My first time in New York and it was Halloween, the World Series, and the NYC Marathon. While the city is known for being exciting, I felt that it was probably a bit more energized than normal. I only had three and a half days, but I was quite happy with how much I was able to explore in that short amount of time!

On Saturday (Halloween), my husband was in a work conference, so I was exploring on my own. I started from my hotel in Times Square and wandered the Midtown Streets. I visited Bryant Park, which had been converted into a ice skating rink. I stopped in an Italian style espresso bar for a pick-me-up after my red-eye flight, and then I walked through the gorgeous New York Public Library.

From there, I took the C train from Grand Central Station up to the American Museum of Natural History. Apparently, on Halloween, every parent brings their child to this museum. There were several booths set up to dole out candy to the thousands of families in costume. The main exhibit I came to see was the dinosaur exhibit, and I was one of few adults gawking at the T-Rex without a kid in tow.

Because the museum is right on the edge of west Central Park, I decided to stroll through part of it on my way south. It felt like I was in every movie ever filmed in Central Park. It really is just as beautiful as it looks on screen, and the fall leaves were intoxicating.

Next, I went down to Chelsea to walk along the newer High Line Park and to wander along the pretty city blocks. Halloween decorations covered many brownstones and children were already starting to trick-or-treat.

As I passed by a cute little Parisian cafe, I stopped in for some tea and crab cakes. I relaxed and watched tons of costumed kids stop in for their well-deserved candy.

That evening, my husband and I went to Greenwich to The Spotted Pig for dinner. Since they don’t take reservations, we had an hour and a half wait, and we went down the street to a cute little cocktail bar called Orient Express. When we returned for our dinner, we were startled to see a star from the Harry Potter series sitting at the bar with some friends. As two Harry Potter nerds, this made our day!

We sat upstairs and the food was fantastic. Greenwich is an adorable neighborhood, and as we walked the streets, it was fun to see families and friends hanging out on porches and having a good time. Man, I really loved this city!

On Sunday, we headed to Tribeca to get brunch at Bubby's and then made our way south to the World Trade Center Memorials, which are really lovely. They are two giant underground fountains, covering the square footage of the original buildings.

We decided to spend the $30 per person to see the observatory on top of the One World Trade Center, and it was worth it! This was my one view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

I really wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge, so next we made our way east. While we didn’t have the time to walk all the way across to Brooklyn, we enjoyed beautiful views with perfect weather and took our obligatory photos.

That night we had dinner at Bea before we headed to the Ambassador Theater for the Broadway show, Chicago. What fun! I realized at intermission that I had spent the last hour or so smiling nonstop. While I had never seen it live, I knew the story and music from the movie. In the live show, the band is displayed on stage, and there is no scenery. The band was great and the acting was fantastic. Rumer Willis was amazing as Roxie Hart!

Since we were staying in Times Square, we ended up walking through it every day and night.

On Monday, we started with an amazing lunch at Momofuko Ma Peche. My favorite was the vegetable rice cakes. I can’t stop thinking about the texture of this dish! Next, we were off to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). The building was just as impressive as the art! And if you go, you really should go out onto the courtyard to sit and relax for a bit.

We were ready for more art, so we headed up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This museum is ridiculously packed with so much amazing and important art. We stayed until closing.

We had reservations at Tavern on the Green, which is a classic fancier restaurant in Central Park, and since we were both wearing jeans and t-shirts, we decided to stop at the store to help us dress up a bit. And an added bonus to my new sequin skirt was that I could draw and write on it!

Dinner was fantastic and the setting was beautiful.

On Tuesday, we had until 3:00 before we needed to head to the airport, so we decided to get breakfast at a cute French place on Park Avenue and then walk through Central Park. The weather was amazing at 70 degrees and sunny!

We ended up having just enough time to stop by the Guggenheim museum. It was hard to look at the art when I couldn’t take my eyes off this Frank Lloyd Wright building. But their small permanent collection had more Picasso, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne… This trip has been packed with these artists!

We had one extra bonus on the flight home - a view of the Northern Lights! What a way to top off a wonderful trip! After this trip, I now understand why everyone loves NYC so much. I have to go back...

If you want some good city guides about the other coast, you will enjoy my articles about Seattle and Vancouver, BC.