Girls' Christmas Trip to New York City

We added a girls’ trip to New York City onto our Christmas in Connecticut! Truth be told, staying two nights in the city was totally a last minute decision. Nettie had been fighting a cold and mild fever and the weather forecast was in the teens. We knew we were staying one night with one of my dear friends and her two sweet girls. We packed really light - just a backpack each - but decided to pull the trigger on a hotel for the night before at the last minute, partially to solve the “what are we going to do with our stuff all day” conundrum.  #worthit And bonus, a fun tradition was born!

Hotel: Shelburne Hotel by Affinia.
Can’t recommend it enough. It’s located just a few blocks from Grand Central, easily walkable with kids and stuff in town. We had an amazing view of the Empire State Building from our room, and they upgraded us to a suite. It wasn’t loud, the rooms were big (especially for NYC), and they were very kid friendly.

Our Highlights:

Day 1:
- dinner at the hotel restaurant with Aunt Caitlin
- overnight at Shelburne Hotel

Day 2:
- breakfast at Bagel Express
- Rockefeller Center tree
- reading room at the New York Public Library
- whispering wall at Grand Central
- department store windows
- walked through Bryant Park
- walked through Times Square
- food court and Eloise boutique at The Plaza
- American Girl store
- dinner and sleepover with friends

Day 3:
- Amtrak home to Boston

The girls loved taking the Amtrak home! It was super convenient too, because we all drove to CT together, and then Zach and the boys drove home for work and daycare while the girls and I had our time in the city, and then we made our way home on the train. Side note: Amtrak has since changed its pricing so you can only buy one half price child ticket per one full price adult ticket. This is such a bummer, because it was very reasonable for me to take the Amtrak with the girls and now the cost is much higher having to buy two full price tickets. Boo.