capecodshanty - we were highly disappointed that the naked cowboy (or whatever he is called) was no where to be seen. We looked for him!

azzure - it took us a while to figure out that this was the way it was all the time. We kept looking for a concert of someone to start showing a movie or something! ;-)

missypie, hopefully someone else will answer. I don't have any basis for comparison.

The only major mistake I made in our trip planning was not buying our show tickets in advance. Somehow I thought that there would be more shows available for half price at the TKTS booth. How many years has Lion King been out anyway?! Can there be that many people who still want to see it? ;-)

I went early, picked up tickets for that evening for Mary Poppins, gathered my family, and we headed out to the American Museum of Natural History.

First, can I just tell you how much we loved the subway? Yes, I’m serious. I hear of people who go to New York and only take taxis. Cost aside, the subway gets you almost anywhere you want to go quickly and efficiently. The platforms were dirty and occasionally stuffy, but we rarely had to wait more than 5 minutes and the cars were always cool and mostly clean. We had a great street map that included the subway lines and metro stations. Make sure you know if you are headed uptown or downtown and go for it. Maybe we’re weird, but we enjoyed popping into the subway in one area of town and popping up in a place with a completely different look and feel. And to our mind, it was just short of a miracle that so many people can navigate such a small island with relative ease. OK. Ranting and raving over.

The Museum of Natural History is, well, immense. Each of us selected what we wanted to see and we pretty much only made it to those four areas. Do be aware that certain sections of the museum close early. One of my daughters wanted to see the gems and minerals and that closed at 1:00. My suggestion would be to check out their web site before you go, decide on your must-sees and verify the hours of those exhibits. With limited time you have no choice but to be selective. I think it would take weeks to see everything. Everyone in my slightly nerdy family really enjoyed this museum.

We came out onto Columbus Avenue and asked a local for a recommendation for a late lunch. We ended up at a burger place called Jackson Hole. I need to say that this was not at all a “food” trip. I did not look into restaurants before we left, so we just ate what was close and handy. The burgers here were…different. It was almost more of a loose meat sandwich. There was no way to pick it up to eat it. Not terrible, just strange. The girls loved the shakes and potato skins.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping down Columbus Avenue. This ended up being up one of our favorite areas and one of our favorite afternoons. The neighborhood was great, there were little boutiques in between what I call the “real life” places like groceries, pharmacies, and hardware stores. It just felt like somewhere we could live. My daughters loved a little boutique called Purdy Girl. We spent time in Kiehls, Olive and Bette’s…I can’t remember everything. We wandered down the street going in and out of stores, or just window shopping. It was totally enjoyable.

We closed the evening by going to Mary Poppins. We had great seats and the show was actually quite nice. It wasn’t “Wicked” or anything – but we had fun. The Step in Time sequence was wonderful. Mary flew threw the building, Bert walked on the ceiling. The sets were excellent. All in all it was better than we expected. Our daughters were excited to have finally seen a real Broadway show.

I'm really enjoying your trip report!

Funny you should mention Lion King...I bought our tickets in January for our July trip - front row center mezz; we had to move the dates of our trip and I'm trying to re-sell them - I thought, no problem - it's Lion King - always sold out. I checked and three weeks before the perfomance, the seats right behind mine were still available! Broadway must be really hurting!!!

We saw Mary Poppins a couple of years ago...I thought the first half was dull but the second half was terrific! Did you look around the theatre? It's where the Zigfield Follies used to be - I loved looking at at the photgraphs of Fannie Brice et al.

The change in traffic patterns to TS is about two weeks old. To my ears, it is no quieter. I see no improvement - yet.

About the continuity of the Lion King - new babies are born every day and they're tomorrow's audience!

Samsaf - thank you. I'm hoping to be back later this evening to continue.

missypie - yes, we really enjoyed the theater, and did take the time to look around. I hope you are able to sell your Lion King tickets - as it gets closer to time maybe.

Centralparkgirl - in that case it will be around for a long, long time! My daughters aren't picky - it was all a thrill for them. We could have seen Phantom, but my husband and I have seen it twice so I didn't even mention it to the girls. My husband and I would like to return, just the two of us, for a predominantly theater and restaurant trip.

Hey, FYI,I just sold my Lion King tickets thru StubHub.com. I sold them at a loss (priced the tickets a bit below face value, plus paid their commission) but some money is better than no money. I'm sure others would have put more effort into trying to sell them for above face value, without commission, but I'm a novice and hope to never have to resell Broadway tickets again.

On our trip we're seeing Wicked, Lion King, Billy Elliot and In the Heights. Will probably add Phantom. I hate to pay full price for Phantom and the current disount code expires 2 days before we need the tickets.

I was thinking about Guys & Dolls but it is closing this Sunday (June 14th)!

missypie - so glad you were able to sell the tickets. Phantom was always selling for half price at the Tkts booth, perhaps you could wait until you arrive and pick up tickets for that. I would have loved to see Billy Elliot - next time.

Wow, Missiepie what a great list of shows! I don't know if Guys & Dolls was scheduled for a limited run, but honestly, it looked awful on the Tonys (I've seen multiple productions in my life, and this looked campy and bad), so I don't think you're missing anything!!

Hi, I planned my vacation to NY and Washington. I booked my flights and hotel but...there are a lot of confusing news regarding swine flu spread and number of cases in New York and US and I do not know what to do anymore.Could some one help me with a piece of advice ? Is it true that the hospitals are full of people ill due to this swine flu ? Is it safe to travel ? Are any problems at the airport ?

I’m sorry for taking so long to return to this trip report.

We began our third day in New York touring Grand Central Terminal. My husband and I had stopped by the first night to pick up our Metro Passes, but hadn’t really taken time to explore. It is much more impressive on a sunny morning - what a fabulous, light filled place! We gawked at the beautiful ceilings and windows in the main concourse. As we stood in one stop, craning our necks to see everything, we quickly realized how masterfully it had been designed. Although we were there during a rush time – it never really felt congested, the commuters eddied smoothly and easily around all the tourists. We found the lower level food court to be a quick and easy place to grab a snack. The Oyster Bar also has counter service with really good sandwiches.

We then took the subway to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This was my selection. I don’t need to say much – you all know that there is an amazing collection of art here. I will say that this is an enormous, overwhelming museum. If you have certain masterpieces that you feel you must see it would be worth taking some time before you go and browse the website, familiarizing yourself with the lay-out. Or you can do what we did and just wander, never knowing quite where you are, but engrossed by one amazing discovery after another. I’ve never wanted to be a character in a book so badly before. The crowds were pretty fierce at times – in certain areas – and I kept dreaming of hiding out in the bathroom and being there after hours so that I really had time to peruse whatever I wanted for as long as I wanted.

The place is mind-boggling. We particularly enjoyed the Greek and Roman rooms. My family wore out before I did – they aren’t as interested in art as I am. At one point my daughter was taking a photo of a painting with her cell phone. I asked her what had drawn her to that one. She laughed and was honest with me, “I’m just sending it to (her best friend). I told her that I saw this today and it reminded me of her.” In case you don’t have teenage girls – this was not meant to flatter the bff. Oh well. They were extremely patient as they followed me around.

After several hours at the Metropolitan Museum we emerged to a beautiful, sunny afternoon. Fortified with a snack from a cart we headed out across Central Park. Central Park was so much more than I anticipated. We all loved it. It was so much more accessible than I expected, so much prettier. It is basically, a very large, well-tended, but homey backyard for an entire city. People were playing softball, basketball, jogging, sunning, walking their dogs. Children were kicking around a soccer ball, playing on the playgrounds, riding their bikes. Summer was in the air and the atmosphere was pleasantly festive.

We saw the obelisk, climbed to the top floor of the castle and saw the turtles at the slightly scummy turtle pond. We debated whether or not to rent a boat to row on the boat pond, but decided that we were too tired. However, this is such a picturesque spot and we scoped out a few places under the willows on the edge that would have been perfect for a picnic.

Bethesda Terrace and Fountain were wonderful. We sat here and rested our legs, watched people walk by, enjoyed the performers, and just soaked up the atmosphere until late in the afternoon. There were so many things I still wanted to see at the park, but we were exhausted and never got a chance to return. This is one of the reasons that I must go back to New York.

Most of our fourth day was spent touring Liberty and Ellis Islands. My youngest daughter claims this as her favorite day. I think that we all enjoyed it.

We took the subway to Battery Park and made our way to the Ferry. We had already purchased tickets, but found it wasn’t really necessary. The ticket lines were very short. It was the line to get through security that took the most time. I don’t remember for certain, but I would guess that we waited about 30 minutes. Once you are through security the lines to get on the ferry go quickly. I’m not sure how many people each ferry holds - easily hundreds.

We found a spot on the top deck because we wanted the breeze and the views. The ride over was short, but gave you time to try to imagine being one of those who had left everything they had ever known, coming to what they only could hope would be a better life, facing the unknown. I imagine this glorious statue must have been quite moving for them. I’ve seen the Statue of Liberty from a distance on an earlier trip to New York, but never up close and personal. Although we didn’t have tickets to climb to the base of the statue – these must be purchased in advance – it was nice to be able to walk around the island.

After that it was over to Ellis Island. They say that 40% of Americans have a relative who entered the country through Ellis Island. It was hard to imagine that this important part of our history was allowed to fall into ruins before finally being restored. Definitely, definitely get the headphones as you walk through. They added so much to the experience. The rooms are narrated by the voices of people who actually came through the island. Their stories were interesting and moving.

We came back through the park where my husband was coerced into being in an act with some street performers. The girls got a huge kick out of that. We all laughed until our sides hurt and I took tons of photos of his embarrassment.

We then set off to explore a little of the financial district. We were there on a Saturday and the streets were deserted. What an eerie feeling! There were times when we were the only ones on a street – then suddenly we would come upon a tourist attraction and there would be people. It was so unexpected and odd. We definitely want to go back during the work week.

It was also hard to find a place open for a very late lunch. We ended up at the Fraunces Tavern. We were pleasantly surprised with the menu and the quality of the food. It was also very cool on this warm day with nice service and a relaxing atmosphere.

We walked on Wall Street, peered at the New York Stock Exchange, went to Trinity church, saw the charging bull – all the usual heart of the financial district stuff. It was down here that you really get a sense of the grandness, the importance of New York – even without the throngs. This is New York – the concrete canyon - but it’s also strangely beautiful.

Since you were on Wall Street on a Saturday, was it heavily guarded? We were there on a weekday morning a couple of years ago and the number of armed guards around the stock exchange was unnerving. I said that if you had a death wish, all you'd have to do is to run toward the stock exchange.