Holidays like Labor Day usually sneak up on me every single year. I tell myself that I will NOT be in the house on that day, but the lack of planning usually wins. Last year I was in Washington DC and planned a last-minute cookout and it ended up being a success. This year, I checked the weather and said out loud that I will not be in the house and that was the goal. I told my sisters and my friend and started planning from there. The problem was deciding between New York and DC. I also told myself that this year was the year of just trying new things, and so far, I’ve done just that. An interest of mine suggested the Labor Day Brooklyn Parade and I was intrigued (there’s a first time for everything). He didn’t go much into details about the parade and it wasn’t until the day before (after searching on TikTok) that I realized it was THE West Indian Day parade. I ended up telling my sister who lives in NY and once she confirmed that she was going, I just knew I had to follow through with the plan.
The morning we were leaving, I was up at 5am looking for day parties and lounges for us to go to once we got there. Since it was Labor Day weekend, the options were unlimited. We RSVP for a few places just in case, but we also got to NY around 3:30, so the probability of us actually making it in time to any of the day parties were slim. I ended up reaching out to this girl who I met in DC last year and who lives in NY about the moves for the day. She sent options and invited us out with here later that night.
We stayed at Hotel 57 by LuxUrban located in Midtown East. The hotel was cute and close to everything: the train, plenty of food options, smoke shops, literally everything. We headed to Brooklyn later that night and ended up at this random lounge on Scott Ave & Johnson Ave. I have no idea what the name is, but the owners did mention that it was a new place. It was a nice crowd there: not too packed, the music was great and so were the drinks (we mixed Rum Punch with a Margarita). From there, we met up with my friend Polygon. Again, the music and drinks were good. We did go a little too hard that night, which wasn’t smart because we had a 12pm check out the next day.
You already know we woke up the next day feeling like crap, but that’s what happens after a long night of drinking. Since the parade was in Brooklyn, the plan was to meet up with my sister, pregame a little at the Starbucks at the Empire State Building, head to Brooklyn to drop our bags off and then head to the parade. Everything literally worked out perfectly. We got to the parade around 4pm, walked around a little and bought way too many rum punches. Once we met up with my interest, he pulled us into the actual crowd right next to float and it was a great time. Let me just say, I NEVER sweated so much in my life before. We probably walked with the float for like an hour and then called it a day. Although we were hot, sweaty and exhausted, I enjoyed every last minute of it. The music, the costumes the beautiful people: women and men, it was an experience.
I always wanted to go to Carnival and I’m glad I got to experience my first one in NYC. A friend (that’s basically family now) that we met in Sint Maarten, invited us to Dominica’s carnival next year and my interest just mentioned one in Miami next month so, be on the lookout for content from both!
Great story. Trying out something new with your sisters work out great. What an experience. Awesome
Love it! Sounds like you all had a great time!