The city never sleeps, but we needed to

Old Jun 15th, 2016, 06:51 PM
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The city never sleeps, but we needed to

So trip reports are not my strength. Mine are not as engaging as say maitaitom's or as informative as others, but maybe there is info that someone might find helpful ,so I'll give it a go.

Our six day trip to New York started with a redeye from Phoenix, perhaps my first mistake. I don't think my family does overnights well and I had a full day planned upon arrival. So you can see where this is going. We arrived at Newark at 6 a.m., collected our bags which we agreed to check per pleas from the flight crew. Our flight was full and there wasn't much baggage space. We checked two bags and kept two. My husband has a Tumi he loves almost as much as me and refuses to check. The flight itself was uneventful if not great. We flew United. Crew was nice just not very warm. They did offer drinks once and nuts. No movies or tv shows or music for the flight. Thankfully the kids had downloaded movies and games before we left the house.
Upon arrival and baggage collection, we met a gentleman from Carmel car service who greeted us with a minivan. I still don't see why a family of four with four bags requires larger than a sedan, but that seems to be the deal. Anyway off to the races or rather the traffic jam. Actually it wasn't too bad.

Hotel Beacon was amazing. We have spent more per night and gotten less attention and more attitude many times. Isa checked us in, made arrangements for our luggage and promised to call as soon as our room was available which she did. In love already. They keep their word.
We had a quick breakfast at Irving coffee roasters. I had read this place had yummy breakfast sandwiches and great coffee. Unfortunately we were disappointed on both counts. Oh well, at least we had food in our bellies and coffee pumping through our veins, off to Central Park. We had a very nice stroll, only having to course correct a couple of times enroute to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of my favorite museums.

We made it a priority to see the Temple of Dendur this time. Although it was a strange juxtaposition of ancient and modern since they were setting up lighting and tables for what I guess was a private event that evening. Imagine having that kind of clout and cash. Oh gee, I think that ancient temple at the Met sounds like a great place for our dinner party. Let's do that.
The kids headed off to the armory (?) where my son was in heaven fantasizing about how all of the weapons could be incorporated into a video game and my daughter was awed by Henry viii 's armor, both the trim and dashing and aging and corpulent versions. She had seen photos of them in a class at school. She talked a mile a minute about how she was going to email her teacher to let her know she'd seen the real thing.

It was then off to the rooftop for a lovely view and a much needed drink. Both the view and drink went right to my head. It was grand. We then headed back to the hotel by way of the Alice and Wonderland statue and watching boats on the lake. Then exhaustion and ,perhaps, the alcohol set in and we taxied it back to the hotel. Exhausted cranky and getting hungry, we needed a nap and an attitude adjustment.

By 8 we were all starving and opted to stay local. Half a block down, we had a delicious and fun meal at Red Farm. We were all pleased with the food and service. Those dumplings with soup in them were to die for as well as pretty much everything else we tried . On the walk back we picked up some snacks and water for the room at Fairway Market, a good end to a good if somewhat extended day
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Old Jun 16th, 2016, 07:34 AM
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We also loved Hotel Beacon! Great location, isn't it? Sounds like fun!
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Old Jun 16th, 2016, 08:11 AM
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I am enjoying your trip report, Cjar--it's very engaging indeed! Keep going...
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Old Jun 21st, 2016, 07:33 PM
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Day2- I think my family is going to kill me. At least that's what was written on their faces by the end of the day. I sometimes over commit and sometimes things are just more challenging than I expect. Having heard about Big Apple Greeters, I submitted a request months before our trip with several different days and areas as options. I believe there is nothing better than seeing a city ,especially a city like New York, through the eyes of those who live there. The trouble is that you only know if you are matched to a greeter and on what day, one week before you arrive.
We were matched with a lovely greeter, Howard, but by that time I had already signed us up for vertical tour at St. John the Divine,which was great, and a tour of Rockefeller center including tickets to the TOR that night.

Here is the family alienating part. Our tour of St. John's started at noon. It was a great tour and every one still loved me then. We ascended just over 100 ' on a tightish spiral staircase, walked above a buttress, and got to spend some time admiring the architecture from the rooftop. The problem was that about that time it started to rain, well pour. We did have umbrellas, but we were soaked by the time we got back to the hotel and we had about 15 minutes before Howard came to meet us. I think we had all begun to worry we were going to need a boat, but Howard hadn't cancelled . If he, a kindly volunteer, could suck it up so could we.

We then took the subway to Grand Central. Is it true the small smoky looking black square on the ceiling was left so we'd know how dirty it had once been? The kids wanted Shake Shack which we got. Shouldn't that make everything better? We then walked to the Chrysler building lobby, saw the outside of Grand Central. We loved the Glory of Commerce sculpture. From there we made our way to New York Public Library , Bryant Park and then en route to Rockefeller center, we were stuck. The streets had all been blocked off due to President Obama's presence. I guess he made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. It was about 45 minutes of standing before Cadillac One made its appearance. At least it had stopped raining and the kids were excited to see Obama's detail, secret service and beefed up suv's .

We thanked our lovely New York guide as we ended at Rockefeller center. We now had only 45 minutes til our tour and recognizing I was about to have a mutiny on my hands, we opted to skip the tour and grab some dinner . We still had tickets for TOR at 9:30 . After a brief stop at the Lego store and H&M , we found an Italian place called Bistro Milano which had good pizza, pumpkin ravioli and an outstanding old fashioned. I rallied the troops enough to get them to our 9:30 reservation. We had a little trouble finding the subway stop to get back that night, but we eventually did and we all slept like the dead.
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Old Jun 22nd, 2016, 03:21 PM
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I forgot to mention a quick walk to Absolute Bagel near St. John's. Really good bagel and a ton of creme cheese, enough to split between two people, so get one with and one without and share.

Day3- A late start to Greewwich Village. We love line 1 of the subway. It really took us everywhere we wanted to go and home again. That kept the nonnative commuter confusion on simmer. We enjoyed a lovely self guided walk from the Sheridan St. stop to Marie's Crisis Center, Village Vanguard, St. Luke of the Field, White Horse Tavern, and several other former residences of the talented and tortured. Boy Dylan Thomas really liked to knock em back. Thank you to Galt Tech for the terrific walk. We had dinner reservations at 5 and tickets to the King and I that evening so, we had to cut it short.


We ate at Sapphire right on Columus Circle. It was a very good meal with terrific service. We especially enjoyed the Chicken Tikka Masala , the lamb chops, the lemon rice, and the lamb biryani. The fig ice cream was outstanding and my daughter was thrilled with the Gulab Jamun.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the King and I, even my husband who still managed to dose off a couple of times. He would have preferred Blackbird , but I didn't think it the best option for the kids. I wish we could have seen more than one show, but I am the only true theater buff in the group. Afterwards, we made our way back to the hotel and fell into a dreamless sleep.
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Old Jun 22nd, 2016, 04:10 PM
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You're making me want to return to NYC...would love to go on that Vertical Tour at St. John the Divine. Great report.

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Old Jun 23rd, 2016, 06:42 AM
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I cannot go on the vertical tour, I'm too short.
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Old Jun 23rd, 2016, 03:47 PM
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Wait a minute. You saw the OUTSIDE of Grand Central Station? Sorry, that jumped out at me, but sounds like a great trip.
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Old Jun 24th, 2016, 08:01 AM
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Cjar:

"I don't think my family does overnights well and I had a full day planned upon arrival" only for the young in my opinion.

Sounds like you did have a fabulous time though and adjusted to the redeye.

I do hope you went into Grand Central Station - it is well worth the time.

Sandy
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Old Jun 24th, 2016, 08:47 AM
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"Is it true the small smoky looking black square on the ceiling was left so we'd know how dirty it had once been? "

It depends - if you are talking about the dark square on the ceiling near the constellation of Cancer (the Crab) then the answer is yes. For a long time the whole ceiling was that dark dirty color.

If you are talking about that circular "indentation" in the ceiling above the unused ticket windows then the answer is no. That is a left over from the late 1950's when they had an Atlas Rocket on display. The people involved underestimated the height of the rocket and the height of the ceiling and the fact that they needed a bracket to be mounted to keep the rocket in place. As a result they had to "poke a hole" in the ceiling. When the last renovation was done it was decided not to fix that.
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Old Jun 24th, 2016, 10:12 AM
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There are two notions about the ceiling in the Main Concourse in GCT that reflect Beaux Arts. First the stars are out during the day. Second, all the constellations are backwards, as if seen from the perspective of God.

The clocks atop the information booth have an estimated worth of between $10-20 million.
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Old Jun 24th, 2016, 11:04 AM
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It should be further mentioned that 2 of the 4 clock faces are actually replacements. The originals were cracked/damaged.

The damaged clock faces reside in the NY Transit Museum's archives for safe keeping.
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Old Jun 24th, 2016, 04:43 PM
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Imdonehere - perhaps in the bowels of the cathedral, they have some device to help you with being vertically challenged.

NeoPatrick- see I told you trip reports are not my forté. We did actually enter Grand Central which is why I asked about the ceiling mark. I always get finger tied when trying to accurately describe things and yes it was a great trip.

nycguy10002- Yes I was referring to the square near Cancer. Our lovely guide shared the information about the clocks and the perspective switch ofn the ceiling. It was much better to visit with our BAG . On our last trip we went inside and looked up at the ceiling and around ,but had none of the pertinent information. My kids also had fun with the whispering walls, corners I guess. We really love the stories, lore and history of the places we visit. That ,to me , is what makes it feel real and accessible.
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Old Jun 24th, 2016, 07:35 PM
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I can mount one of their flying buttresses.
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Old Jun 25th, 2016, 09:30 PM
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I'd like to see that. It might not even be a first. Should you attempt it, let me know how it goes.

Day 4- The boys headed off to climb to Lady Liberty's crown and pay homage at Ellis Island. Although they enjoyed the visit, it was a bit challenging due to the large number of middle school field trips taking place. The ladies headed to the Plaza for tea. The hotel is very grand and feels a bit like it's from another time and that is exactly why I chose it. The tea itself was not great and the service was a bit stuffy. That evening we all met back up to rest and later headed to Sigar and Plumm for a surprisingly tasty dinner. Oh my gosh ,the desserts are crazy large. Ithink the kids went into sugar shock and my husband and I were forced to help them out.

Day 5- We had planned to make our way to the Brooklyn Bridge, walk across and spend some time in Brooklyn. The weather report made us a bit skittish so we made our way to the American Museum of Natural History feeling like that was a safe bet for a possibly rainy/ windy day. We took the free highlights tour and enjoyed it a great deal. I was thrilled to see the new titanosaur exhibit. I guess the blue whale still beats it on size, but it was a wonder to behold. It's hard to imagine there could still be so much undiscovered in our world. That night after a brief rest we headed to Tessa for an ok dinner. I wasn't wowed. My son sure dug into his steak though and my husband enjoyed the lamb. My daughter met up with a friend from school at our hotel and they hung out , shopped and took photos in front of the Tony sign which was being held right next door at the Beacon Theater.

Day6- Feeling as though we wouldn't have time to make an attempt at Brooklyn before our evening flight, we made our way back to Greenwich village and enjoyed some jazz at Washington Square. We finished the walk we had planned on day 3, had ice cream at Popbar and a nice lunch at Olio e Piu. By then it was time to take the subway back to the hotel, collect our bags and head to the airport. It was a great visit. I can't wait to return.
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Old Jun 26th, 2016, 03:35 PM
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Ok all the dirty smudge on the ceiling was actually nicotine from all the smokers back in the day! Remind your kids of this if they decide to smoke.

While you were on the roof of the Met I hope you noticed the Psycho House.

CJAR - bags are things you put your shopping or your garbage in. Greeters are human volunteers who take time out of their day to spend with you. It was great that Howard was able to work around your schedule so you could fit him in.

The rest of you (and I say this as a former greeter), if you are going to apply for a greeter pick one day early in your stay and have a flexible plan B in case it doesn't work out. If you need to buy and prepay for 3 tours just in case your volunteer greeter doesn't show up then I suggest you don't ask for a greeter in the first place.

Sorry you missed Shakespeare in the Park. There is always next time.

Great report. Thanks
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Old Jun 26th, 2016, 03:58 PM
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Oops - the constellation as G-d sees it was an early PR cover up. Those doing the painting - goofed.
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Old Jun 26th, 2016, 08:07 PM
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Thanks Sue for the correction.
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 07:48 AM
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Thanks for finishing your report, Cjar, it was a great read! Count me as another who now can't wait to go back to New York...
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Old Jun 27th, 2016, 08:12 PM
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Thank you for the nice report, I enjoyed it.

Sadly, these remarks by SueNYC

"CJAR - bags are things you put your shopping or your garbage in. Greeters are human volunteers who take time out of their day to spend with you. It was great that Howard was able to work around your schedule so you could fit him in.

The rest of you (and I say this as a former greeter), if you are going to apply for a greeter pick one day early in your stay and have a flexible plan B in case it doesn't work out. If you need to buy and prepay for 3 tours just in case your volunteer greeter doesn't show up then I suggest you don't ask for a greeter in the first place."

weren't necessary or kind. I never for a moment thought you doubted that your Greeter would keep the commitment, CJAR, and found no rational reason for such a harsh respone.
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