Generally speaking, I am not a spontaneous person. My mind doesn’t normally even consider last-minute major decision-making, particularly with travel. Sure, I have about 10 different Google flight alerts set for various destinations on any given day, but I’m never anticipating buying a ticket the moment I get a price drop email. However, every rule has an exception, and for me, it was booking a whirlwind trip to New York City one week before departure. For others, this might not seem fully spontaneous, but for me it was wild!

I had driven through NYC on the way to its various airports to fly elsewhere on numerous occasions, but I had never actually visited the “greatest city in the world.” I have traveled extensively outside of the United States, but I have quite far to go to cross off all 50 states. So, when dates/times/prices worked out to travel for a brief 56-hour adventure with two of my close friends, the advance-planning portion of my brain was overruled by adrenaline & a desperate desire to see somewhere new.

A key detail of this trip: last August, my best friend Emily bought a Hilton Grand Vacation hotel deal for two nights in NYC for a crazy low price. The catch that she knew about, of course, was that she would have to sit through a timeshare presentation. The catch she didn’t realize was that there were extreme limitations on when that two-night stay could be used. For months, we tried to plan various NYC adventures with a mix of friends and dates, but the archaic booking system meant that it was extremely hard to ever find dates that were remotely convenient for a group of busy women. When we finally decided to make the trip work with our friend, Natalia, in mid-March, it seemed likely that we would again be foiled in our efforts to use the pre-paid-for stay. But, luck (and a kind customer service man) was finally on our side and we successfully booked a mid-town hotel, just off of 5^th Avenue. With one week before the trip, we booked plane tickets, cancelled any remaining plans and started to plan out what we wanted to do in NYC.

The adventure started VERY early (aka the middle of the night) on a Monday. We drove to O’Hare, parked in the long-term parking and breezed through security (lines are mercifully not very long at 4:50 a.m. and Starbucks opened at 5 a.m.). Fueled by caffeine and delusion we tried to keep our eyes open for the requisite people-watching pre-departure and then practically fell into our assigned seats. I annoyingly couldn’t sleep, but I’m not sure it would have helped much anyway. The day was going to be long regardless.

Natalia was actually on a different flight, but we all reconnected easily at LaGuardia and went to the official cab stand to get a ride into the city. The ride was pretty fast, and cheaper than I anticipated (I had incorrectly read somewhere on the Internet that all cabs to-from LaGuardia were a standard $90 set rate, and that thankfully wasn’t the case on either of our rides). As we drove through various neighborhoods on the way to the hotel, we chatted about what our plan for the day(s) should be.

Both Emily and Natalia had been to New York previously and had great recommendations for things to see and do. My must-do list was short: go to the Met, eat a bagel, eat a New York slice and walk through Central Park. Our hotel room on the top floor of The Central at 5^th was ready when we arrived, which was so nice to drop our stuff off, wash faces, brush teeth and reset before heading out to explore. Also, the hotel offered complimentary water every time we came and went which was SO NICE. That has to be such a minimal cost to them, and felt so lovely to be hydrated for free in a busy, touristic place. I would love for more hotels to do the same!

Refreshed, we set out for a full-day of walking and wandering. Our flight out was set for late afternoon on Wednesday, so the goal was to cram in as much as possible in those 2.5 days. I’m pleased to report: we did! Every item on my personal list was crossed off in addition to so much more.

Overall, we had great early spring weather and although NYC wasn’t quite in full bloom, there was beauty sprouting up everywhere. I’m not sure NYC is ever not busy, but we were probably there in what is still the shoulder season. So, while there were certainly many, many, many people everywhere, I didn’t feel overwhelmed by crowds at any point. I was amazed and slightly overwhelmed by the size and scope of the city, and truly astounded to discover that when we walked from the south end of Central Park to the Met, we had barely covered half of the length of the park. I’ve lived nearish to Chicago my whole life and frequently go downtown, so it’s not like I’m not used to being in a major metropolitan city. But, New York was so much bigger than I anticipated. The diversity in cultures, both in locals and tourists was pretty wonderful to experience and the mix of architectural styles was amazing.

At the end of the trip I was totally and completely spent, but also, so grateful for the experience. I would not say that I fell in love with NYC, but I really enjoyed the adventure and look forward to going back.

The Highlights

The Met (better than I imagined!). Central Park. Sausage, egg and cheese on an everything bagel. Lobby of The Plaza. Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Trying on touristic souvenir apparel. Bethesda Terrace and Fountain. Rockefeller Center. St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Coffee & pastries from Maman. Navigating the metro (despite what is, in my opinion, very unhelpful wayfinding). Ground Zero. Little Italy. Washington Square Park. Times Square (although I would be more than happy to never go there again). Walking the length of the Highline. Little Island at Pier 55. Grand Central Station. See Audra McDonald perform in Gypsy (her performance was insane, but the show itself was not my fav). New York Public Library. Hudson Yards. New York Slice with pepperoni and mushrooms. New York Stock Exchange.

The Remarkable

There were so many standout moments from the trip, but one of my favorite things we did was to see the permanent collection exhibit at the New York Public Library. The museum-style exhibition was not enormous, but highlighted a cross-section of just a few of the library’s extensive collection of important historical and cultural artifacts. Among other things, I got to see the original Winnie the Pooh teddy bear, Charles Dicken’s writing desk, a first manuscript of The Secret Garden and initial sketches for costumes from West Side Story. We unfortunately arrived too late to go in to the Rose Reading Room, but we did gawk for a while at the stunning rotunda and spent some time (and money) perusing the library’s gift shop.

SDG