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#40for40NYC, bill nighly, broadway, brooklyn, budget, budget travel, carey mulligan, celebrity, Central Park, Coney Island, dallas to nyc, female travel, graduate student, helen mirren, manhattan, new york, New York City, NYC, oscar winner, single, star, student, texas to new york, thatgingeranna, the audience, Times Square, tourism, tourist, Travel
Saturday, we walked around down in NoHo because I had to turn in a paper. If you go down to NoHo there are a crap ton of brunch places and boutiques for shopping. I suggest this area for a chill Sunday afternoon. After I turned in my paper we took the train down to Coney Island. The train down there from NoHo took over 1.5 hours, so just keep that in mind. It is a pain in the butt, but you get there for $2.75 so who can complain?
Coney Island was fun! We rode the Wonder Wheel, a 95 year old ferris wheel. A ticket is $7 and you get great views of the boardwalk and surrounding area and you are RIDING A 95 YEAR OLD FERRIS WHEEL! Haha, I had never ridden a ferris wheel so it was a little freaky, but definitely fun. After the ride we walked all the way down the boardwalk and then down the big pier.
That was fun because there was a Puerto Rican/Venezuelan band playing, people fishing and tanning, and all kinds of stuff going on. We walked back down the boardwalk and I wanted to eat at Nathan’s! I got a hotdog, pretzel, and a beer for like $14. You aren’t allowed to take the beer outside the Nathan’s tables area, but there was nowhere to sit, so I hid it in my purse and we sat on a bench by the beach. There was a DRUNK ass man that we watched while we ate. He fell down and ate his food out of the sand and it was a train wreck. The wind picked up about halfway through lunch and it was already 5 and we had a long ride back to my place, so we left. I got some saltwater taffy for $7, so I spent $34 for the entire day. If you brought your own snacks, I would highly suggest this as a full day activity! From what I understand, they also have free fireworks on Friday evenings (hello, additional date idea)!
After getting back from Coney Island we freshened up and went back downtown to Times Square. Eh…so there are some good things and bad things about Times Square on Saturday night: It is VERY crowded. Like, I can’t even imagine how NYE would be if Saturday nights are so crowded. If you want to do this, I suggest going around 10.
We walked down 45th street around 11 and all of the play casts were letting out and I got to see HELEN MIRREN, CAREY MULLIGAN, and BILL NIGHLY! So amazing. That would be fun if there were a certain actor you knew or were a fan of and you could get an autograph or picture with them, even if you can’t afford to go to the show!
After we walked around and saw some stars, we did a little bar hopping. We went to Junior’s Bakery and got a piece of cheesecake and espresso. Then we went to Lillie’s Victorian Establishment for a drink and then went to Social for another drink. Junior’s has been voted the best cheesecake in the city and it was delicious (it’s around $7.50 a slice), but I might check out the location in Grand Central instead if you haven’t been before.
As far as Lillie’s…it’s a typical NYC concept bar with a typical NYC price. If you don’t drink beer, you are going to break the bank. With tip, I spent about $35 on two drinks (one for myself and one for a friend), which is pretty nuts. The ambiance is really great though and it’s a fun bar.
We left Lillie’s and walked to Social, which is much more reasonable! For half the price of 2 drinks at Lille’s, we got three at Social (around $17). This place is loud and definitely more of a party spot. The music caters to twenty somethings, so it was right up our alley. Times Square is definitely best at night because the lights are so pretty and there are so many characters to see.
So, if you go to Times Square at night, I suggest getting there around 10, hanging out around the theaters to spot some stars and then heading to Social for a couple of drinks. That will keep you under $20, so that’s $20 for another activity (maybe Lille’s for one drink or an appetizer at a restaurant nearby)!
Sunday was the last day my friend was in town, so we kept it chill. We took the train to 59th street Columbus Circle, bought some food at Whole Foods and then went across the street and had a picnic in central park. This was my favorite thing we did, closely followed by Stone Street. Whole Foods has an amazing salad, soup, hot food, and dessert bar that is priced per pound. I got a drink, a huge salad and some chicken wings for $18! I brought a blanket so we had a picnic, took many pictures, and relaxed.
It was pretty crowded since it was Sunday evening and the weather was nice, but it was so peaceful and relaxing. This would be another great date idea if you had a picnic basket and could bring a bottle of wine, cheese, and crackers or something. I highly recommend the Whole Foods idea, but bringing food from home works just as well! With the $5.50 subway fare+$20 at Whole Foods, and $5 for an ice cream from the ice cream truck, we had a full day for $35.50.
As you can see, I packed a lot of activities into a few days, so I am going to have to budget for a while. I hope that I get to do some free things this weekend and I will be sure to write about it. I don’t have an iPad right now, so it’s a little less convenient to publish blogs and pictures, but hopefully I will figure something out soon. Thanks for reading the first three installments and I will talk to y’all soon!
