New York City | Travel Tales

See my city ranking, non-obvious recommendations, and favorite craft beer bar! ​

​Monday, May 29th, 2017
​Weather: High 60/Low 54 cloud and rainy
Distance: 27,065 steps, 12.4 miles
 
I had a late flight and took my usual shuttle to subway route into the city so I didn't get to my friend Brandon's in Greenpoint, Brooklyn until about 12:30 am. When I woke up that morning, I met up with my friend Joel at Oaxaca in Bed-Stuy. Even when traveling I test out the Mexican food and got some enchiladas, they were okay. Joel works at the New York Times and before he started his shift he took me on a tour of the office which was cool!

View from a conference room in the New York Times office.

 After I left the Times (that's what all the cool people call it), I met up with Brandon at his bar, As Is, in Hell's Kitchen. If you are into craft beer you need to stop by! It is consistently in the top beer bar lists for NYC and USA Today ranked them Number 6 for 2019! When I showed up he had a cannoli birthday cake from Fortunato Brothers, has some really good treats!

​In the craft beer crowd it is common to trade beer or give gifts of beer, and he had been given a double IPA from Monkish Brewing Co in California. It meant nothing to me but I'm a supportive friend so I had some! I am typically a stout or wheat kind of guy, but this was a good IPA! Since we already starting drinking I ordered a stout aged with vanilla-coconut called Prairie Paradise from Oklahoma. Next, the Off Color Sports which was a tiki-style sour witch grapefruit-passion fruit from Illinois. 

After a few midday beers we set off to wander around the city. Near the bar is the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum so we stopped by to check out some Naval ships. All the drinking and looking at ships really worked up our appetites, so we made our way to Emilio Ballato for dinner and snagged some Davey’s Ice Cream after.

​Most people who live in New York try and avoid Time Square. It is cool to see but that place can be a mad house! It was on our way back to his bar, so we had no choice but to go through it. This time it was worth it because somehow Brandon met some dude that had access to some app, that he gave to Brandon that allowed him to change the color on two of the antennas, so we messed around with that for a bit. We finally made it back to As Is and I finished out the day of drinking beer with a To Ol Velvets, which is a blue tart saison with blueberries from Denmark.

Tuesday, May 30th, 2017
Weather: High 60/Low 54 cloud and sprinkling rain
Distance: 16,436 steps, 8.2 miles

Brandon and I started our day with a run down to the East River and took in the view of the city. After the run, we grabbed lunch at Esmeralda and continued getting those steps in by walking through McCarren park in Brooklyn to meet up with his girlfriend. I third wheeled it as we took her dog, Rocko, on a walk. We stopped by  Van Leeuwen for ice cream so both Rocko and I were happy!

Later that afternoon we met up with another friend of mine,  John, at Habana Outpost in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I got my usual, a  Cuban sandwich with Mexican style grilled corn. John lived nearby so we went back to his apartment to hang out and meet up with his girlfriend. After we left, Brandon, his girlfriend, and I went to Spuyern Duyvil  for some drinks.

Biggie mural near Habana Outpost

Wednesday, May 31st, 2017
Weather: High 73/Low 58 partly cloudy
Distance: 18,000 steps, 8.9 miles
 
Brandon and I again started the day with a run down to the water. I had to earn the treats I knew I'd get later! We met his girlfriend for brunch at Enid’s, which is by McCarren Park. Brunch led to sitting and enjoying the sun at the park for about an hour, which then led to getting that treat I earned at Du’s donut. They have unique combinations of taste and a cool view of the city!

We then headed to the West Village in Manhattan and stopped by Court Street Grocers, to pick up a sandwich for my flight. I definitely recommend it! Nearby is a pizza place called Joe’s which I have to stop by at least once per trip, so I snagged two slices of cheese. The last stop was the Blind Tiger (another great craft beer bar) with John, Brandon, his girlfriend, my friend Paul, and his now wife before heading out. ​

New York City Thoughts

Getting Around: 9/10
The city is relatively small so you can walk around and there is a subway. There are also cabs, ubers, and bikes to get around for longer trips. Traffic can be awful and subways can be super packed but you may also catch a subway so!

Things to do:  10/10
Whether you want to go to a top ranked cocktail bar, a comedy show, a sporting event, a concert in the park, or an art museum,  you can do whatever you want here.

Food: 10/10
Although the whole city is expensive, you can find cheaper options if you want to by just grabbing a slice or if you want to get all fancy and spend thousands you can do that also.

Overall: 10/10
This rating is a little unfair because I love New York. I first went when I was 15 (so like 2005) and was captivated by the lights and energy of the city. I loved watching people selling knock off handbags, it was so interesting to me! They had a system of when they heard cops were coming they'd wrap up their stuff, throw it over their shoulder and were on their way. I respected the hustle! I've then gone back in 2011, 2014, 2015 (lived in Brooklyn for 8 weeks), 2016, 2017, and 2018. It helps that two of my best friends live here. 

​New York has everything you could want. There are famous landmarks, historical places, great food and drinks, public transportation to easily get around, historic museums, cultural events, free events, and more. The city isn't perfect, it can be hot during the summer and cold during the winter, overly crowded and expensive, but hey, I've yet to see the perfect city. If you want a quiet day you can go into Central Park and you'll forget you are in one of the biggest cities in the world. If you're bored on a Tuesday you can go to the Comedy Cellar and might run into Paul Rudd, Adam Driver, and Jonah Hill as they watch Judd Apatow do stand up like I've done. You may be visiting your friend at the coffee shop he works at and see a Seth Meyers sketch be filmed. There are speakeasies, rooftop bars, and some of the best cocktail or craft beer bars in the world (check out As Is). From my experience, there really is no other place like it! If you want to see where it ranks against other places I've gone that is here

​My Non-Obvious New York Recommendations:

• I think the subway is easy to get around the city.
• Go to the Comedy Cellar but make sure it's a week night.
• I like Joe's when I grab a slice.
• As Is is my favorite beer bar but Blind Tiger is also good.
• Mr. Purple has a good rooftop bar but so does the Metropolitan Museum which overlooks Central Park.
• The people that will try and gather a crowd when your in a park is never worth it!
• I like hanging at Washington Square Park the most.

​I created a whole post about all the things to do in NYC and you can check that out here.

What To Bring

If you wanted to know what I bring on my backpacking trips you can find that here.

If you are interested in getting travel insurance I recommend TravelInsurance.com. They are considered one of best in the industry, you can easily compare coverages and get the right one for you.

​What To Do

Here some more pictures from other trips to NYC.