NEW YORK — Frank Sinatra once sang, “I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps,” and I recently had the opportunity to do just that. My sister and I spontaneously spent a long weekend in New York City, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of.
We flew in on a Thursday morning, dropping our luggage off at our hotel in Midtown Manhattan before rushing ourselves to the Rockefeller Center, where we waited in line at NBC Studios to see Late Night with Seth Meyers.
I had registered for free tickets a couple of weeks prior, but it is still a first come, first served basis the day of the show as they always want a full studio audience. My sister and I knew that was the first thing on our to-do list.
We were lucky enough to get seats and witness the behind the scenes of a comedic show. Not only did we see Seth Meyers — who was at one point only one foot away from us, but don’t mind me fangirling over here — but we watched Leslie Jones and Amelia Dimoldenberg make some good jokes too.
The show was ultimately amazing and we couldn’t stop laughing; it was the perfect kick-off to our getaway weekend in the Big Apple.
Once we left NBC studios, we were exhausted with jet lag, so we wandered back to our hotel and called it a night.
My sister and I visited New York City once before, a handful of years ago with our family. Then, we had crossed off many of the popular tourist sites, such as the Statue of Liberty, Staten Island, Coney Island, Brooklyn Bridge and more, so we decided this trip would be a little more laid back.
The next morning we had planned for a slow day at Central Park.
We woke up, and not realizing it was a 40-minute walk, we began the trek excitedly. On the way, we passed the New York Public Library, the Rockefeller Center (again) and Liberty Bagels, the home of the rainbow bagel.
We each ordered a colorful bagel with cream cheese and waited to try them until we reached Sheep Meadow in Central Park. We found a comfortable rock to sit on and devoured the delicious bread rolls with a skyline view.
Chloe Farnsworth poses with her rainbow Liberty Bagel in Central Park, during her trip to New York in late October 2025.
Contributed / Kara Farnsworth
We hung out on the grass for a while longer before continuing through the park, drifting by the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and stopping to listen to street performers on the way, each with a different instrument and tune.
New York truly has a vibrant music scene, with genres for everyone. On one corner there would be three guys, one on the drums, one on piano and one playing a guitar, playing recent pop hits, and on the other side would be a single man playing an unknown soft melody through a flute.
Many hours (and tens of thousands of steps) later, we gave our legs a break back at the hotel, but not before stopping at Liberty Bagels one more time for a savory snack. If you like bagels, you’ll love Liberty Bagels. We couldn’t get enough, so I highly recommend it to anyone making a trip to New York.
Later that night, when we had felt energized enough, we explored Times Square. All of the lights from the global advertisements made for a sight like no other. We pointed out where the 2025 ball had dropped and saw the homes of multiple Broadway shows.
Satisfied with our long day of surveying Manhattan, we crashed in our hotel room, which had one wall made up of windows, allowing us to fall asleep with the view of some of the tall buildings taking up New York.
Saturday we rolled out of bed, already a little heartbroken that our stay had made it to its last day. We strolled the streets until we found Grand Central Station, where we hopped on a subway and took it to Little Italy, a neighborhood in lower Manhattan.
My sister and I — proud of the fact that we figured out the rapid transit system on our own — agreed on a quaint Italian restaurant to have lunch, because where else would you go while in Little Italy? We ate ravioli and gelato and walked it off to Chinatown, a nearby neighborhood.
Chloe Farnsworth poses in Times Square on the second night of her trip to the city that never sleeps.
Contributed / Kara Farnsworth
We then created a plan to take the subway back to Midtown Manhattan, tour Times Square in the daytime and then go from there. We ended up near the Empire State Building, and ventured into a two-story Target. We also saw Macy’s with Christmas decorations already in place for the Thanksgiving day parade.
The sun began to set and we purchased our last meal at Cava, which I can best describe as a Mediterranean Chipotle. It was so good, it’s another recommendation of mine.
We woke up in the wee hours Sunday morning, taking in the view from our hotel room with sleep in our eyes and suitcases packed. The drive to LaGuardia Airport was silent as we scanned the city that brought us such fun memories. We didn’t want to accept that it was over.
So start spreading the news, my sister and I now have that New York state of mind that Billy Joel sang about in the 1970s. While we are not leaving today, you might just catch us there again one day, being a part of it all — and eating too many bagels.
For now though, fuhgeddaboudit (as New Yorkers would say).