We’ve made several trips to NYC now, but none in the time span between New Year’s and spring break – until now. This might just be the best time to visit NYC if the weather cooperates. We went the first weekend of March. The crowds were so much smaller than normal that we didn’t get jostled when we walked around – even in Times Square. There were still a lot of people, but noticeably less. That meant cheaper Broadway tickets and much shorter or no lines at some popular places.

One of the best perks of going at this time, though, is the hotel rates are much cheaper! We ended up staying at a hotel in Manhattan just a few blocks from Grand Central and Times Square!

We got in on a Friday afternoon and after getting settled in a hotel, we headed out to get dinner at Eataly near Rockefeller Center. We stopped by Rough Trade, a record store that has a photo booth where many celebrities have taken their pictures. We got pictures this time. Then we headed to Times Square and stopped by Central Perks to get a picture on the Friends’ orange couch. There was just one group ahead of us taking a photo and there’s usually a very long line! Then we explored the Hershey’s store since they change up their selection a lot. We found Butterbeer kisses this time.

We went back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep and then woke up around 11:30 p.m. to go back to Times Square to see the midnight art work display. Every night at midnight, they turn off the ads, do a countdown and display some kind of art. That night, it was a short-form puppet video. It was a very neat thing to do while we were staying so close to Times Square.

On Saturday, we got breakfast at Bluestone Lane Café and took a walk to the Harry Potter store. After exploring, we got an iced Butterbeer to share. A little pricey, but you keep the plastic cup and they have a wash station to clean it out before you leave. (I also found a Harry Potter NYC mug while I was there on sale!)

We got lunch at Joe’s Pizza where the line was only about 10 people out the door. However, we found out that next door, they sell it by whole pizzas instead of slices and the line was even shorter there, so we went next door and got a whole pizza to share. We got banana pudding from Magnolia and then headed to our main event …

We saw The Great Gatsby on Broadway! It was Jeremy Jordan’s last day playing Gatsby and we went to the matinee performance. It was mesmerizing! We really enjoyed the show and I thought it was a great way to present the story.

For dinner, we ended up at Gayle’s Broadway Rose after stopping by the Stardust Diner. Both are singing server restaurants where the waiters and waitresses also work on Broadway. The line was incredibly long at the Stardust Diner, so we went to Gayle’s and waiting maybe 45 minutes for seats at the bar. Listening to the singing was incredible and the staff at Gayle’s is phenomenal.

On Sunday, we didn’t have to catch our flights until the late afternoon, so we headed way uptown to visit the Cabrini Shrine. St. Xavier Francis Cabrini was the first American canonized saint (an Italian immigrant). She and her nuns first served the poor Italian immigrants in NYC and then created schools, orphanages and hospitals throughout the world. The current church is on a site where she bought land and where she is buried. They have a bench where she would sit and think while looking at the river.

Comment if you have any suggestions of anything we should do the next time we’re in NYC!