My New York City Experience

About a few months ago, my friends and I decided that we all wanted to go on a four day trip to New York City(NYC). So we all saved up our dollar bills and left for New York City Thursday the 28th of May. First and foremost, you need way more than four days to experience NYC, the city is just way to big and there is just so much to do. We stayed in Time Square at the Sheraton Manhattan Hotel, although it was not the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in, it was in close proximity to Time Square so it was easy to walk around places.

We filled the week up with fun events, but some of the most amazing things that happened were things that we did not plan at all. The first night we were there was a little overwhelming, we had no idea where anything was, so we did the first thing that any tourist would probably do...go eat. I really wanted to experience some of the great restaurants around the area, but that first night I did not care where we ate, so we ended up eating at one of the biggest tourist traps in the world, the Hard Rock Cafe. It was okay, I had baby back ribs and they were decent, I definitely needed to do a p90x or insanity workout after eating that. But what happened after that dinner none of us could plan.

We started walking towards the Rockefeller Center to check it out, we went to the area where it is famous for the ice skating rink. After that we decided to walk up a block for no reason at all, there was a huge crowd standing and watching something across the street. So we decided to go check it out. A film crew had a whole street blocked off for the filming of a 2010 Disney movie "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with Nicholas Cage. Now I am not a big Nicholas Cage fan at all, but it was pretty cool getting to see him and the film crew do a scene. After that we decided to walk down the street a little futher, that is when we ran into the Cash Cab!! I am a huge fan of the Cash Cab, and even though there were already people in the cab, it was so cool to see it. In fact when we saw it, we just stopped straight in our tracks and did not know what to do. One of the producers ran across the street, I thought we were going to get in trouble, but he told us that the people in the cab were doing a street shout out, and if we walked by we might be able to get on TV, so we walked across, but they did not chose us...bummer. It was still awesome, I was more excited about the Cash Cab then I was for Nicholas Cage.

When I think of New York City I think of food!! I was more excited about eating food than I was about going to Broadway shows, we definitely ate at some great places. I am a huge steak fan, so we made a couple reservations at some steak restaurants. Friday night we went to a Japanese Steaks House called Megu's, it was out of this world!! Now, before you go there, you need to know that it is very expensive. I had the Japanese Kobe beef 10 oz. steak and that was $120.00 just for the steak. It was incredible though, and probably the only time I will ever have Japanese Kobe beef ever again. The sides and the appetizers were all unique and tasted incredible. The next steak house we went to, was the Mesa Grill. If you do not know who Bobby Flay is, he is a Iron Chef on the Food Network Channel and he own this restaurant. I had the Bison fillet, and it was probably one of the most amazing pieces of meat that I have ever had. I was so surprised that bison was so tender and so flavorful. Other places we ate, were Ray's pizza, Hot Dog stands, and Dean's Pizzeria. We also enjoyed desserts at Juniors. We ate pretty good, but I was disappointed that we did not make it to Little Italy for some Italian food.

There were some things that we wished we could have done, like go to a Yankees or Mets game, little Italy, or a late night show. But there were plenty of things we did that were pretty awesome. One of the first things we did was go to a rooftop bar called the 230 Bar, it is on 230th and Fifth. It was super amazing, and has an incredible view of the city sky line. Plus, it is one of the coolest looking bars I have ever been in. We went to the Lion King and the Blue Man Group, which if you are in New York, you need to try to go to a show. Another thing we enjoyed was just sitting in Time Square at night, it is one of the most incredible places just to people watch and enjoy all the bright lights around you. Central Park and Grand Central Station are both amazing places to visit to.

Ground Zero was pretty amazing to be at, even though they have the whole area fenced off so you can not really see. There is a little observatory bridge that allows you to see in. It is amazing to think that the World trade centers used to stand there. There is also a Church that is right by Ground Zero that you need to go visit if you are around that area.

If you want a great view of the city then a great place to go is the Rockefeller Center. You might think it would be the Empire State building but it takes a couple hours to get up there. The Rockefeller Center did not take to long to get to the top and it gave an incredible 360 view of the city.

The most convenient way to get around in New York City is by cab, but it is also pretty expensive. The Subway might be more convenient, but we had some terrible experiences with the Subway system, it is cheaper though, but it smells like piss. So if I had to do it all over again I just would have taken a cab everywhere I went. I would never rent a car!! Never!! The driving is just way to crazy over there, it is like a third world country.