One of my favorite things to do on vacation used to be sleeping.  I soooo looked forward to napping and sleeping in.  However, I guess I’m getting older because now I like to get up as early as we can when traveling so we can squeeze as much as possible into the day.

We were recently in NYC (full recap coming soon) and one thing we knew we wanted to do was walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  It is the most famous bridge in the city, linking lower Manhattan to Brooklyn over the East River.  We’ve planned to do this so many times and we never seem to make it happen.  The weather gets in the way or we run short on time.  So this time around we made sure to do it.  && then we figured we should try and go early in order to beat the crowds so we could snap a few photos (it can get pretty packed).  Well –  we ended up taking it a step further and got there early enough to watch the sunrise–and I am so glad we did.  If you ever get the chance to walk across the bridge at sunrise TAKE IT!  You won’t regret missing out on that extra little bit of sleep afterwards!

We googled the exact time that the sun would rise and then planned to grab an Uber from our hotel in enough time to arrive right before hand.  That put us leaving our hotel about 4:50am and asked the driver to take us over to Washington Street in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).  We climbed up a set of steps located on the underpass where the bridge crosses over Washington Street.  They lead you straight up to the pedestrian walkway.  (This is a couple blocks from Front Street.)  Once you are on the bridge, the views heading towards Manhattan are incredible and super iconic.  We were pretty much the only people there at this time too!  We did see a couple, dressed in a wedding gown and tux heading up the bridge with their photographer as we were making our way across!

The only downfall to this plan?  It was still so early when we got back to the Manhattan side of the bridge that the coffee shops weren’t even open yet, ha!

Of course, you could always make the trek the opposite direction–begin in Manhattan and walk towards Brooklyn.  I would do this if you wanted to spend some time in DUMBO after.  On one of our previous trips to the city, we got coffee at Brooklyn Roasting Company and wandered around the Brooklyn Bridge Park.  It’s such a neat area (this is where the super cute and famous Jane’s Carousel can be found) and the views of Manhattan across the water are hard to beat!  And there’s no way you can be there without making sure you take the famous picture from Washington Street of the bridge towering over the the East River and the Empire State Building.  See our full post from that spot–> here!

ps, being in a city as old and charming as NYC will force you to think about the history.  I found this article super interesting.  Give it a read for a few interesting [and disturbing] facts about the Brooklyn Bridge.  && be sure to let me know if you incorporate a walk across the bridge into your trip!  I hope this was helpful if you’re planning some time in the city soon!

Outfit details can be found below!  My denim dress is a great one for Summer and I know I’ll be repeating it again soon.  Would be perfect for a July 4th party with some red!  I ordered this Gucci belt quite a while ago and it will hopefully be here soon–I can’t wait to switch out the denim belt on this dress and wear them together.  FYI, the dress does run big.  I ordered an xs and ended up exchanging it for an xxs.

Lindsey:  Dress [size down, runs big!] || Sweatshirt || Necklace || Ring || Thumb Ring || Sunglasses || Sneakers || Handbag

Ethan:  Top [now on sale] || Jeans || Tennis Shoes || Hat