New Jersey, USA

Continuing on with my Athens-Newark multi-sector trip, we landed into Newark Liberty International Airport around 9pm, after a 10 hour flight from Athens. You can read about my Athens post here.

By the time we got to the hotel, it was nearly 11pm so it was straight to bed for me as I had an early start the next morning.

Halloween decorations in Newark Hotel

The next morning I woke up around 7am as I had something very exciting planned! A few months ago, I saw Jessica from Jessica’s Journey with Emirates do a helicopter tour over New York City and I have been dying to do it myself ever since. Her pictures looked incredible and the heliport is actually located in New Jersey so as soon as I saw this flight on my roster, I booked it straight away.

Let’s do this!

Breakfast

I got myself a McDonald’s breakfast next door to the hotel and then took an Uber to Kearny Heliport. The name of the company is called FlyNYON and the thing that stood out to me most is the ‘Doors-off experience’ that they offer. You can book the doors-off helicopter and literally dangle your legs out whilst flying over New York City – Insane! I arrived 1 hour before my slot time, checked in, went through all the safety training and then got harnessed up!

I was told that someone in my group who had booked the co-pilot seat didn’t show up so I had the opportunity to take their place as I was alone. I jumped at the chance and couldn’t wait to sit right upfront next to the pilot! I’ve never been in a helicopter before so I was VERY excited, but also a bit nervous as Jessica said it was terrifying at the beginning!

No doors? No problem!

Co-pilot for the day

It honestly was one of the most amazing things I have ever done! After take off, we made our way across the Hudson and over to Central Park. You can only put your legs out when directed to by the pilot, so the first time he said “legs out”, it was terrifying as it was so windy and it literally felt like you could have blown out at any time!! However, after a few minutes, it was such an incredible feeling.

Hudson River

Central Park

We then flew over lots of the other landmarks such as the Empire State, Freedom Tower, Jenga Building, Brooklyn Bridge and the one and only…The Statue of Liberty!! Prepare to see lots of pictures of my feet!

Empire State

Jenga Building

Freedom Tower

Brooklyn Bridge

A bit windy up there!

There she is

Statue of Liberty

Wow – what a AMAZING experience!! I am so so glad I did it. I honestly could not recommend this experience enough to anyone visiting New York and wanting to try something a bit different. It is pricey, but so worth it.

Full of adrenalin, I wasn’t ready to go back to the hotel so I decided to check out The Mills at Jersey Gardens which is a huge outlet mall.

The Mills at Jersey Gardens

Lunch

New boots!

I absolutely loved the mall and could have spent hours there but unfortunately I didn’t have much time as the wake up call was around 6pm. Despite being a bit rushed, it was a very successful trip and I bought myself some new Dr. Marten boots!

And that wraps up my trip to New Jersey! I had the best time on my helicopter tour, it really was such a memorable experience and a massive thanks to Jessica for inspiring me to do it.

Next time, I will definitely try to explore a bit more of New Jersey itself and visit Hoboken which is supposed to be a popular area.

Thanks for reading.

Kerry May xo