Do you know Gossip Girl?

If you aren’t under 25, probably not. If it weren’t for my three young adults, I may have never known about this series that originally ran on the CW, but they introduced to me on Netflix. Netflix indeed has changed the way we watch TV and this cult creating show is just one example of many that are out there that have created “cult” viewers. But what this show exhibits is exactly what we as travel planners can do for you. We create escapes based on your passions.

So, for my daughter and her friend who came to visit us here in New Jersey, I did just that and created a Gossip Girl Hot Spots itinerary for them during our visit to New York City.

For a little more background, Gossip Girl was an American teen drama series that ran from 2007-2012 based on the book written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Gossip Girl is a ruthless mysterious blogger who reveals secrets about the teens living in upper east side New York. The show brings the upper east side into our lives as roller coaster romances and piles of secrets are found out and shared by Gossip Girl. With the show taking place on the upper east side, fans have not only become obsessed with the characters, but the places featured as their “hot spots” in the city.

My daughter and her friend couldn’t wait to have me map out a day that would take them to the places they’d seen their characters at. Most of the places were just a chance to get a photo for social media to say “I was here”, but some of our spots included visiting and eating at restaurants the characters ate at.

Here’s our adventure into Gossip Girl’s elite society as we checked out the New York City spots where hot young actors like Blake Lively (Serena van der Woodsen), Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf), Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass), and Chace Crawford (Nate Archibald) take on the roles of young socialites living in Manhattan.

We started our day by taking our appetites to Sarabeth’s for brunch. While not the location we had hoped to get reservations at, it was still a time to channel our inner Blair and Serena sharing scandalous news as we filled up on morning delicacies. We can highly recommend the eggs benedict, salmon and egg scramble, and their blueberry pancake.

Next we were off to the luxurious Palace hotel courtyard for a must have photo op. In the show the hotel is fictitiously owned by the Bass Industries and is where the Van der Woodsens would wake up to a fully catered breakfast.

From the hotel we walked to Laduree which is a Paris based confectionary to purchase macaroons made famous from a scene from season 4 where Blair is in a bathtub eating these little bites of heaven. We each purchased two as an on the walk snack after getting our next mandatory photo outside the storefront.

With treats in hand, we beat feet to go hold court at Met steps. It is a famous perching spot for Blair and her minions and perfect spot for another photo op.
It was now time for a little rest break and a bottle of water to cool off from the New York summer heat. We opted for a park bench in Central Park and did a little people watching while we decided where to head for lunch. Our lunch stop was not a spot on the “Gossip Girl” tour, but was close and convenient before making trek to our next location. We walked about a block or so from the Park and found EAT were we enjoyed some very fresh salads and air conditioning.

After lunch, back to Central Park we went as we meandered our way through it to make our way to the Empire Hotel. Stopping here and there to take photos, we came across the location where Blair and Chuck had their split second wedding as they were on the run.

Finally, we arrived at the famed Empire Hotel, Chuck Bass’s home and business. After getting another mandatory photo, we popped into the Starbuck’s to recharge our phones and energize ourselves with some tea and coffee.

Back hitting the pavement, we headed to Times Square for a little souvenir shopping and sight seeing before heading to our final stop of the day–Butter Restaurant. Butter Restaurant is an exclusive niche restaurant maintained for stylish Manhattanites.

Butter, in Gossip Girl world, is the restaurant where Jenny Humphrey, the “poor” girl who lives with her aging rock star dad in a fabulous loft—and Blair—the queen of the Upper East Side—had a major showdown on Jenny’s 15th birthday back in season one. It is also a go to restaurant throughout the show for the characters.

Do you have a favorite show or movie? Lord of the Rings? Outlander? Downtown Abby? Game of Thrones?

Just like Gossip Girl in NYC, a trip can be planned around your favorite characters aka obsessions. The sky is the limit when planning your escape.

Until next time XOXO

New York–

“The city that never sleeps”. It’s a bucket list place to visit for almost anyone. Having landed myself on the other side of the waterway from this bustling metropolis, I finally had a chance to be a bit of a tourist for the day. My older two were in visiting and had a short list, okay long list, of sights they wanted to tick off. With time being limited we did what we could on a quite cold winter’s day in January.

We started the day off with the train ride into the city to meet girlfriends of mine in Chelsea for lunch. The city itself is divided into many different neighborhoods like Chelsea, Greenwich, Soho, and the Financial District where you find Wall Street. In addition, it is made up of 5 boroughs with Manhattan being one of the most famed. From the train, we decided to hoof the 10 blocks to the Japanese restaurant. The kids wanted to walk everywhere.

New York is truly a city of energy that is best felt on the streets.

After a delightful lunch of sushi and catching up with friends we headed off with our walking directions to check off the biggest priority– the Empire State Building.

To me, the Empire State Building exudes romance. Having a prime role in two of my favorite romance movies, “An Affair To Remember” and “Sleepless in Seattle”, I was thrilled to finally be going up to the observatory decks. So many films feature NYC and this iconic building that stands tall in the midst of it. We timed our visit just as the sun was beginning to set over the city, and it was quite magical. I thought I would be terrified being so high. We did go all the way to the 102nd, but it wasn’t like that at all. Instead, my movies flashed before my eyes and I found myself wishing to meet someone atop of these floors.

As night descended we moved on our trek to Rockefeller Center to see the famous gigantic Christmas tree. We took our mandated photos and continued on to Times Square. The girls were loving it with all its lights and big screens as they took photo upon photo for their social media stories. My son, however, was not as enamored. He said, “It’s not even a square and much smaller than it appears on screen.” After hitting these 3 major points of attraction, we had a couple of must see locations left, but at this point our feet had grown quite tired and we were getting hungry for dinner. Time for the subway! We took the subway to 5th Avenue to see Tiffany’s of course. With 2 girl, where did you think they wanted to go? And of course, another place featured in an all-time classic “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. After Tiffany’s we made a turn around the corner to make a pass by Trump Tower. You couldn’t walk directly in front of it, but we crossed to the other side to get a picture. Police and camera men were everywhere on the block. After our photo was captured, we headed back to the subway only to see a long black stretch limo. Curiously we wondered what famous person we had just passed.

The afternoon/evening concluded with a quick comfort meal of Italian at Barillas just a couple of blocks down from Penn Station. It was an incredible day spent exploring the city and braving the cold winter temps. Exhausted, we plopped ourselves on the train and started planning the next visits excursions. One can never see all or it in one trip.  That is why we return again.