When I'm home on the farm, I like to take a walk around our three ponds once the sun sets. From afar, the lights of the house are ablaze, standing out like a beacon in the acres of darkness.

I stomp the mud from my boots, open the kitchen door, and warm, sugar-scented air wafts towards me. Two of my sisters are making linzer cookies, one of my dad’s favorites. There’s an open bag of flour on the marble counter. Powdered sugar spills out of its box, a batter-coated spatula is propped up on a mixing bowl, and scraps of cookie dough are strewn around.

You don’t need a guide to New York City. There are a million in existence, and you likely have friends to tell you where to go and what to eat. But yet, it pains me to see the streams of tourists heading to Times Square or Fifth Avenue, missing some of the city’s best gems. Sure, if you want to eat at Red Lobster and see bright lights, do it. But I always think it’s nice to see the quieter, less traveled parts of a city as a visitor. If I designed a day for someone visiting –provided they didn’t need to do bucket list things like go to the Met or eat at Katz’s—here’s what I’d do. This isn’t quintessential New York and it doesn’t check any famous boxes. But it’s a collection of seriously fantastic and pretty places that are worth seeing:    

Here we are again. Autumn is slowly appearing, teasing its way into the muggy heat that still sticks like a blanket over everything.

Cool, crisp air greets me when I leave the house in the morning. Yesterday I wore a fleece jacket when the sun went down. Walking home today, I skirted an idling delivery truck outside the grocery store, unloading crates and crates of pumpkins in all shapes and sizes.

Say it: cake. You picture layers of sugared buttercream. Forkfuls of tender, delicate vanilla-scented crumb. Or deep, dark, intensely rich chocolate ribboned with fudge frosting and a shower of chocolate sprinkles. Wax candles sparkling. The words happy birthday lettered in script. Celebration. Sneaking bites of  dense, cold cake in the morning when the icing has crystallized, the sugar gritty between your teeth.