Last weekend my dear Courtney came to visit me from Phoenix! It was a very exciting event because although I’ve been lucky enough to see friends as they’ve passed through the city, Courtney was the first to travel to NYC specifically to visit me!

Courtney and I both consider ourselves to be foodies, and since she’d seen most of the tourist attractions on a previous visit with her family, our weekend mostly revolved around trying new restaurants. Here’s a peek at what we got up to!

Friday

Courtney flew in on a red-eye and we hit the ground running! We spent the morning in Chelsea, eating at Doughnut Plant, walking the High Line, browsing the Chelsea Market and roaming the stacks at Strand. After a quick lunch at Whole Foods, we headed back to my Brooklyn apartment to relax.

That night, after spontaneously walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, we made the trek to midtown for happy hour at Southern Hospitality, a country bar founded by Justin Timberlake. Yes, you read that right! It was a fun experience but I wish we hadn’t had to schlep through Times Square to get there! After dinner, we headed to one of my favorite areas – the East Village and Lower East Side – to meet up with a friend of Courtney’s from college and do some bar-hopping.

Saturday

After letting ourselves sleep in on Saturday, we headed to the West Village for brunch at Cafe Cluny! The West Village is my favorite little neighborhood – it’s streets are so quiet and charming that you hardly feel like you’re in the middle of Manhattan.

Saturday night, we got dolled up (along with my roommate Becca!) and headed to dinner at DBGB in the East Village. After dinner and some exploring around lower Manhattan, we celebrated my friend Amanda’s birthday at the Standard Biergarten. I love introducing my new friends in the city to my old friends from back “home!” On our way back to Brooklyn we stopped at Magnolia, the bakery that started the cupcake craze and made famous by Sex and the City.

Sunday

Sunday was by far our busiest day! Courtney, Becca and I started the day by trekking to Red Hook for brunch at Fort Defiance before making our way to Brooklyn Bridge Park for Smorgasburg! Smorgasburg is one of my favorite things about Brooklyn – every weekend local restaurants set up at a park so you can grab your favorite food and enjoy it while admiring the skyline. After we finished our tacos (me) and chicken & waffles (Becca & Courtney), we spent hours just relaxing on the pier, and then migrated to Bryant Park for more of the same. At dinner time we grabbed burgers at Shake Shack (a NYC institution!) and then came back to Brooklyn to meet Courtney’s cousin for a drink at a pub near my apartment. A very full day of food and fun!

Monday

On Monday, we made our way to downtown Manhattan to see the 9/11 memorial pools. Neither of us had seen them before and we’re both glad we went (and glad we skipped the new museum). The memorial is extremely poignant and well-done.

After some time of reflection, we wandered down Wall Street before making our way to Herald Square for a cup of coffee at Intelligentsia and a slice of NY pizza near Penn Station. When the afternoon rolled around, Courtney headed off to JFK and I returned to work! The weekend was a whirlwind but such fun to spend quality time with a friend I hadn’t seen since March.

The weekend also kicked off a very busy season! After not leaving NYC since May, I’m ready to hit the ground exploring. I’m off to Toronto for Labor Day weekend, to be followed by a trip to Dallas next month and to Phoenix in December. My mom and her friend are also visiting NYC in October, and I’m so excited to have a better idea of what’s reasonable to fit into a long weekend in the city with visitors!

Thanks for coming, Courtney!