Before We Leave NYC

In a city that has it all and never sleeps, it's next to impossible to run out of things to do. In fact, you could have seven lifetimes here and still probably not run out of things to do. Suffice it to say, "I'm bored!" is a phrase no New Yorker will ever have to utter. 

All that being said, I'm still shocked at the long list of things we've never done as New Yorkers after living here for 7 years. Mr. RC and I have often puzzled over how we could cram so much into four days in Paris or two days in Rome, yet years have passed and we sometimes seem to barely manage a few activities here in the city. But, the truth is, no matter the home you're staying in, the cooking you may do, or how hard you try to live like locals, visiting somewhere and living somewhere are two completely different things.

The things that might have appeal as a tourist, you want nothing to do with as a local (I'm looking at you Times Square!). As a visitor, your daily prerogative is to explore. As a local, you're focused on your day-to-day tasks of work, paying bills, grocery shopping, you know the drill. All those fun activities that you swear you're going to do, eventually morph into a to-do list you sometimes dread more than doing laundry. 

And then one day you wake up and realize, the place you call home is about to become a place you'll only visit, and that to-do list you swore you'd get to, well, it's still there, it's still long and you're about out of time to do it.

In the midst of allllll the things (Literally so much to do in the next two weeks that it makes my head hurt something fierce!), the Mr. and I have agreed to do our best to get out and about and make some serious headway on our New York bucket list (Seriously, how have we never done some of these things??!). The list will never end (especially when it comes to restaurants) so I know we'll always have plenty to do every time we return, no longer as locals, but simply as visitors.

If you live here, or have visited, what's one of your favorite things you've done in NYC? Is there anything else we NEED to do before we leave?

Before We Leave NYC Bucket List

1. Ride the Staten Island Ferry

2. Ride the cable cars to Roosevelt Island

3. Times Square at Midnight

4. Walk across the Bk bridge at night (after biking there)

5. Walk across the Manhattan Bridge (and get that famous shot at the end)

6. Museum visits: The Guggenheim, The Frick and The Cloisters

7. Tourist attractions: Top of the Rock, Empire State Building, 1 World Observatory and the Statue of Liberty

8. Take a sail around the city

9. See one last Broadway show or performance (i.e. something at Lincoln Center)

10. Ride the 6 train past the last stop (aka to see the old closed subway stop)

11.  Dim sum in Chinatown

12. Pasta in the real Little Italy (aka Arthur Ave in the Bronx)

13. Visit our favorite restaurants (Looking at you Buvette!) and checking off as many as possible from our never-ending list

14. Take in all the fall foliage we can

15. Wander all of our favorite neighborhoods and take alllllll the photos

16. Take New York glam couples photos

A few honorary mentions that I would love to do before leaving but, due to seasonal restraints, these will, unfortunately, have to wait for future trips back: A foliage cruise up the Hudson, skating in Central Park and Bryant Park and seeing the tree at Rock center light up for the first day of the holiday season.