New York City In 72 Hours.

Ever since I was about 10 years old, I wanted to live in NYC. I don't know if it was just the excitement of watching TRL every day after school, but the energy and lights of the city had me craving something more than the quiet life in the sticks of rural Georgia.

As someone who grew up in a small town, I always had a desire to experience the hustle and bustle of a big city. The idea of living in a place that never sleeps, with its bright lights, towering skyscrapers, and vibrant life, had me captivated. I've always thrived off the energy of those around me, so I wanted so badly to be surrounded by people-- tons and tons of people.

I spent countless hours imagining what life in NYC would be like based on what other people had told me, but I still had no clue what to expect.

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Living in a van makes some cities hard to navigate because of many reasons.

The big one is parking. Our van is too tall for parking garages, too long for most diagonal street parking spaces, and too big for tight parking lots that don't have space to flip around without making a 48 point turn. The Promaster does have a great turning radius though, so often we are surprised by the ability it has to get us quickly out of some impatient honker's way.

We are usually laughing hysterically at the predicament we have gotten ourselves into, which makes the "we are sorry" wave to them seem a little easier to brush off.

😂 🤷🏼‍♀️

Another thing we realized is incredibly difficult to navigate in cities are the narrow streets or low bridges that make you feel like you're playing a video game and scrunch your shoulders real tight hoping the vehicle follows suit.

The feeling of driving 60mph and quickly being faced with a 9'5" clearance bridge when your vehicle is only a couple inches shorter is unlike any other. Immediate full-body sweats. 😳😳

With all of this said... We did NOT drive the van into the heart of the city. Instead, we found a long-term parking option to leave the van for a few nights and got a hotel in Brooklyn.

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As we stepped off the subway and climbed up the stairs to the streets of Brooklyn, an overwhelming sense of adrenaline washed over me - I FINALLY MADE IT TO NEW YORK CITY! It wasn't an overwhelming feeling of standing in the middle of Times Square or the Financial District, surrounded by towering skyscrapers. Instead, it was the serene atmosphere of 6AM dog walks and people heading off to work and school that felt so normal.

It was the feeling of breathing in the air of so many cultures coexisting; the feeling of art and innovation crawling around every corner-- the feeling of energy in the stillness. Unlike the chaos of people shouting and kids playing, or the noise of loud trucks and horns honking. Despite the calm, the air was full of life.

I couldn't wait to take in everything that New York had to offer. From the vibrant street art to the bustling food scene, I knew that this city had so much to offer, and I was determined to soak up every moment. The excitement of finally being in the city that never sleeps was almost too much to handle.

We stayed at this cute little place called ThePodHotel, which is like if Ikea had hotel rooms. It was minimal, compact, in a great location, and fairly inexpensive for staying in the city. It was funny how much more "space" we had compared to being in the van, but we kept making comments about how much we were impressed with our storage in the van/ how much usable space we built in the van. Even though there is more room, we felt tight and unorganized in the hotel compared to the van.

If you would have told me I would miss the van while I was staying in a hotel room for the weekend, I would have absolutely argued with you. But as we were snuggled up in bed catching up on our Sunday episode of 90DayFiance-- both of us talked about how eager we were to get back to the comforting familiarity and homeyness that we had created in our home on wheels.

GoodThingRIght??

The one thing we had scheduled was to see HelloGoodbye at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg the night we got in. Because we got into the city super early, we had plenty of time to roam the streets of Williamsburg. We walked to Domino Park with the backdrop of the East River and Williamsburg Bridge and grabbed beers at OtherHalf Brewery. Their beer selection was so amazing that we kinda went wild and ordered a flight of all double IPAs-- Whoops. We had to take a nap before the show so that we would have all of the energy Forrest deserved for us to bring to the show.

It was such a fun night! Honestly, if you haven't listened to HelloGoodbye for the last 15 years, we highly recommend giving it a go. Their sound got funkier and flowy-- It's full of emotional lyrics with a disco-pop feel; I honestly can't get enough of it. A couple of songs WILL be played at our wedding!

Our method of packing so much into our days was to buy the week subway pass and use the sh*t out of it. We would get on the subway in Williamsburg and take it to EastVillage to grab a bagel and bone broth-- Then get on the subway from EastVillage and head to MidTown to see TimesSquare, MadisonSquareGarden, and RadioCity MusicHall-- Then back to FortGreene for a pho dinner at 5iveSpice.

The next full day we took the subway from Williamsburg to walk around CentralPark. This is one thing we didn't do that we would recommend to anyone else-- RENT A BIKE. The park is so insanely huge for being in the middle of a dense massive city, and being able to see it from all angles is pretty neat.

We just power walked a good amount of the park, and because I am a last-minute packer, I thought my one pair of black 2" heel timberlands would be sufficient for the whole trip... Yeah... I'm not the best at quick decisions and left my Nikes behind... (but they are blue and green and would not have gone with my NYvibe.) 🤷🏼‍♀️ 💃🏼 Needless to say, my feet and legs were on FIRE by Day2.

I am 32 years old-- ill probably learn one day.

While we were driving to New York, I put on a podcast called This is Actually Happening, which is about average people telling unbelievably true stories about events that have changed their lives in drastic ways. It just so happened that this was the 20th anniversary of 9-11 and the podcast was doing a series on speaking with people who had personal experiences from the day the attacks happened.

I clicked on the first one that caught my eye titled 'What if you ran the ER five blocks away'. It was Tony Dajer's, an ER doctor, first-hand story of what it was like to be at the hospital that day and how the events of panic and horror ripped through the city and what he was trying to do in the midst of the chaos to help everyone that he could. It was gripping and intimate. It made me start to picture that day in a different light. Since I was 12, I have heard countless people's memories of that day... Where were you when you got the news? How old were you and how did it affect you? But to be somewhat separated from it for so long, to be visiting the city for the first time in a couple of hours, it all started to hit my emotions a bit differently. I was even more eager to get a feel for the city than I had realized.

As we walked around the city and eventually made our way to the 9/11 Memorial, I was overcome by the power of the site. We stood overlooking the acre-sized hole in the ground watching as cascading down over the 30-foot sides. The sound of the water drowned out the noise of the city, and for a moment, I felt a sense of surrender to the significance of the memorial. I highly recommend making sure to take time to visit this area and surrender to the power of this memorial.

The juxtaposition of everything in New York is incredible. The tranquil park, so large you can get lost, nestled between a city of skyscrapers, provides a much-needed respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. The subways that are drenched in decades of filth, showcase stunning tile and mosaic artwork that bring in life and vibrancy. The streets are filled with people living completely different lives yet all contributing to the fabric of this vibrant community. The difference in fashion and style in the city is extreme. No one is too good for public transportation. Everyone is walking through puddles of.... unknown substances. I love it so much– The fusion of cultures, world class cuisines, and the sense of community it fosters– not so much the mysterious smells and puddles and massive rats that come with it.😜😜

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::Anyways, on to where to go and what to do when you get to NYC::

We are so super lucky to have some really dope friends all across the country that recommend places for us to go, however, since we sometimes fly through areas, we don't get to try everything. I am going to list places that we went to and loved, as well as places we were told to go (by a reliable source) but were not able to make happen this trip.

We would love for the communications between us and you-the-reader to be fluid-- So, if you have recommendations or try one of these spots and have an opinion-- TELL US!

(**)Recommended, but we haven't visited yet.

East Village

Flatiron Building

Tompkins Square Bagels- Homemade Cream Cheeses and Bagel Sandwiches

Brodo- Delicious Sipping BoneBroth Stand.

Fish Cheeks Thai Restaurant- Crab Curry

**3 Times Chinese Restaurant-

**Awesum DimSum Restaurant

**Mazete Ramen Restaurant

**Nowon New American Restaurant

**Supermoon Bakehouse Bakery

West Village

Chelsea

Whitney Museum of American Art

Hudson River Park

**Joes Pizza Restaurant

**Nami Nori- Japanese + Sushi Restaurant

**The Loyal- New American Restaurant

**Panca Peruvian Restaurant

**Kuxe Thompson Mexican Restaurant

Williamsburg

Knitting Factory Live Music + Comedy Venue

Other Half Brewery- Delightful IIPAs

Rosa's Pizza- Easy and Delicious Pizza Slices

**Screamer's Pizza- Vegan Pizza

**Sweet Chick- Southern Fried Chicken Restaraunt

**Tabare Uruguayan Restaurant

**Misi Italian Restaurant

East Williamsburg/ Bushwick

Grimm Artisanal Ales Brewery- Artsy Brewery + the BreweryCat Simcoe

Non Sequitur Brewery- Small Experimental Brewery Always Donating to Local Charities, + Nelson the BreweryDog

Nene's Mexican Taqueria-

Evil Twin Brewery- Flagship Location

**Kings County Brewery

**Itzel's Mexican Taqueria

Prospect Heights

5ive Spice Vietnamese Restaurant- Great Pho and BahnMi

**Threes Brewery

**Wild East Brewery

**Mo's Original Ramen Restaurant

Midtown Manhattan

Central Park

Times Square

The High Line- Elevated Rail Line Turned Pedestrian Park

Madison Square Garden

Empire State Building

Radio City Music Hall

Rockefeller Center

**Clinton Hall 36 Beer Garden

**Sushi Lab Restaurant

Downtown/ Lower Manhattan

One World Trade Center + Observatory

The Oculus Monument + Mall

9-11 Memorial Site

Financial District

Brookfield Place Shopping Mall

Chinatown

Greenwich Village

Brooklyn Bridge

Statue of Liberty

Dumbo/ Fort Greene

Walk or View the Brooklyn Bridge

Evil Twin Brewery- Super Crazy Beer Styles and Ingredients

**Oddfellows Ice Cream