot.

Jenn: I completely agree with you. I. Had to choose. I would choose top of the rock. I think that it, when I went, it was also less crowded.

I also think the views are a little bit better just because you do get to look at the empire state building. I totally, totally agree. I think what I would do is do empire state building at night and then to top of the rock during the day, if I had to do both, if someone was forced to,

Tips with Jen, I like it!

Um, Actually the time we went in January, we flew in on January 3rd or fourth.

So all the Christmas decorations are still up. So I did get to see the tree at Rockefeller center so that I definitely do recommend going at Christmas or just after Christmas, because we got to see all the decorations and it was, it was really cool.

Meggan: Very festive, I'm sure.

Jenn: Uber festive.

So next museums, we're not going to list them all because there's like 50 million museums, but I'm going to tell you some of my favorites have been the museum of modern art and the museum of natural history.

I've been to both of them twice. And I really enjoyed them. I've course. Think of the natural history museum, I think of night at the museum movie

Meggan: as one does,

Jenn: It's really fun. And then the museum of modern art was really cool. And I, when I was there the first time, there was a Tim Burton exhibit, which was awesome.

It's of course it's one of those exhibits that changes, but you never know what's going to be there and it's definitely worth visiting. Is there any museums that stand out.

Meggan: No, I would say those ones. I mean, I think maybe I was at the museum of natural history, but I'm a, I'm a museum person, but on a very limited level we did all of the museums in Washington, DC when we were there, like all of those, which included another museum of natural history.

And that was awesome. So I'm not against them, but. It's not usually how I spend all of my time. And not, not that people spend all of their time doing it, but probably I don't think so.

Jenn: Yeah. The, the museums are huge and you kind of have to like, prioritize what you want to see in them, because both times I've done the natural history museum I've missed like the top floor because we start at the bottom and go up and then you're like, oh my God, I'm tired of looking at stuff.

Meggan: I mean it's, I think it's definitely worth it, but yes, I agree really parse your time. If there's specific pieces of art or specific displays, you want to see really pick and choose it's so much to do there.

But unless that's why you're going, that's a whole different story, but it's just part of what you want to do. Just, I would say. Be specific. Yeah,

Jenn: We tried to go to the Guggenheim museum, then the night we got lost in central park and it was a snow storm. But it was, it was a free entrance that night or pay by donation.

And the line to get in was like around the block, like it was insane. So you know, if you're on a budget, there are free museum nights or there used to be, I don't know if they're still, but. They're busy. So like get their super duper duper, duper early

Meggan: right, where to next?

Jenn: To New York city public library.

Meggan: I've never been here. You must tell me about,

Jenn: I mean, it's a beautiful old building when we went, it was still decorated for Christmas. Not that you usually think about visiting a library on your travels, but it was nice to walk through. Yeah, we got warm while we were in, you know, you was cold.

Meggan: I bet it was winter.

Jenn: And when we went in the I think bottom floor was like the kid section and they had the original Winnie, the Pooh stuffed animals that the books are based on. Very cool. I'll share a picture on our social media. It was

Meggan: Canadiana right there in New York.

All right. And then finally tell me next, where you went, where it was also cold, but you needed to see

Jenn: so cold. The Brooklyn bridge. I need to go when it's warm. Anyway, it was so cold. I had to walk across the Brooklyn bridge because I had to do it. You get really like great views of the city, the bridges iconic.

Obviously it opened in 1883. Wow. It's like way older than me. It was going to be. It's yeah, crazy. Anyway, at that time it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. I found this really funny. So shortly after the bridge opened, there was rumors that it was going to collapse and the city, of course, freaking panicked and put these rumors to rest PT Barnum led 21 elephants across the bridge. Like, can you imagine seeing

Meggan: no. Oh my God. It didn't out, calm down if these elephants can do it. So can you.

Jenn: Yeah, crazy. I know. All right, what are we going to do now?

Meggan: Well we mentioned some TV earlier, things that are filmed there. So if this is your jam, get tickets to a talk show or a late night show, like.

So many things are filmed there in terms of like talk shows. So whether it's an advance that is a possibility for some shows or you can like roll the dice and line up the day of, and like, hope you get selected. I really would love to see late night with Stephen Colbert. Yeah. If he could be my husband, I would choose him.

Um,

Peter's aware. But when I was there in 2009, me and my pals did line up and we were actually able to get in, to see live with Regis and Kelly. Sadly Regis was off that day. We got stuck with Pat Sajak, I mean, wheel of fortune, the whole thing, it's fine, but he wasn't Regis. You know, Kelly was fine.

It was, it was a really cool experience actually to sort of see behind the scenes, how all that stuff sort of comes to be. It was really nice. And I remember the guest was Kyra Sedgwick. I remember that she is Kevin Bacon's wife, but an actress in her own. Right. And then the other thing, of course, Sports.

Again, if that's your thing, there's so much to see in terms of professional sports in New York, all of the things are there. I was fortunate enough to see baseball games at old Yankee stadium and new Yankee stadium. My Derek Jeter was playing at the time. And it was some of the best days in my whole life um, as such an immense highlight for me and my friends, I guess they humored me cause they went every time and I was just like, you people are cool.

And we even like navigated the subway into the Bronx. So I mean, that was, that was a big deal. I was very proud of us. Have you ever seen any sports while you're?

Jenn: Yeah, so we, when we went in 2010, we took the train to New Jersey, actually. So I guess I have not seen a sports game in New York, but we went to New Jersey to see the New Jersey devils play, the Pittsburgh penguins, like see Sidney Crosby, which is been exciting as a Nova Scotia.

And it was cool. It was actually St. Patrick's day. So we did the Parade. And then we went over to New Jersey and the New Jersey devils were wearing their green St Patrick's day jerseys that they were once a year. So it was really cool.

Meggan: And it sounds like a great day.

Jenn: My, it was, it was my first NHL game and it was really, really fun.

I definitely recommend it. And also like concerts there's concerts, you know, all the time in New York. So look it up. See if anybody you want. I see it is point.

Meggan: Yeah. You have to think that like ticket nation or whomever, like they would list by city. You'd have to think or live nation or whomever sells them.

Like what's available when you're going. It's worth it. You never really know because that's one thing as Canadians in particular who maybe live outside of Toronto we don't get as much of that here, but in the U S it's so prevalent to be able to see so many different things in terms of entertainment. So I would definitely check that out.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Something we haven't done in a while. So we're going to talk about some fun facts about New York city. We tried to find some things that maybe weren't as typical as what you would picture. And the first one is the first pizzeria in the U S actually opened in New York city.

Lombardi's in 1895 and it's actually still serving the pizzapie to date.

Jenn: I need to go there now.

Meggan: I know I'll go anywhere for a pizza. Take me to Lombardi's

Jenn: next fun fact is new Yorkers speak more than 800 languages? I mean, not each person speaks 800 languages. That'd be collectively the populations 800 languages.

That's insane.

Meggan: That's crazy. I wonder who counted them all?

Jenn: Yeah,

Meggan: whose job was that?

Jenn: I guess it's census. Like when you fill it,

Meggan: it could very well be it could very well be. And this one really surprised me in New York city. It is illegal. To honk your car horn except under emergency circumstances. So the New York police department can actually issue summonses that carry a $350 fine for unnecessary use of your horn or any other noise coming from a car such as a car alarm.

Like when I picked her New York city in my brain, I just think of car warns

Jenn: that the same. They'd probably, I dunno. Do they just not police it?

Meggan: I do know. Maybe it's one of those arbitrary laws,

Jenn: maybe. I don't know. All right. Next up there is a whispering galley at grand central station. Nope. Whispering gallery at currently go station on the lower level.

So if you and a friend sit on opposite corners of an arched, entryway and face the walls and speak, normally you'll be able to hear each other. You were standing right next to each other, which is really cool grand central station. I think you should go to grand central station, even if you're not taking a train or whatever out of there.

It's very cool. I love the ceiling.

Meggan: Yes. I took the train in and out that much I saw

Jenn: I only went in and looked and then got out.

Meggan: You got no, that's a really great point too. And if Brooklyn was its own city as our last fun fact, instead of a borough in New York city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States.

Like. It's so insane. Like these boroughs are part of New York city yet. Could, you know, the size of them is sort of mind blowing, especially to people like us from small cities. Definitely hard to imagine.

Jenn: All right, that's it. That's it for us this week. There's New York city. We didn't even talk about food.

I feel like that could have been its old entire episode. Just talk about,

Meggan: I mean, all we, the olive garden, we did talk about that. We didn't talk about, we didn't talk about. Yeah, the show is not sponsored by the olive garden.

Jenn: I love you in your own way. Anyway, we thought it'd be a good idea to share beginner tips to New York to get your start on trip planning.

And I can't wait to be back in New York someday. I love it. There was so much. So we would love it. If you enjoyed today's episode, if you would give us a review on apple podcasts, that would be nice. At least you can do I know, or, and you could do both share the show with a travel loving pal that really helps us grow and helps me, people find us.

You can check us out anywhere you listen to podcasts. We're on Facebook. We're on Instagram at travel mug podcast. We're on YouTube. We're at all the places.

Meggan: We are. Yes. Yes. There.

Jenn: Thanks for listening. We'll chat soon. Bye.