When we packed up to move across the country a couple years ago, we knew there was going to be A LOT of things we were going to miss about Connecticut and New York: our friends, the food, the cheaper travel options, heck even the weather (some of the time). But we were shocked to find out just how much we actually missed Manhattan. Sex and The City used to call NYC the fifth lady of the group. It took moving to realize just how much I had fallen in love with the city as well. So we decided to head back to the east coast for a vacation. Below you will find our 6-day foodie loving, toddler bringing New York City itinerary.
Our New York City Itinerary: A Summary
- Flight from Honolulu to JFK with a 12 hour layover in Seattle!
- Stay at the Novotel Hotel near Times Square.
- Enjoy fancy-schmancy dinners at Sushi Yasuda, Per Se, Momofuku Ko and Eleven Madison Park.
- Eat at all the places we miss going to now that we are in Hawaii, including Ippudo, Pick a Bagel, Chipotle, The Melting Pot, the Halal Guys and dirty water hot dogs
- Visit Central Park and enjoy play dates, a carriage ride for the whole group, exploring the zoo and hunting for statues.
- Take Emily to the American Museum of Natural History.
- Hang out with friends in White Plains (NY), Hoboken (NJ) and Stamford (CT).
- Return flight from JFK to Honolulu with another 12 hour layover in Seattle.
The Details
Travel Day(s)
Getting out of Dodge Honolulu
Our trip back east started out with a red-eye flight out of Honolulu. Here is my best tip for air travel with a toddler. Book a red-eye flight. These flights were amazing for Emily (and I’m hoping for Leo as well). Toddlers are old enough to have a regular sleep schedule. Therefore, there is a good chance your tyke will conk out for the majority of the flight. However, toddlers are also old enough to be super restless when they are up. There’s nothing like a 5+ hour flight with an awake toddler to make you regret not opting for a flight with a guaranteed sleep time included.
One of the coolest things happened to us before we even left Honolulu. I’ll admit I have a love/hate relationship with TSA. I love that they are just trying to do their job to keep everyone safe. I just hate that they usually aren’t very pleasant to me while they do that. However, on the night of our red-eye, TSA made Emily’s night (if not year). You see that gold sticker on Emily’s shirt? It identifies her as a “Junior TSA Officer”. When we got to security, an agent took one look at her before quickly promoting her from traveler to officer. Emily took her new role very seriously, making sure that the whole family got through security quickly and quietly. What a change from the usual pushing and prodding that tended to happen whenever she had to walk through the metal detector / scanner. Thank you TSA!
Our crazy 12-hour layover in the Centurion Lounge
My family and I spent both of our long layovers camped out in American Express’s answer to luxury airport lounges. Read more about my experience and my thoughts on whether the Platinum Card is worth the $550 annual fee based on its access to the Centurion Lounge.
I don’t think I will ever spend that much time in the Centurion Lounge ever again. However, the most amazing thing happened to us during our layover in the Centurion Lounge. It wasn’t the bells and whistles that came with the “luxury” accommodations. It was an older gentleman exiting the lounge carrying a dozen roses. He stopped all of a sudden, did a 180-degree turn, walked to Emily and handed her a rose. The gentleman quickly turned and walked away without saying a word.
Day 1 in New York City
1. Check into the Novotel Hotel
Twenty-seven hours after we left our home we finally arrived in NYC and were ready to start our vacation. To be frank, I picked the Novotel hotel because it was a) the most cost effective option I could find in b) a great location (Times Square) with c) decent reviews. It had a nondescript street entrance for such a large hotel. However, once you got up to the second floor where the reception was, it was like stepping into a night club with its neon lighting and open area leading directly to the bar.
In terms of location it was perfect for us. Located at 52nd and Broadway it took less than 10 minutes for us to walk to Central Park. As you’ll see below, we frequented Central Park ALL THE TIME. Since Times Square technically ends at 47th street, the Novotel hotel was still very close to one of the world’s busiest pedestrian areas and yet not smack dab in the middle of it.
2. Eat bagels and lox – the perfect NYC breakfast
The first year after I moved back to Honolulu, I couldn’t stomach the bagels. It just tasted so sub par to the amazing options in NYC. Nowadays, I have grown accustomed to Honolulu bagels and even have a favorite bagel location. However, I still made picking up a bagel and lox the first thing on our New York City Itinerary. We opted for Pick a Bagel on 8th Avenue but you really can’t go wrong no matter where you end up.
3. Wander through Times Square
Now that we were tourists instead of wannabe NYCers living in Connecticut, Times Square was one of our first stops. With no set plans until dinner we wandered through shops like Hershey Chocolate World, M&M’s World, the Disney Store and the Muji Store.
4. Kick off the week of fancy NYC dinners at Per Se… and Chipotle
Have those two places ever been linked together in the same sentence before? No? Good. I aim to be unique. Sad fact: Chipotle is not in Hawaii. We REALLY miss Chipotle. So there is probably a good chance you will be reading a lot about us visiting Chipotle whenever we travel to the mainland. Case in point, Bryan and Emily’s first dinner in NYC was take out from Chipotle. And now on to the fancy-schmancy stuff…
At first I shied away from posting too much about food on here. I’m a self proclaimed foodie but I did start a travel blog and not a restaurant review blog. However, Anthony Bourdain summarized my way of thinking the best, “food, culture, people and landscape are absolutely inseparable”. I do believe that finding amazing dining options is part of planning the perfect itinerary and typically spend hours researching favorite local establishments before our trips. I figured it would be a shame to cut that part out of my vacation recaps. And after all, eating in NYC was one of the main reasons for this vacation. Therefore you have been forewarned, there are a lot of food pictures to come, starting with my night out with my mom at Per Se.
Day 2 in New York City
1. Head to Norma’s for a decadent breakfast
One thing has always been on any New York City itinerary whenever our family came to visit. Go to Norma’s for a decadent breakfast. If money is no option to you, there is a lobster frittata with 10 oz of servuga caviar. All this can be had for the low, low cost of $2,000. Nope, that’s not a typo. But if you’d prefer to not walk out of breakfast a couple thousand poorer, my favorite options are the foie gras french toast or artychoked benedict.
2. Visit Central Park (Part 1)
I received a card from a family friend when my daughter was born. It said “I’m so excited for you to experience rediscovering the world through your daughter’s eyes”. That line has stuck with me ever since and was especially relatable during our times in Central Park. With a toddler in tow, of course Central Park was on my New York City itinerary… once. Turns out that Central Park is the most popular city park in America for a reason. One time at the park ended up not being enough for any of us and we spent the better part of the week discovering something new we had miss the day before.
I don’t know any other way to describe Central Park than to call it magical. An oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle that is Manhattan, Central Park is three avenues wide and stretches from 59th Street all the way up to 110th Street. There are so many different places to see and explore, from playgrounds to the Bethesda Fountain, from Belvedere Castle to Strawberry Fields with its black and white Imagine mosaic.
We even became the ultimate tourists and took a horse drawn carriage!
3. Eat at Sushi Yasuda… named the best sushi restaurant in America (by me)
I wrote about my favorite sushi restaurant in my list of best restaurants to eat at in NYC. But I’ll shill for them again… (for FREE mind you) go eat there… you won’t regret it!
Day 3 in New York City
1. Lions and Tigers and Bears… and Mountain Lions at the American Museum of Natural History
When planning this trip, there were two places on my “must take Emily to” list for New York City: one was Central Park and the other was the American Museum of Natural History. Located on the upper west side of Manhattan, AMNH is one of the largest museums in the world. Its collection of artifacts is so great that only a small portion can be displayed at a time. When I was planning our stop here I pictured showing Emily one display after another. I would open up her mind to the vast world on display thanks to AMNH. But kids will be kids and Emily proved that toddlers and labored over itineraries do not often mix. She was so enamored with the animal displays (especially the mountain lion) that we spent most of our time there.
2. Visit Central Park (Part II)
Another great thing about AMNH? It’s across the street from Central Park. So of course our walk back to our hotel from the museum included a stroll through our favorite part of Manhattan.
3. Ellen’s Stardust Diner – a huge win for our little one
Need a place to take the little ones in your party? This place is it. My mom and Emily took the 1-minute walk from the Novotel Hotel to the famed Ellen’s Stardust Diner. Emily loved watching the future stars of Broadway serenading her while she ate. A little kitchy sure, but any musical loving fan will love it.
4. Filling our bellies at Momofuku Ko
While Emily and my mom hit up Ellen’s Stardust Diner, Bryan and I tracked down Momofuku Ko in its new and bigger location. See my discussion on the best places to eat at in NYC for my recap on our experience at Momofuku Ko. Want a spoiler? It was amazing!
Day 4 in New York City
1. Have a play date in… (you guessed it) Central Park
Once upon a time I was a 20-something year old and I had a friend that lived in Connecticut. We would do Connecticut things like go to soul cycle, drink in downtown Stamford, hop the train and drink in NYC, and grab coffee together. Then we both became 30-something year olds, popped out kids and moved away from Connecticut. But the stars aligned and she had moved to NYC for about a year and was still 1 month away from relocating to Miami when I went back to visit. So we grabbed coffee together (some things never change) and took our kids to Central Park.
Now, even before this vacation I had been to Central Park countless times before. However, I remained oblivious to the vast amount of playground structures until this trip. We only made it to the playgrounds in the southern section of the park and still felt like everywhere we turned was one more playground. Here is an extensive listing of playgrounds within all of Central Park.
2. Dinner at the world’s best restaurant – Eleven Madison Park
In 6 days of gorging myself, this was the only restaurant that I hadn’t been to before. Family and friends were singing EMP’s merits for years by this point and San Pellegrino had named this 3-Michelin Star Restaurant the best restaurant in the world. I was skeptical. I was actually cocky enough to think that there was no way that I didn’t already know about the best restaurant in New York. So we went to see what all the fuss was about. And you know what? I’m a big enough person to say when I’ve made a mistake. San Pellegrino, you knew what you were talking about. Read about my experience at EMP along with the other best restaurants in New York City.
3. Taking a (not quite) three-year-old to Broadway
When my mom decided to take Emily to a Broadway show I thought she was crazy. The closest Emily had come to sitting through a feature length performance before then was going to watch Finding Dory. We had to leave 45 minutes in when Emily got antsy. I couldn’t imagine the plan of taking Emily to a Broadway musical going well. But bless my generous mother, she bought them both tickets to Aladdin and decided to give it a try.
The results? They did have to leave at intermission, but not because of any worries that I had come up with. I thought Emily would get bored and want to walk around or that she would start talking loudly through the entire show. But from the moment the actors and actresses took the stage, they held Emily’s rapt attention. The reason they left at intermission was because Emily was scared of…. the Genie. I guess what is jovial and entertaining to adults is scary to a toddler. But other than the Genie she had a great time. In fact, she is now my constant companion at musicals, giving me another example about how amazing it is to let kids experience different things in the world. So a big THANK YOU to my mom for introducing her to the world of musical theater that I love so much.
Day 5 in New York City
1. Can you guess how we started our day? I bet you can. Visiting Central Park (Part IV)
My New York City itinerary had us visiting Brooklyn today. But Emily asked to go to Central Park again, and since she is CEO of our little family, away we went. This time we decided to check out the Central Park Zoo. Bryan and I stumbled upon the zoo one winter and had a wonderful time watching the animals. They were coming to life in the refreshing, colder air. It was a welcome change from the sleepy, wilted-in-the-sun animals at the zoo we were used to. However, given the much warmer temperatures this time around, I was worried if the zoo would hold as much awe for us. I was pleasantly surprised that the added enjoyment of watching Emily at the Tisch Children’s Zoo, where she was able to pet goats and sheep and crawl all over animal statues, kept this low key, tiny zoo as one of our favorites.
One of the things I’ve always loved to do in the park, whether I’m alone, with another adult or with kids in tow, is to search for the various statues littered throughout the 840 acre park. My favorites included the statue of Balto (pictured), Alice in Wonderland and Hans Christian Andersen as well as the austere literary walk where one can find the statues of four literary giants as well as Christopher Columbus.
2. Ippudo – the ramen joint that is well worth the wait
I love, love, love Ippudo. The entire family does. I still haven’t found a ramen place in Hawaii that I love as much as this place. So of course we had to include a trip to Ippudo in our New York City itinerary.
3. The suburbs of White Plains a.k.a. day trip #1 from the City
Fun (unfun?) fact: While part of going on our New York City vacation was to visit with friends, I can probably count on one hand the number of friends I have that still live in Manhattan. And I wouldn’t even need all five fingers. Rewind about a decade and that number would have been much higher. However, over the last 10 years, most of my friends got married, popped out babies and moved into the suburbs. And so, day five of our trip had Bryan and me heading north to White Plains to see our friends. Bryan headed off to a local bar to knock back beers with his old work buddies and I headed off to another one of my favorite franchises that isn’t in Hawaii… the Melting Pot.
Helpful hints for traveling the Metro-North Line
To get to White Plains (and back into Manhattan) we caught one of the Metro-North lines out of Grand Central Station. Here are some helpful (I hope) tips if you ever decide to visit a town on the Metro-North line. While you certainly can buy your ticket on board (and I have definitely done this before when I’ve been rushed for time), they charge you a premium and make you pay cash. The best option is to buy a round trip ticket before getting on the train.
Also, keep in mind what time you are traveling as the difference between peak and off-peak travel can be significant. Peak fares apply to weekday trains that arrive in Grand Central Station between 6 AM and 10 AM or that depart Grand Central Station between 4 PM and 8 PM. Peak fares are also charged for travel on any weekday train that leaves Grand Central Station between 6 AM and 9 AM.
The easiest thing to do is to download the onTime: MNR – MetroNorth Rail app onto your phone, select your to / from locations and quickly get a listing of all the train options and even what track the train will leave on.
One more fun fact to help with your commute: you can drink. For example, I’ve definitely purchased a 12-pack with my friends and took it on board the Metro-North line for some pre-gaming fun as we made our way south to the city. If you are less of a pre-planner and not afraid to splurge, you can grab a beer from the vendor that strategically parks himself in front of the various lines at the end of the workday for the many commuters that will fork over cash for an overpriced bud light in order to de-stress after a long day.
Day 6 in New Jersey and Connecticut
1. Take the ferry to New Jersey and enjoy some breathtaking views
Emily and I started off our day by taking the NY Waterway Ferry to New Jersey to visit friends. While the Path is the cheapest way to get to New Jersey, the ferry is definitely the prettiest. If there is something you want to see in New Jersey, I highly suggest you take the ferry route. Just make sure to verify you are at the correct stop before you get off. Emily and I definitely had to sprint back to the ferry after disembarking one stop too early.
2. Travel up to Stamford… the city that gives you huge tax breaks if you are a trashy talk show
We spent our evening in Stamford. My friend drove us there from New Jersey but the Metro-North Line from Grand Central Station is an easy (and much less trafficky) way to go. I had a great time driving by my old house, spending the evening with friends and eating at a couple of my favorite local joints. However, since I assume a synopsis of those events might not interest anyone that hasn’t spent 11 years living in Stamford, I figured I would talk to you about something that might cause you to visit Stamford: trashy talk shows.
In 2009, the Connecticut governor offered huge tax credits to Maury, The Jerry Springer Show, and The Steve Wilkos Show if they moved to Connecticut. He also offered a new $3 million studio facility in Stamford. Shocker of shockers, they all moved. I’ll admit, watching a taping of the Maury Show was one of the greatest highlights of my time in Stamford. I was just disappointed that no one cussed at me, yelling out “you don’t know me!” When my friends and I went we were the only ones that seemed to be local. The ladies behind us in line had just taken a bus in from North Carolina to see the taping. Let me tell you, a 45-minute train commute from NYC is MUCH closer than that.
3. Commuting to New Jersey by Train
Bryan headed to New Jersey for the evening via Penn Station. Penn Station is the busiest station in terms of commuter traffic but not the most visited (that would be Grand Central). This is the station that services the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) and the New Jersey Transit (NJT). While the two stations aren’t connected it’s a very pretty and short walk between the two. And I should know, with an office right next to Penn Station, that used to be my commute every day for 2 years.
Travel Day Home
As it relates to our trip back east, that’s all folks. The next day we woke up early, jumped in a cab and made our way to JFK. We flew to Seattle for another 12 hours in the American Express lounge and then flew back to Honolulu.
For next time…
Ironically, as I type this, I’m planning my next trip to New York. It’s a much shorter trip (2 days) since the majority of our time will be spent on a cruise ship. However, reflecting back on my last time in NYC certainly gave me a lot to think about in terms of my next itinerary, which will include a lot more kid friendly restaurants but probably the same amount of Central Park visits.
What to see?
Museum of Illusions – Friends recently came back from New York City raving about this museum. The museum’s website reads: “enter the fascinating world of illusions which will trick your confidence in senses, but amaze you by doing it.” All I know is I want my own family pictures to include Bryan’s head on a plate or a gigantic Leo sitting next to a tiny Emily.
Spyscape – Another friends also just came back from NYC (seriously are all my Hawaii friends going to NYC without me?). She never got to visit but one of the places that she intended to stop by was Spyscape, where you can discover your inner spy. Considering that one of my favorite things to do on the annual trips I would take to Washington D.C., was to visit the International Spy Museum (and I have the Spy beanie to prove it), this seems right up my alley.
Hamilton – I am not throwing away my shot. I’ve been dreaming about going to Hamilton since before Lin Manual-Miranda won his first Tony for the musical. I always heard that NYC tickets were still very expensive versus the tour tickets in places like San Francisco and Chicago. However, since I am giving up hope on Hamilton ever coming to Honolulu I figured I could spring for the extra NYC price since it would still be cheaper than flying to the mainland and paying for a hotel room just to see the musical.
Currently tickets for the dates we will be in NYC are not yet being sold… so I’ll just keep searching every day in hopes of catching their next release. In case you were wondering how I was going to see Hamilton with two kids in tow, I’ll let you in on a little secret… Bryan isn’t the other Hamilton lover in the family. Emily is. Although she’s only ever listened to censored versions of the songs and believes that Burn stems from Alexander telling Eliza that he didn’t want to be her friend anymore (very understandable to a 5-year-old).
Where to Eat?
Sushi Yasuda – For our 2020 trip I intend to be with the kids 100% of the time. However, I’ll admit that writing about the high-end eateries that I’ve previously enjoyed in NYC has made me wistful of not getting to experience that level of foodie goodness this time around. But Sushi Yasuda does offer take out.
Ninja New York – Black-clad Ninjas putting on a show for you while you eat Japanese food? What more could you want? Emily is kind of a scaredy-cat so this may not be a good pick for us. However, she is obsessed with PJ Masks and therefore when I broached the topic of eating at this restaurant she jumped at the chance to be among the likes of Night Ninja and his Ninjalinos.
American Girl Cafe – When I was a little girl only the richest girl in the entire school had an American Girl Doll. The rest of us just borrowed the American Girl Series from the Library. Now it seems to be a right of passage that girls go to NYC and obtain their American Girl Doll. However, Emily doesn’t yet know that American Girl Dolls exist so maybe this will be a pass for 1 more year.
Alice’s Tea Cup – In October, one of Emily’s besties is having a princess tea birthday party. Emily is ecstatic. If that goes well I figure a stop at NYC’s most whimsical tea house will be in order.
Dirt Candy – I’m not sure how Emily is my child,the girl loves vegetables. Fish, chicken and meat are all maybes, chocolate is a definite no but vegetables are always welcome on her plate. Considering I’ve always wanted to eat at this vegetarian restaurant that spins out delicious vegetable dishes, I figured this might be a definite option… assuming Leo can behave.
If you liked this post, maybe you would like these New York City-related posts from Hawaii Girl Travels:
Spa Castle: a mystical and magical place
New York City: Can’t Miss Things to Do and See
The Best Restaurants in NYC: A Foodie’s Report
If you liked this post, maybe you would like these posts on awesome events in the New York area from Hawaii Girl Travels:
The New York Renaissance Faire: A Bygone Era Worth Visiting
The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze: The Best Way to Kick Off the Holiday Season
Check out Destinations to see all the other places I’ve talked about.
3 Replies to “Our 6-Day New York City Itinerary with a Toddler”