Sorry I had to split this up, but now that I%26#39;m no longer in my NYC fantasy world and back to real life, dinner wouldn%26#39;t fix itself! Anyway...
DAY THREE (Saturday, Sept. 3)
Today was the day we got to meet our Big Apple Greeter to take us on a tour of Central Park. Mary met us in the lobby of our hotel and took a few minutes to find out what we hoped to do, and gave each of us a 2-ride MetroCard. We left everything up to her, so she took us on the subway to 86th St. to begin our day. I can%26#39;t even begin to tell you how great this was! Mary took things at our pace, never rushing us or hurrying us along. She was such a sweet and friendly person, we bonded instantly and had such fun with her. The weather was warm and breezy and perfect. Among many other things, we saw Belvedere Castle, Shakespeare Garden, Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon ';Imagine'; memorial, the Alice in Wonderland Statue, and many beautiful bridges that I was especially fascinated with. We also came across 3 different bridal couples posing for pictures in various parts of the park! We took time just to sit on a bench and enjoy the views (where T2 was christened by a pigeon, if you know what I mean!), and we stopped to watch some break dancers and musicians - a perfect day! My favorite, though, was lunch at the Boathouse. We got a table outside right next to the water, where we enjoyed a nice conversation with Mary over delicious salads. After about 4.5 hours, I think Mary sensed that Mom was dragging a bit, so she rode the subway back to the hotel with us and sent us on our way with hugs for all. What a great service the Greeters provide. It was a definite highlight on our trip!
After all that walking, a quiet rest at the hotel was much needed. Then T1 and I ventured out to get more Ess-a-Bagels for breakfast, and then off to find Buttercup Bakery to surprise T2 with red velvet cupcakes, which she loves. (but still manages to wear a size 0 - go figure!) This place is a sweet-lover%26#39;s dream, with loads of cakes, cupcakes and pastries. We picked up a half dozen cupcakes and a pecan pie bar that were delicious. The chocolate lover in me especially liked the ';devil dog'; cupcakes. (I am, however, NOT a size 0!) We picked up T2 and Mom back at the hote and went to PJ Clarke%26#39;s for dinner since I remembered a recommendation for it on TA. It was OK, had somewhat of a ';saloon'; type atmosphere that reminded me of a TGI Friday%26#39;s. The waiter told us that they were known for having the best burgers in New York. Well, I won%26#39;t call him a liar, but let%26#39;s just say that I had a different opinion. They weren%26#39;t bad, but I don%26#39;t think I would recommend that anyone go there specifically for burgers. The service, however, was very fast, and we were in and out in less than an hour.
We took the subway to Grand Central and took a few pictures, but didn%26#39;t spend any time really exploring, or trying Junior%26#39;s cheesecake, which I regret now. We set out for the Empire State Building, picking up a fake Prada bag along the way at the request of a friend of mine from work. T2 absolutely refused to go up in the Empire State Building due to her unreasonable fear of elevators - the one in the hotel was more than enough for her! T1 had been up last November, so she agreed to stay and keep T2 company for more - you guessed it - shopping! I didn%26#39;t pre-buy tickets because I had read on TA that you could go up immediately by paying $30, which ismore than worth it to me since the line was 1.5 hours long by the time we got there. To do this, look for one of the workers outside wearing a yellow T-shirt. They are offering skyride/observatory combo tickets for $30, along with the promise of bypassing most of the lines. Mom and I took them up on this, and the guy escorted us to a door on 33rd St. where we could buy the tickets. We opted to skip the skyride and headed straight for the observatory line instead. It still took us about 25-30 minutes to get to the top, but it really wasn%26#39;t bad. It was dark by the time we got out there, and it was VERY crowded, but the views were beautiful, and the city looks amazing with lights as far as you can see. Coming back down, we were informed that only one elevator was working going down the first 6 floors, so we walked down 6 flights of stairs to the 80th floor and took the elevator down from there. We found T1 and T2 having a beer in the Heartland Brewery next door, T2 holding a bag with her brand new suede boots inside, another successful day for her! We walked back to Grand Central, took the subway back to the hotel, and called it a day.
DAY FOUR (Sunday, Sept. 4)
After another breakfast in our ';apartment';, we took the subway to Fulton St. to catch a water taxi to Brooklyn. We had about a 40 minute wait for the next departure, so we walked around the South St. Seaport, and T2 bought a couple items at the Yankee store for her Yankee-obsessed roommate. The area is laid out very nicely, but most of the stores are ones we have here at home, so we took the time to just sit, relax and people-watch for a bit. The water taxi ride took only a few minutes, and as we pulled up to the pier in Brooklyn, we saw another wedding couple posing for pictures with the skyline in the background. I would love to see those pictures! We wanted to get ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, but decided we should have something more substantial, and we headed up the street to Grimaldi%26#39;s for pizza. There was a line outside the door about 20 people deep, and we were informed that you had to wait in line even if you wanted to order takeout instead of eating inside. The restaurant next door to Grimaldi%26#39;s had a nice little courtyard with umbrella-covered tables, and they had a sign out front stating that you could bring your pizza there and order drinks from them. I don%26#39;t think the guy at Grimaldi%26#39;s was thrilled with that, as he seemed a little miffed that we declined a table and ordered takeout instead. It only took about 10 minutes, and they brought out our pizza and a few napkins. We ordered drinks from the restaurant and enjoyed our pizza, which was very good, but to be honest (and I hope I don%26#39;t get slammed for this from Grimaldi lovers), I had a slice of La Famiglia pizza at the airport with fresh mozzarella, Roma tomatoes and basil that was just as good, if not better. But it was a good lunch, and the four of us devoured a large pizza in a very short amount of time.
After lunch, we headed to find the entrance to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. We just kept walking toward where we thought it should be, and I soon saw a sign that said something about a bike path, so we followed it and found the stairs leading up to the bridge quite easily. Mom was a little worried about this whole idea because she really doesn%26#39;t like water, but once we got up there, she realized that it wasn%26#39;t so bad, and she actually enjoyed it. The bridge was pretty crowded, but the views of that fantastic skyline made it all worth it. We took loads of pictures and were sunburned and sweating (no, make that ';glowing';) when we made it to the other side. After a cold soft drink and a rest in the shade near City Hall, we headed to the World Trade Center site, stopping off at St. Paul%26#39;s Chapel, since T1 and T2 had never been there. We were pleasantly surprised to find an author there that had written a wonderful children%26#39;s book called ';The Little Chapel that Stood';, which told the history of the chapel and about the heroism of the 9/11 rescue and recovery workers. She autographed copies of it for T2, and T1 took one home to her 10-year-old daughter. It would be a lovely way to explain to children what happened that day. All of us came out of there feeling quite emotional, as the memories of that day were brought to the surface. We took a brief walk past the site, finding it still hard to believe that what had once been there was completely gone.
We made our way to Trinity St. to visit FDNY Engine Co. #10, since my daughter had met some of the firefighters last year and hoped to see them again. Only one of the guys was around, but he opened the door and brought out his helmet for her to try on, and we took her picture with him. We decided to head back to the hotel, skipping Century 21, which made me very happy, since that place drives me crazy! We were so proud that we found the E subway line to take us back to Lexington and 53rd, near the hotel. We stopped for snacks to hold us over since we had a late dinner planned.
We changed clothes and took a taxi to Dodger Stages on W. 50th, since Mom%26#39;s feet couldn%26#39;t take much more walking! I had pre-ordered tickets for Altar Boyz with a discount code from broadwaybox.com. This was another great show. We all loved it, and while being a little irreverant, it was so much fun and we hardly stopped laughing throughout. This is another show I highly recommend. Those guys were so talented, and the one that plays Matthew is very pleasing to the eyes! (I%26#39;m 49, not dead!) The show is 1.5 hours with no intermission, so were were out by 8:30 and walked around the corner to the Churrascaria Plataforma for dinner. We didn%26#39;t have reservations, but were seated within 15 minutes. And we actually saw our 5th wedding couple in 2 days having a post-wedding dinner there! The only way I can describe this restaurant is to say WOW. I%26#39;ve never seen so much food in my life. You start with a salad bar that is like no other salad bar I%26#39;ve ever seen. All the dishes are unusual, not your typical iceberg lettuce and cole slaw! Then they start bringing side dishes, and meat - prime rib, sirloin, pork, chicken, salmon, etc., etc. until you turn over the little card they give you that tells them to stop. After this, they have the nerve to ask you if you want dessert! We declined, and waddled out of there to spend a little time in Times Square to try and walk off dinner. I surprised the 3 of them by having our names put up in lights at the Hershey store. It was fun to feel famous, even if just for a few minutes! We found the right subway to get us home, even though we had a problem when my card scanned and said ';insufficient fare';, even though we knew I had one ride left on it. So I was left standing outside the turnstile alone while T1 searched frantically for a machine to buy another card, unsuccesfully. Luckily, Mom pulled a card out of her purse that worked. As we walked down the stairs to catch the subway, we heard music and found 2 men, one playing the guitar and singing, and one playing the flute. They were quite good, and pretty soon they had the whole crowd singing ';My Girl'; along with them. I turned to T2 and said, ';Now THIS is a New York moment.'; About 30 strangers from who-knows-where, dancing and singing together in a subway station. Priceless!
DAY FIVE (Monday, Sept. 5)
We packed up reluctantly and checked out of the Affinia 50, leaving our luggage since our flight didn%26#39;t leave until 7:00 p.m. T2 still had money burning a hole in her pocket, so we went to a store called Zara at 54th and 5th. If you%26#39;re traveling with a teen or young adult, this is a good store to visit. It%26#39;s funny, because I am a master shopper here at home, but I just don%26#39;t have the patience for it in New York, so I didn%26#39;t buy anything. With T2 satisfied that she had gotten to shop one last time, we headed to Ellen%26#39;s Stardust Diner for lunch. I know you locals don%26#39;t care much for this place, but we%26#39;d been there before and had fun, so we tried it again. Food was OK, entertainment was good. We spent our last couple hours buying some touristy souvenirs, walking around Rockefeller Center, the NBC store, Saks Fifth Ave., and the American Girl store. We also had a Mr. Softee ice cream cone from a truck on the street, which brought back memories of childhood when Mr. Softee would run up and down our street!
We took an exciting ride back to the airport, as the driver didn%26#39;t seem to think that it was necessary to brake when going around corners or curves! But we made it, only to find that our flight was delayed nearly 2 hours. After a long wait at the airport, we were on our way home, finding it hard to believe that our long anticipated trip was over.
My impressions of the city are the same as always - I love the electricity, the excitement, and the feeling of being in the center of the world. New Yorkers, nearly always, are very friendly, open and helpful. (You%26#39;d be surprised how much unsolicited help you get from young men when you have a 21-year-old with you.) Columbus is my home, but NYC will always have a part of my heart.
To those of you that stuck through this for this long, thank you. I appreciate so much all the advice and suggestions over the last 6 months. The only disadvantage to being addicted to TripAdvisor is that you get so many great ideas that it%26#39;s frustrating to not be able to do them all! So I guess I%26#39;ll just have to come back...
Very Long Trip Report - too excited to write a short one...
LOL
your description of the taxi ride back was priceless ;-)
Very Long Trip Report - too excited to write a short one...
Interesting and well written report.
I loved your description of singing and dancing to ';My Girl'; in the subway. Just as you said Priceless!
Your second installment didn%26#39;t disappoint. Lovely descriptions, these reports that are written must be so much help for those planning their trips, and great for those of us who aren%26#39;t as well!
Great trip reports, NYCforMe! Time always seems to go faster when you%26#39;re visiting NYC---don%26#39;t you think? :-)
LOVED reading both installements of your trip report, sounds like you all have a brilliant time.
The %26#39;My Girl%26#39; moment really does sound priceless, we too hope to have many moments like this during our trip. We are really looking forwarding to seeing %26#39;real%26#39; New York like you say, the way you call it the centre of the world really sums it up for me.
xx
Wonderful! by the way, PJ Clarke%26#39;s was never really famous for their food, but it was a popular hangout for journalists. In particular, many foreign news bureaus were headquartered in the east 40s and 50s. There were several pubs that were popular hangouts, and PJ%26#39;s was the most popular. While there are still lots of media types there and other office workers, I think it%26#39;s mostly tourists.
I like that the owners of the building refused to sell to the developers who built that huge office building around it, 919 Third Ave.
Well done, NYCforMe - nice to see that fixing dinner didn%26#39;t make you lose your muse! Loved your comment about being ';49 not dead'; - priceless!
Are we going to get to see any of those photos you kept mentioning?
Nic, when it comes to posting pictures, I am really lost as to where to even begin. Maybe I can get my husband to help me get a few of them together - I%26#39;d love to share!
What a well written trip report! You did lots of fun activities.
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