Miss Thompson goes to New York too

Since most everyone in Washington DC seems to be employed by the government, the city practically shuts down on government holidays. Since this past Monday was President's Day, I took a weekend trip with some friends from my building to visit New York City.

On the Subway with Rachel and Abby

We had a great trip! I have a newfound appreciation for DC's metro system. New York's subway was incredibly complicated! Thank God for the iPhone subway map app. Without it we would have been completely lost. DC's metro is clean, whereas New York's smells like pee. DC also has these convenient little signs that say when the next train is arriving, and you usually don't have to wait too long. In New York, they don't have these signs and you often have to wait FOREVER!



We got into the city on Friday night after a very long ride on the Megabus. I would not recommend the Megabus to anyone. It is cheap, but it is terribly disorganized. Also, they tell you you'll get to ride nice, double-deck buses with nice seats and WiFi, but both on the ride there and back, we ended up on standard coach buses with tiny, uncomfortable seats, no leg room and no WiFi.

Times Square with Abby and Garrett

When we finally reached New York, we got to our hostel in South Harlem. Sketchy neighborhood for sure, but inside it was very nice, especially for the $20/night price! Address was 242 W 116th St.

After a slightly scary trip to Mama's Fried Chicken down the street from our Harlem hostel, we hit up Time's Square. We found one of my favorite Belgian beers, Hoegaarden at an Irish pub there, and a wide variety of massive margaritas at Chevy's.

Saturday, day 2, we visited Chinatown and Little Italy. The good purse shops on Canal Street were unfortunately shut down, so I didn't make off with any cheap "Chanel" handbags. We ate brick oven pizza and drank wine at a restaurant in Little Italy. We headed up to Times Square again, where we visited Toys R Us and the M&M's store. That night we hung out around Columbia and some bars there. We missed 25 cent wings at the Lion's Head by minutes, but we did get to make a quick stop at Tom's Restaurant, you know, that restaurant they're always at in Seinfeld :)

Day 3 was a busy one. We hit up the Staten Island ferry, which gave us incredible views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. We walked to the financial district where we all grabbed the bull by the balls. Then headed to ground zero, which, nearly 10 years later, is still core shaking to see. We had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's in Times Square, which was not cheap like your typical Ruby Tuesday's... this was fancy shmancy Ruby Tuesday's. There I achieved by goal of drinking a cosmopolitan in New York City :) 

Our final day we spent in Central Park. It had snowed the night before, so it was absolutely beautiful. Overall, it was an incredible trip.