American Cheerleader

Here we go! Carissa (right) and I have our lattés and are ready to be spotted!

As an Upper East Sider, it’s safe to assume that I’m thoroughly obsessed with the guilty pleasure that is “Gossip Girl”. Everything from the clothes to the drama and the hot guys makes my Monday nights just a little bit happier. So when I was approached to be given an inside look into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s Elite by On Location Tours NYC, I grabbed my best bestie, Carissa (who could easily pass as the double of our favorite blonde troublemaker, Serena Van der Woodsen), and my most Blair-esque headband and devoted a few hours on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to checking out where my favorite prep-schoolers are spotted.

We started off at the beautiful Palace Hotel, where the Van der Woodsen and the Bass families call home in Season 1. Carissa and I walked inside to look for the tour group and pretended like we belonged there (girls, this place is ahhh-mazing—everything is so shiny!). When we didn’t find them, we wandered around outside until we saw the bus. The Palace is also right across the street from the back of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where Blair is spotted going to confession after her, um, indiscretion with Chuck in Season 1.

Taking in the scene outside Constance Billards School for Girls (a.k.a The Museum of the City of New York).

We got on the bus and started cruising around the Upper East Side. Our fabulous tour guide, Megan, pointed out GG sites left and right. From restaurants to stores and even street corners, I can report that most of the show is authentically UES. We cruised past the Vera Wang boutique where Lily shopped with Rufus for her wedding dress when she married Bart Bass. We visited the Fifth Avenue apartment building where the Waldorfs lived and passed by the outside of the Archibald residence (until, of course, they got evicted after Nate’s scumbag dad got arrested). But one of my favorite spots on the tour was when we stopped by the front of the Constance Billard School for Girls and St. Jude School for Boys (otherwise known as the Museum of the City of New York). We even had a chance to have our photo taken (don’t we look cute?)!

Ruling over the Upper East Side from the Met steps.

After our photo opp, we hopped back on the bus and headed down to the Met, where you could always find the Queen B and her followers eating lunch on the steps. We could’ve sat here the rest of the day, channeling our favorite social royalty and pretending to rule over the crowd, but there were a few other stops we needed to make. We headed over to Dylan’s Candy Bar to get more than enough sugar to energize us for the rest of the day, which is also the spot where Dan tells Vanessa in Season 2 that his dad and Lily went to Boston to find their son (that was a shocker!). After we almost missed the bus (oops!), we started to make our way downtown, where we had our final yummy stop at Baby Cakes bakery, where Dan picks up the Thanksgiving pie in a Season 1 flashback and officially meets Serena for the first time! We got to sample a taste of frosting (OMG, too much sugar!), but Baby Cakes is also known for their gluten-free treats, which makes it one of AC Senior Editor Brittany’s favorite places in the city!

As the tour came to an end, I felt very fulfilled having found more places where I can stalk the “Gossip Girl” cast when they start filming again (just kidding, Chuck, just kidding). But the greatest part of the day was getting to share it with my bestie. As Gossip Girl says in Season 1, “As much as a BFF can make you go WTF, there’s no denying we’d all be a little less less rich without them. And Serena (Carissa) and Blair (Erin)? They do besties better than anyone. No, that’s not a tear in my eye, it’s just allergies. Without you, I’m nothing.”

“You know you love me. XOXO. Gossip Girl.”

To find out more about the “Gossip Girl” Sites Tour and the other tours offered by On Location Tours NYC, visit screentours.com.