New York, Part 2

I thought I would share some reviews and tips about my trip to New York. Now, I am far from a seasoned traveler, and this was my first time in NYC, so take my tips and reviews with a grain of salt, as they say.

Flying?
I flew with Southwest Airlines. They had the best price ($263 round trip). They fly directly from St. Louis to Newark, but it wasn't as easy to get to my friend's apartment as it was to get from LaGuardia. So I flew into LGA via Baltimore on Friday and home via Chicago Midway on Monday. I had an excellent experience flying SWA.  They don't assign seats; rather, they assign boarding groups (A, B, and C) and a number. You board according to your number (so, A1 would board first and get first pick). You're assigned these numbers at check in, which you can do 24 hours before hand. I paid for early bird check in ($10 each way) and I'm glad I did. EBC checked me in and got my seating assignment 26 hours before my flight. I was in the A group each time and was able to sit pretty much wherever I wanted. Also, my flights on Friday both landed 20 minutes early. Sweet! When I flew home, my flight out of LGA was delayed about half an hour, probably due to the rain we were having in New York. They also changed the gate number, but I got a text message letting me know about that before they even made the announcement at the airport. Sweet!  One last thing: SWA has WONDERFUL "charging stations" at STL, BWI, and MDW. Comfy leather chairs with 2 outlets between them. There are also "counters" where you can charge. LGA doesn't have them. My tip, if you have a longer layover, is find a gate which has recently flown out (or get to yours early enough) to ensure you have a nice comfy chair while you're waiting for your flight.

Baggage?

Since I flew SWA, I could have 2 checked bags for free. I didn't check my suitcase on my way to LGA because my layover in Baltimore was only supposed to be half an hour. I'm sure they could have handled it, but I felt more in control of my life if I had my bag with me. I used a smallish suitcase I borrowed from my grandmother. It ended up being the perfect size for the weekend, even with the few souvenirs I picked up.  As for my purse, I knew I wanted to bring something a little tighter to my body than a purse, something like the North Face Roo II, but it was too expensive, so I bought this instead.It's kind of a knock off of the Roo; it's cheaper and a little bigger, and has an extra pocket or two. It was perfect. I was able to fit everything I needed for the airport in there -- my Nook Color, phone, phone charger, sunglasses, money, etc., and keep it all within easy reach. Bonus -- everything that was important felt safe. The zippers for the main pocket tuck behind and inside the strap and the pocket that held my money is underneath the plastic buckle.  I kept unimportant stuff in that top front pocket -- my gum, chap stick, and ear buds. Great size and very comfortable. I wore it as a cross-body bag.

Money?
I did a lot of babysitting and tutoring in the ten weeks between booking my ticket and my trip. As a result, I saved $400 of spending money (after I paid for my bag above and metro pass). I was conflicted with what I should do. I didn't want to take $400 in cash to New York (I wouldn't walk around my suburb of St. Louis with $400 in cash), but I wanted it to be accessible. We recently switched banks from Bank of America (boo!) to PNC (yay!) but the nearest PNC ATM was like 20 blocks away while the nearest BoA ATM was on the corner. Luckily,we hadn't closed our Bank of America account, so I put it in there. I made sure to have about $40 in cash on me and that was a perfect amount. Also? Bank of America has one heck of a presence in NYC.  It worked out wonderfully.

Lodging?
I can't really help with this; my friend has an apartment on the Upper West Side, which ended up being really awesome, not just because I didn't need to pay for a hotel, but because I got more of a residential look at New York City and not the tourist. We stopped in her neighborhood market (seriously there's a market like every 2 blocks) on Friday for dinner. We ate at some of her favorite neighborhood places. It was cool to get the glimpse of NYC life.  I also got some sticker shock of how expensive it is to live there. I was going to buy a box of Crystal Lite drink mix but it was, like, $6 (it's $3 at my supermarket when it's not on sale). No thanks! Also, her share of the rent? More than we pay for our condo. Crazy.

Apps

I saved quite a on meals while I was there using 2 apps: Scout Mob and Foursquare. Our lunch on Saturday was 50% off thanks to Scout Mob, an app that isn't available in St. Louis yet. And we got our plate of fries free at lunch on Sunday thanks to checking in on Foursquare. Suh-weet!

Also, Google Maps is able to tell you what public transportation to take to get to your destination. I had my friend with me and she knew how to get most everywhere, but had I been forced to go on my own, the app would have helped immensely.