Girls Weekend in New York City

My friend was attending a work conference in Farmingham, CT, so I flew into Hartford to meet her. This gave me the opportunity to check out various parts of the city and walk around a bit.

1pm: I landed shortly after noon and was in need of a spot to work for part of the day. I ended up at Story and Soil Coffee in which the coffee did not disappoint! Cute and quaint spot.

2pm: I wanted to find a close restaurant nearby given it had started to rain a bit. Aurora's Restaurant was next door and had extremely good ratings. I ordered the Shuco Carne Asada sandwich as it was recommended by one of the employees. The meat was pretty good but not the best I've ever had. I stayed here a couple hours and many people stopped in for the baked goods as well!

4pm: I wanted to head downtown near the train station to meet my friend. I stumbled upon the Goodwin Hotel, which was a gem of a spot. They had also recently re-opened the main restaurant inside, Bar Pina. Charming and loved the vibe, plus, it was happy hour so even better! I ordered a variety of food to take on the train and everything was delicious.

8:30pm: Boarded the train to NYC! Highly recommend this option vs. renting a car if you have the opportunity. The bonus? You can absolutely bring wine and enjoy it on the train too.

FRIDAY - BRAVOCON!

• 10:30am-5:30pm: Most of the day was spent attending Bravocon at the Javits Center. This was only a 12 minute walk from our hotel and it was surprisingly nice out for mid-October. For all you Bravo fans out there, I would highly recommend attending for a day if you can! VIP was absolutely worth it too.
• 7:30pm: Dinner at Bar Pitti - this had been at the top of our list to try. While they didn't accept reservations for two people, it only took about 10-15 minutes to get seated. The pasta was wonderful and everything had great flavor. Good ambience as well. The only thing I did not know before going is this is a cash only establishment. Luckily, the table next to us had cash as we didn't have our debit cards on us.

SATURDAY

• 9am: Walked from our hotel to see the Vessel at Hudson Yards, which was a beautiful structure. From there, we were on a mission to grab coffee at Chelsea Market and walk around the shops.
• 11:30am: We made a pit stop in NoHo to do some shopping and catch the subway to Brooklyn and explore.
• 1pm-4pm:
  • We got to Brooklyn and stumbled upon the Brooklyn Flea Market that consisted of a variety of unique vendors. You could absolutely find some random gems in terms of clothing, jewelry, records, etc.
  • For lunch, we stopped in to Seamore’s as we were lured in by the Mariah Carey hits playing. Adorable seafood restaurant with a great cocktail and food selection. We ordered a couple appetizers and salad. Get the Yellowfin Tuna Poke - delicious!
  • We left and walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge to head back to our hotel and get ready for an event.
• 7-7:45pm: To round out our Bravocon weekend, we went to the Manhattan Center to catch a live filming of Watch What Happens Live: Charming House Rules. LOVED seeing Andy Cohen and cast members from Southern Charm, Summer House, Winter House, and Vanderpump Rules.
• 8:45pm: Dinner at Pastis - trust the hype around this place. Everything from the ambience, service, and food was excellent. We ordered the lamb, steak tartare, macaroni, and a side of fries. I can't wait to come back and try some of the other dishes!

SUNDAY
We had an early flight on Sunday so headed to the airport around 5am. Great overall trip and cannot wait to make it back to NYC soon!