Well, the week is finally here and I wanted to share what I ended up with agenda-wise.

Tuesday- business traveling alone. Arrive in Buffalo at 2:40 p.m. and attend meetings. Try to see Niagara Falls (20 minutes away) for sunset. There will be some local business friends there that will probably guide me the right direction. Stay at Millenium Airport in Buffalo.

Wednesday - all day business in Buffalo and Rochester. Stay at Brookwood Inn in Pittsford-Victor area.

Thursday - all day business in Rochester and Syracuse. Pick up hubby at airport after work in Syracuse and have hotel at Best Western in Liverpool.

Friday - 1/2 day work around Syracuse and driving up to Watertown. I think it will be cooler and there are some mountains in the distance. Last business lunch and then turn in the rental car at Syracuse airport and pick up our personal rental car. Drive down I-81 through the beautiful Pennsylvania and cut across Jersey on I-80 towards NYC. Will we see some Fall Foilage?

We should be leaving Syracuse around 1:30ish and I'm thinking we'll arrive in NYC (taking our time) around 7:30-8:00pm. We'll drive straight to the Millenium Broadway hotel and unload our luggage and check in. Then we'll drive the car to the rental return place on W. 49th and 8th and then walk to Times Square! We'll just take in the lights and sounds, maybe grab a snack, and then head to the hotel for some rest.

Saturday - We've decided to do the double-decker 48-hour All Loops Tour since that's the best way to get a guided tour and "feel" of Manhatten. I want my husband (first timer) to see Harlem all the way to downtown. We'll get off on some stops to look around and just felt this was best to spend more time above ground than constantly in the subway. Plus, I'm not all that sure exactly where we want to go and when, and there's no time for confusion.

So, we'll start on the DD bus on Sat. a.m. and hit the downtown loop first. Wall street, Union Square, SoHo, Chinatown, WTC (St. Paul's Chapel memorials), Battery Park, ride the Staten Island Ferry, Top of the Rock, Central Park, Grand Central Station, and Times Square.


SUNDAY - Uptown Loop Tour. Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Harlem, MET. Maybe go to a Broadway play or musical if we can decide on something at TKTS. Wondering about 39 steps...and/or Mamma Mia. We decided Jersey Boys would have too much profanity for us.

MONDAY - Since our flight is out of Newark on Monday morning, we decided to get the 3rd night's stay at the airport (saved some money with only 2 nights at Millenium and 3rd night at the airport Holiday Inn) Our plan is to check out on Sunday morning and store our luggage at the Millenium. Late that night, we'll go by and get our luggage and take a $60 cab over to Newark hotel by the airport.

QUESTIONS:
Where is Zabar's?? Many of you mention this place and I don't want to miss it.

From other posters, I have learned about the following things I definitely would like to come home with:
- a pencil sketch of us in Central Park
- a NYC fridge magnet frame
- a Christmas decoration from Tiffany's
- a miniature metal Taxi and DD bus for my 3 boys left at home in Texas
- something yummy from Zabar's
- a subway map
- something from Kate's stationery. Where is Kate's? will have to google that one...

CASH: I'm never sure of how much cash to carry with me, because we use our credit card for everything as payment and just pay that. So bringing a wad of bills is wierd to me. Unless I'm wrong, we will definitely need cash for these two days and plenty of it.
I have this figured:
$20 BELLMAN TIPS----------cash
$20 SUBWAY FARES----------cash
$50 MISC. CAB FARES--------cash
$20 MUSEUM ADMISSIONS------cash
$150 BROADWAY SHOW FROM TKTS --cash
$100 SOUVENIRS / CHINATOWN----cash
$30 EXTRA FOOD MONEY ----cash
??? TOLLS DRIVING SYRACUSE TO NYC

Well that's all I can think of for now. Please leave any suggestions or comments you may have for us! We are excited and hope it will all be worth it!

Thanks for your help!

Are you driving from Syr up to Watertown and then down to Penn all on Friday?
BTW-Why Watertown?

I have a couple of comments:

1. It might be best to go to Canada to see the Falls. The view of the Falls is a lot better from Canada. I don't think you need a passport yet, but it's probably a good idea to bring one.
2. We were in Rochester this summer. There is a Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester. Coincidentally the original is in Syracuse and there is also one in Harlem. We found the food to be really good. It is a fun place to eat and not too expensive.

Well $20 won;t pay for much in the way of cab rdes. And $20 for museum admissions is nothing - unless you're going to places that have pay what you want and give only $1 rather than the recommended. ($20 is the suggested admission per adult for the Met and if you want to rent an audio guide that's extra. Other museums/activities are similar cost.)

Zabar's is on Broadway and 80th St - but little of what they have is good for long-term transit. Most things either needs refrigeration (lox or fine cheeses) or will go stale (bagels or special breads - fresh, not with preservatives so don;t last).

If you want to see a play I woold get tickets now on broadwaybox.com so you have a better choice - than wasting hours standing on line at TKTs and risking not getting what you want.

MrsD2fan - I am staying in Syracuse on business, and on Friday morning have to travel to Watertown to visit one of my stores up there. Then I'll just turn around and drive back, have lunch in Syracuse, and then head towards NYC.

Bunk - I will look up the Dinosaur BBQ. I am in Rochester on business buy have my dinners/evenings free for whatever, so I may as well enjoy it and go somewhere good!

Traveler -- Does TKTS literally take hours in line these days? When I did this for Hairspray tickets 4 years ago, I think we stood in line about 15 minutes!??? Perhaps you are probably right...and I should buy ahead...I just can't make a decision on what to see!!!!!!!! WE are bordering on just NOT seeing anything and just doing other things...but that is just crazy because we both LOVE plays and musicals and seeing one on Broadway (or off) in NYC would seem like a MUST for us. I have been to broadwaybox.com a million times...reading reviews and such...just more confused than anything....and it's SOOOO expensive! I can't see paying $400 for a show.

I will up my cash budget on cab rides to $75....we just don't plan on taking cabs much at all...only when absolutely necessary. Mostly walking and subway...and of course the DD bus.

You can buy MetroCards for riding the subway (or city bus) from the machines and pay with credit cards. Some taxis take credit cards, but don't count on it.

oh, I see...thought you just going up to leaf peep....
BTW I second the recommendation that you try Dinosaur BBQ....love, love, love that place!

I am surprised that you haven't gotten a lot of suggestions about the New York City part of this trip from all the NYC mavens. I think you should post this topic again and limit it to simply asking for advice for NYC for the weekend. Some people might have only read the beginning of your post and thought you were asking only about upstate.

When I look at what you want to do, I think you might have overloaded yourself for Saturday. If you get to the city earlier on Friday, you might want to try for tickets for Friday night.

When I look at your itinerary for Saturday, I don't know whether it is worth going to Wall Street, Union Square and SoHo. If you are want to see Central Park, it might pay to go to the Met at that time.

Depending on the weather, you might consider a sailboat/schooner cruise for Friday night.

If you are interested in medieval art, on Sunday, you might look into going to Cloisters, which is in Northern Manhattan.

WE ARE HERE!!!!
I have so much to tell you all about the trip so far....but I will have to post again later.

Stayed at the Millenium Broadway last night and will tonite...and it's worth every penny! More later...

We are headed down to pick up our Gray Line Double Decker bus tickets and begin the day.

Not sure where to grab a bite for breakfast on the run or where to eat lunch or dinner tonite....we are just "winging it" at this point. I looked up Zabar's and it looks more like a market???

I'll post again later.

Zabar's IS a market. The TKTS booth now takes credit cards, fyi. 39 STeps is AWFUL. Mama Mia, Legally Blonde or Hairspray are all better options.

As stated in the past, I strongly disagree with mclaurie about The 39 Steps. We enjoyed it. No, it's not a classic, but it's very clever, original and funny!

Go see Mamma Mia. It's great fun, especially if you like ABBA's music.

BTW, the Met Museum shops also have beautiful Christmas ornaments. There's one at Rock Center, in addition to the one at the museum.

Enjoy your stay. We ordered beautiful weather for you.

Hello NYC Fodorite friends,

Here is a quick rundown of my awesome trip:

Tuesday: Flew into Buffalo and visited Niagara Falls that night. Forgot my birth certificate so I didn't get to go to the Canadian side. I parked for free on Rainbow street and walked through the park and stood by the rail on the American side. It was thrilling enough, but all the locals kept telling me that I must come back and see the Canadian side and the full effect of the horseshoe falls on that end. I stayed at the Millenium Aiport in Buffalo and it was okay.

Wednesday: I worked in the Jamestown - Falconer area and got to see the season of AUTUMN for the first time in my 40 years! It was incredible to see all the colors. The trees and mountains were amazing to me with the breath-taking fall foilage. That evening I spent the night in Rochester and ate dinner at Dinosaur's BBQ. THANK YOU FODORITES!! It was terrific! I had a fried green tomato slice and BBQ ribs and chicken. It was so good. My hotel was the Brookwood Inn in Pittsford-Victor Inn. It's rated as a 3 star hotel but should seriously be a 4 star. Bed, furniture, and decor was all first class and was my best comfort night of the week.

Thursday: Worked the Rochester area. That evening I drove to Baumann's Farm Market in Webster (north of Syracuse) and sampled some homemade apple cider and a fried cake. Picked up hubby at Syracuse airport and we stayed at Best Western and it was pretty nice.

Friday: I did not have any idea there were mountains in Pennsylvania and New Jersey!! We drove from Syracuse down I-81 to Scranton and Stroudsburg and drove to NYC!! So pretty...we pulled over a couple of times at rest areas and I picked up some fallen, brightly colored leaves. One of my favorite parts of the trip!

Friday night we drove into NYC through the Lincoln tunnel and checked into our hotel at the Millenium Broadway. We are SO SO SO glad we didn't try to be cheap and stay in New Jersey. NO ONE should ever do that! It would've been just ridiculous to do that! Millenium is $250/nt and worth every penny!! Convenience and time is extremely more valuable that saving a few bucks on a trip like this.

We returned the rental car and then walked to Times Square and took in all the lights and atmosphere.

Saturday: We got out and about by about 8:00 a.m. and picked up our Hop on/ Hop off Greyline tickets and started the Downtown tour. We got off at St. Paul's to visit the touching 9/11 memorial there, had some hot cocoa at Starbucks, and then pizza at the famous John's pizzaria on Bleecker Street. We waited in line about 45 minutes but it was worth it! Then we rode the free Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. There were some other stops (Wall St.) but that was all we got done in this one day. We ended up going to TKTS at 7:30 p.m. with NO LINES and bought some last minute tickets to see the Fantastiks for $43 each at 50% off. It was a very small theater and a very small play/musical on Broadway. It was very good but we definitely settled and made too hasty of a spontaneous decision. NOT what you come to NYC to see. Definitely go for something more "BIG and BROADWAY" style, IMHO.

Sunday - tomorrow. We plan to do the Uptown Loop after sleeping in a bit. We are exhausted from all the traveling. We'll see Central Park, Harlem, the Museum of Natural History, stop by the Met, walk a little on 5th avenue, and do Top of the Rock.

Our Concerierge is making some suggestions for us on where to eat dinner tomorrow night and then that will be it!

We will check out of the Millenium in NYC tomorrow morning and leave our luggage here until late tomorrow night. Then we will pay $60 for a cab to take us from 44th and Broadway to our Holiday Inn airport in Newark for our Monday morning flight. No sense in staying another $275 night at the M. when we're just leaving the next morning so we got a airport hotel for $90 for Sunday night.

Can't keep my eyes open any longer.

Thanks to all!

Glad you liked the Dino (Dinosaur BBQ) The Original one is here in Syracuse(in my opinion a better atmosphere)and when hubby and I were living in Georgia I dreamed on the Dino every day!
BTW..where do you live?

Assuming you check here before going out, Sunday is a big brunch day in NYC. The upper west side has lots of restaurant options. Isabella's near the Mus. of Natural History is a popular spot or for something more casual, if you like smoked fish, Barney's Greengrass (also known as the Sturgeon King).

Fyi, the Fantastiks is considered an off Broadway show. Hope you have a great day.

I live in Texas on the Gulf Coast!

Thanks for the suggestion for breakfast...and I am checking here before going out. We are going to enjoy dining downstairs in the Millenium restaurant for breakfast. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Regarding The Fantasticks -- yes it is NOT a Broadway show. It's a very well known for its simplicity off-Broadway show. What's more you can always buys tickets in advance for $39 using any of several codes (best seats). Sorry you spent even more than that by going to TKTS last minute.

The Fantasticks isn't a BRoadway play - but off Broadway. and it's a classic - been running for over 30 years.

This is a sort of coming of age thing in NYC - you take kids when they're 11 or 12 - OK for adults - but NOT a Broadway style production by any means.