No Sleep Till Brooklyn Brewery: our prize trip to NY
When people first ask me about my comping hobby, they always want to know about the holidays I’ve won! Over the years I’ve won more than 50 trips all over the world, and 5 of those have been to New York. I absolutely love the city, it’s such an exciting and magical place. Last time we went was ten years ago, courtesy of Norwegian Airlines – we travelled in February and it was absolutely freezing! Read all about that visit in my post A Family Trip to New York.
My latest visit was the top prize in a 2024 Tesco Text-to-Win promotion – to enter, I bought a 4 pack of Brooklyn Pils in my local Tesco Extra, texted a keyword and uploaded a copy of the receipt online. This was one of six Tesco TTWs I won in 2024 (I have a list of current text to win competitions so you can check out the latest Tesco comps).
For this particular promotion, only the biggest Tesco stores stocked the qualifying Brooklyn products and there were also 5 top prize winners, so I felt there was a better chance of winning a holiday than in a comp with a single top prize on an easily available cheaper product. Like most Tesco TTWs, it was only one entry allowed per person.
The original prize was a trip for two to Brooklyn, but I really wanted to bring Ryland knowing how much he would love the experience. It’s always worth asking the fulfilment agency if they can be flexible with the prize elements – the worst that can happen is that they say no! Cloud Nine were excellent – there was $650 spending money included, so we used this towards Ry’s flight. Cloud Nine also researched and switched us to an alternative cheaper hotel with a triple room and no breakfast included, so in the end it didn’t cost too much more.
We flew with British Airways and a chauffeur picked us up at JFK airport to take us to the Coda Hotel in Brooklyn. This was a great location in Williamsburg, just around the corner from Brooklyn Brewery. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and after eating tacos at Tacombi, we headed over to Manhattan to go shopping in East Village, drink coffee and enjoy a lovely Italian dinner at Primi. I was delighted to pick up a new cardigan for $5 in a vintage store, plus I completed my challenge from the Birmingham City Sussex Supporters Club, and left a sticker outside the Undefeated store (Undefeated are the Blues’ shirt sponsors!)
On Tuesday we explored Central Park: the cherry blossoms and magnolias were gorgeous! I just missed blossom season on my travels to Japan and Korea so it was lovely to catch them in full bloom. We also chuckled at the dog park just by the Flat Iron building and had a tasty brunch at Hole in the Wall, an Australian café.
In the afternoon Rob and I had a complimentary beer tasting session at Brooklyn Brewery where Dan told us all about Brooklyn’s history (and future!) and we tasted eight different beers. I’ve always liked Brooklyn Lager but their new summery Playa del Brooklyn was my fave (we’re not sure this fruity number will make it to the UK though). The Brewery isn’t currently doing tours which is a shame – they’re moving premises soon so hopefully we can have a tour on our next visit.
After the tasting we hopped onto the subway to the Yankee Stadium, as we’d bought tickets for the baseball! Now, I have previously watched baseball in Korea but can’t say I’m a huge fan of the sport, although I do enjoy the music interludes and the fans going crazy! It was Jackie Robinson Day, this is a big deal as it’s celebrating Jackie being the first black player in Major League Baseball (he started for Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947) – all teams playing on the day wear the number 42 jersey to remember him. You’ll be pleased to hear the Yankees won!
On Wednesday another part of our prize was a 4-hour walking tour of Brooklyn. Our host Olga met us at 9am in her winter coat, bobble hat and boots. After two warm days the weather had completely turned! We put on as many clothes as we could, and braved the wind. Olga was Russian, married to a Ukrainian/Israeli and had lived in New York for six years working as a pastry chef and tour guide. We talked about Michelin-starred restaurants, hip hop dancing, South Korean travels, Russian food and lots more! Our tour took us through Williamsburg, checking out all the street art and local venues. We went for a coffee and cake in the lovely Birdee, a brand new café inside the renovated Domino Sugar Factory on the waterfront, then headed to catch the ferry from South Williamsburg to Dumbo.
We walked along the Squibb Park Bridge (amazing views of Manhattan from here!) and checked out the quirky and historic buildings amongst the blossom-filled streets of Brooklyn Heights.
In Dumbo Olga showed us where to take the iconic ‘Once upon a time in America’ photo of the Brooklyn Bridge. We saw some cool street art and then parted ways, as we headed into a pizza place for a slice of broccoli and olive pizza (much better than it sounds!)
Then it was back to Jack Doyle’s Irish Pub in Manhattan where I’d booked a table to watch the big match – Real Madrid v Arsenal! It was full of Gooners so suited Rob perfectly, and we were excited to see a 3-1 win (a step closer to the Champions League Final, which I need to win tickets to!)
After the match was something I had really been looking forward to – a meal at Atomix! I love to try tasting menus at Michelin-starred restaurants, but they’re incredibly expensive. If I’m lucky enough to win a free holiday I like to book us in for a really special meal as a treat. Atomix is a Korean restaurant with room for just 16 guests around the chef’s table so it’s tricky to get a reservation, but I got lucky! When we arrived we met the chef, who showed us the fresh ingredients they would be cooking with that evening – tilefish, beakfish, langoustine, shrimps, even magnolia flowers!
The meal included three mini snacks then a nine-course tasting menu. I went for the fish option but the boys had a pork course in their meal. The food was incredible, and each course came with a pretty postcard with a story about the dish and detailed list of ingredients. I wasn’t sure how Ryland would like it, but he ate everything except the white asparagus, and really enjoyed the experience. Asian desserts aren’t my favourite, so I was pleasantly surprised with the rhubarb sorbet and then a heavenly soybean ice cream. As I’d booked the early sitting, our meal was finished by 8pm.
I’d booked us tickets for Summit One Vanderbilt afterwards, which is the viewing platform in New York’s fourth tallest building. There was a lot of queuing beforehand but once we actually arrived at the 91st floor it was a fantastic experience. A huge mirrored room with windows looking out over Manhattan, with the Empire State Building twinkling in front of us. It was breathtaking. After walking through a room with Yayoi Kusama artworks, we went into a room full of silver balloons drifting up to the ceiling and back down again – surreal, but fun!
After a really hectic Wednesday we had a lazy Thursday morning before walking to the famous Peter Pan’s for super cheap donuts and coffee – we had two each because we couldn’t decide on just one flavour to try! Then we decided to pop back to Manhattan as Ry wanted to stock up on sweet treats for his friends at Economy Candy, which is right next to Beastie Boys Square (renamed officially in 2022!). I’m a huge Beastie Boys fan so I had to get a photo in my MCA Day UK t-shirt with the mural.
After another few thousand steps we reached Burger America, where the boys ate cheeseburgers and I had a grilled cheese sandwich. The highlight of my meal was drinking a bottle of Miller lager – this used to be my favourite beer when I was a student, and the first of my five prize trips to New York was won in a Miller tiebreaker competition! After our burger feast it was time to head back to the hotel for our ride back to the airport.
We packed so much into three days and are exhausted, but it was so much fun! Thank you to Brooklyn Brewery and Tesco for such a fantastic prize, and also to Cloud Nine who did a brilliant job of organising our trip to accommodate Ryland too.
I wonder where my hobby will take us next? I’d better get back to entering some travel competitions and find out!
What an amazing trip Di. You never fail to inspire us and I look forward to hearing what’s next! X
Loved reading this, looked / sounded like an amazing trip and great tips for when we take our teen in July!
Congratulations on a fantastic win and by the looks of it, a wonderful trip.
it sounds absolutely fabulous Di. I won a trip to New York years ago, and the fulfilment company were great, they let us add a third person on for free too as long as we only went economy class instead of premium. It is always worth asking for some changes. Ryland looks so grown up!