Burger Bashing, Mountain Hiking & Gala Hopping! An Action Packed Weekend in NYC.
- Cessie Cerrato
- Oct 20, 2015
- 5 min read
Well it's officially Fall. As much as I've been trying to hold onto an endless Summer, I cannot deny- it's GONE.
I've been in New York City plenty of times during the fall and it probably is one of my favorite seasons. There is nothing like experiencing the changing of seasons: beautiful colored leaves, cooler temperatures, beautiful trees and lots of pumpkin everything!
I've been anxious to explore what New York has to offer beyond the city and Fall is the perfect time! It's not like I need an excuse to explore the city beyond the norm, but when you have friends in town, it's always an excuse to plan a jam-packed weekend of activities
Friday night my roomie & I headed up to Pier 94 to check out the New York City Wine and Food Festival’s Burger Bash. I attend the South Beach version every year so I was curious to see if New York City did it better. Two totally different experiences! While in Miami the Burger Bash takes place on the sand, NYC takes it new “heights”- and throws in a breathtaking backdrop. The Burger Bash took place on the rooftop of Pier 94 with amazing views of New York City, right along the river. It was a chilly night but flowing wine, beer, burgers, fries & tasty ice cream, made it all worth it.
There were so many delicious burgers but my favorite was from BBD’s- who ended up winning the best burger of the night! Their double steamed burger with garbage fries, was everything. The night ended with a surprise performance by Coolio (he sang his one (and only) hit wonder, Gangsters Paradise)!
I was also excited to see Pincho Factory (one of my favorite places from Miami) competing again. They won best burger earlier at the SOBE WFF and their croqueta burger was to DIE for.
Here are a few more pics from the night...
On Saturday we woke up bright and early and headed to Grand Central Station. We hopped on a train that took us through picturesque scenery and gorgeous views of the Hudson River. Who knew that an hour outside of New York City there was utterly beautiful nature and spectacular mountainous views? We planned a hike at Hudson Highlands State Park, after all, we needed to burn the overload of calories from the night before!
The “park” is huge! It’s 6,000 acres and stretches from Annsville Creek in Peekskill, north to Dennings Point in Beacon. They have tons of outdoor activities for the very active or the not so very active! Fishing, boating, hiking and even birding. But what we came for was the very challenging hiking trail. The park's most well known trail – Breakneck Ridge was rated by Newsweek as one of the top 10 day hikes in America. The 5.5 mile Breakneck Ridge trail rises 1,250 feet in only a ¾ mile stretch. Let me clarify, we did NOT finish it! But we made it high enough to the viewpoint and got to take some amazing pictures!
Here are a few from the hike up:
Now I like to think I'm a pretty active person. I love adventure and anything that has to do with exploring the outdoors. And I thinkkkkkk I’m in pretty good shape. But 5 minutes into that hike had me huffing & puffing! But I’ll slip in a cliché here and “Life is a Climb, but the View is Great”- and it couldn’t be truer. The view was worth the climb.
After our hike, we explored the cute town and had some lunch. The town of Cold Spring is exactly what you imagine a small town to be. A quaint town with beautiful porch fronts, families gathered around outdoor markets and traditional shops. We checked out the local church, rolled around in some beautiful leaves and hills, had lunch at one of their local restaurants, had photo shoots on practically every porch we saw with pumpkins (everything is a photo-shoot with us), visited a coffee shop and some really cool antique stores.
After a long day of hiking you would think we'd be dead tired. But if you know us, you know we don't stop! I hopped into the shower turned on my curling iron and got ready to attend the Catholic Big Brothers and Big Sisters annual, October Ball at the New York City Public Library.
Wow! What a dream to attend a black-tie gala at such an iconic building, in New York City. The library sets the stage for many iconic scenes in movies, TV shows, photo shoots, videos, documentaries, etc. Let's not forget this is where our favorite girl, Carrie Bradshaw was supposed to marry the love of her life. How can we forget that hearbreaking scene where Mr. Big gets cold feet and left her all dressed up in her $10k Vivienne Westwood wedding gown, sans groom?!
What a sight to see: New Yorkers dressed up in their most beautiful ball gowns and bowties and all for a great cause. I've been to the library before but to see it at night in such a formal setting, was completely breathtaking.
The theme of the night was “carnival”- so they had station set up including roasted candy peanuts, truffle popcorn, gourmet hot dogs and food stations galore. And to top it off you, you ended the night with a funnel cake station and fun photo booth!
The champagne was flowing and the music was on point and after the party ended everyone headed over to NO. 8, for the official after party! What a night!
On Sunday I headed over to the New York City Wine and Food Festival's VIP gifting lounge, where I was working. It’s a cool spot as celebrities, famous chefs, Food Network stars and tons of press, all gather to check out new products. It’s def a great way to get exposure on your brand in front of a great crowd. While being on my feet for eight hours after the long night of dancing I had, wasn't exactly ideal, the highlight of my day was getting to meet the iconic Patti LaBelle! She promised to come stay with us very soon, and I am hopping she does!
I took a break for lunch and met my friends up at the Grand Tasting and got to load up on some yummy treats and enjoy is some quick photobooth fun!
When the day was over I could not wait to come home put on my PJs and indulge in some Oprah and Super Soul Sunday. It was a weekend of fun, adventure, discovery, dancing, and EATING & COCKTAILING. It goes without saying, New York City never disappoints. I’ll be cleansing all week. Maybe.
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