Weekend in NYC with Teenagers

An adorable restaurant serving breakfast, brunch and afternoon tea. Yummy scones and "curious" french toast. A perfect start to our New York City weekend!

A cool little museum located right on Columbus Circle. We saw an amazing exhibit called "Dead or Alive" consisting of art made out of natural materials (think bones, insects, fur, feathers). Admission is $15, high school students with school ID FREE :) And the best thing about this museum- tourists seem to have not discovered it so it was not crowded!

We were having a photo op at the Lincoln Center fountain and noticed this interesting "lawn" - its worth seeing in person!

Another great place to escape tourists is the Upper West Side. Forget Soho! . Head to 72nd & Broadway and shop your way north! My teens love Loehmann's, Urban Outfitters, American Apparel and Sephora. Foodies should stop in Citarellas, H&H Bagels, and Zabar's. For refreshment, stop at Pinkberry for some gourmet frozen yogurt, 70th and Broadway.

We didn't have dinner reservations for Saturday night but were able to snag a table at this Upper West Side Italian restaurant. Enjoyable pasta dishes and nice wine by the glass. The ravioli with mushroom sauce was especially good!

A fun show with some amazing performers. To save a few bucks, we got our tickets for 40% off at the TKTS booth in Brookyln. Teen girls enjoyed posing with the drag queen in front of the theater before the show. Note: This show is definitely not for the "Marry Poppins" crowd.

Canal Street is the mecca for cheap t-shirts, souvenirs, knock off purses, etc. Bring cash and don't hesitate to bargain. My teens had a ball here. Prices are cheap, cheap, cheap!

Located at the east end of Canal St. near the base of the Manhattan Bridge- inside is a giant golden Buddha that is worth a look.

My chowhounder friends steered us to this dim sum place- unlike the traditional cart service you can order off the menu here. This was perfect for accomodating my vegetarian teen. Moderate prices.

Have you ever had ice cream flavors like lychee, black sesame, or ginger? Come here to sample some unique flavors!

So my daughter requested that we find a restaurant with live salsa music. This Cuban restaurant fit the bill. Live music nightly from 8:30 pm. The restaurant is a little dark and noisy, but the food was tasty (roasted pork and paella were standouts) and the sangria was delicious!