Over the long Labor Day weekend, my family and I traveled to NYC! This wasn’t my first time in the city – my best friend from college lives there, so I like to go to visit her and explore everything that the city has to offer. It’s not exactly an easy drive for me – it’s just about the longest that I’m able to be in the car without needing to get out and take a (long) break – which means that it’s not a trip I can make too often!
This trip, we stayed at The Lexington, one of the hotels in Marriott’s “Autograph Collection.” This was my favorite, by far, of any NYC hotel that we’ve stayed in. Rooms in the city are usually known for being tiny, but the one bedroom suite that we stayed in had enough room for my sister and I to move around in in our wheelchairs, even with the sofa bed pulled out. The location was great, too – it was only a 15 minute walk to the theater district, and about the same distance to walk to Central Park. It was exactly what we were looking for – and also really cute!
Since New York was the first place that I went to a Drybar, I made sure to make time for an appointment. I love knowing that I can get a blowout and have it last for the weekend – it makes packing much easier! After the blowout, we stopped at Maison Kayser for a quick bite, and then went to the Central Park Zoo. The weather wasn’t ideal, but we still enjoyed walking around before the rain started!
There were some accessibility issues with our dinner plans that night, but I actually want to save that story for another post next week where I talk more about accessibility in New York. My wheelchair battery also ended up dying while we were walking around in the rain trying to find a place for dinner, which was not ideal, but it luckily died right across from a hotel restaurant that was able to accommodate us!
The highlight of the trip, however, was seeing Hamilton. I was actually lucky enough to see the show last November, as well, but only had two tickets then. When we were making the drive there last year, my dad and sister were both really bummed that they weren’t able to see it as well… and it just so happened that the next block of tickets went on sale just a few days after we got home from that New York trip, and we were able to get enough tickets for my whole family, plus my cousin (who I also introduced to the show!).
I know that most people haven’t had the chance to see the show once, much less twice – I am so incredibly lucky and grateful! It was so special to see the show with my family, and to discuss it afterwards – we all had the most amazing time. We were also able to get a quick picture with two of the stars of the show – even though they were not at the stage door because they had places to be, they were so kind and gracious and agreed to take a picture, and they really made the trip so incredibly special!
A weekend never seems long enough in New York – there are so many things to do and see! I can’t wait for my next trip.