NYC & Bermuda: June 29 - July 10 2022

Welcome back to a special edition of the travel blog: NYC & Bermuda! We had a great time exploring the Big Apple and then on a cruise to beautiful Bermuda. We highly recommend both spots – if you haven’t been, add them to your bucket list.

On Wednesday, June 29, we left for NYC via bus. We were travelling with a large group of 23 people, so it was a nice time to socialize. Clark led some activities to help us pass the time, we played a “fun fact game” and a few rounds of trivia. The bus ride took about nine hours. As we were approaching the city through the Lincoln Tunnel, Clark played us two iconic New York songs, New York, New York by Frank Sinatra and Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift.

We stayed at the Renaissance Times Square right in the middle of all the action. We were a 1-minute walk to the TKTS stairs!

After a quick change, we headed on the Subway to the Brooklyn Bridge! Webster is recovering from ACL surgery, so we got a workout carrying his wheelchair down the stairs in the subway and pushing his wheelchair across the bridge. We walked across the bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Once we were in Brooklyn, we headed to Time Out Market for dinner. Time Out Market is a curated food court featuring the best food from across the city in one place. Time Out Magazine reviews restaurants in New York, then invites the best of the best to open a location in their market. There are Time Out Markets across the globe.

We all had something different for dinner – Japanese, Italian, Vietnamese, and Southern American. It was delicious and we would highly recommend.

We took the subway back to Times Square and took in the sights and sounds of the iconic location when it was full of people.

On Thursday morning, we were up bright and early for a busy day. We walked past Radio City Music Hall, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and around Rockefeller Centre. We were lucky enough to come across Keith Urban playing on the Today Show!

At 9am we visited the Top of the Rockefeller Centre for views across Manhattan. Over seventy stories up, we had perfect visibility of the Empire State Building and Central Park.

Then we walked around the area and explored FAO Schwartz, I think Clark was in heaven! There were so many kids having the time of their lives.

Then we stopped for a quick break at Magnolia Bakery and shared an iconic banana pudding.

In the afternoon we walked down Fifth Avenue to the Plaza Hotel and into Central Park. We spent most of our afternoon walking in the park, climbing up rocks, and playing on the playgrounds. We even watched a group of street performers.

For lunch we went to a well-known bagel spot on the Upper East Side, Tal Bagels. It was delicious! From there we stopped at Levain Bakery for their famous cookies.

Later on, we made our way to Grand Central Station and walked through the terminal to the whispering gallery. Located right outside the Oyster Bar & Restaurant, the whispering gallery is a must see in NYC. Clark and Webster stood on opposite corners of the arched entryway (+10 meters away), faced the walls, and began to talk. They were able to hear each other as if they were standing right next to one another. It was so cool!

At the end of the night, we had dinner at Black Tap. We first were introduced to Black Tap in Singapore for their extravagant milkshakes and knew it would be a fun night out with Clark.

On Friday morning, we took the Subway down to the Staten Island Ferry and rode it from Manhattan to Staten Island and back. We had great views of the city and the Statue of Liberty. The best part about the ferry was that it was free!

Then we met the some of the group at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. We walked as a group around the memorial.

After the 9/11 Memorial we walked through the Oculus building, an architectural landmark across the road from the World Trade Centre. It was originally designed as a transit hub, but now also is a shopping mall hosting all types of events.

Then, we made our way to Wall St. to see the bull statue! It was one of the busiest spots in NYC with long lines to get a picture with the statue.

In the afternoon we spent some time on Grandmom’s balcony overlooking Times Square.

In the evening Webster and I did some shopping on Fifth Avenue at Tiffany & Co! We visited their flagship store that was over four stories.

Later that night, we met Andrew and Kyle for dinner at Michelin Star Korean Steakhouse, Cote. We all had the Butcher’s Feast where we got to try four cuts of beef and various sides. The beef was cooked in front of us to our liking. It was a fun experience! For dessert, we walked over to the MilkBar and had a slice of MilkBar Pie.

On Saturday morning we headed to Madison Square Garden, Macy’s, and the Empire State Building. We walked around the area, did some shopping, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

For lunch, we went to Michelin Star Italian restaurant, Rezdôra in the Flatiron neighbourhood. We all had a different homemade pasta - it was delicious!

After lunch we went for coffee at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. We tried some new coffee from beans they were roasting and had drinks only available at that location.

Then, we walked through Chelsea Market in the Meatpacking district. Chelsea Market is home to dozens of food and retail stores. It was packed with locals and tourists shopping!

Later in the afternoon we walked the High Line from Chelsea Market to the Vessel. The High Line is 1.5 mile public park elevated above the streets on an old railway track. It was a great way to see the city and enjoy the weather.

In the evening, we met Jeffy and Rick in Times Square to hang out and enjoy the atmosphere.

On our final evening in NYC, we went to see the Lion King at the Minskoff Theatre. It was a great show with fabulous costumes, great musical numbers, and a story we all know and love.

On Sunday morning, we woke up at 5am to get photos of Times Square with no crowds. It was cool to see the crowded space empty. We even saw a few NYC rats!

Then, we headed to Katz Deli for a famous smoked meat sandwich. We sat right where Harry met Sally.

Then, we packed our things, said goodbye to NYC, and headed for the cruise port. We boarded the Norwegian Joy for a seven-night cruise to Bermuda.

Our first three days were sea days. On Sunday, we watched the ship embark from NYC, past the Statue of Liberty. On the first night we went to La Cucina with Andrew, Kyle, Mom and Wayne. Clark and I were busy hiding cruising ducks. Cruise ship travellers across the globe have created a new fad, cruisers hide toy ducks in the cracks and crevices of cruise ships for other guests to find. We hid 35 ducks on the ship and all were found! Someone even posted the duck they found in a "Cruising Ducks" Facebook group.

On Monday, July 4, we had a sea day, we explored the ship, played arcade games, did trivia, played mini-golf, and had great food! That night we went to Q BBQ with Andrew and Kyle.

On Tuesday July 5, we had another sea day. We did origami, rode some waterslides, went to the casino, and had a group dinner at Teppanyaki.

On Wednesday July 6, we arrived in beautiful Bermuda! We docked for three days on Bermuda. We were picked up for a group tour of the island. We explored everything from The Royal Dockyards, to Hamilton, to St.George’s. It was a great way to have an overview of the island, learn about island life, and plan where we wanted to return to over the next few days. After our tour, Webster and I explored downtown Hamilton and took a ferry back to the Dockyards.

On Thursday July 7, we headed out on a local boat for scuba diving! Since Webster just had ACL surgery he couldn’t dive, but Andrew and I did two dives together. At one spot we explored a shipwreck and coral reef. Then, we headed to another spot to explore the tallest reef I have ever seen. It was over 10 meters high! We swam through a coral tunnel, past huge translucent lobsters. The water was beautiful and so warm.

After our scuba diving adventure, we made our way to downtown Hamilton to pick up our Twizy cars. The Twizy is a two-seat, tandem-style microcar with a range of 55+ miles (88km) per charge. The Twizy is small – just under four feet wide – but that means it can nimbly navigate Bermuda’s roads. We rented them with a group of people and explored the North Shore for the afternoon. We stopped at various beaches. Webster’s highlight was snorkelling at Tobacco Bay with Jim! They saw hundreds of fish and had great visibility.

On Friday July 8, we woke up early to take our Twizy along the South Shore. We saw beautiful beaches before the tourists arrived. The South Shore was filled with Portuguese Man of War jellyfish, which have 10ft long tentacles and sting humans. We had to be careful to avoid beaches and water where there were jellyfish.

On Saturday, July 9 we had our last sea day on the Norwegian Joy. We spent the day by the pool, riding go-karts, playing in the arcade and at the speedway!

We are so thankful for such a wonderful vacation with family and friends! We had a great time exploring NYC & Bermuda.

Stay tuned, next week the travel blog is back! We move to Australia at the end of July and will be documenting our adventures in Brisbane. You can subscribe to our blog by leaving your email below. We will notify you when a new blog is published. Thanks for following our adventures!