New York City

April 28 – May 1, 2023

This trip was all because of corn 🌽 yes you read that right corn 🌽. My friends Amie and Janna along with myself are big fans of country songwriters Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark. In April 2023, the Broadway show Shucked premiered on Broadway with the music and lyrics written by Shane & Brandy. We had to go see it and yes it’s is centered around corn! And it’s corny and hilarious!

Unfortunately Janna wasn’t able to go in the end, but Amie and I decided to go even though it rained 99% of the long weekend we were there. We made the best of it though!

This was my fourth trip to NYC and Amie had been many times before since she previously lived nearby in New Jersey. So we didn’t do any of the main tourist attractions since we both had already done those things.

We flew out of Nashville on Friday night and totally lucked out the plane was only half full… so we got a full row each!

We landed at LaGuardia and got a cab to the hotel. Then the adventure began because the cab driver told us due to construction he could not get to our hotel. He said he would let us out in Times Square which was only a block away from the hotel. Well that was not accurate, so we ended up walking probably a mile in the rain to our hotel at midnight. Oh well we can laugh about it now!

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Times Square South, but it was really in the Fashion District rather than Times Square. After a goodnight’s night (or at least on my part… sorry Amie apparently I snore!), we set out the next morning for the first of three bagel shops on our trip. The first one we went to was Ess-a-Bagel. Very small location but the line moved super fast and we were able to snag a table.

We had a little time to kill before we had scheduled our Museum of Broadway tickets so we did a little shopping.

The Museum of Broadway is fairly new, but it was fantastic! We had some much fun learning about some of favorite musicals and taking fun pictures throughout the museum.

After about an hour and a half in the museum, we walked to Rockefeller Center to get a sandwich at Alidoro.

After a yummy bite to eat we decided to start our walk back to our hotel in the rain. On the way back we decided to stop and go into the New York Public Library since neither of us had been on our previous trips.

The inside of the library is absolutely gorgeous. We spent a little time wandering around the hallways and admiring the architecture of the building. We then went to the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures. Some of the items in the exhibition include:

• Declaration of Independence • Bill of Rights • The Hunt-Lenox Globe • The original Winnie the Pooh & Friends • Charles Dickens desk & chair • The Gutenberg Bible • all six of the Library’s copies of William Shakespeare’s First Folio.

This was an unexpected surprise to get to see all of this. I know the exhibition periodically changes but I think Winnie-the-Pooh is always there. A must see and it’s free!

Quick info on Winnie-the-Pooh and friends above…. On his first birthday, in 1921, Christopher Robin Milne received a teddy bear purchased from Harrods department store in London. He names him Winnie-the-Pooh, the bear soon acquired several now-familiar companions: Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga, Tigger, and Roo. (Roo was eventually lost in an apple orchard.) In time, Christopher’s playmates would come to inspire several classic works such as Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner, all written by his father, A. A. Milne. The toys were brought to the US in the 1940s and were with Milne’s American publisher until the 1980s when they were donated to the Library.

After the library we walked back to the hotel to get ready for the big night! Dinner at 44 & X Hell’s Kitchen and then the main event Shucked at the Nederlander Theatre.

Dinner was fabulous with Broadway themed drinks.

We had front row center balcony seats! Two of standouts for me were Kevin Cahoon (who is Peanut) and Alex Newell (who is Lulu). Both were nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical at the 2023 Tony Awards and Alex won!

The next morning we set out to find the next bagel for breakfast and ended up at Best Bagel and Coffee. Another great NYC bagel!

We then set out toward Harry Potter New York and along the way we saw a random line of people waiting to get into a store. Once we got closer we realized it was a Rent the Runway sample sale. We got in line and a few minutes later we were checking our coats and the shopping began. It was crazy and fun! We both ended up making a purchase!

We did finally make it to the Harry Potter Official NY store and it was another unique experience.

For lunch we ate at La Pizza & La Pasta. It is part of Eataly NYC Flatiron which is cool Italian marketplace with an several restaurants along with a market. Absolutely delish and I had to buy some focaccia bread in the marketplace to bring home.

That afternoon we walked to Grand Central Terminal since neither of us had been inside. We stopped along the way at some shops including the Lego store.

Grand Central Terminal is another beautiful building in NYC and here are some interesting facts about it:

The centerpiece of the Main Concourse is its celestial ceiling, which features the 12 zodiac constellations. However, it is depicted not from earth looking up, but rather from beyond the constellations looking down toward earth through them. The true reason for the perspective has never been uncovered!

On the lower level of Grand Central Terminal is the Whispering Gallery, It is a four-arched entryway whose unique architectural feature has a neat acoustic property. If you whisper into one arch, someone can hear what you’re saying in the other arch diagonally across from you, 30 feet away!

The Grand Central Information Booth Clock: is estimated to be worth as much as $20 million!

It was built in the early 1900s and covers a massive 48 acres! It officially opened in February 1913.

After Grand Central we walked through Bryant Park before grabbing some coffee and dessert at Ole & Steen.

We then walked back to the hotel to get ready for Broadway night two. For dinner we ate at Toloache before going to the St. James Theatre to see New York New York. We scored some great last minute seats through the TodayTix app. It is also where we signed up for ticket lotteries for other shows to get cheap tickets but no luck on those. Highly recommend using this app!

On our final morning in NYC we took a Lyft to Zabars for one final delicious bagel!

Then we walked through a portion of Central Park. Something neither of us had done on previous trips! It was the only day it wasn’t raining too!

We had lunch and frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity before walking back to the hotel via 5th Avenue. We also made a stop at FAO Schwarz and Times Square.

We both had a blast on our long weekend trip to NYC to see some fabulous shows 🎭, eat lots of delicious food 🍷🍕🥯🍸and walk a lot of miles in the rain ☔️ !