A little Manhattan, a whole lotta Brooklyn!
- Vanessa Lynn
- Aug 28, 2022
- 8 min read
After about 3 years without taking a REAL vacation, New York City was the perfect backdrop for my needed mental unplugging. It’s one of the most stimulating cities in the world and my oasis for rejuvenation. I love this place. Though I’ve never lived here, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting while experiencing all kinds of personal highs and lows. I’m always in a contemplative mood in New York. Whether I was here for a conference or a vacation, I’ve navigated every emotion you could have while strolling the streets of Manhattan. The city has always made itself whatever I needed it to be: a tranquil escape, a productive soundtrack, a hopeless dreamer, or a distraught accomplice.
This time around, the main reason I was visiting was to attend one of my best friend’s wedding in Connecticut. Kristen, whom I met while living in Spain, married on a beautiful farm filled with sunflowers over the most perfect August weekend. The special occasion allowed me an excuse to leave my laptop at home for a full week and take a deep breath. It was amazing to reconnect with some of my closest friends, some of whom I had not seen in person since 2018.
I currently work from home as a Human Resources Coordinator for a thriving vacation home rental company in North America. The summer season took every ounce of energy out of me since that’s when we do most of our hiring for the region I take care of. So I decided to fly into JFK and extend the Connecticut wedding festivities into a full week’s vacation with my boyfriend.
As we came out of the airport, groggy from a 4 am wake-up call, I looked over at Kyle as we sat in traffic, in the back of a cab: “What about Aladdin? Not your thing?” We were trying to decide whether we’d be able to see a Broadway show that night. So far, our top choice was Beetlejuice, but the price was more than we were willing to spend. We each chose one thing we really wanted to do in NY. Still feeling satisfied from the last Broadway performance I saw a year ago (Lion King – a dream come true for me!), I decided to let Broadway go and trade it for more time exploring the Soho area (which I fell in love with last year but had very little time for). On the other hand, Kyle’s must-do choice was The Met Museum.
The first two nights we stayed at Danielle’s, who lives in Brooklyn Heights. This is possibly the best neighborhood to live in, in my opinion. Still groggy, we walked around Dumbo to enjoy the views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge, calling it a night around midnight. The following day, we got on the subway straight to The Met. We explored the medieval armors section, ooooh’ed at the gorgeous Greek jewelry from the BC years, and marveled at paintings from the French impressionists. It was only fair that after about 3 hours spent soaking up all that art and history, we stopped at the hot dog stand featured on Netflix’s Street Food (right in front of The Met). While the hot dog itself did not impress us much, it was an experience to be had.
We ended that day walking around Soho and thanks to Danielle’s suggestion: Little Italy. I LOVED LITTLE ITALY! I cannot believe I had never visited this area. I loved its liveliness, architecture, and bustling Italian restaurant scene. Kyle and I grabbed a drink at a bar while we waited to meet up with Danielle and her boyfriend at Pasquale Jones, a delicious restaurant. A little tipsy from a single prosecco and with achy feet from all the walking, we sat at the restaurant and ordered several dishes to share. My favorite was the Spaghetti Al Limone. The noodles were smoked, and the lemon taste brought a unique experience to my palette. Without a doubt, both our meal and company were highlights on this trip.
The following day, we checked into our Airbnb in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Kyle spent the weekend there, working and meeting up with a friend. I, on the other hand, headed to Connecticut with Simone and David for the big wedding! You may remember Simone, Sarah, and Kristen from my Spain posts, but here is a reminder blog post from 2016: The Foundation Beneath My Feet
After a beautiful wedding weekend, I was excited to explore more of New York. Upon returning to our Airbnb in Bay Ridge, I recharged with a nap and some Chinese food takeout. Bay Ridge is probably the most residential part of New York I have ever stayed in, but it was worth it for the food and the ferry ride – more on that to come.
The Airbnb apartment was modern, quiet enough, and had a very decent-sized balcony where I enjoyed drinking coffee. From there, we took an Uber to Coney Island at around 6 pm. There were multiple reasons that inspired me to want to visit this side of town so badly: the movie Uptown Girls with Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning was a big one. But so was Taylor Swift’s song titled: Coney Island…Not to mention that Nathan’s Famous hot dogs were featured on our favorite show: Somebody Feed Phil. The boardwalk and the parks were actually A LOT of fun! I highly recommend a visit if you have already been to New York in the past and want something different out of your experience. I had funnel cake for the first time (which I really did not like; I thought it had a weird aftertaste). Still full from our Chinese food takeout, Kyle and I shared a hot dog from Nathan’s Famous. We watched the sunset from the Wonder Wheel, which was both romantic and terrifying. We also rode the Soaring Eagle roller coaster, where you lay on your stomach the whole time! It was enough adrenaline for a night; it was getting super chilly. After months of over 100 Fahrenheit temperatures in Texas, a mere mid 70’s Fahrenheit was enough for me to put on a sweater.
On our last day, we decided to take the ferry from Bay Ridge to Manhattan. This is a beautiful experience if you want to really take in the city skyline and get a little bit closer to the Statue of Liberty (which I have yet to actually visit! But I hear you can ride the Staten Island ferry for a really good view!). Like the subway, the ferries are just under $3 per ticket. It took about an hour to get from the Bay Ridge pier to Pier 11 (Wall Street). We strolled around the Wall Street area where we got to see the famous statues of the bull and the fearless girl. Hunting for a really good bagel spot, we finally encountered a memorable place called Leo’s Bagels (founded in 2007). Kyle ordered an everything bagel with cream cheese (about $4), and I ordered a smoked salmon and white fish bagel (about $18). In hindsight, I should have gone with a simpler choice like Kyle. But in the rush of the moment, my stomach made the extravagant choice, which was delicious yet way too much.
Kyle had discovered a Beetlejuice theme bar on Google maps, which we were looking forward to visiting for days. Sadly, it was closed (as so many bars were on a Monday). But he got creative and took me to the Museum of Sex instead, which actually exceeded expectations! While some of the exhibits were okay, I really enjoyed the one that showed how advertisements can use sex to sell products. I love learning about the psychology behind marketing strategies, which is not always something I stand by, but it’s an interesting topic. To our delight, the last part of the museum features an array of fun, fair-inspired games, and a bar. I will not spoil the fun on here, but let’s just say you’d have to be curious enough to go. While the museum is a fun date idea (maybe not a first date), I’d also say it’d be a great daytime activity for a bachelorette party.
That evening, we made our way back to Bay Ridge via ferry once again. We met up with my friends, Simone and David, for dinner and drinks. We had an outstanding Palestinian meal at Ayat on 3rd avenue. When looking up places to eat in Bay Ridge, we noticed there were so many restaurants to choose from. Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese, Turkish, Palestinian…it’s worth the trip out of Manhattan to check out the food scene in Bay Ridge, which will likely have even better prices as well. To make it a really fun vacation activity, don’t forget to take the ferry rather than the subway/train.
At Ayat, we ordered the following: Mezzo Filistini, Fattat Lahma, Falafel, Shay Ma Nana, Limonana, and Baklawa to share. As we dove deep into the flavors of another country, I looked over at Kyle as he told a story. I looked over at Simone and David, who are such a good time…And that feeling hit me: Gratitude. I felt so grateful to be sitting outside, on a pleasantly cool summer night, eating a delicious meal that was exotic to our palettes, telling stories, and sharing ideas with humans I love and respect. I felt deeply connected to them and the experience itself. The week provided me with an opportunity to truly disconnect from responsibilities and work-related thoughts. It helped me decompress from the excessive workload and remember what it is I love most in this world.
Since the restaurant did not offer alcohol and we were yet to be ready for goodbyes, we walked over to a nearby wine bar called Cebu. We cheered and I envisioned a future where Kyle and I can move closer to friends and make a home in a city that feels as comforting as this evening in Brooklyn. We called it a night by 10:30pm so Kyle and I could get ready for our early morning flight the next day.
While summer travels have been a nightmare in the U.S. with chaotic airport check-ins and thousands of flight cancellations, we were lucky to have a smooth experience both ways. I got home to my little studio in downtown Austin, took a 3-hour nap, and spent the evening doing absolutely nothing. Memories of the wedding in Connecticut, the walks around Manhattan, conversations with friends over good food, a Coney Island sunset, and everything in between flashed before me. Having had an exciting week that left little room for sleep, I took the next day off work too so that I could recuperate, do laundry, and cook a nice homemade lunch and dinner.
New York often calls to me. “Could I move there? Would I live there?” I have so many friends in the state of New York that it’s easy to imagine what life there would be like. But just in the same way…I am always feeling called to so many other cities and even more countries. The pull for adventure is strong, but the need for a solid home base is also deeply appealing. My heart constantly does a tug of war between wanting to leave and wanting to stay. The pull of the unknown and the tug of the familiar. But the real magic lies in finding peace and joy exactly where I am now. And for now, I’m grateful to live in Austin.
Happy Travels!
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