NYC January 2025

Welcome to the Monday-after-Super-Bowl!

Raise your hand if you had to peel your kids out of bed this morning? 🙋🏻‍♀️

After wrapping up our small little Super Bowl party with friends last night, we were discussing how the Monday after Super Bowl should be a national holiday.

Why not?

Staying up late, filling up on buffalo chicken dip and pigs in a blanket is hard work, folks.

I decided to compile my annual WINTER IN NYC recaps for the last three years into a three-part series. So you will see three blog posts from me today. Might be a good idea to go grab a big cup of coffee before settling into today’s post.

First up, I’m sharing my most recent (albeit spontaneious) NYC JANUARY 2025 trip. Consider this PART ONE.

Before I get started, I should explain that almost all of the trips I’ve taken to NYC has been a result of my urban-loving friend, Heather.

She plans and invites, and I say “yes”. That’s the drill.

Our travel trio was back in the Big City! But this time, we came in January instead of Christmas. We didn’t make it to the city this past Christmas, because we instead took a BRECKENRIDGE GIRLS SKI TRIP in December.

This year’s spontaneous NYC trip all started when I was here…

…in the Salt Lake City airport, on my way home from PARK CITY with Ryan. By now, you should know who initiated this trip.

None other than Heather.

While waiting to board our flight home from Utah, I got a call from Heather inviting Lauren and I to NYC the next day, because her plans to meet a friend had unexpectedly fallen through (family emergency). But Heather was already in the city with a full two day’s worth of itinerary!

When Heather invites, you accept. #yolo 🤣

The following evening, Lauren and I were on a train from the BWI Marshall Airport Station to the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station. We found $35 Amtrak tickets (one way) and arrived at Penn Station at midnight. Not ideal timing, but it’s what worked with our schedules, and the price point couldn’t be beat!

Having experienced both the bus and train options, the train is hands-down my favorite way to travel. It’s usually the more expensive option, but if you can find off-times, they are cheaper than the bus! The seats were similar to that of first class plane seats, there is a cafe/library car, and it’s faster than the bus without any feelings of car sickness!

Heather met us at the Penn Station terminal, right across from Madison Square Gardens.

We then walked a short ways to our hotel, Moxy in Times Square.

The next morning, after only a few hours of sleep, we were up and at ’em to catch a Chelsea Market Food Tour.

Um, I have never even thought to do this, but this was hands down my favorite way to see the city! I will for sure be adding that to my list of must-do’s anytime I’m in a new city.

Eat my way through NYC? Yes please.

It was a group tour, but there were only five of us plus our guide. Our tour started in Chelsea Market. First stop was Takumi Taco in Chelsea Market.

I had the curry lentil taco (I would never order that on my own), but it was delicious! I still think about that taco.

At each stop, our guide took our orders, we grabbed a seat, and she brought our food to us. Magic.

Next was mini donuts from Doughnuttery. As with most of these food places in Chelsea Market, we were able to see the production process.

We were given a small break to look around the market on our own, then meet up at a later specified time. We used this time to eat noodles at (what would normally be a mile-long line) Very Fresh Noodles.

Amazing. Highly recommend.

The best part about visiting the city in January (after Christmas) is it is much less crowded, giving you the opportunity to see and experience more things!

After shoving these noodles in our faces, we quickly left to meet up with our food tour group.

We tried the country’s “most popular pastry” from Joey Bats Cafe. This is a traditional Portuguese pastry known as “natas”, which is basically a warm, flaky croissant-like crust filled with creme brulee-like custard.

I wish I could have enjoyed it sitting down with a cup of coffee and eating it with fork and knife, savoring it all.

We walked a few steps over and tried a slice of pizza as big as my face from Filaga Pizzeria. I was clearly so consumed with eating, I forgot to document the best piece of pizza I’ve had all year.

We then took to the streets and walked to Market 57.

I feel like this is a hidden gem. How did we not know about this market?

It was much less crowded, but super cute, with a lot of sitting options for dining. Plus it had the most amazing view of the Hudson River.

While we took a seat…

…our guide worked on getting us a coffee from…

…Bird and Branch. I tried thier “Nightingale” latte, which is earl gray and turbinado sugar steeped milk, poured over espresso. This tea and coffee combo was fabulous!

In combination with our coffee, we also tried fried chicken dumplings from Nom Wah.

At this point of the tour, we parted ways with our group.

They would go on to walk to High Line Park, which was in the opposite direction of our hotel, and our friend Heather had a possible broken toe. So we spared ourselves the walk, since we had already toured that park in the past.

Instead we walked across the bridge and up to see Little Island.

Up top is a rooftop park that has a stunning view of the city skyline.

After leaving Pier 57, we stopped in for a mid-day cocktail at Dante NYC.

Per tradition, an espresso martini was my order.

I cannot express how cute this establishment is. There are not many places in NYC where I can picture myself living my actual life there for. But this cafe? In Greenwich Village? I would absolutely frequent here to meet friends, for a date night with Ryan, or just by myself to journal/write.

The feminine decor was exactly how I would want to decorate my home, if time and money weren’t an issue.

They certainly nailed it with the sophisticated ambiance and aesthetics. I wish I brought my phone into the bathroom, so I could have taken a picture of the decor in there. The wallpaper, tile, brass hardware, lighting, was all so beautiful and classy. I probably stayed in there longer than usual, just admiring it all. 🤣

On our way back to our hotel, we walked through Washington Square Park.

The Washington Square Arch in all its glory, without graffiti on it this time.

We walked past the NYU college campus. What a different college world. Hot tip: the college rec. center does not allow non-students to use their restroom. We found our way to a nearby Target, the closest public bathroom (after waiting in a long line).

We continued on to Little Italy in search of cannolis, we landed at Ferrara Bakery and Cafe.

I ordered tiramisu and a cappauccino. When we finished with our afternoon treat, we headed back to our hotel to rest a bit before getting ready to see a Broadway show.

We ended our evening at the cute lounge area of our hotel. We called it a night at 11pm, as Lauren and I had a 4:50am train ride home.

Wednesday morning came fast and furious.

For future reference, if you’re trying to catch a train before 5am, there is not access through the Moynihan Train Hall (it is closed from 1am to 5am). We found this out the hard way. Thankfully, we were able to ask policemen where to go to catch our 4:50am train. We were directed to the Penn Station Waiting Area. This ended up being a much nicer location to wait for our train!

We grabbed open seats (seats are not assigned), and rested until the cafe car opened at 5am. Lauren ended up working, while I read my kindle. In the cafe car, you can purchase Starbucks coffee and breakfast items and sit at a table.

As for luggage on Amtrak, we each brought a small suitcase plus carryon, but here is their baggage policy. Luggage is stored above the seats (similar to a plane). We felt completely comfortable leaving our luggage back at our original seats, while we sat in the cafe car for the entire trip.

We arrived back in Baltimore by 8am and paid for parking (only $12 a day!) in the Amtrak lot. I was so surprised how economical we were able to do NYC! I was home by 9:30am and hit the ground running with dinner, cleaning, laundry and catching up on emails/texts, then onto school pickup and practice carpool!

There is so much more to explore in the city, but I do love keeping with tradition and visiting the iconic special areas. My hope is to be able to reflect back on recap posts like these, and see all of the places we’ve created memories, and bookmark the ones we love!

I would be remiss if I didn’t credit most (if not all) of our NYC plans were the result of Heather’s creative diligence. I am so lucky to have a friend that enjoys planning these Big City trips and makes it fun for all!

Be sure to check out PART TWO and PART THREE of our NYC TRIPS!