New York City - What To Do & See?

I leave for New York in a week! I can't believe that I'm FINALLY going to be able to scratch NYC off of my "must see" list... But now that it's almost here, I'm having a really tough time pinning down what I want to see and do while we're there. A couple friends have been helping me refine this list, and here's what we've come up with so far!

Central Park
There are about a thousand things I want to see in Central Park. Fortunately for me, Central Park has an awesome, comprehensive website, full of things to see and do, activities, and even a list of the trees and flowers you'll see there. Maybe I'll rent a bike so I can see more of the awesome things the park has to offer. Some of the things on my list? Belvedere Castle, the Azalea Pond, the Blockhouse, the Lake and the Loch and the Gill and the Pool Grotto, Harlem Meer, the Charles B. Stover "whisper" bench, Nutter's Battery Site, the Mall and Literary Walk, Strawberry Fields, and the Turtle Pond. And that's not even getting started on the bridges: the Oak Bridge, the Bow Bridge, the Gapstow Bridge, and the Balcony Bridge! Whew! Yeah, pretty sure I'm going to need an entire day to dedicate to the park.

Empire State Building
I can't wait to see the Empire State Building! I think it's a Sleepless In Seattle thing.

Grand Central
I love trains and train stations, and this one is simply too iconic to miss!

New York Public Library
Like my love of trains, my love of books goes WAY back. This one is a "don't miss" for me, even if it's just for a quick trip in to check out the architecture!

Top of the Rock
I want to get a good view of the NY skyline, and my friend recommended this location over the Empire State building because you can actually SEE the Empire State building with this view. Sounds good to me!

World Trade Memorial
When I was in DC in 2008 I visited the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, so I'm looking forward to seeing this one too. Well, not exactly "looking forward to" as much as "understanding the significance to our country and finding it crucial to visit."

Statue of Liberty
I would really like to at lease SEE the statue - I don't have to go on any long tour or anything, but it's such an American & New York staple!

Ellis Island
If we have time, I'd love to visit Ellis Island. 3 of 4 of my sets of great-grandparents came through Ellis Island, and I'd love to check it out.

Times Square
I have to see it, even if I don't plan on spending a bunch of time there!

Metropolitan Museum of Art
I'll be traveling with M, who is an art buff, so I can't imagine us missing this one!

St. Patrick's Cathedral
Even though I'm not Catholic (well, I was baptized Catholic but that's where it ended for me), I've always loved the peacefulness of Catholic churches. And they've usually got stunning architecture, so I'm looking forward to seeing this one.

5th Avenue & Tiffany & Co
Breakfast At Tiffany's is such a lovely movie, I just have to see Tiffany's! And though I probably won't do much shopping on 5th, it's another thing that you have to at lease see when you're in NY!

Serendipity 3
My love of chocolate and John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale make this a necessary stop for me! Frozen Hot Chocolate? Yum!

LOVE sculpture
Just because it seems so neat! And I'm ever the photographer - of course I need a photo of this! Also, I saw the one in Philly in 2008, so I should round out the collection, right?

See a Broadway show
Not sure if we'll be able to swing this one, due to work schedules for M, but we'd both like to see a Broadway show if it's possible! I'm thinking maybe Jersey Boys would be appropriate? At the very least, we'll walk through.

Check out a jazz club
M missed out on doing this last year, and I think it would be very cool too!

Check out a comedy club
Again, something I think would be pretty cool. Maybe this one that Trip Advisor recommends.

Food
Eat pizza. And hot dogs. And we'd like to have at least one really nice, fancy NEW YORK meal. Maybe at a jazz or comedy club?

Wow, that's SO much more than I thought it would be! I doubt we'll be able to do everything on this list in the 5 days that we're there, but maybe I'll be able to knock some of them out. Maybe a Hop On/Hop Off bus tour would help - some of these things are really spread out, so driving in between might help us out!

Regardless of what we end up seeing or not seeing, this is bound to be a pretty awesome trip!

Is there anything that I NEED to see that we missed on this list?

In the works...

I've been feeling the travel bug lately - like crazy.

And, I'm happy to say that I've got not one but TWO trips in the works now!

The first is a super quick, overnight trip to San Diego for our anniversary next week. We're going to spend to go down, see BF's aunt and uncle, check out the museum where BF's uncle has some items on display, and spend the night in my favorite part of San Diego - the Gaslamp District!

I booked our hotel today, and it was awesome because I used my Hotels.com Welcome Rewards credit towards our hotel - so we'll be paying less than $100 for a night! The Welcome Rewards program is pretty cool - you book 10 nights in a hotel through them, and you get 1 night free (based on the average you spend on the other nights)! We decided to splurge a bit and booked a more "luxury" hotel, so the credit went towards the total, then we paid the balance. Works for me!

The second trip is one I've been daydreaming about for years - New York City! I've been traveling for years, have been to four continents and lord knows how many countries, heck, I've even lived abroad... but I've never been to New York. The closest I've come was our East Coast Road Trip from a few years back when we drove on the outskirts of New York on our way from Boston to Virginia. And now, my opportunity has finally arrived!

M is going to be in New York for work, and I found a round trip flight for $240 (American Airlines, JetBlue and Virgin America ALL had this fare) - so I immediately booked it. I'll be there for 5 nights, and the best part is we won't have to pay for hotels! The first three nights are covered through her work, and then we'll stay with my friend for the last two nights! I can't think of a better way to see NY - a great mix between visiting friends and working.

What trips do you have coming up that you're excited for?