U.S. Road Trip Re-Cap: Week Fourteen (Hershey to New York City) — HALFWAY TO 50 STATES!

North to South U.S. road trip recap week fourteen

At week fourteen, we officially reached the halfway mark of our 50-state quest. We departed Pittsburgh and set out for New York City, with a one-day stop in Hershey, Pennsylvania in between.

Being my first time in NYC, we played the tourist game and saw all the popular sites — most of which were easy to see for free! Read on to find out more about our week in The Big Apple, plus our “sweet” stop in the Chocolate Capital of the U.S.

Note: I’m still catching up on our weekly road trip re-caps! This one covers August 9-15. 

Times Square, New York City
So this is Times Square!
Airbnb cat
At our Pennsylvania Airbnb, this curious kitty snuck in our room to hang with us!

Read more about our favorite affordable accommodation option in “How to Find a Safe, Comfortable & Affordable Place to Stay on Airbnb.”

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You can get an overview of our trip each week here on the blog, but we’re posting more frequent updates of our cross-country U.S. road trip on Facebook and Instagram.

Taking in all these amazing NYC views! #NTSroadtrip2015 #newyork #stylishtravelgirl

A photo posted by North To South • Diana + Ian (@dianasouth) on

States Visited This Week

  • Pennsylvania
  • New Jersey*
  • New York

*just passing through

Brooklyn Bridge
Crossing Brooklyn Bridge for the first time
taking the subway in New York City
We switched from car to subway travel in NYC.

States Visited in Previous Weeks

Total States Visited So Far: 25 (HALFWAY THERE!)

California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York

viewing turtles in Turtle Park (Central Park, New York City)
Turtles in Central Park!
eating poutine in Hershey, Pennsylvania
As if we didn’t eat enough candy at Hershey’s Chocolate World, we stopped for some beers and gravy-slathered french fries (“poutine”) afterwards.
View of the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park
Viewing the Statue of Liberty — one of our ten free activities in New York City

Stops/Landmarks

  • Hershey Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania
  • New York City
  • B & H Photo Superstore
  • The Statue of Liberty
  • Central Park
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • One World Trade Center
Ian Norman at B&H Superstore
Testing some cameras and lenses at the B&H Superstore
Flatiron Building in New York City
In front of the Flatiron Building in NYC
new-york-city-road-trip-north-to-south-20
Oops! We forgot our car registration was expiring this month and had to get it overnighted from California to New York!

Did you know you can use a UPS store’s mailing address to receive stuff for a small fee? We did this as an alternative to using our Airbnb address.

Highlights

  • Hershey Chocolate tour
  • Diana’s first visit to NYC
  • Exploring our local section of Brooklyn around our Airbnb
  • Binge-watching Friends on Netflix while staying in New York City
  • Having lunch with our contacts at B & H Photo and then touring the B & H Superstore
  • Watching the turtles in Central Park

Notes and Insights

  • Hershey’s Chocolate World is really not that exciting, but the actors who take you on the bus tour around Hershey were pretty entertaining, so that was worth the money. (The “tour” inside, which is really more of a theme park ride, is worth waiting in a short line for, too.)
  • So much of NYC can be done for free! Check out our list of 10 Free Things to Do in New York City.
  • Our Airbnb host in Marysville, Pennsylvania had the most interesting accent we’ve ever heard in the U.S. It sounded a bit like a Pittsburgh accent but was much trickier to understand!
New York City skyline at night photo by Ian Norman
That gorgeous NYC skyline from Brooklyn
enjoying a Shake Shack burger in New York City
enjoying a Shake Shack burger in New York City
Plaza Hotel in New York City (the hotel from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York)
Plaza Hotel in New York City (the hotel from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York)

Photo Gallery

Diana Southern and Ian Norman in front of the Brooklyn Bridge and New York City Brooklyn Bridge in NYC North to South at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC Diana Southern and Ian Norman at Turtle Pond in Central Park, NYC Turtle Pond in Central Park, New York City Turtle Pond in Central Park, New York City Flatiron Building, New York City One World Trade Center, New York City World Trade Center fountain, New York City Grand Central Station, New York City New York City streets 3D printer at B & H Photo Superstore HOPE sign in New York City Brooklyn Bridge New York City streets New York City skyline drinking beer at a brewery in Hershey Hershey's Chocolate World bus tour in Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey's Chocolate World bus tour in Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey's Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania crosswalk in Upper East Side, New York City

All photos were taken by Ian and Diana with the Sony a7 II (Ian’s camera), Sony RX100 III (Diana’s camera — review here) and our smartphones.

Week 15 Preview

  • Exploring the East Coast from Connecticut to Maine
  • Milky Way photography in Cape Cod
  • Authentic lobster rolls in New England
  • Acadia National Park
  • The easternmost point of the U.S. (and on into Canada on Campobello Island)

I hope you enjoyed this U.S. road trip re-cap! In case you missed them, check out our other weekly recaps from our road trip. Have you road-tripped to any of these U.S. locations? Tell us about your trips in the comments.

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