Just a couple short weeks ago, Steve (Willow’s dad) got a call from a local radio station in Ottawa called Live 88.5 with some fab news. He had won an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to see the Black Keys live in concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. When he found out, he asked me if I would go with him and, given that we’ve spent many a trip in NYC, I said yes without hesitation.
We headed out this morning (Tuesday) bright and early to catch our flight to Toronto. From Toronto, we caught a connection to Newark and decided to take the train into Manhattan. It’s one of my favourite ways to get into the city as it instantly gives me a more “local” vibe and it’s also super inexpensive (I like to save money on things like this and splurge a bit more on the experience!)
Given that we had about a thirty minute train ride, I decided to pull out my laptop and get a bit of work done. I was able to format a client’s ebook while on the train, which was a fab use of the time and having the city just outside of my window at times was phenomenal.
New York City is one of my most favourite places on the planet. It has a vibe about it that is tangible. The people in the city are alive, eccentric, unique and adventurous. New York is a melting pot of perfection. Culture, art, music, character, architecture and more come together to create a city that breathes life into it.
After we landed in NYC and checked into our hotel, The Row on 8th Avenue, we wandered around looking for a place to eat. We ended up finding an amazing restaurant that features organic, grass-fed, locally sourced food called Bareburger. The atmosphere was amazing, the food incredible and the staff was super friendly. We ate at the 153 8th Avenue location and highly recommend it if you are nearby and looking for good food.
After our early dinner, we wandered all around New York City. We went all the way up 8th Avenue until we hit Central Park and then we turned and walked across and down 5th Avenue. We snapped some photos, took in some sights, grabbed some coffee and just soaked up the city. The UN was having their general assembly and the downtown hotels, just off of 5th Avenue, were full of police escorts and other such vehicles. We watched for a bit to see if someone we knew would pop out but when it took too long, we just kept on walking.
As the time neared 6:15pm, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for The Black Keys concert. We took the Subway from the Times Square station down to the Barclays Center stop and joined the packed arena for Cage the Elephant followed by Black Keys. It was a fantastic concert and our seats were amazing!
Post-concert, we hit up Haru sushi (just off of Times Square) and noshed on some sushi before coming back to the room and essentially collapsing on the bed (where I am now).
I’m going to crash hard now and will post more tomorrow but thank you, thank you, thank you to Live 88.5 for hosting the contest. This was SO needed!
xo