NY Trip Report, Thanks Fodorites

Old Jun 18th, 2003, 10:46 AM
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NY Trip Report, Thanks Fodorites

I really really love New York and it just seems to get better. We spent two wonderful weeks in what locals tell us was the coldest May since '82 or '83. We had a few days of sun, but it rained at least a little the other days and evenings. Now for the good stuff.

Hotel - We had stayed at the Hotel Beacon last year for two weeks and were anxious to return. This time we had a corner one bedroom suite. It was spacious and very quiet. The bathrooms are very tiny, but with nice fixtures. The small kitchenette was great for breakfasts, snacks and some excellent take out meals from Fairway and Zabar's. We love the UWS and the hotel staff is very accomodating and helpful. I can't say enough about the Beacon and am looking forward to our next stay. There is a coin operated laundry which really helps on a two week trip. The hotel has no restaurant or room service, but the Vendi Restaurant downstairs is open 24 hours. My husband, the breakfast eater, ate there one morning and said that he would eat there again.

Shopping - Filene's Basement and Fishs Eddy are several blocks from the Beacon. Filene's is OK if you don't mind rumaging through lots of racks. Fishs Eddy is one of our favorites. A funky dish and glassware store. Great merchandise and prices. We had our purchases shipped home and they arrived here almost the same time that we did. We checked out ABC Carpet, quite an experience.

Museums/Homes - Picasso/Matisse at MOMA, and Manet/Valesquez at the Met. The Met has a nice cafe, and our tired feet appreciated the down time there. We really enjoyed Forbes, Teddy Roosevelt's home, and Abigail Adams' (The Vermont Hotel) home. The Frick, which we visited last year, still remains one of our favorites.

Tours - Thanks to Kodi, we took the Greenwich Village Walking/Eating Tour. Fortunetly it was a beautiful day and the three hour tour, along with the great eats, was a highlight of our trip. When we mentioned it to locals, they were not familiar with it and seemed anxious to take it themselves.

Lincoln Center was also interesting and very worthwhile. The tour lasted a little over an hour and our guide, a true music lover, was very knowledgeable and seemed to really enjoy his job. The Opera has a nice gift shop too.

Restaurants - Normally, when we travel, we plan our evenings and some side trips, around restaurants. This time however, due to a newly imposed restricted diet (my doctor's idea, not mine), our trip was not as food oriented as we would have liked. We did have some wonderful wonderful meals, just not as many as we would have liked.

Gramercy Tavern, it's all true folks. We were not the least bit disappointed. I think that I drank my daily ration of water during that meal. The water glasses were constantly kept full, and no detail of the meal was less than perfect. Next time we will also try the front bar dining area.

Blue Water Grill - loved the food and excellent service, but the downstairs Jazz Room was very crowded and noisy. The jazz group, was very good, but it was almost impossible to hear them.

We walked from the Metropolitian Museum to Rosa's Mexicano at 58th and 1st, late Friday night in drizzling rain in an effort to walk off the calories before our meal ;-). Loved the pomogrante margaritas and guacamole - the unofficial food and drink of California.

Zen Palate - about two blocks from the Beacon. Nice presentation and good food. We ate there twice and enjoyed both meals.

Our guide on the Greenwich Tour had highly recommended Pesce and Pasta on Bleecker, and so we returned the evening of the tour and thoroughly enjoyed both the food, the friendly atmosphere and the excellent prices. No reservations.

Cafe Espanol, also on Bleecker. Thanks to posts here, we enjoyed a wonderful lobster dinner.

Virgil's BBQ - although my husband is not a big fan of BBQ - hates eating with his hands, he loves to eat at Virgil's. Large, convenient for apres theater, fast service. This where the hotel kitchenette comes in handy. We took home our leftovers.

After about five straight days of showers, we finally had a very warm dry day. So off we headed for the 79h Street Boat Basin and a walk in park, for the first time, sans umbrellas. We basked in the sun and had a wonderful hamburger. The paths, benches and playground were full of locals doing exactly the same thing. THEN .... the skies opened up and we had a quite a bit of rain and some thunder. I have wash and wear hair, so that was no big deal, and it gave me an excuse to duck into several stores on our walk back to the hotel.

Josie Juice Bar, around the corner from the Beacon on Amsterdam. After theater snack - killer lemon curd, vanilla bean ice cream pie.

We met up with some friends who were going to the Second Avenue Deli for lunch. We had eaten there last year, and hadn't planned on going back. We went again because our friends wanted to try it. Worst rye bread we have ever eaten. Our friends were disappointed also.

Restricted diet ... RIGHT. I did watch everything I ate. I watched it go from my plate, to my fork to my mouth, and enjoyed almost every single bite.

We wanted to return to Ellis Island as we felt that we hadn't spent enough time there last year. We took our time and wandering around, paying more attention that our time allowed on our last visit. A moving and memorable experience, especially if that was your family's first experience in America.

This is getting way to long, so I'll do another post on the real highlights of our trip - the theater.


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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 11:19 AM
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Gee it is too bad your doctor put you on a restricted diet and you didn't get to enjoy a full gastro-tour.

Thanks for the report and especially some of the resturant selections. I'll have to check some of them out on those off nights when I reach the end of my stack of menus and nothing really sounds right.

Glad you enjoyed the trip and I am sure we will be seeing you again soon (only next time, please bring us some California sunshine).
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 11:51 AM
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Is something wrong with the edit feature? I made some corrections, but when I finally posted, they did not appear.

The Theater -

Long Day's Journey Into Night - Nothing can be added to the critical and audience acclaim it has already received.

Nine - Very pleasantly surprised with the range and depth of Antonio Bandaras' voice. Strong supporting cast, and I enjoyed the staging.

The Exonorated - I can't recommend this enough. Strong, and deeply moving. Excellent ensemble. The guests were Robert Vaughn, Ben Vareen, and John Spencer.

Hairspray - Loved Harvey. It's been a long time since we have seen such an exhilarating production. So full of energy. Excellent cast. The clothes and hair brought back a lot of best forgotten memories!

The Play What I Wrote - Basically what I had expected, slap stick, pratt falls, corney jokes, not our usual taste, but it all came together to make an enjoyable evening. Oh, the guest star.... be still my heart, Liam Neeson.

Hank Williams, The Lost Highway - I've always liked Hank Williams' music and was looking forward to this production. We weren't disappointed. It was well done and the Little Shubert Theater, next door to Chez Josephine, is a marvelous new theater. The seats are comfortable, plenty of leg room and the rows are separated so the people behind you don't bump your head when they are getting in and out. Great bathrooms, no long waits. I am looking forward to seeing other productions in this venue.

Salome - I'm probably going to get stoned for this, but we were both disappointed. I like Al Pacino, but my impression of his performance was Pacino playing Mel Brooks, playing Herod. His sthick threw off the performance for me, making it very uneven in my opinion.

Bits and Pieces ....

Once you figure out the elevator system to the bathrooms at the Mariott, Times Square, it is very easy to find them. Take an elevator to the 3rd floor (lobby) and then another elevator to the 8th floor and the bathrooms. Very convenient for after the theater and no line. After one play, we had drinks and shared a goat cheese pizza and an ice cream concoction at the Broadway Lounge on the 8th floor of the hotel. Window table overlooking the street and surprisingly good food and drinks.

We took at taxi from JFK to the Beacon, flat rate $35 or $38, plus $4.00 toll and tip. On our return trip, we took a recommendation found here, which the hotel seconded, and called New Family. He arrived early in a fairly new Lincoln Town Car in
immaculate condition. It was $45.00 plus tip. We would recommend them and will use them again.

Also, we were sorry that we didn't have the chance to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Blue Hill. Hopefully it is, and will continue to be, as satisfying as it was last year.

We purchased all theater tickets, as well as the Greenwich Village Food/Walking Tour, and MOMA Picasso/Matisse, at least two months in advance, either on line or via telephone. If we had more time we would probably wait in line at TKTS, but even with our advance purchases we were not able to get the seats that we would have preferred. As much as I would like to save $$$$, I would rather spend that time seeing the City and we like knowing our evening schedule in advance.

Restaurant reservations for Gramercy Tavern and Blue Water Grill were made a month in advance.

We were so busy in the City that we decided against taking a day or an overnight trip to the Hudson Valley. I've saved all of information that you were kind enough to share with me. We saw a fairly new Avis office about a block from the Hotel Beacon, so depending on their rates, that will be an incentive for a future trip.

Thank you Manhattan and thank you Fodorites. We had a fabulous time, and hopefully will return again next year.

Oooops, I hear the music, so I had better finish up my thank you speech.
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 12:18 PM
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Thanks for the info on the Greenwich Village Walking/Eating Tour. I've been considering doing that with my wife when we go to NYC next month, but have been undecided on whether to do that, do a Big Onion walking tour of G.V., or just wander around the area ourselves. The Walking/Eating Tour looks interesting and a lot of fun. Do all of the foods that you get to sample fill you up by the end of the tour?
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 12:45 PM
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djdave... depending on your appetite, yes the food will fill you up and you won't need lunch. Our tour was from 11:00AM - 2:00PM. There is always room for more, and after the tour, we made a pit stop at Rocco's Bakery (where we stopped for the cannolli) and bought a few more goodies. We didn't eat again until dinner around 8:00PM.

Be sure to make your reservations on line, ASAP, as there are only 15 people in each group and they fill up quickly.

Travelbear, you're right about the California sunshine. We were told by NY locals who had spent Memorial Day weekend in San Francisco, that the weather was in the high 70's and absolutely no sign of rain. Once we got home, guess what, the NY weather followed us back here.
We did a pretty good gastro tour last year, and did almost as well this year. Live today, diet tomorrow.
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 12:50 PM
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My compliments Nina on an excellent report of what was obviously a great trip. As a New Yorker, I say that there's no question that you indeed had a great New York experience. When one is fortunate enough to spend two weeks in a major city as you did, you almost felt like a local....right?
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 01:18 PM
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Who do I contact to sign up for the Greenwich Village Walking/Eating Tour? It sounds wonderful!
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 01:50 PM
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#1 Greenwich Village - tasting & cultural tours:

http://foodtours.citysearch.com/2html (212) 239-1124

Howard, you're right about feeling like locals if you are lucky enough to have an extended stay in a city or better yet, a particular neighborhood. We rarely spend less than two weeks in any large city that we are visiting and it really makes a difference. We love the UWS and do feel at home there. It was great arriving late at night and knowing that Fairway would still be open for minor provisions to start the next day. It was nice to see that the subway is now even closer and that the outside construction was almost finished. We'll never be lucky enough to be 'locals' in Manhattan, but we do feel comfortble there, and one day would like to stay for at least a month.
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 02:11 PM
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I just found more info on the Greenwich Village Food Tour -

www.foodsofny.com

[email protected]
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Old Jun 18th, 2003, 02:18 PM
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Has anyone taken the other walking/eating tour, the Chelsea Gourmet Food Market and Far West Village one? We were also considering that one in addition to the Greenwich Village tour.
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