NYC in 3 days ~ plus a little NJ

Probably you are already asking yourself: How can you possibly get to know NYC in 3 days? Well, short answer – you cannot. Not really. But you can see a ton of things, beautiful and eye opening. Throw in a good measure of Northern New Jersey and you have a – hopefully – happy family visit from Germany.

Monday a week ago my sister arrived with her husband and two grown up daughters for a ‘once in a lifetime’ vacation in the USA. Naturally we tried our best to make their stay with us a success. If you are living only 30 miles from NYC you can be sure that one or more visits to the City are guaranteed. Rather than talking or writing a whole lot I will let a few (believe me I shot tons of photos again in NYC) photos do the talking for me – mostly.

p.s. as usual click on any photo to enlarge it – it might be worth it! 😉

Day 1 – Tuesday

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I took off work and we had a long breakfast catching up and making plans for their stay with us. Since one of the things they wanted to is seeing the NYC skyline by night we agreed to do that on their first day.After a little shopping and a stop by our local Frelinghuysen Arboretum we drove to the City. They got their fill of honking, parked and then first walked to the 9/11 Memorial. I hadn’t been there myself before and it is beautiful and impressive. From there we walked to and over Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn to see the sun set.

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 Day 2 – Wednesday

I had to work, but left them with my car and GPS to spend a day at the beach. So they drove to explore the Jersey shore, finishing their trip on Sandy Hook before returning home. We ended the day by giving them the authentic experience of our local pub: Billy’s and Madeline’s Red Room. Where we all enjoyed good, hearty food and a beer (or two) and Gin&Tonics.

Day 3 – Thursday

This was our second trip to NYC. This time we went north to Central Park where we joined a Big Onion Walking Tour. We learnt quite a bit and saw even more. Once it was finished my family decided they need to cross off a few things off their list: Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue, Tiffany’s, Bryant Park, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, Times Square and the M&M store – which, of course, meant – more walking. And then we still had to walk back to our parking garage. By the time we finally got home, our dinner was pizza and doggy bags we brought home from the pub last night.

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Day 4 – Friday

David also took off work so we could spend it all together. After breakfast we manned both cars and drove to the Delaware Water Gap. We booked three kayaks at Adventure Sports and merrily paddled down stream for most of the afternoon enjoying beautifully warm weather. We actually saw a bear, but it disappeared long before I could snap a photo – phew – thank God for that! On our way back, with only a slight detour, we stopped by the Long Valley Brew Pub for dinner and drinks.

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Day 5 – Saturday

Our third time in the City. We drove there around lunch, picked up our tickets for a Circle Cruise and went for a short walk through town and on the Highline Park. I would not recommend doing that on the weekend, because it was packed. But it is still very impressive with lots of things to see. Walking back along the water front to Pier 83 to board our cruise ship at around 3 pm. If you have very little time and want to see a lot, do one of these circle cruises around Manhattan. The cruise guides tells you a whole lot and you will see even more. Skyline, Statue of Liberty, Freedom Tower, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, all the bridges etc. etc.

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Day 6 – Sunday

This was our lazy day. Stayed in bed, had a long breakfast, did some laundry and spent some time at Fosterfielsds Living Farms, again enjoying the still beautiful weather.

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Day 7 – Monday

Departure Day – I went to work in the morning, while they packed and got ready. At 11:30 I picked them up and we drove to the airport to pick up their rental car. And not too much later they were on their way to experience the turning of the leaves driving up north through a few more States. I am just hoping that the Government shutdown is not causing them too much trouble…

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I hope they will have a fantastic journey up north! And you can continue your journey by following our blog circle to reading the new Sisterhood post by Kay Maguire.

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10 thoughts on “NYC in 3 days ~ plus a little NJ”

  1. Those are some really beautiful pictures!! I’ve been wanting to go back to visit NYC for a while now, and this just made me want to do so even more! Sounds like fun was had by all. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Wow it looks as though you had a fantastic time and made the most of every minute!! I’d love to visit NYC – one of these days it will happen but in the meantime I’ll just have to enjoy your photos 🙂

    Reply
  3. I’d love to see NY, and if I can it would be sooner than later 🙂 Maybe you can share your favorite places when I’m ready to go. Love the photos, makes me want to go right now!!

    Reply

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