tchoiniere

A few of us bought tickets to go to a Mets game on July 4 as MLB was honoring the 75th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's speech (http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...eat-speech.cfm).

Initially, our plan was just to do a day trip (albeit a very long day trip). However, a potential hurricane had to get in our way and wreck our plan. Or so we thought. I went onto Last Minute Travel and found a great deal. We each booked rooms at the Doubletree Metropolitan for $120 per night at 51st and Lexington. Great deal!

When I got up Friday morning, the forecast was looking bad for any travel to NYC that morning so I texted my friend and we got an earlier start than we were planning on - we got on the 7am Metro North train and into Grand Central at 9 to find it not even raining! We took the subway to our hotel and deposited our bags (Hotel charges you $2 per bag for a day check - why?)

We proceeded to walk over to St Patrick's Cathedral and found it under a massive restoration. While it surely we be great when its done, it is not much to look at right now. We then walked over to Rockefeller Center and just walked around for a while. We could feel the weather starting to change and figured we needed to head for cover. We headed to the House of Brews on 46th St (http://www.houseofbrewsny.com/46th-street/) to watch the Germany - France World Cup game and have lunch. I really enjoy this place as it has a great beer selection and food is good. Great game and we really enjoyed it here.

From here, we walked down to Times Square and walked around for a little while before jumping on the 7 Train out to Citi Field for the Mets game that night. We got there as the gates opened and headed up to our seats. I really enjoy Citi Field and this night was no different. Had great seats above the 1B dugout and it was a fun game. Sun was out by now with a clear sky. But by the end of the game, it was chilly. Decent crowd this night. We each had a few beers (decent beer selection at the stadium) and a hot dog / pretzel. Only problem was that the elevators were barely working to get out of the stadium and then everybody tried to jam into the one that showed up. The usher asked people to step off and they refused so we didn't go anywhere until they did.

We got back to our hotel around 1am as it was a slow game fireworks after it and a transfer on the subway. Needless to say, I passed out when I got into my room (or was it before?)

More to come later.

tchoiniere

We were up early again Saturday morning and had an early breakfast at Cafe Metro. Run of the mill breakfast then headed to the Winter Garden Theater to get Rush tickets for Rocky for that afternoon's 2:00 show. No line at all. While waiting for the Box Office to open, we were trying to figure out our plan for the next few hours.

We ended up agreeing on Madame Tussauds. Yes, it is extremely overpriced and a tourist trap. But we really enjoyed it - making jokes about some of the wax figures, etc. It was a good fun break to the day. We were in there for about 1.5 hours and laughed the whole time. My favorite figure was ET on his bike. There were some figures who I didnt even know who they were and they had no signs of who they were...

From here, we went and had lunch at the New York Beer Company. Another great beer selection and really good food. We watched part of the afternoon's soccer game then headed to Rocky.

We had a blast at Rocky and really enjoyed the show. We had really good seats and laughed the whole time. For our first Broadway show, we made the right choice. I wish we had gotten the moving seats to end up at ringside but maybe next time! The fight was more realistic looking than most normal fights. I felt the actors did an amazing job.

Once the show was out, we headed to Citi Field and got good seats on Stubhub while on the train. Another great game and enjoyable time at Citi.

There are really no bad seats at Citi Field and there is a great selection of food / drink here. It's just too bad there is no good product on the field.

We took the subway back to Grand Central this night to the 6 train rather than the night before when we got on the E train in Queens and this turned out to be the faster route overall. 1 item to note is the continued weekend work on the 7 train so there were no express trains and some stops were being bypassed.

tchoiniere

We got up Sunday morning and again had breakfast at Cafe Metro. We then taxied to the Circle Line Dock and took the Semi-Island tour. We really enjoyed it minus the 4 people talking in French behind us such that we could not hear the guide. Then I got elbowed in the head as they were taking selfies while contorting off the boat. I may have nearly pushed one off the boat when my arm flew back as I jumped up when they hit me in the head (no apologies or anything from them). I got my point across but they kept shouting.

From here, we walked back up 42nd St and stopped at Heartland Brewery for lunch. Decent food and ok beer. Chain breweries are not my thing...I then went to Beer Authority while the others went back to Times Square shopping. I had a few more beers.

I met them back at the Subway Station and we headed to the firehouse that was used for the exterior shots of the Ghostbusters firehouse. Took a few pics of the firehouse (Hook and Ladder 8). We were joking that the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man should be around the corner someplace. We then walked around Tribeca for a little while before heading back to our hotel to grab our suitcases and head home.

We got on the 8pm Metro North train last night and I was home by 11. Great trip in an awesome city.

tchoiniere

I was happy with the Doubletree Metropolitan. Obviously we got a great deal. Best part was the location of the hotel. Room was clean and quiet. Everybody I dealt with was fine.

3 comments about the hotel
1) Charging people $2 to day check a bag. It felt like nickel and diming. Then it was unclear if a tip was expected on top of this.

2) Bathroom door when open is almost against the toilet. I get that hotel rooms are small in NYC but why have doors that open into the bathroom. If I am the only one in the hotel room, I would like to leave the door open...not an option here.

3) Beer selection at the hotel bar. I bet my friend that the 4 taps that they would have were Stella Artois, Bud Light, and 2 Sam Adams. I was right. Why not have a better selection of local beers on draft to welcome people to that city? I get that they need to accommodate a lot of people but a varying selection would be better.

IMDonehere

I am not a beer person, but there is one place in the Village known for its selection of beer, Peculier Pub.

http://www.peculierpub.com/

tchoiniere

IMDonehere, that was on our list but we did not make it there...

kenav

We went to an off-Bway show on Theatre Row (42nd Street bet. 8th and 10th aves) on Sat. July 5th. Times Square was a zoo! We live in NYC and I was thinking - "So this is how tourists see New York. I wonder if they think this is how most of NYC is."

TImes Square is always crazy busy, but that weekend it was nuts. We should have taken 41st Street to walk west instead of 42nd. Absolute craziness.

tchoiniere

It was definitely a zoo. Stepping out of places you almost did not have to move your feet as you got swept up in a flood of people. Fun at times but too much of a madhouse...