Twenty-something in New York City
Three days, four nights in New York City. It’s time to make summer a good one.
Picture it, early 20s, having an identity crisis, and in desperate need of an adventure. Where does a girl got to go? The Big Apple.
Thursday to Sunday-I planned a little getaway, packed full of fun things to do in the city. Let me show you what I did, and hopefully I will inspire you to do the same- Just book the trip and go. You’ll regret it if you don’t!
Thursday in New York City:
I arrived in New York and ubered to my cousin Jaime’s apartment, where I would be staying. We got ready and immediately headed out. There was no time to waste!
First, Jaime took me to a super cute restaurant, Holiday Bar, which was right down the street from the comedy club that we’re headed to. It was delicious. From there, we walked down a very busy street to Comedy Cellar. Have you heard of it? It’s very famous. This one, on this particular street in West Village, is the original. I hear people say “Its The Best.”
You’re not allowed to record the show, but it was great. The comedian was hilarious and, of course, my cousin and I sat in the very front table direct eyeline from the comedian, you just know you are going to be called on. After the performance we decided we were not going to head back home just yet. We’re going to walk down to the bar grab a drink, and that’s what we did. It was still busy out, and there were so many places to pop into, if we wanted. We had a drink at this place… but I can’t remember the name of it! But, does it matter? There’s a plethora of them. The mentality is pick one and go!
I know it’s the city that never sleeps, but I needed to. So…. after we had our drinks….we went back to the apartment.
Friday in New York City:
We woke up and had brunch, and then we went on The Beast speed boat tour. This tour was very fun and very exhilarating. The guys running it were hilarious. We saw amazing views of the New York City skyline from the water, and they even took us all the way to the Statue of Liberty, and we circled the island a little bit. We’re able to take pictures. It was lots of fun. The way back was also very fun… but be ready, the ride gets a little bumpy and they’re not afraid to get you wet.
From there, we biked our way back close to the apartment and got smoothies. It seemed like an early time to end the day but, we had a fun night planned and we needed our rest, and plenty of time to get ready for the later while sipping on champagne.
We had dinner at Maison Close. It’s supposed to be a restaurant, but at a certain time, it also turns into a burlesque show. We made sure we made a reservation for a later dinner so that we could stay long enough to have a table for when the show started.
It was crazy. The restaurant gave us free Sex On The Beach shots. We had dinner and shared a bottle of wine, and then the burlesque show started. The dancers were amazing. It was such a fun show! They performed on top of a platform in the middle of the restaurant surrounded by all the seated tables. At the end, all the servers invited everyone up on the platform to dance. And… wouldn’t you know it…, our server took my hand and brought me up on the platform to start dancing. Of course, I had to be the first one!
We danced, and we danced, and then we met some a group of people. They invited us to a place called The Box. The Box in New York City is one of the most famous clubs in all Manhattan. It’s apparently VERY hard to get into. This group said that they were going there, and we were like-hmmm maybe. Twenty minutes later when we were about to leave, we saw that they had left one of their IDs on our table. We saw that they were from a different country so they definitely needed this ID! We were like, “Well now we have to go!?” To The Box we ubered.
When we got there, not surprisingly, there was a super long line. We stood in line for about 5 minutes before we became impatient. My cousin and I decided to walk up to the front of the line and my cousin Jaime decided to bribe the bouncer, with money she had in her purse, to let us in. It was laughable, but luck was on our side and the guy let us in! Everyone outside was very mad and yelled at us. Sorry, but I had limited time in their city.
We walked in, and the moment we entered, we saw that group from the burlesque show! “Hey!” I yelled. As we entered The Box, they greeted us with smiles and said “You Came!!!” I handed them the ID and they were very grateful. They then invited us to their table in the front of the Box to watch the burlesque show that was raging. Free champagne, free everything. We don’t know who these guys were but they had one of the few tables that were apparently hard to get. We only stayed a little bit, had a glass of champagne, and then we left and called it a night….and a great night it was!
Saturday in New York City:
The next morning though was Horrible…. Terrible. The worst hangovers we’ve ever experienced. What were in those drinks?? We surely didn’t have that much. God it was an awful morning. I’m laughing just thinking of it.
Tell me, who would possibly plan to scale the outside of a skyscraper at 10am the morning after a night out? What was I thinking!? My cousin was bedridden. She wasn’t going anywhere. I pulled myself up and dragged myself to my uber. To The Hudson I went.
It’s called City Climb at The Edge. I was in a group of six. I think there was one other “solo”. Before they got us all in our suits, we all had to pass something first-a breathalyzer test. Oh God, I thought. Everyone passed, and then they got to me. I blow on the thing and the guy looks at the numbers. He looks at me and then whispers something to his coworker. I’m screwed. The guy finally goes to me, “You barely passed! Which means you must’ve been drinking before this.” Everyone looks at me all wide-eyed. It’s 9am. She’s gotta be an alcoholic. I insist it’s because I had drinks the night before, and it was a very fun night, I promised.
We got suited up, went through a bunch of safety speeches and training, and they finally took us outside to the side of this skyscraper with very steep, very small, stairs. For some reason, they send the hungover, barely sober passing girl, (me) to be first in line. Normally, a person at this moment in time would be very frightened about scaling this extremely tall skyscraper. Maybe I would’ve been, but I had bigger problems. I was incredibly nauseous, and to me, it was scarier to throw-up on the side of a skyscraper than to fall off of it! I’m just really trying to keep it together. Don’t worry, I still took in the views.
We finally get to the top and look out. It is truly stunning. I’m so glad I came, despite how I felt. Now that we’re all at the top, its time to amplify it even more. It is time to lean off the edge. There’s 2 options they explain. One way is easier and less daunting than the other. With Option 1; You start down in a squat, so the ropes holding on to you get that tension, before you even lean over the edge. It makes you feel much more secure. With Option 2; You start standing up, and lean back all crazy and just wait for it to catch you. They made me go first and I decided to just lean back all crazy. The mindset was- maybe I’ll scare the nauseous away.
In the video you’ll see me lean back and yell “Where’s the tension?!” It was a very fun experience. If you’re ever in New York City and are an adrenaline junkie, you’ve got to check it out.
Afterwards I met up with an old friend for lunch, and then I finally got back to my cousin’s apartment where she was finally getting around to getting up out of bed. It was at this moment where an old woman waltzed through the front door of the apartment while I’m sitting in the middle of the living room. I instantly stood up, bewildered. This woman was insisting on coming further into the apartment. I was soooo confused, but I kept trying to get her to leave. It was a back and forth argument almost. Long story short, she had dementia. Very sad, but very funny how freaked out I was. Meanwhile my cousin was in her room with no clue I was dealing with an “intruder”.
We relaxed all day, even cancelling dinner, just so that we could slowly get ready for the night’s plans. Not The Box or cabaret tonight. Instead, Broadway.
The Broadway show, was Six. The official description of it is as follows:
From Tudor Queens to Pop Icons, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the microphone to reclaim their identities out of the shadow of their infamous spouse – remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a Euphoric Celebration of 21st century girl power! This new original musical is the global sensation that everyone is losing their head over!
It was very good. Crazy vocals, very innovative, and extremely entertaining.
Sunday in New York City:
Sunday was the day I was flying home to California. In the morning Jaime and I walked to breakfast, and then walked around some more just to do a little shopping. Perfect way to end the trip. I said my goodbyes and ubered to the airport to catch my flight.
That’s my trip! I miss New York already, but I’m sure I’ll be back soon. This time I think I’ll hit a few more Broadway shows. If you’re thinking of planning a trip, just do it!
xoxo,
jess
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My IG: @jessicacastello
