Last weekend, I went up to NYC with my best friend (and her sister) to celebrate her birthday. Because we wanted to avoid taking public transportation, we decided to drive to NYC and find a hotel in SoHo, where most of the places we wanted to visit were within walking distance. We stayed at the Sheraton on Canal St, which was SUPER affordable and much better quality than I was expecting! Read on to see what we did, where we ate, and what NYC is like during the pandemic!
Day 1
We drove up to Philadelphia the night before (my best friend is in the process of moving back to the DMV from Philly, but she still has her apartment there, so it was a convenient stop over on the way to NYC!) On Saturday, we only had to drive another hour and a half to NYC. We got there at 3 and were able to check in right away! The hotel had a parking garage across the street, which cost about $90 for two days.
After checking in, we changed and headed out to walk around SoHo. Because we were staying on Canal St, we were literally across the street from SoHo. I don’t think I have ever stayed in Manhattan (I usually stay in Brooklyn, which I love, but is a trek to the city!), so it was a nice convenient change of pace to just walk out the door and be right in the center of the action!
We spent a few hours walking around, getting bubble tea, popping in and out of stores, and having a small late lunch. We also checked out the rooftop bar of our hotel, which had GREAT views of the city!! We had dinner reservations at 9, so we had plenty of time to get ready and turn up a bit at the hotel!
Our dinner was at Blue Ribbon Hi Bar, a rooftop sushi bar in Columbus Circle, which was too far to walk (especially in heels!) so we took an uber. I was very disappointed that the aesthetic did not match the pictures – apparently they changed it after quarantine started – but the sushi was AMAZING! It was a bit of expensive, but a worthwhile splurge if you appreciate high grade sushi.
After that, we walked around the corner to a rooftop bar, which we found out was permanently closed – despite saying open on Google Maps. A few other places in the area seemed suspiciously closed as well, so we decided to call it a night and uber back. I have to say it was REALLY weird seeing how dead the city was at 11pm on a Saturday night, and even weirder seeing NO traffic on the way back! Which NYC is this???
Day 2
This was by far my favorite day, because we had reservations at a spot I’ve been wanting to check out for so long!! Our reservations were at 11am, so beforehand we went across the street for some matcha at Matchaful, which we had scoped out the day before.
After sipping on our matcha and getting ready, we walked a couple blocks away to Gitano, a beautiful tropical outdoor restaurant that SCREAMS Tulum vibes! Since my friend had been wanting to go to Tulum for her birthday – this year AND last year – this was the perfect consolation prize!
The vibes were immaculate, the food and drinks were divine, and we got TONS of great pics!! The prices are PRETTY steep, but we felt it was well worth it to get the full experience. Also, they are pretty strict about keeping your mask on while walking around and taking pics, so keep that in mind!
After brunch, we went back to the hotel room to chill/nap/go through pics. I spent over an hour making a TikTok video while my friend slept LOL. It was nice to be staying so close to the restaurant and be able to stop back to change and rest right after. Normally when I visit NYC, I stay in Brooklyn and have to commit to a FULL day in Manhattan if we take the train all the way in! The convenience made the whole trip so much more enjoyable.
Once we felt well rested, we changed again and headed out to walk in the other direction, toward West Village. One thing we noticed everywhere was that EVERY restaurant seemed to have set up a cute little patio situation on the sidewalk/street. They sure got it together quickly to cater to the needs of the quarantine! We were pleasantly surprised with the amount of outdoor dining options. Our only question was what will they do when it gets too cold to eat outside? 🤔
That night, we had early dinner reservations at NOMO SoHo, a restaurant inside the NOMO hotel with an ADORABLE patio and cute walkway leading to the front door – perfect for pics! The food was way better than we were expecting, and pretty reasonably priced! For NYC at least 🥴
We spent the rest of the night drinking a little in our hotel room, then going to the rooftop for some overpriced and disgusting drinks! Total waste of money – I ended up going back down to our room and finishing my bottle LOL. We made friends on the rooftop, who we thought were gonna show us a bar nearby that stayed open late, but they apparently ditched us while I was in the bathroom. Oh well! We got noodles from the store downstairs – which I made with the coffee maker lol – then got in bed at 11pm for the second night in a row. Either we’re getting old or NYC is lame in quarantine!
Day 3
The last day just consisted of getting dressed, walking to my favorite cafe Cha Cha Matcha, enjoying some sun and the peaceful empty streets before packing up to go home. The weekend went by fast, but also felt slow and relaxing in a way that NYC rarely feels for me! I always have fun there but never describe it as relaxing 🤣
Has anyone been to NYC since the beginning of quarantine? What was your experience? If you are thinking of going and still have questions, feel free to leave a comment! Until next time 😘
