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Sometimes we get so consumed with thinking about faraway places, tropical or beach destinations, that we forget there are amazing vacation destinations right here in the USA!  My client services specialist Emer took her family to New York City this summer for a bit of their own summer fun and I’ve asked her to share their experience with you.
We took a whirlwind vacation this summer up to The Big Apple NYC.  My 14 yr old twin girls were really looking forward to it and I love New York City.   We wanted to be close to the the Times Square area and somewhere central with easy access to most of the action, so we stayed in The Homewood Suites, 312 W. 37th St. NY.   We were really pleasantly surprised by this location, we could walk to the 5th Ave/42nd Street area and we also had free full breakfast and evening happy hour.  The rooms were comfortable and the hotel in general was clean and modern.
We walked into Midtown when we got there.  I love the hustle and bustle of the city.  Times Square never sleeps.  It’s a bit of a culture shock when you are not used to walking around in a major city. Soon enough we fitted right in with the throngs of people going here and there.
                
Some of the fun places we visited during our first days were the new Carlos Bakery on 8th Avenue.  We have enjoyed the TV show and it was a treat to visit the store and try some of their delicous pastries.  Everybody had the same idea !!!
           
Our Grayline  “Hop on Hop Off Bus” tickets provided a great deal for the 3 day all attractions unlimited pass. The package includes some additional extras like a ferry tour and some museum tickets.  I have used this tour previously and think it is the best value for money.  We saved a fortune in cab fares by riding the Hop on Hop Off to our favorite spots.  Some of the attractions include The grament district, Financial District, Central Park, Soho, Greenwich village and many more.
One of the items on our bucket list was to take in a show while we were there.  Thanks to Kelley, we were able to secure great tickets at a great price right on her Website in advance for “Wicked” which my girls really wanted to see – we weren’t disappointed with our choice!!!  I didn’t want to wait until we got there to buy discount tickets as I wasn’t sure what we could get.  The link right from Kelley’s Website is:   http://www.cruisevacationsandmore.com/pages/tickets
You can actually purchase tickets to concerts, plays, and much more right from Kelley’s website!

My girls are 14 now and it was really important to us that we go visit the 911 Memorial Park as they were just little babies in 2001.  We rode the Hop On Hop Off bus down to the site and my goodness, as soon as you walk into the area the whole atmosphere changes.  We felt an overwhelming quite and reverence.  They have really captured the emotion with the infinity pools, the Momorial and the Museum.  Unfortunately we had not anticipated the crowds visiting the museum and hadn’t allotted enough time to do that tour.  We did however view all the other monuments etc.

        

We all had our own list of things we wanted to do and see, among there were of course shopping for the girls.  They were thrilled to visit many huge stores like Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, Century 21, and it gave Neal and I the opportunity to hang out in Times Square enjoy a coffee and  rest our feet.   What can I say, best people watching ever !!!  We enjoyed great food on our travels, of course some of the favorites for the girls were street food, Pizza, Bagels, Hot Dogs.  We also walked through the restaurant district and enjoyed some great food in “Hells Kitchen”

 

I have also wanted to visit Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and that’s what we did.  It was a great tour all of the exhibits are so real.  We visited a few of our favorites like Pink, Marlyn Monroe, and many more.  This tour really is for everyone as there are so many different exhibits.  There’s also a Ripley’s believe it or not next door if you wanted to take in both together.  We didn’t have enough time.

         

We had a fantastic vacation, there’s no way to see it all in a few days which means that we will HAVE to go back !!!! I look forward to it.  A great vacation spot for everyone.  It truly is the city that never sleeps.

I hope you can see through Emer’s experience what a great destination New York City can be for your next vacation getaway!

Kelley

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