NYC Day 2 – An Empire State of Mind.

 

Day two was probably my favourite day of our whole trip. We packed so much in and managed to see so much, including the Top of The Rock! We started the day by getting the hotel house car to Chelsea, where we were going to have breakfast at Empire Diner. Unfortunately it recently closed down, so we walked down the highline, and stopped off at Chelsea Market for the most delicious bagels!

 

The weather was perfect – clear blue skies and bright sunshine! It was a beautiful winters day, and it made everything look so incredible. The Highline was bustling with people and we passed a brilliant guy singing who made us laugh so much – he was doing a little dance with it and it was hilarious! I loved being able to see New York from above, just being able to see everything going on on the streets below.

 

My beaut stacking bangles are from Ted Baker.

I love how Anna captured this particularly sassy moment of mine…*hair flick*

Chelsea Market was a bit of a let down to be honest, I thought it would be a lot bigger, but it was actually pretty small. However, I had the best bagel there. It was just a simple cinnamon and raisin bagel with cream cheese, but it was so yummy! I ate it before I could take a photo, sorry…I was really hungry.

 

After strolling through Chelsea Markets we then walked over to Black Tap Burgers ready for when it opened at 12. We weren’t going there for burgers, we were going there for their famous milkshakes that are all over instagram! We arrived at 11:45am and there was already a huge queue, so we joined it and an hour and a half later we finally got inside. It was so worth it. Just look at that milkshake!!
I LOVE how we were sat at the one table that had this writing on the table! Too funny!

 

As well as our giant milkshake we also treated ourselves to some sweet potato fries, and then we got a taxi up to the flatiron building. I’m not sure why, but the flatiron has always been my favourite NYC building, alongside the Chrysler Building. There’s just something about the two of them that I just love!

 

We then walked through Madison Square Park, cooed at the dog park, and then got another taxi up to the Rockefeller Center.


When we checked in at our hotel the day before, we had two booklets of the New York CityPASS waiting for us in our suite (very handy that they deliver to your hotel!), so with our booklets we exchanged the Top of the Rock page for a ticket, and made our way up to the 67th floor.

The view was incredible! We were so lucky that the weather was glorious, so we could see for miles all over NYC.





After spending time taking in the view (and taking plenty of photos, obvs), we got the lift back down and caught a taxi back to our hotel for our afternoon break.

Our afternoon break became a bit of a habit, what with my jetlag and being sickly, I desperately needed a couple of hours in the afternoons to just relax, so we made it our movie rest time and just put on the awesome American TV channels and pigged out on snacks.

We then got showered and changed for dinner. We both desperately wanted your typical American BBQ food in a fun setting, so after a bit of research we decided on Brother Jimmy’s BBQ, just round the corner in Murray Hill. As we left the hotel we chatted to the lovely doormen at the hotel, and when we told them where we were going for dinner they were very impressed and said it was a good choice. They looked a bit shocked that we were going somewhere so casual, but I guess most guests at the Langham NYC go for the more ‘fine dining’ options, haha.

We are SO happy we chose Brother Jimmy’s BBQ. Oh my days. It was incredible. The food was so good, and definitely the comfort food I was after. We had super strong cocktails, and started with hot wings and chicken fingers (basically fried chicken).

We then moved on to the ‘Jimmy’s Pig Out For Two’, which was only $45, and we had; Southern Ribs, Pulled Pork, Brisket, and BBQ Chicken, with Cornbread, Mac & Cheese, Coleslaw, Hush Puppies, and String Beans. Yep. A whooooolee lotta food!

Safe to say we didn’t finish it all. But we tried bits of everything, and everything was ah-mazing.

Service was a bit slow, but the staff were lovely and the restaurant had such a great vibe and atmosphere. The bar was absolutely packed with locals, and the restaurant was almost full by the time we left at around 8pm. We strolled back to our hotel and got ready for our first NYC night out with Drizzy Drake himself. It was probably one of the most epic nights out ever, so I’ll tell you all about it in a separate post 😉 stay tuned!

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Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

Find me on: Web | Instagram

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9 Comments

  1. Posh, Broke, & Bored
    March 4, 2016 / 4:45 pm

    The Manhattan cityscape is so eye-conic (see what I did there?! No applause? 'kay) but as anyone on the top will tell you, the view is something else when you're at the peak 😉 It's the kind of sight that will NEVER get old, I think – the skyline is just so iconic! x

    Jasiminne: Posh, Broke, & Bored

  2. Kenzie
    March 4, 2016 / 5:39 pm

    This sounds like SO much fun, I have never explored Chelsea before but next time I go I would love to! 🙂
    x Kenzie
    Kenzieblogslife.blogspot.com

  3. Suze @LuxuryColumnist
    March 4, 2016 / 10:52 pm

    Brother Jimmy's BBQ sounds like fun, I don't know the Murray Hill area but we had a lot of fun walking the Highline. You managed to dress cosy yet stylish with those boots!

  4. Angie SilverSpoon
    March 4, 2016 / 11:36 pm

    Ahh shame you were disappointed by Chelsea Market, I loved it! And the Highline. What a fab day and great that you went to the Top of Rock too!

  5. MummyTravels
    March 5, 2016 / 11:34 am

    Oh that sounds amazing – I really want to wander the High Line and always love NY (especially the Flatiron too) And look at that food. Yum!

  6. Frankie | TheMayfairy.com
    March 6, 2016 / 2:10 pm

    OMG that milkshake! This post made me so hungry XD

  7. Emma @ AdventuresofaLondonKiwi
    March 6, 2016 / 8:29 pm

    Oooooh that milkshake!

  8. lat maggie
    March 21, 2016 / 6:18 am

    Lovely pictures!! It seems like you had an amazing time….Thanks for Sharing your experience.

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