Sometimes East Coast travel is a debate between awful options, and traveling to NYC from DC is pretty much always a struggle to decide which way is going to be the least miserable and/or expensive. You can fly (45 minutes in air, but travel to/from the airport/security end up making it take about 3 hours total, plus it’s expensive), train (can get extremely pricey, but usually pretty reliably 3 to 3.5 hours), or drive (cheaper, but ???? hours, and parking in the city gets pricey).
Let me confirm right off the bat: this was both extremely expensive AND probably maximum miserable. With little reward. Epic fail.
We opted to drive to Devin’s parents’ house just outside Philly, then take the train from Philly to NYC. This would allow us to leave the pupperkins with Devin’s parents, and come back to celebrate Devin’s birthday with his family on Sunday. So many birds with one planning stone! Jess was thinking that would be a good way to balance car time (thinking we’d leave early enough to miss traffic) and cost (plane and train tickets get pricey, as does dog sitting). Nope! Not even close. We did leave early, at noon, but it was pouring rain and the traffic was terrrrrible. It took us four hours to go about 140 miles.
The cascading effect of the terrible traffic meant that we were going to miss the train Jess had booked. So, we called Amtrak to switch our tickets to a later train. Amtrak has an absolutely terrible automated system. Don’t even bother. Because if you do, you’ll waste about 10 minutes of your time, and miss out on the cheaper tickets when the line conveniently disconnects just after you’ve “confirmed” but before you get a live human being. Which means you’ll be forced to pay an additional $58 to upgrade to “business” class, which on the Regional means LITERALLY NOTHING. Seriously. They’re the same damn seats. And it wasn’t like the coach class seats were cheap in the first place. A whopping $112 per person, one way. For an hour and 20 minute ride. Ridiculous.
For the return, we used a combination of points and dollars. Devin’s ticket was $73, and Jessica had enough points to book her return trip for free. Amtrak points are pretty easy to earn, and very very easy to redeem. Jess earned enough with two round trip train rides from DC to Philly, and some portal shopping. But you can easily score 20k points if you sign up for the Amtrak co-brand credit card, which is definitely worth it if you take the train frequently.
But, travel woes aside, New York City is an amazing place to visit. And Dean and Matt are the hosts with the most!
In all of Jess’ many visits, the only eatery she’s visited more than once is Rice to Riches (Smackery’s this trip was also a repeat). Otherwise, Dean spoils her with new exciting places every single visit. And this visit was no exception. Here’s where we ate:
Turntable: Koreatown Korean fried chicken and cocktails. Have you had Korean fried chicken? If your answer is no, you’re totally missing out on a delicious wonderful trend. Turntable was also a super fun environment, and was located just off Time’s Square, so a convenient short walk from our hotel.
Infirmary: Upper East side Southern-inspired brunch. The food was hit or miss, but we all really enjoyed the boudin ball starter. The service was also extremely inattentive. But the cocktails were definitely fantastic. Not sure we’d go back for food, given the plethora of wowowow brunch options to choose from and the heads up from our gracious host that the service is slow for all meals. Perhaps just hit the bar for happy hour and then go elsewhere for dining?
Empellon: Midtown super sophisticated and unique Mexican cuisine. It’s really only Mexican in concept, and that concept includes Nachos (but with sea urchin instead of cheese, and crab), tacos (stuffed with all sorts of interesting ingredients – we had octopus with peanut butter and lamb sweetbreads and barbacoa), and the most mind blowingly delicious crisp pork belly. We’ve ordered crispy pork belly in maaaany restaurants, but this was definitely one of the best prepared we’ve had. If you consider yourself a food adventurer, then this is the perfect restaurant for you! The cocktails were also interesting and unique approaches to the traditional margarita concept (e.g., saffron).
Smackery’s: Midtown – just outside the theater district, which means this is a great place to grab a post-show dessert. The cookies are large, a wonderful soft but crispy combination, with great flavor. Even the basic funfetti cookies had a nice balance of sweet and salty that made them interesting. The maple bacon are a hit, and if you’re up for it you can get a fresh made ice cream sandwich with the ice cream and cookies of your choosing.
Kaia: Upper East side South African brunch. Delicious, inexpensive, but the service was questionable. Not enough to make us not go back, though.
New York City is obviously also not lacking on awesome things to do, whether you’re a local or a tourist. On this trip, we indulged in the following funtimes activities:
Karaoke: Koreatown has the best karaoke, but the particular joint we went to was Gagopa Karaoke. Bring a small group, get your own private room, and go for it! Definitely reserve in advance, so you’re guarantee an appropriately sized room. According to the locals, all of the karaoke places have the same book of songs, which is good because Devin and Jess have visited some places where the song list suuuuucks. What do you mean you don’t have Ice Ice Baby?!?!?!
New York Botanical Gardens: $28 per person. They were running a fantastic Chihuly exhibit (blown glass artist), where the art was located throughout the garden in unique and meaningful displays. Jessica has seen numerous Chihuly exhibits, and they never disappoint. It was Devin’s first time, and he loved it. The gardens themselves are beautiful, serene, and it will blow your mind that you’re still in the middle of Manhattan. We highly recommend them for a beautiful summer afternoon.
The High Line: On a sunny and temperate New York City day, the High Line is the place to be. The city converted old train tracks into an above ground pedestrian path and urban park. It’s beautifully designed, and a great place to stroll along and admire the plants, sculpture, and architecture of the city. Plus it leads right past the Chelsea market!
Chelsea Market: One of Jess’ favorite places in the city, the market is a foodie’s dream destination. All sorts of great shops, restaurants, and specialty stores to get everything from coffee to delicious banh mi sandwiches, spices to gourmet olive oils (one of our favorite stops!). You can grab a beer from one of the vendors and stroll around taking in the sights and smells of everything, and stock up on local gems that make great gifts and souvenirs. Come hungry, because you’re going to want to eat all the things!
For this trip we stayed at Tryp Times Square by Wyndham, on 35th and 8th. Jess had purchased two sets of 15k points packages for $175 each back in April. New York City is always a place where you can get great value out of your hotel points. If she’d used dollars to book the two nights, it would have cost about $700, so purchasing the points and using them saved $350. The hotel had a great location about two blocks from Penn Station in the direction of Midtown, and the room was a pleasantly appointed and very clean closet – which honestly is the norm for most NYC hotels, where space is at a premium. We’d definitely consider staying at this location again.