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Roosevelt Island is not as well known as Manhattan only because most people stay in Manhattan and don’t venture out further. This is a great shame because Roosevelt Island is a fantastic and historical hidden gem that is underrated. Our family trip to NYC was …
Searching for a hotel is sometimes not easy. I’m sure you ask friends & family. Then you do a Google search and read up on reviews. Maybe you even check out Tripadvisor like I do. Well, with Graduate Roosevelt Island I just happened to stumble …
Let’s face it. You want to have fun, get the most out of your trip, but you also don’t want to spend a fortune. We totally understand because that’s how we always plan our trips. New York City can be expensive and you’ll hear it all the time from people on how expensive it is. However, it is possible to see and do a lot for free or cheap. But first, let me tell you of the top four things you will spend your money on when visiting NYC. So, plan accordingly.
My intention is to post all the free things that we did. With some of these free things, there are alternative options to pay if you want to delve into it some more. For instance, if you just want to see the apartment building from the TV show “Friends” you can go see it and take some awesome photos.
But if you want to delve into it some more you can pay to do the “Friends” experience. I was happy just seeing the apartment building, so we skipped the experience. Besides, we had already seen most of the props & sets at the Warner Bros. Studios in California.
When choosing what to do and see, I highly recommend using the New York CityPASS. You can save 40% by combining 5 popular attractions. Go here: New York CityPASS to get your pass!
The 9/11 Memorial is free, but the museum is not. However, there are some special consideration groups that qualify for free entrance so check their website for specifics.
If you’re going to NYC, please make a day trip and check out Brooklyn because it is full of history & diversity. We are so happy we made time. You can check it out for yourself for free, but if you want to pay for a guided walking tour (which we did) it is so worth it! We went with Dani on Airbnb and she was fantastic! She is also a travel writer like me!
We we there at Christmastime so when we visited there were many shops. It is a really nice place to grab something to eat, sit down and people watch. The ice skating rink is there as well, but that is not free. We skipped all ice skating during our trip.
I could have spent hours here because this park is truly beautiful! It is also tremendously big in square footage so if you want to see it all, you’ll need to make plenty of time. While we were here, I think we only saw about 1/4th of it. Wollman Rink is one of the spots that I wanted us to visit because I had seen beautiful photographs with the ice skating rink and the Manhattan skyline in the background. It did not disappoint!
The Flatiron building has been the backdrop for many movies and TV shows. But it is most famous for being the Daily Bugle in the Spider-Man movies. If you’re a movie aficionado, then you might want to check this building out. By the way, the Harry Potter store is just around the corner!
This is the mecca of all meccas! The architecture and hustle & bustle of this place is mesmerizing! It is especially beautiful at Christmastime. Depending on where you’re going, you might even have to pass by here. But if not, make a pit stop here because it is also in many movies & shows. One example, is the new Marvel TV mini-series “Hawkeye.”
You’ve probably heard of this place because many concerts, sports, and other events take place here. I remember hearing my mom talk about how my parents used to take my brother here to watch Lucha Libre, Spanish wrestling.
If you’ve never heard of Radio City Music Hall, then I don’t know where you’ve been living. It is a special event hall, but it is most famous for being the home of the Rockettes at Christmastime. Although we have never seen the Rockettes Spectacular show, the building itself is very impressive and iconic.
When visiting NYC, you can’t miss this! This place is known worldwide and is home to many news studios. At Christmastime, the angels on one side of the plaza are absolutely gorgeous!
Not many people have heard about this island that is between Manhattan and Queens and that’s a shame because I feel like we found a gem! This is actually where we stayed our entire trip. They opened the only hotel on the island called Graduate Roosevelt Island in 2021. They named it this because it is located next door to Cornell University.
It is a beautiful, friendly, and quaint living area because it has the best of both worlds. For one, it is quiet from all the NYC sounds and second, it is close to the city because you can easily take a subway or the Roosevelt Island Tramway. The views from Roosevelt Island are gorgeous and you can get postcard quality photos of the Queensboro Bridge at any time of the day! For a full review of our hotel stay and what to do on Roosevelt Island, visit my posts Graduate Roosevelt Island | Hip & Unique Hotel and Roosevelt Island | A Historical Hidden Gem. By the way, the island & tramway were depicted in the new movie Spider-Man No Way Home!
You do not have to spend anything to have fun visiting these stores! In fact, we only bought some candy at Hershey’s and the boys bought some comics at Kinokuniya & Midtown Comics, and a couple of items at Nintendo & Stranger Things. We never even made it inside to Cartier (can’t afford anything there anyway), FAO Schwartz (the lines to get in were horrendous), & Harry Potter (we ran out of time to go in). It’s fun just to check out the stores and decorations, especially at Christmastime.
If you’ve been wanting to be in a live audience, you can! Tickets never cost anything, you just need to plan ahead and be patient. If you ever land on a website that asks for some kind of fee, stay away. Go to the official site for audience tickets–>1iota.com. Once you request tickets, though, it isn’t guaranteed. You have to be accepted and invited. It’s hit or miss, but it’s worth it if you really want to be in one.
On our family trip, we were accepted to three live audiences and one of them really paid off! Literally! On the Tamron Hall show we were on a show to celebrate parents and it was a “Week of Wishes.” We received a lot of cool prizes! No photos were allowed in certain studios, but on the Tamron Hall show we were allowed to take photos, but not once the show started. The Today Show is one you can easily get accepted to, but again, you have to be invited and you have to arrive by 6:30am. For this show you must go onto their website to sign up. If you don’t see the dates you want to attend, keep checking their website.
*Because of Covid, all the live tapings require audience members to be fully vaccinated. Bring proof of vaccinations and read their full rules.
Although we never made it inside, which I’ve heard is beautiful especially at Christmastime, this cathedral is situated in the heart of NYC. The architecture is beautiful.
It doesn’t cost anything to see the Statue of Liberty from afar or even up close. The Staten Island Ferry is absolutely free to see it up close. But, if you want to land on Liberty and/or Ellis Island you’ll need to take a different ferry. We took the Statue Cruise to be able to land on Liberty Island and, to our surprise, it also landed on Ellis Island! We had no idea that it would also take us to Ellis Island and we were pleasantly surprised.
Remember how I said we were big movie & TV people? Well, have you heard of Home Alone 2? The Plaza Hotel was featured in several shots of the movie. We certainly can’t afford to stay here (I wish), but it is free to anyone to visit the lobby. If you’d like you can even have breakfast, an afternoon tea, or a cocktail at The Palm Court located inside the hotel and still feel like you’re lapping it up in luxury!
Wow! If I could, I would have placed this on my top 5 places to visit while in NYC. Not only is the NY Public Library a backdrop for the original Ghostbusters movie, but it is now home to a permanent exhibition called Treasures. The room is truly full of treasures! It is home to the original Winnie the Pooh & Friends, Star Spangled Banner, a draft of the Declaration of Independence, and so much more! It is a must see! All you need is a timed entry ticket from their kiosk, free of course, once you arrive.
I believe everyone in the world knows this place! You may hear people say that it’s overrated and a tourist trap, but you have to visit at least once so you can make that decision for yourself. It is after all where the ball drops on New Years Eve! The ball is visible at Christmastime, but since we have never visited another time, I’m not sure if the ball is there year round. Be aware though that Times Square can get crowded no matter what time of the year you visit. Maybe it’s due to Covid, but we couldn’t find one moderately priced place to sit down indoors at a restaurant. Even McDonald’s had no indoor seating. I suggest you stay away from Times Square when dining and have a nice meal elsewhere.
You may disagree or not disagree with me, but we wanted to visit this building. He was afterall President of the United States and it’s part of history. It is elegant and beautiful! It is open to the public to visit the lobby and makes for fun photos, too! If you choose, you can dine at Trump Café which has very reasonable prices!
There isn’t much to see at Wall Street except for the iconic bull. There was a line to get photos with the bull, but if you just want a photo of the bull itself, just take the photo between people. That’s what we did!
There are thousands of dining options in NYC, but in our opinion, there are two that you shouldn’t miss, especially if it’s your first trip to NYC.
Ellen’s Stardust Diner is a very laid back casual dining experience with singing waitstaff that want to continue on to make it big on Broadway. Many of the staff take voice, acting, and dancing lessons and they will make an announcement from time to time to tip them to help them get them on the road to their dreams. Of course, it’s not mandatory, but it is nice to help them. I can assure you, they are VERY talented and you will feel like you’re watching a show while you’re eating. The food is good and the portions are big! It is a unique experience in NYC and the line can be long, but the line moves quickly. Try it!
Lombardi’s is literally America’s first pizzeria. They still make their pizza on traditional coal ovens and it tastes marvelous! Their indoor dining is small so just know that you may end up eating outside. But, that is actually not a bad thing!
Speaking of eating outside, unless it’s raining or there’s a snowstorm, it is very nice to eat outside. NYC has turned some streets into outdoor dining areas, mainly because of Covid, but I love the idea. Many restaurants, have added outdoor dining areas next to the sidewalks. I personally think this is great because it reminds me of outdoor cafés in Paris! So grab a delicious meal, or a bagel like I did, have a seat and just spend time soaking it all in while people watching on a gorgeous day.
I understand some of these are not cheap, but I’m posting these here towards the end because if you have it in the budget, I highly recommend them.
If you choose a Broadway show, make sure it’s something that you think everyone in your family will enjoy watching and that it is age appropriate. Both of these shows were fantastic!
Our youngest son is a HUGE NY Jets fan! This trip really was a gift to our youngest son for his High School graduation in 2020 which we couldn’t take because of the Covid breakout. So, we had to postpone it and went December 2021. One of things he REALLY wanted to do was watch his favorite team at their home stadium. So we made it happen. If you’re not into football, then I would pass on this one. But, if you are into football and you’ve never seen a game in person, then go for it. It was a lot of fun! I will tell you, though, that between this and the Broadway shows, it was expensive. You only live once!
My husband is big into history and reading historical fiction and wanted to make a stop here. It wasn’t quite my thing, but when you’re planning a family vacation, make sure everyone in your family chooses at least one activity that they are interested in that the entire family can enjoy along with them.
You’re probably thinking this is just for kids, but it’s not. In fact, the workers said that the majority are adults! Our boys had no interest in riding this because I guess they felt like it was for kids, but my husband and I had fun. It was actually a great time to get off our feet and relax because we had been doing a lot of walking that day! It’s a cheap & unique thing to do while you’re visiting near Battery Park.
If you want to see the city in all its glory and capture some amazing photos of the Empire State Building, Central Park, and others then Top of the Rock is your place to go.
This tour of the United Nations was a last minute booking for us. We realized that it was within eyes view from our hotel room on Roosevelt Island and my husband thought it would be great to see where a lot of major decisions are made for our world. This is the world headquarters and the tour was super informative. We were able to see a lot of the rooms where world leaders gather, discuss, and debate.
I hope you have found informative ideas that can help you in planning a trip to NYC. Like I mentioned at the beginning, it is possible to see and do a lot for free or cheap. And, there will be a couple of things you will spend money on. However, it’s all in where your priorities are and what you want or don’t want to spend money on. If you have been to any of the above and/or have any new & unique things that people may not know about NYC that you believe is worth a visit, please comment below. I’d love to hear about them!
If you have a specific question about this post, please email me.
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Did you know that it is possible to have Disney fun without the price tag? Take it from me. I have lived near both Disneyland®, CA and Walt Disney World®, FL most of my life. I can assure you that there are many fun activities …
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Wow! That’s the only way I can describe this resort by Hilton Grand Vacations. If you want a clean, beautiful, centrally located hotel in Orlando, you must check out Cypress Pointe Resort. With the Covid pandemic, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a hotel’s standards, but this one surprised me with their strict cleaning protocols.
As soon as you drive in to Cypress Pointe, you are greeted by the beautifully landscaped entrance and their sign. The lobby is front and center with signs directing you to other locations of the resort. If you notice from the sign, it has many onsite amenities!
Let’s start with the hygiene protocols. When we checked in we received rubber bracelets that are activated to open our hotel doors (we got a 3 bedroom with 2 front doors) and to access the pool areas. What an ingenious way to make things easier and cleaner! We loved it as opposed to the credit card type style of door keys.
Let me show you the other ways Cypress Pointe keep things clean & sanitary around here!
Now we’ll talk about the room and amenities. The room is very spacious! We stayed in room 2102 which is a 3 bedroom lock-off that extends into Suite A and Suite B. The lock-off had it’s own microwave and mini-fridge which was great! All the mini-essentials were included. We had a wonderful stay!
The room has great views of the outdoor pond & fountain.
The amenities are extensive! They have a basketball court, chess area, grills & tables, tennis courts, swimming pool, shuffle board, ping pong, indoor board game area, fitness center, beautiful parrot, Starbucks, free shuttle service from their gazebo by the pond, and a mini-market that also sells hot prepared food!
With all of this, Cypress Pointe makes a perfect stay while you’re in Orlando. If you have a bigger family, the hotel would be ideal. Just make sure to book a bigger room like this one.
If you’ve stayed here or are looking forward to staying here, let me know and tell me what your favorite part of the hotel was!
If you have a specific question about this post, please email me.
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For more awesome resorts in Orlando, check out my other recommendations!
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This historic hotel is the epitome of elegance and romance from the moment you pass the security guard entrance. For the first time ever, I was able to surprise my husband with a hotel stay to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary. If the photos alone don’t convince you to stay here, let me tell you why you should.
Our journey starts with what you first see as soon as you get through the security gate. Security is high because there are also many gorgeous mansions (to me) and condominiums that people have purchased to retire and/or just soak in the beauty of the surroundings of the golf course and the Gulf of Mexico sea breeze.
The lobby is absolutely stunning with the sounds of the self-playing piano in the background. The chandelier entrance exudes romance. To really appreciate everything this historic hotel offers, make sure to read all about the historical significance Belleview Inn has had on Belleair and Clearwater, FL. Many famous people have stayed at this beautiful Victorian style hotel, including past presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.
Surrounded by lush green grounds and manicured palm trees, the outdoors is breathtaking. With the sun shining and the fresh sea breeze, you can’t help but just want to lounge by the swimming pool and soak up the rays. At the end of the day, the hot tub is the perfect way to wind down. There is no access to the beach from the Belleview Inn, but they have a sister property nearby that you can park at and enjoy the beach for the entire day.
I actually booked a guest room and when we arrived, they had upgraded us to a classic junior suite at no extra charge. I was very pleasantly surprised! Our room was clean, organized, and well stocked with all the essentials.
Since we were celebrating our anniversary, we had a bottle of sparkling cider delivered to us. They were going to deliver champagne, but since we don’t drink they offered us this. It’s a nice gesture when a hotel recognizes your special occasion. Make sure you mention when you reserve your room if you’re celebrating something. By the way, the bathrobe is luxuriously soft & comfortable! It’s not yours to keep, but if you fall in love with it, ask about it at the front desk.
In the morning between 6:00-6:30am (don’t worry they won’t wake you up), they will deliver to every guest a basket with a few goodies. In our basket there was one crisp red apple, one croissant with a packet of butter, and one orange juice. There are also two complimentary water bottles already in the room.
I would highly suggest that if you stay here, you make time for the complimentary guided historical tour. This gentleman was extremely knowledgeable and we learned so much about the hotel. The times of the tour were 10:00am and 2:00pm and it ran about 1 hour. Check with the front desk when you arrive for times because this could change.
This ballroom is gorgeous with some preserved authentic Tiffany stained glass panels on the ceiling. This room would make a fantastic wedding reception area. Therefore, making this another reason why this hotel is historic and elegant.
Morton’s Reading Room is dedicated to the the men who started it all. Henry Plant and his son, Morton Plant, were responsible for revolutionizing the development of Florida with the railway system and much more. A lot of this history is explained by taking the complimentary guided tour as explained above. This room houses many photos of famous people and many memorabilia items you can view as well as a video you can watch about the hotel.
This iconic hotel has a lot to offer. From its beautiful architectural design, glamorous indoors, and pristine attention to historical detail, you will love staying here for your next vacation, honeymoon, event, or like we did – a staycation. There is no doubt that this historic and elegant hotel is the epitome of romance from the moment you pass the security guard entrance.
Make sure to visit more of my hotel reviews in Florida!
If you have a specific question about this post, please email me.
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Since we’ve been spending so much more time at home and travel has been extremely limited to what is essential, creating a space(s) at home to remind of us travel is so needed for our mentality. It not only reminds us of our travels, but …
