New York City :: The Perfect Mother Daughter Getaway With a Teen
The Thursday after Mardi Gras my oldest daughter and I planned to take a trip to visit my sister and her kids in Dallas (Dallas is also a great family destination). I have 4 children so this would have been a little getaway for just her and I. However, the more I thought about it, the idea popped into my head about doing something different since we had carved out this time for just the two of us. After all, she is a senior in high school, and I knew the rest of the months ahead were filled with
senior activities. That’s when I quickly canceled the flights to Dallas and booked a 3-night/4-day getaway to New York City leaving Thursday and returning Sunday! This would be her first time visiting NYC and I was excited to show her all the sites.
From New Orleans, we caught a direct Southwest flight to LaGuardia airport that left New Orleans at 12:10 pm and arrived at 4:00 pm. The return flight was also direct leaving New York City at 6:25 pm so we essentially had a full day before catching the flight home. As for the hotel, I booked the Hilton Garden Inn close to Central Park and Times Square, and I scored a great deal off the Travelocity website. I had stayed at this hotel just 3 months before and the accommodation was perfect. One major pro-tip when checking in is to ask to be on the lowest floor possible; that way you are not wasting time waiting on elevators. The last time I stayed there I was on the 30th floor; this time I was on the 2nd floor and our room was right next to the stairwell, making it easy to get in and out. Another great thing about the hotel location is that there is a great market/deli around the corner. I was able to get some snacks and food to store in our room since it came equipped with a mini refrigerator and microwave. In addition, we hit up this spot every morning for a big breakfast.
A couple of days before we left for the trip, I asked my daughter to write a list of the things she wanted to do while we were there. She got to work looking at Instagram and TikTok to get ideas. I will preface this by saying that my daughter is very laid-back, and not much of a shopper, so the plan was to see a ton of sites. My other daughter, on the other hand, is completely different. She would have us stay at The Plaza Hotel, brunching at Balthazar’s, and shopping all day. Her trip will be very different! The top things on my oldest daughter’s list were to …
- eat NYC pizza
- visit Levain Bakery
- walk in Central Park
- tour the MET museum
- head to Chinatown to enjoy some traditional ramen and dumplings
As soon as we arrived in LaGuardia, we took a taxi to the hotel which was about 45 minutes away with traffic. After check-in, we put our luggage in our room and hit the streets to take advantage of what was left of the day. Our first stop was Times Square, which was about a 5-minute walk from our hotel. Following that, I took her to an iconic pizza place close by called Joe’s Pizza and enjoyed some good old New York-style pizza. The final stop for the night was Levain Bakery for some delicious chocolate chip cookies; this was a quick Uber trip from the pizza place. In just a couple of hours, we knocked two things off her list!
The first full day was nonstop, and we were prepared wearing comfortable clothing and tennis shoes. We started the day by walking Central Park, which was 4 blocks from our 
hotel. We went on different trails throughout the park and ended up at Belvedere’s Castle which provided outstanding views of the park. Following this, we walked a little further and ended up at the MET Museum. The museum is huge, and you could literally spend days there; however, she wanted to visit the Egyptian collection of art and that’s what we did. After spending about 90 minutes there, we headed down Fifth Avenue where we walked into The Plaza Hotel and took some pictures, then onto to see Tiffany’s, and more window shopping. We ate a huge breakfast, so we were able to move on to the next activity which was a 75-minute bus tour of the city. Following this, we headed back to the hotel to eat, rest, and refresh. That evening we took an Uber to Chinatown to a restaurant named Noodle Village that she had discovered on TikTok, and we ate ramen and dumplings. Not only was it delicious, but it was also very inexpensive! From there, we walked through Little Italy, then the West Village and SOHO before taking an Uber home. Let’s just say we passed out when we got home because we had logged close to 30,000 steps for the entire day!
Our second full day was just as busy as the first. We visited Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, and the New York Public Library, followed by eating more pizza. Again, we returned to the hotel for a quick break before heading to SOHO followed by a visit to the 9/11 Museum. We ended the night by visiting the Oculus, which is a huge shopping mall next to the museum before calling it a day.
Our final day in New York City was spent attending mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, eating lunch at a great bagel shop called Liberty Bagels, and walking down Fifth Avenue before catching an Uber to the airport. In just 4 days, we accomplished a lot, and she was able to get a feel for the city.
On the flight home, I asked her what her favorite part of the trip was. She said visiting the MET Museum, eating pizza, and enjoying ramen in Chinatown. Her least favorite part was the bus tour which in hindsight we could have omitted. Overall, we had a fantastic time and felt that we did all that was possible with the time allotted. New York City can easily be done in 4 days. You just have to gear the trip to your traveling companions and get your tennis shoes laced up for a lot of walking.
Vivian Marino
Vivian Marino is a stay-at-home mom of 4 kids ages college through elementary school. She’s been married to her husband Mark for 21 years and they live in the New Orleans Lakefront area. When she’s not busy attending football games, soccer games, or doing endless loads of laundry, she enjoys her weekly date nights with her husband and spending time with her kids doing outdoor activities. Her passion is all things fitness given that she has her Master’s in Exercise Physiology. On any given day, you can find her doing her favorite Tread + Shred class or trying any new workout out in town. During the summer months, she hits the mountains and the trails doing what she loves the most … hiking! The harder the climb, the better the view!
