Happy Sweet 16 Birthday: A Mother-Daughter Trip

When my daughter’s happy sweet 16 birthday was approaching, I knew I wanted to surprise her with a trip. Just the two of us. Life had been hectic since my son was born, right after her 13th birthday, and my one on one time with her had diminished considerably. I know life ebbs and flows, but I miss the mommy-daughter dates we used to go on regularly.

The destination was easy. New York City is her favorite place in the USA, and I wasn’t looking to do an international trip. The timing was more difficult. The year was 2020 and we weren’t really traveling. Not many people were. I decided I would go ahead and give her the promise of the trip on her birthday, and we would wait until Broadway reopened to actually go.

I ordered a pretty black and white sticker of the NYC skyline on Etsy, wrapped it up in a gift bag, and gave it to her on her birthday. It took her a minute to figure out what the sticker meant, but when she did she was super excited about the trip. And then the waiting began.

Broadway officially reopened in the summer of 2021, finally, and we started finalizing our plans. We ended up booking our trip for the first weekend in December, because experiencing the holidays in New York was a bucket list item for me.

Our Happy Sweet 16 Birthday Trip Itinerary

A mother and her teenage daughter traveling by airplane to NYC for a happy sweet 16 birthday trip.

We arrived at JFK International Airport in the afternoon and took a taxi to our hotel. After a quick change of clothes we hit the ground running, and basically kept that pace up the entire trip. We managed to fit a lot into our weekend trip, and loved every minute of it! Well, except for our aching feet (we packed the wrong shoes). Take it from me, leave the cute boots behind and opt for comfortable walking shoes!

Two long shadows standing together on the Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway in NYC.

Our exact itinerary for my daughter’s happy sweet 16 birthday trip is as follows.

Day One

  1. The Friends apartment
  2. Gray’s Papaya
  3. Magnolia Bakery
  4. Columbus Circle Holiday Market
  5. Scarr’s Pizza
A mother and her teenage daughter standing together in front of the glass wall at the Edge NYC observation deck in New York City

Day Two

  1. Dumbo (Manhattan Bridge view)
  2. Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian walkway
  3. Fabrique Bakery
  4. Flatiron Building
  5. Macy’s
  6. The Edge
  7. The Vessel
  8. Los Tacos No. 1
  9. Bibble & Sip
  10. Wicked (unfortunately canceled at the last minute due to breakthrough covid cases)
  11. Times Square
  12. Rockefeller Center
  13. Bergdorf Goodman
  14. Breads Bakery
A mother and her teenage daughter posing in front of a demogorgon at the Stranger Things Experience in NYC.

Want to know more about our trip to NYC, including details on all the places we went? Check out my travel guide.

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Happy sweet 16 birthday mother daughter trip to NYC