Pages

▼

NYC To-Do List


You've seen my overall life "bucket list," but Eric and I have a specific to-do list for New York City. When we lived in Washington D.C, there were a number of things we meant to do while we were there that we just never got around to (such as visiting Mt. Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg, the Air and Space Museum). Now, we are kicking ourselves.

To avoid meeting the same fate whenever we leave New York City, we decided to start a list of things we want to accomplish here. Whenever we have a free weekend with nothing to do, it's our goal to try to pick something off this list and make it happen.

This list includes everything that is still left, as well as some of the things we knew we wanted to do from the very beginning that we got out of the way early. I'm one of those people who likes to put things on a list that are already done so I can have the satisfaction of crossing them off, so I'm including them here, too. That's just me.

To Do in New York City 
  1. Go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade (Completed 11/27/08; and again 11/26/09)
  2. See the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloon inflation (Completed 11/26/08)
  3. See a ticker tape parade (Sort of completed 11/6/09 after the Yankees won the World Series, and more fully 2/7/12 after the Giants won the Super Bowl)
  4. Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Completed 9/2/12)
  5. Visit the Museum of Modern Art (Completed 3/26/10)
  6. Visit the Natural History Museum (Completed 5/30/09)
  7. Visit the Guggenheim Museum (oops - didn't make it to this one! The one item left undone!)
  8. Go to a Yankees game (Completed at the old stadium 9/13/08; completed at the new stadium 6/7/09) 
  9. Go to a Mets game (Completed 6/3/11)
  10. See the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting (Attempted 12/3/08; completed 12/2/09)
  11. Ice skate at Rockefeller Center (Completed 1/4/10)
  12. Ring in the New Year in Times Square (Completed 12/31/08-1/1/09)
  13. Watch a movie on the Bryant Park Lawn (Completed 8/9/10)
  14. Take the NBC Studio Tour (Completed 7/5/10)
  15. See Saturday Night Live in person (Completed 1/7/12)
  16. Attend a taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Completed 5/10/11)
  17. Play Bethpage Black (this is clearly Eric-specific) (Completed 5/31/10)
  18. Attend the U.S. Open (Completed 6/20/09)
  19. Run the NYC Half Marathon (also Eric-specific) (Completed first 8/17/09, again 3/21/10, and a personal record 3/20/11)
  20. See a show at Carnegie Hall (Completed 2/9/12)
  21. See a show at the Roseland Ballroom (Completed 5/4/11)
  22. See a show at Joe's Pub (Completed 12/18/11)
  23. Attend an event at Madison Square Garden (Completed 3/20/10)
  24. See a performance by the NYC Ballet (Completed 12/20/10)
  25. See West Side Story (Completed 8/21/10)
  26. Participate in the Easter Bonnet Parade (Inspired 4/12/09; completed 4/4/10)
  27. Attend Easter Vigil at St. Patrick's Cathedral (Completed 4/3/10)
  28. Go to the Halloween Parade in the Village (Completed somewhat 10/31/09)
  29. Try Dinosaur BBQ (Completed 6/12/11)
  30. Eat at Katz's Deli (Completed 3/27/11)
  31. Have sushi at Sushi Yasuda (Completed 7/22/10)
  32. Have dessert at Serendipity (Completed 1/26/10 and again 8/9/10)
  33. Visit the Central Park Zoo (Completed 5/1/10)
  34. Make a trip to Niagara Falls (Completed 5/30/11, as part of a road trip that included Cooperstown/Buffalo, Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Scranton as well)
  35. Make a trip to Boston (Completed 9/17-18/11)
  36. Make a trip to Philadelphia (Completed 7/24-25/11)
  37. Take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry (Completed first 5/28/10, and many times since)
  38. Attend the Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island (Completed 7/4/09)
  39. Attend the Westminster Dog Show (Completed 2/13/12)
  40. See the circus elephants march down 34th Street (Completed 3/22/10)
  41. Have dinner from the street cart by Blockbuster (Okay, this one sounds weird, but there's this street cart by our Blockbuster that always smells amazing. We must try it.)  (Completed 10/29/10)
  42. Rent boats at the Boathouse in Central Park (Completed 11/13/11)
  43. See a movie at the Paris Theater (Completed 2/21/11)
  44. See a movie at the Ziegfeld Theater (Completed 8/1/10)
  45. See a comedy show (Completed 4/21/11)
  46. See Shakespeare in the Park (Completed 6/20/11 and 6/28/11)
  47. Attend a taping of the Colbert Report (Completed 8/25/10)
  48. Walk the entire loop of Central Park together (Completed 8/8/10)
  49. Celebrity-watch at a red carpet event (Completed 5/24/10, and may more times after that - see all here)
  50. Visit the Bronx Zoo (Completed 6/6/09)
  51. See the Rockettes (Completed 11/25/08, again 12/7/09, and twice more in 2010!)
  52. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (first completed 12/20/08, and many times since then!)
  53. See as many Broadway (and off-Broadway) shows as possible (Current count: 25 Broadway and 4 off-Broadway*)
  54. Take a picture in front of the Friends apartment building (Completed 3/27/11)

* My Broadway/off-Broadway show list: Altar Boyz (off-Broadway); Anything Goes; Avenue Q;  Billy Elliot; Chicago (twice); A Chorus Line; Freud's Last Session (off-Broadway play); Guys and Dolls; Hair; Hairspray; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; In the Heights; Jesus Christ Superstar; Les Miserables; Lion King; Mamma Mia; Man and Boy (play); Memphis; Mrs. Warren's Profession (play); Naked Boys Singing (off-Broadway); Phantom of the Opera; Promises, Promises; Rent; South Pacific; Spring Awakening; The Submission (off-Broadway play); West Side Story; Wicked (twice); Wonderland