Tim and I are very fortunate that we grew up going into the city, typically by ourselves, since we started dating at the ripe young age of 15. Once a year, sometimes more, we would venture in to see a show or maybe go ice skating. With that being said, we typically always took the train from Denville, NJ into Penn Station or drove in. Living in south central PA now, we decided it was about damn time we took the train in from Harrisburg! And wow, we cannot wait to go back, and for our boys to be a bit older so they can enjoy the train too!
All Aboard!
Harrisburg, PA, for those of you who don't know, is NOT the greatest city. I'll be honest, I was probably more scared of walking through the area surrounding the train station than I was about walking through NYC. But we got there bright in early, parked in a parking garage, that we would later find out is used frequently as the homeless bathrooms (yikes) but made it quickly, and without eye contact, to the train station near by.
The Harrisburg train station was built in 1887 and is designated as a National Historic Landmark. If you're in to old buildings, like I am, you'll love it. Very small, very quiet, a little dusty, but overall, she's a keeper. Not having taken a train quite this distance before, Tim and I were expecting the typical NJ transit/amtrak train we'd seen growing up. Uh no. These babies are like riding first class on an airplane; optimal leg room, outlets, tray tables, and you're free to get up and move about the cabin without all the captain's lights! Yes, there is a bathroom for the 3 hour journey, though this girl IS NOT a fan of using facilities on the move and will gladly hold it until we reach a stationary bathroom.
The best part about coming into NYC from outside of New Jersey? Not having to go into Penn Station. It's busy, it's dirty, it's stinky, and just not my favorite place to be. However, coming into Moynihan Train Hall? Directly across from Penn Station? Wow. I can honestly say, the closest I could come to explaining the quality of this train station is to compare it to Amsterdam's airport. Nice stores, cafe's and eateries, super clean, nice bathrooms, easy to navigate; I'm in love.
Our First Food Stop
While heading into the city, I asked for a few recommendations in my private Facebook group Your Next Great Adventure - Spirit of Adventure Travel Co., and got a few great recommendations! Courtesy of Emily T., we were told to try Jacob's Pickles and I was so excited to see that Moynihan had one right in the station! They had a nice seating area in the food hall with about 8 different food options surrounding so we got our food and had a nice little lunch. It was so good. The chicken was to die for; though it was a sandwich, there was no way I could eat it like that and opted for a fork and knife. We got so much food, we couldn't even eat it all. I can only imagine what their actual restaurant serves up and will 100% be looking to add that to our itinerary next time.
Our Stay
Seeing that we lived so close growing up, we only ever stayed in the city overnight once. We were young, I was a freshman in high school, and so we opted to use Tim's dad's rewards points for a stay at the Holiday Inn. Let me tell you, I have nightmares about the fear of being trapped in this elevator. It was the smallest elevator I think I've ever been in, it went up, what had to have been 40+ floors over like 4 hours, and the hallways were shoulder width. I vowed, never again.
Fast forward, we're looking to take this trip. Uh, I'll do the planning this time! Now, I love a good boutique hotel. I'm not a big fan of anything too commercial; we like locally owned restaurants, unique bars, and interesting stays. So, I found Arlo. The Arlo Midtown is a cool, dark, wood and fern covered hotel; bar, snack shop/cafe, and restaurant all connected. Just from the looks online, I could tell this would be my kinda place, but booking things in NYC you're always leery that maybe it's too good to be true.
Nope. Not this time. This hotel was beautiful from the moment our freezing popsicle butts stepped in off the sidewalk. Fireplace going, super nice staff, and FOUR elevators accessible by key card only that is smart enough to assign you to an elevator that is ONLY going to your floor, no stops along the way. The bathroom was something off my Pinterest page (good thing we have a bathroom build coming up soon) and overall, the room wasn't nearly as crammed as my prior experiences.
Dinner Anyone?
I spent a good amount of time looking for a hotel. But you know what I really obsess over when we go into the city? Finding a good place to eat. Now I know what you're thinking... "It's NYC! There's a thousand places to eat!" and while yes, that is true, there are a few dilemmas there.
The best places to eat are NOWHERE near the theater district.
Half of the places to eat in the city are either hot dog carts, or pizza places.
A quarter of the other places have questionable reviews.
We've gone to many great places in the past, and a few we don't need to return to. But it's always hard finding the perfect place because we typically want something a bit more quiet and relaxed for a nice evening together.
So what did I decide on? Ragtraders. Located in the garment district, go figure, this restaurant and bar has a dark, low key, old timey atmosphere. Think chairs and benches with throw pillows, curtains hanging from the ceilings, just a real cool place. But what really drew me in? They have a... speakeasy.
I have never been to a speakeasy and I was so excited to find a restaurant with one. Of course, I went online to make the dinner reservation and hopefully a reservation for the speakeasy just to find that the earliest seating they had for the speakeasy was midnight.... Well that puts a damper on things.
Okay, so we go to dinner and just pray that we can get on a waitlist when we get there to somehow be allowed downstairs? We get there, get seated, Tim asks the front desk about a waitlist and they say "well, we typically have one but tonight is so busy, we don't." Now Tim, who knows his wife was very excited about this, says "can you just take my name and maybe if someone doesn't show up you can squeeze us in?" They do it. Beautiful. We enjoy some gin cocktails, our favorite, a nice seafood meal for each of us by candlelight. We finish our meal, still nothing. We have a show to get to in about 90 minutes. We get our coats, ready to leave, walk to the front desk and Tim says "I'm just asking to see if there's anyway you can get us down there. We have about an hour to kill and we're here." BINGO! Two seats at the bar coming right up!
Bopeep's is a tiny spot in the basement; it's dimly lit, and sports velvet furniture, and tassel covered light fixtures. A single room with some tables, a bar, a baby grand piano, and some great waitstaff. Here, every server sings. They each take a turn with the pianist and belt out a song. Tim and I are much more distracted by the bartenders who are throwing things around and mixing drinks like we've never seen before. It was the BEST way to kill an hour and now Tim says he wants to exclusively go to speakeasy's and no other bars.
On with the Show!
Now, the real reason we went to the city. Anyone who know's Tim and I know that our movie (if that's a thing) is The Notebook. We even have a son named Noah and we both mentioned it in our wedding vows.
For those of you that don't know, The Notebook is opening on broadway; and we got tickets to see it on it's second night of previews! While I love the movie, I may love the theater adaptation even more. It really hammers on the fact that it's not just about a love story; it's about changes in yourself and your relationship over time, something Tim and I consider and discuss regularly since we've been together through so much. It was an incredible show and I 10/10 recommend it to anyone who even slightly likes the movie or the book or even just theater in general.
Okay Hollie, Wrap it up.
Overall, we had an amazing weekend away, even if it was just overnight. We enjoyed bagels the next morning, walked around a bit more before returning to our new favorite train station for a nice ride home. While we haven't quite gotten in once a year like we used to, I feel like with the ease of access to the train we have now, we'll be going in a little bit more frequently!
Let me know if you have any recommendations to add to my NYC must do list! I'm always looking to explore more!
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