My love and I did a day trip to SoHo section of New York City, a relaxing go with the flow day.   Of all my visits to New York, this was by far was the least expensive trip, I couldn’t believe that for 2 people we spent under $120 which included round trip train tickets for 2, lunch, libations and museum tour.

Travel to NY

We drove to NJ Transit’s Hamilton Train Station, I recommend this train station.  I have taken solo trips to New York and parked at this station, very well lite and I always felt safe, of course with any place you must be aware of your surroundings.   The roundtrip tickets were $30 a piece, tickets can be purchased online or at the station.   The train is far less expensive then if you drove to NY, considering gas, tolls, and parking once you arrive in NY.  Trains are fairly frequent, the ride can take anywhere from 60-90, I welcome that relaxation time.

Once we reached our destination, New York’s Penn Station, we took a taxi to SoHo New York which was less than $10.  We used the address of a museum that we wanted to visit while there.

SoHo Visit

LePetit Café Experience: We arrived in SoHo, getting something to eat was paramount and it was starting to rain.  I normally check Yelp for reviews of local places to dine however it started to rain so we ran into a little café, I should have checked Yelp before we ordered :-(.  The café is called Le Petit Café, the service was horrible and the food ran a close second to the service.  The only bright spot to the  café was the fresh and delicious bread.   I had a mozzarella, spinach and sundried-tomato sandwich; the spinach tasted like it had dirt in it and the sandwich was extremely dry.  My love had a chicken Parmesan sandwich, the chicken was overcooked and hard. On scale of 1-5 I give this place a 0!   I took pictures of the food that we ate, but it really wasn’t worth showing, just know that if you are in SoHo and see this restaurant sign.. RUN past it!

After a lackluster meal we visited the New York City Fire Museum, a must see in SoHo!  The cost of admission was minimal ($8).  The museum is two stories packed with a tremendous amount of interesting information and exhbits on the fire department, not just of New York but fire departments in general.  There is an entire section dedicated to the 200+ firefighters that lost their life on September 11th, that alone for me was worth the admission.   Retired firefighter Willy was working the day of our visit, he was very informative and funny!  I would encourage you to check this museum out during your visit to SoHo.

After the NYC  Fire Museum we made an impromptu stop at The Barrel Room at City Winery which was around the corner from the Museum.  I had a glass of a Rosa housewine and he had a mixed drink, the menu had reasonably priced dishes but we didn’t not partake in anything.  The Barrel Room is connected to the City Winery which has live entertainment and sit down dinner, during our next visit to SoHo this will be added as a dinning option.  Our libations were almost equal to what we paid for our lackluster lunch, but we enjoyed our drinks.   To me City Winery reminds me of a swanky/cool place to go, but I will update once I actual dine there.  Sorry, no pictures … I was a little tipsy after our libations so I forgot!

Across the street from the NYC Fire Museum is an organic, unique and authentic furniture store that imports all its products from Southeast Asia, Andrianna Shamaris.   It was amazing to see the beautiful artistic furniture that was created from woods and natural materials.  If you are in the area I would recommend a visit.

Rather than catch a taxi back to Penn Station we decided to walk the 2+ miles to the train station, I am glad we did.    The majority of our journey was on Hudson street, there was a wide array local restaurants, fruit stands and flower shops.   We have already marked it on our calendar to do an overnight trip and stay in the area just so we can take in some of the local offerings.

Our last stop of the day was at Hudson Café, I had the most amazing apricot scone.   It is a small establishment with a couple of tables inside, and also had outside café front seating.  They had freshly made ice teas, lemonade, a large variety of baked goods, desserts, pre-made dishes, as well as lunch/dinner style a la carte dishes.  I will be back again to take in more of this lovely café and delicious menu.

 We had a wonderful – unplanned – go with the flow day.  Planning is great but sometimes you need days that you just let go and let the natural flow of the day unravel.