“When you’re young you just run, but you come back to what you need.”
Just three short weeks out of New York, I was back in the city for what turned out to be one of my top-three weekends.. ever.
One of my best friends and I are moderately big Taylor Swift fans. Love her, her music, fashion, everything. We went to the 1989 tour three years ago and decided we needed to go to her Reputation tour as well. So way back in November we decided to buy tickets to one of her New York shows. (Looking back, it’s pretty convenient I got to fall in love with the city before this trip.)
I flew up on Thursday and the city was putting on a show. Clear, beautiful day. I think it was the definition of a perfect summer day. I went to Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center for the first time to fully soak up The Big Apple.
“I got that red lip, classic thing that you like.”
FRIDAY WAS THE DAY! Friend (aka: Twin) arrived in the afternoon and after a quick-lunch we were *ready* for it!
I’d made dinner reservations at City Vineyard on the west side. Highly recommended. You can’t beat the view and if it wasn’t so hot out, we would have taken an amount of photos only possible by millennial girls.
Our timing to Penn Station to catch the NJ Transit could not have been more perfect. With three minutes to spare, we caught the train to Jersey that ended up being filled with fellow concert goers.
Finally at the stadium, we grab some drinks and find our seats. The show was, in short, amazing. She played every song from Reputation plus so many of her other singles, something that was lacking in the 1989 tour. There were snakes, there was the acoustic version of Welcome to New York (that brought me to tears), and there was oh so much dancing.
“Well, I don’t know how it gets better than this.”
Saturday proved to be another perfect day. We made our way from Times Square down to Battery Park for a visit with the most famous green lady out there – the Statue of Liberty. *PRO TIP* get the early admissions. Our ticket for was 9am, we showed up at 9:10, walked right through security and left on the 9:20 ferry. By the time we were done with the trip around 11, the line to get into security stretched around the park.
The island wasn’t too packed yet so we were able to get some good shots in front of The Lady. And yet again – New York was putting on a show.
“I wanna be your end game.”
Right from the Statue of Liberty we went clear across Manhattan and into the Bronx to catch the Yankees-Mets subway series. To quote Twin: “We went to Taylor Swift and a baseball game. It doesn’t get more perfect for us than that.” And just for Twin, her Bronx Bombers won.
“We had this big wide city all to ourselves.”
Feeling famished from all the activities, Twin and I visited a restaurant I’d found on Instagram and have been dying to try – Macchina in Gramercy. 10/10 would go again. Everything was fresh and amazing with a great atmosphere. The wait staff was phenomenal and it didn’t break the bank either.
*still drooling over the burrata pizza*
“It’s hard not to find it all a little bittersweet.”
Sunday we were finally able to sleep in. We finished packing, dropped our luggage with the front desk and went out to search for some brunch. The Stagecoach Tavern – while maybe in a very high-traffic tourist area – had a decent brunch menu including a prix fixe section that included a drink.
“Here’s a toast to my real friends.”
Twin and I had been planning and anticipating this weekend for more than six months. The fact that everything turned out perfect and just fell into place.. well I hope I didn’t use up all my karma in these three days but if I did it’d be worth it.
Weekends away with close friends – whether taking a trip to see your favorite artist, or just hanging out with each other drinking wine on the coach – those are the memories that you’ll still talk about and laugh about years from now.
I’ve always had just a handful of friends at a time and now that I’m in my late 20’s, I feel like (and pray everyday) the close friends I have now are going to stick with me for the long haul. And I’m so grateful and thankful to have each and every one of them.
“The best people in life are free.”
AAdventure Seeker 