Carolyn Always Earley

5 days in New York City, NY & Washington, D.C. – December 2024

My husband, Zach, and I decided to take a trip to the East Coast for vacation and to visit family the week before Christmas. We spend 2.5 days in NYC before taking the train down to D.C. Here is our itinerary with personal recommendations of food and activities.

Travel Day:

We flew from Phoenix, Arizona (PHX), to JFK airport in New York, which is about a 4.5-hour flight. By the time we arrived (with the time change), it was rush hour so it took over an hour to get to the hotel via taxi. I had booked us a dinner reservation at La Pecora Bianca near the hotel so that we wouldn’t have to scramble to figure out dinner plans when we arrived (and pasta always hits the spot after traveling all day!)

We each had a glass of wine and shared the crispy provolone appetizer before enjoying our pasta. I loved the option to add burrata to any of the pastas! I had the cacio e pepe and Zach got the classic bolognese. Both were delizioso!

The Hotel

We chose to stay at the Hyatt Place New York/Midtown-South due to its location and price point. The hotel was great! We were a block away from the Empire State Building and other attractions, and only a short Uber or subway ride away from others. Side note: Last time we visited New York City (7 years earlier, also in December), we stayed in a less desirable location to save some money and felt that we wasted a lot of time and energy getting where we needed to go.

Day 1:

We started off by heading to the Empire State Building (above). This was top on our list of places to go since we missed out on the opportunity to visit during our last trip. They had a great museum on the way up that showcased the history of the building, as well as its significance in film and with celebrities. And, of course, the views from the top were incredible.

Pro tip: Book your tickets in advance (at least 1-2 weeks before your visit) and, if you’re like me and hate lines, I’d suggest going first thing in the morning like we did (they open at 10 AM). As we were leaving, it was beginning to get much busier and I can imagine that only increases as it gets later in the day since you have a set time to arrive but no set time to leave.

We took a bunch of cityscape photos before heading down to go to our next destination: Macy’s. Known for being the world’s largest department store, the Macy’s in NYC covers a full block and is 9 stories tall! They also go all out with Christmas decorations (as does much of the city), so it’s fun to browse. This year, there was also a holiday market right in front of the store (bottom right of the picture below).

After we wandered around Macy’s for a couple hours (no lie), we needed caffeine so we went back to the Empire State Building to grab a drink at the Starbucks Reserve Store. (Now that I’ve visited one in Chicago and one in NYC, I’ll definitely have to plan to visit all the remaining locations.) We each got the eggnog espresso martini, which tasted just as good as it looks.

Next on the itinerary was the Bryant Park Winter Village and the New York Public Library. I know a library probably doesn’t seem exciting to most, but this particular library has been featured in such iconic films as Ghostbusters (the reason my husband wanted to visit) and Sex and the City (the reason I wanted to visit – in addition to being a bibliophile and having a general love of beautiful, historical buildings). Sadly, you can’t visit the reading rooms unless you are there to conduct research, but there are still several areas accessible to the public.

While touring the library, it began pouring so we quickly located and then walked to a nearby restaurant. We were in the mood for steak, so we decided to try Benjamin Steakhouse. There was a bit of a wait for a table, so we sat at the bar and had a glass of wine first. The filet mignon and mashed potatoes that we had for dinner were well worth the wait.

Day 2:

After grabbing bagels at our new favorite bagel shop next to the hotel, we took an Uber to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (commonly known as “The Met”) to start our day. I wanted to check out The Met because of its massive art collection, which features historical pieces from around the world.

The sections I was most interested in were all on the first floor: Medieval Art, Greek and Roman Art, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, the American Wing, and Egyptian Art. I took a ton of pictures, which I won’t bore you with, but I will say it was a fascinating experience and I highly recommend planning to spend several hours here if you decide to go. My favorite piece was the Temple of Dendur (pictured below with a display light projected onto it, highlighting some of the engravings).

The Met is located within Central Park, so afterwards we followed a path through the park to see the Belvedere Castle and cross the famous Oak Bridge (below).

We planned to stop by Tavern on the Green, which we had visited on our last trip, to grab a late lunch and a drink in the lounge. We love the ambiance of this restaurant and it has a rich history, too. After our delicious truffle fries and meatball sliders, we took the subway to visit the Harry Potter store before our Broadway show.

We then took the subway back up to Lyric Theater (near Times Square) to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was our first Broadway show and we really enjoyed it! Having both read the book series when we were younger, it was fun for us to see grown-up versions of the characters and learn the continuation of their story. The actors did a great job of keeping you engaged throughout the show and the theater had a wide selection of snacks and drinks available.

After the show, we of course had to visit nearby Times Square and then we walked towards Rockefeller Center. On the way, you can see the Giant Red Ornaments (in front of Radio City Music Hall) and Giant Candy Canes (in front of Avra Rockefeller restaurant). Once you arrive at Rockefeller Center, you won’t be able to miss the amazing, huge Christmas tree. Fun fact: This tree is 74 feet tall and covered with more than 50,000 lights!

We walked around the center to see the ice skating rink, the angels (in the Channel Gardens), Saks and the nearby St. Patrick’s Cathedral (pictured below) before walking back to the hotel.

Day 3:

This was our last half day in New York City before heading down to Washington, D.C. We took the subway down to “Ghostbusters Headquarters”, which is the now infamous firehouse featured in the original movie. It was a very cold morning and even started snowing, so we walked over to Cafe Atelier to grab hot lattes before heading back to the hotel to check out.

After checking out, we took an Uber to the nearby Amtrak station, Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station. We had prebooked a train from NYP down to the New Carrollton station (closest to my family member’s home where we would be staying), which takes about 3 hours. We really enjoyed the train ride! It was reasonably priced and relaxing as we had comfortable seats plus free wi-fi.

Tip: If you book a coach ticket on Amtrak, your seats will likely be unassigned. To get more than one seat together (all seats are in groupings of two), you have two options: you can either hang out near the tracks about 30 minutes before you’re scheduled to leave (to be closest when they assign your track number and then get in line early) or you can get in line whenever and just head towards the end of the train where the cars will be emptiest. We found that there were plenty of available seats in the last few cars, but that may not be the case on busier travel days.

Days 4-5:

We spent all day Saturday with family and had Sunday allocated as our free day to go into D.C. and see the sights. We had planned to go to at least one Smithsonian museum and possibly also the Spy Museum, but the day was so cold that we skipped these activities. We grabbed lunch at Proper 21, a classy sports bar, to watch the football game and then walked over to see the National Christmas tree.

At the tree, they were selling the official ornament from the White House Historical Association so we purchased one. It’s a great keepsake (and also a great gift) if you happen to be visiting D.C. near Christmastime! We were also able to see the Washington Monument and the White House nearby before heading back.

Fun fact: After visiting the Empire State Building, I received an email asking me to participate in a survey about my experience with the promise to send 3 high resolution photos as a thank-you for participating. My favorite is the one above!

To see more pictures from this trip, visit my Facebook page.