12 Hours in My Favorite City

Over spring break, I went on a spontaneous trip to NYC with some of my best friends! The night before the trip, I brought it upon myself to make an itinerary for our time there. From the minute we left my house, we knew we were going to have an exciting day ahead of us. Follow along as I take you through each stop my friends and I made in NYC!

9:15am: arrive and visit Central Park: walking around Central Park in 60 degree weather felt like a 90s romcom movie. Any You’ve Got Mail fanatics here?

10am: grab breakfast at Bagelworks: Bagelworks was absolutely delicious. I’d have to rate my chicken and veggie sesame bagel sandwich an 11/10!

10:45am: visit Rockefeller Plaza & the SNL Studio.

11am: visit Times Square: As annoying as it may be to walk through the messy crowd of people and ongoing traffic, I will never get tired of Times Square. My friends and I couldn’t stop singing “Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keys!

12:30pm: lunch at Amor Loco in Times Square: The guac and chips were amazing, be sure to ask for this if you ever find yourself in the mood for Mexican food in the area

3pm: walk The High Line & visit the Vessel: Walking on the High Line was pretty cool. It’s an elevated greenway and rail trail created on a former NY Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan. The views on the walk were immaculate and we loved it.

4pm: visit the Friends Apartment: My best friend Mikayla is a Friends enthusiast, so I had to make sure she could witness it in person!

4:30pm: quick snack at Bleeker Street Pizza in Greenwich Village: 11/10 pizza…wow.

4:45pm: enjoy pizza & people watch at Washington Square Park: WSP is the perfect spot for people watching, and it was really nice to walk around the NYU campus.

5:30pm: visit Dumbo & sight see the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge: This is a perfect spot for sightseeing and photo taking. It was nice to see the other side of the city and take in everything Brooklyn has to offer.

Dumbo carousel with view of Brooklyn Bridge

6:30pm: head to the 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar for dinner: This was probably our favorite spot on the entire trip. We were able to sit outside on the rooftop and enjoy dinner with a breathtaking view of the Empire State Building and the city skyline. I can’t quite describe how perfect and beautiful it was, but here are a few photos that speak much louder than words ever could.

9pm: head back to MD!

I hope that this inspires you to take an impromptu trip to NYC, and feel free to use my itinerary! Here’s to more trips to the city in 2023.

About melanyclaros

Hi everyone! My name is Melany Claros and I am currently a Junior at the University of Maryland, College Park at the Universities at Shady Grove. I was born and raised in Maryland and I love this state! I recently graduated from Montgomery College with an associate of arts in Business and am now majoring in Marketing in the Robert H. Smith School of Business. I also have a minor in Technology Entrepreneurship & Corporate Innovation. I hope to expand my knowledge in marketing analytics and I strive to obtain an internship where I can gain experience in the fruition that resonates with Marketing. Some topics I plan to write about include struggles that first-generation college students face (especially in the perspective of Latino households), imposter syndrome, and fun hobbies like hiking, new books I suggest people should read, new music discoveries, and much more. During my free time I enjoy reading, listening to music, discovering new coffee shops, and spending time with my friends and family.

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