di

My friend and I will be in NYC Dec.8-11 to celebrate her being 12 yrs cancer free and both our birthdays. We have been to NYC before so we have seen most of the tourist things but we have not been there in Dec. We are looking forward to seeing the lights, trees, windows and just the beauty of that time of year. Here is what we have so far.
Day one:
Arrive LGA noon thinking of taking dial 7 into the city.
Hotel is on 44th near 9th ave 2 blocks from time sq.
grab lunch walk to macys to see window then to Lord & Taylor to see window. Back to hotel to change and get dinner
Driving Miss Daisy at 8:00
Day Two
Walk to Radio City for christmas show at 11
After show see tree at center and sak's window
St.Patricks, then La Bonne Soupe for lunch at 1:30
Walk up to Bergdorf-Goodman,Barney, and Bloomingdale windows
Take subway back to hotel, warm up a little walk to Bryant Park see lights, shops , have dinner.
Day Three
3:00 tea at St. Regis
Jersey Boys at 8:00
Day Four
See the Met and central Park(one of my favorite places)
If any body can add any fun,beautiful,not to miss sights this time of year in the city or fun places to eat please let me know.

nytraveler

Check out the web site o New York Magazine the week before you arrive. It lists hundreds of special events in the city - by date and by type - and I'm sure thre will be lot in your time frame.

You also might want to consider seeing the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center - it's usually absolutely wonderful (IMHO much better than Radio City - but perhaps I'm jaded with that being a native and having seen a whole variety of shows there since I was about 5).

If you want a tour of special trees the Met has an antique Neapolitan tree and creche and the Museum of Natural Hist usually has a tree totally decorated in origami.

As for special places to eat we always book dinner at the Sea Grille in Rock Center - with a table looking out on the skaters - for the evening we see the store windows and St Pats. Pricey but IMHO worth it for the food and the experience.

Rhea58

You might want to check out the Christmas markets at Bryant Park and at Grand Central.

sf7307

Rhea, I think she's already included Bryant Park and the Xmas market -- "Take subway back to hotel, warm up a little walk to Bryant Park see lights, shops" -- which is great, because it's beautiful. I was wearing a pair of unique earrings I got at the Xmas market in 2007 just yesterday.

I think you've got a fantastic plan.

Congratulations to your friend for this very special anniversary.

di

Thanks sf7307,
It is a very special time for us. I thought of going to ellen's stardust diner(I know very tourist) but I thought the 50's look and the singing might be fun. I'm trying to think of fun places, or places that will make you say wow, or something special like tea at the regis. Anybody have any ideas, I sure could use some.

Rhea58

oops sf7307 missed that.
EATALY opened last Tues in the old Toy bldg - 23rd on 5th
right across from Danny Meyer's Shake Shack in Madison Park.
It is a huge fabulous undertaking but requires deep pockets for purchases. Beer roof garden not yet open.

irish3

Is it hard to get a seat by the window at the rock center cafe, in the evening (dec8-11) and can you just order pie and tea?

nytraveler

Yes, it's difficult to get a window seat - you need to reserve far in advance. If you go at dinner time I would expect them to have a minimum charge per seat - probably equivalent to a medium dinner entree. You can order pie and tea (if they have pie) but I think you'll pay for an entree.

Many restaurants in NYC have minimum prices at meal times - so you don't occupy a table for 2 hours for a $10 bill when they were expecting to get $100 or more.(The coffee shops in my area charge a minimum of $10 for a seat at lunch hour - and that's for people usually ordering a sandwich, burger or omelet and soft drink or coffee.)

irish3

thanks nytraveler I thought so, you always see them sitting there in the movies with just coffee but thats make believe

nytraveler

No - yuo can sit with just coffee at a coffee shop - in off hours -not at meal times (12 - 2 or 5 to 8). But at a real restaurant - which Rock Center Cafe is - they will always expect you to buy someting approximating a meal.