A couple of months ago, Jon and I scheduled a 5:30 am flight to New York which sounds insane because if you know us, you know that neither of us function very well in the morning. We also both tend to get into vacay mode a little too early, meaning we stayed out having margaritas and then went home to pack at midnight the night before our trip, smart decisions all around. Let me back up by saying I started a new job this year (back in March) and I do not have as much Paid Time Off as I did in the past so we are doing several long weekend trips this year instead of taking full weeks off at a time. So, our motto has been “team no sleep – let’s see everything we can in a short amount of time.”

We basically took a nap and got back up at 3 am to head to the airport. We had planned to take an Uber but did not think through the fact that Uber drivers are probably already home around 3:30 am since the bars are closed. We quickly decided we needed to drive ourselves and park at the airport for the weekend. We threw our luggage in my car and headed down the road, about 10 minutes in, Jon turned around – we had forgotten the cash we took out for taxis, tips, etc. Once we got back on the road and closer to the airport, we missed the exit, turned around, got back on track and finally made it to Hartsfield Jackson to park and walk all. the. way. in.

By the time we made it through security, we were cutting it close on time, to say the least, so I started running to the gate only to find our plane was already out on the runway. We missed it by 5 minutes! This was the first time I had ever missed a flight. Jon was livid and felt like it was his fault. He may have yelled a few curse words and a random dad in the airport may have pulled his son closer to him in fear. But once he calmed down, we grabbed breakfast and headed back to the car to take a nap. We would have to wait SEVEN HOURS for the next flight to New York at 12:30 pm. We were missing our entire first morning in NY (we had planned on being at the Met.)

As we got back on The Plane Train, exhausted and defeated, I turned around to see no other than Reba freakin’ McEntire 2 feet away from me! I would like to tell you that I was super cool and collected and took selfies with her, but that would be a lie. I immediately started staring at her, shaking, and hitting Jon in the leg because I literally could not speak – talk about star struck as I was finally able to mumble to him, “Isss thaaat Reebbaa McEntirrre?” Jon replies, “Oh yea I guess it is” remaining completely unfazed.  Meanwhile, I was day dreaming about the power going out and Reba and I starting our duet and music video to “That’s the Night when the Lights went out in Georgia.” Now I must tell you I don’t listen to a lot of country, but my Mom is a HUGE country music fan. I grew up in a house where every morning you would smell freshly brewed coffee and the sounds of CMT. So of course, I had to call and tell my mom! Even though we missed our flight, this day was one for the books and we hadn’t even made it to New York yet.

Hours later, after countless conversations about Reba, we finally made it to the city around 3pm where we checked into our hotel – The Sherry Netherland and were quickly upgraded to a suite. This gorgeous hotel built in the early 1900’s overlooks Central Park, and the walls are lined with old-world architecture. Our suite was huge with a beautiful fireplace in the living room, a king size bed in the bedroom, and we each had our own bathroom – win, win. After our luggage arrived, we were ready to head out to explore the city! We started out with a nice, leisurely stroll in Central Park followed by an impromptu stop at The Plaza Food Hall. We opted for a lobster roll at Luke’s over No. 7 Sub’s broccoli taco but only after snap-chatting everyone we know about the fact that there is such a thing as a broccoli taco. We washed down that lobster roll with a couple of Peroni’s and of course, being my basic self, I imagined all the times Carrie met Mr. Big there.

Later that evening we took showers, got dressed, and each chugged a kiwi apple red bull because we were going to need wings to get through the night. We stopped at an Asian-fusion rooftop bar for cocktails and watched the sunset over the city. Then we had reservations at a restaurant called Quality Italian and let me tell you, this place did not disappoint. We ordered the chicken parm which I highly recommend – this dish is for two people although it could probably feed four. It looks like an entire pizza pie – New York, you do your carbs up right! If you don’t believe me you can read about it from the Thrillist. We sat beside a table of true New York Italians and couldn’t help but listen to their conversation just to hear their accents. They asked if we were from New York, clearly, they had not heard my southern accent yet.

We ended up in Times Square because you should experience it, at least once. We stood in line at a club waiting to get in as women decked out in tight dresses and heels tried to flirt their way in with the bouncers, which was quite entertaining. We did not exactly plan for a night of clubbing so just to give you a visual, I had on flat lace up sandals with a very bohemian, “Cigi” type of outfit and had just eaten my weight in chicken parm. I refused to let that stop me from getting into this club and having the time of my life. We finally made it to the front of the line and they let us in. We ordered our drinks (which were $22 each by the way – welcome to NY) and made our way over to a couch area. They were blasting rap music and we had a great view of the Empire State building. We didn’t make it home until about 3am when our wings were starting to disappear.

The next morning Jon went out to grab us some amazing breakfast sandwiches and coffee, we needed coffee. We had breakfast in our hotel room as I read the New York Times, which just so happened to feature an article about Interview Magazine that day in the Sunday Styles section. There was a black and white photo with Bob Colacello, Jerry Hall, Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry, Truman Capote, and Paloma Picasso at Studio 54 in 1979. As we finished up our croissants and I finished reading the article, I grew more and more excited for the day ahead – we had tickets to go see the Statue of Liberty!

There was not a cloud in the sky that day as we got on the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty up close and personal. As we sailed by, I was in complete awe of this 305-ft. monument. Everyone was rushing around trying to get the perfect picture of her. She is breathtaking and easily one of my favorite memories of New York. Once we got off the ferry, Jon and I walked around Liberty Island snapping more pictures and grabbed lunch at one of the food stands continuing to admire The Statue of Liberty along with the view of the water and the Manhattan skyline.

We then made our way over to The One World Observatory, which has the best elevator ride ever – it shows a video of 500 years of the NYC skyline in 50 seconds. Once we made it up 100 floors, we stepped out of the elevator where they had another introductory video before raising the screens to reveal all of Manhattan. I’m pretty sure my jaw hit the floor with this view. Jon and I walked around naming the buildings we knew and took in the scenery while we enjoyed a couple of locally brewed beers before we were on to the next adventure – which was back to Central Park for some street food – eating and drinking and drinking and eating.

Night two in New York called for more caffeine as we had been on our feet all day long. We had dinner plans at one of the oldest steakhouses in NY – Keens Steakhouse est. 1885. When you walk into the restaurant there’s a vintage red leather couch, the ceiling is lined with churchwarden (long stem) pipes, and there’s a huge painting of a tiger in the upstairs seating section, which we happened to sit right in front of. I won’t bore you with the history but if you ever go there you should visit their website and read more about the story behind the pipes and how women were finally able to get into the gentlemen’s only restaurant and order their own damn mutton chop (or filet mignon like I had.)

After dinner we walked over to The Rag Trader for some live music. Unfortunately, it was Sunday night and they weren’t playing – any other night you can go downstairs to the Bo Peep Cocktail and Highball Store where they have jazz music, burlesque shows, etc. Instead we found a nice little spot under a neon sign that read, “it started with a kiss” where we chatted with a New York bartender for the evening and listened to 80’s music. I’m pretty sure the bartender was completely entertained on a low-key Sunday night watching Jon and I sing along to Madonna and whatever else came through the speakers.

We had such a great trip! No celebrity sightings on the way home, but I am already excited about our next New York adventure. I would love to go back at Christmas time and see the Rockefeller Center Tree. I also want to make it over to the Met, the New York Public Library, the 9/11 Memorial, a Broadway show, and so much more. Until next time…