jend

My husband has a business trip in NYC during July, so I am accompanying him up there for my first visit to the "Big Apple". A friend of mine will be there with me on a Thursday night and then it will be just my husband and I for the following Friday night. I would love some suggestions for nightime activities - Thursday for a girls' night and then something more romantic and special for my husband and I on Friday night. We are looking to stay at the Mariott Marquis Times Square.

Postal

I can't think of anything better for the girls' night out than to go to a Broadway or Off-Broadway show, preferably a comedy! You can buy the tickets half-price at TKTS right in front of the Marquis.

If you like seafood, you would enjoy Foley's Fish House in the Renaissance Hotel (also a Marriott) at the north end of Times Square. The view of Times Square is great from the dining room and the atmosphere is very nice. Don;t try to go there without reservations, though.

abram

During the day Friday, I'd recommend shopping on the jewelry street, 47th St between 5th and 6th Aves. One of our favorite NY restaurants is Zen Palate, a vegetarian Oriental place that's lovely, tasty and moderately priced.

Cicerone

I agree with the above suggestion for a Broadway show, if you haven't seen Mama Mia, that is a great one for girls' night, assuming you like Abba. You can't go wrong with any show really, and you might consider going both nights, esp if your husband has not seen a Broadway show either.

If you like music or other performing arts, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center always have good offerings, try their websites at lincolncenter.org and carnegiehall.org. There are often concerts outdoors in the evenings in summer in various city parks, go to gonyc.about.com/cs/music/a/summermusic.htm or panix.com/clay/nyc/events.html for information.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is open until 9 pm on Friday evenings, and you could go to dinner in the area from there. Go to metmuseum.org. In addition to the Met, which is huge but always has something interesting, two of my favourite small museums are :

The Morgan Library
29 East 36th Street
morganlibrary.org

This is a small museum whose collection was started by JP Morgan who was an avid collector. It has changing exhibits. You can usually do it in an hour.

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
2 East 91st Street
ndm.si.edu

This is uptown off Fifth Ave and not far from the Met. It is also a small museum the has unusual rather advent garde exhibits. Again, you can usually see the entire exhibit in about an hour.

The Guggenheim is between the Cooper Hewitt and the Met and is also usually worth a visit. (89th and 5th) Check their website to see what special events are on guggenheim.org/new_york

Suggestions for mid-town dining and fun:

A very good restaurant with a fun bar is Tao, at 42 East 58th Street (Phone: 2128882288). Fusion food and good music, great ambience with the giant Buddha overseeing all. Try all their different martinis.

A great place for lunch or dinner in July would be Bryant Park Grill behind Bryant Park (5th Ave and 40th Street). You can eat outdoors (covered in the rain)
Bryant Park Grill
West 40s
25 W. 40th St. (bet. 5th & 6th Aves.)
Tel: (212) 840-6500

A drink at the bar on top of the Peninsula (700 Fifth Avenue at 55th Street) is a nice way to start or end an evening, either with the girls or your husband. They have a small outdoor terrace with good views.

The bar at the Royalton hotel is very cool and fun. (44 West 44th Street)

ellenem

Note: I love the Morgan Library, but it just closed now for a massive construction project to enlarge the facilities. Should be closed for 2-3 years.

Cher

Another idea for nightime ... check out who will be playing at the BBKing Blues Club ... it's right on 42nd St around the corner from the Marriott. It's a great venue and they often book national acts. Definitely check out the top of the Marriott (The View) for drinks, however I would skip dinner there as there are so many better options in the area.

Not sure if you have any daytime activities planned with the girls, but some time down in SoHo area ... shopping and lunch ... would be alot of fun.

jules_248

Just a note about the recommendation for the PenTop bar (atop the Peninsula Hotel). It is a beautiful view and I'm not trying to dissuade you from going there, but just note that the drinks are very very expensive, even by NY standards. Martinis will run you about 15.00 a pop.

mclaurie

If you do go to the theater on Thurs., you might try Don't Tell Mama afterward. It's a fun piano bar on restaurant row (46th betw 8th & 9th).

If you decide not to go to the theater on Thurs. you could go down to Soho for dinner. Lots of the shops are open in the evening so you can walk around & shop before & after. Barolo on West Broadway is right in the middle of everything & has a large outdoor terrace if it's not too warm.

For romance on Sat. try Cafe des Artistes for dinner followed by a carriage ride through the park.