I have deposited my daughter in the heart of Manhattan and returned home to the midwest. Since so many of you were kind enough to help me plan our trip, I thought I should report.

On The Ave (our hotel) turned out to be just fine. It looks exactly like their website pics (although they don't feature their smaller rooms, of course.) If anyone wants more detailed info, I would be happy to provide.

First Day: Lunch at Isabella's (Restaurant Week prix fixe) Excellent. Good recommendation...and 2 blocks from our hotel.

Explored the neighborhood (UWS)...much to my delight! I couldn't be happier for my kid. Interesting shops, eclectic restaurants, Central Park right there, museums, absolutely loved it. Please don't tell anyone else about this area.

Met up with a friend of mine that evening (she's a NYC transplant, a jazz singer & performer). She took us to a good Mexican restaurant around 103rd & Broadway, then to "Smoke" (a jazz musician hang-out, about 105th & Broadway) My daughter has now seen me "toasted". It was an accident. I am so ashamed. Lost my prescription sunglasses in the cab that night. Providence dishing out my punishment.

2nd Day: Heat index, about 110. My feet are now looking like what Muppet feet would look like, if Muppets had feet. Did the Gray Line Bus Tour. Bought the All Loops tour (48 hour) with a choice of Harbor Cruises. (You can get this deal cheaper than online booking with GrayLine by booking it in person, and taking the New York Waterway cruise instead of going with Circle Line.) Bus tour was a good idea, since I wanted my daughter to get a overall idea of her new environment...but it seemed to make a WHOLE LOTTA stops. (Good thing, in some people's opinion, but for me it made the day REALLY long, even though we just did the Downtown Loop that day.) Ate at a very good pub near Times Square (little place, "Kevin-something", I think. Right by the place where you get the GrayLine tickets. Great sheppard's pie.

Did the twilight harbor cruise that night. Nice. Great view of the Statue of Liberty. Impressed my daughter later by taking her to the Boat Basin Cafe that night. Everything Suzanne said in her post was true about this place. We got there after the rush, no wait for a seat. Great atmosphere. Our waiter said it's like "Sex and the City" there on Thursday nights. Packed with the Manalo set, looking for a hook-up. Glad we missed that. (But glad to know it's there, should I ever be able to wear shoes again.)

3rd Day: Finished the bus tour with the Uptown Loop (skipped Brooklyn this time) Went to the World Trade Center Site, but weren't in the best position to view it. (yes, the Wintergarden is obviously the best place for that. My blisters and swollen ankles just couldn't make the extra trek that day.)

Visited the Met, even though we didn't have the time the Met deserves. I wanted to do the Whitney, but I let my daughter choose. We used the Gray Line bus as our means of transportation that morning, which I think is a smart way to do the UWS & museums.

Finished the afternoon off with a walk through Central Park (okay, a "hobble" through Central Park) and a cocktail at Tavern on the Green, just so my daughter could say she's been there. (The manager offered her a job.)

Hooked up with my friend again that night. She took us to Fez, above the Time Cafe in the upper 100's & Broadway. Cool "Moroccan" lounge, but we had our only bad food in New York there.

4th Day: Moved the kid into her dorm apartment. Felt like a real resident, toting groceries & cleaning supplies down Broadway, Columbus & Amsterdam. I know where a hardware store is!

We had lunch at West End Restaurant (good, but I bet it's better for breakfast). Then, my kid dumps me in favor of her new-found school chums. (She said I had to go because all the other parents had already left.)

I did dinner alone that night at Ruby Foo's. I'm not knowledgable about dim sum, so I went with the
Restaurant Week prix fixe again. They treated me very well (single diners sometimes don't experience that...read on...). The atmosphere is great there. Food was good, but not spectacular, although I have a feeling I didn't experience some of their best.

Last Day: Was going to try the Whitney again, but it opens late (& stays open late) on Fridays. Headed out for the Frick (and planned on lunch at Cafe des Artistes) but my ankles were almost back to normal, and I was enjoying that, so I settled for the nearby Natural History Museum (and it's nearby air-conditioning). What a cool museum! (literally an figuratively)

Lunch at Ocean Grill, again the Restaurant Week prix fixe (I know, ho-hum) The scallops were wonderful, the sticky mush resembling pasta that the scallops were served on, was not. Are raw peas and fava beans trendy in NYC? If so, Ocean Grill is very hip. Also, the "single-diner" service here was pretty bad. I actually felt alone here.

That's it! I still have lots of places recommended on this board to try. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to write and help me have some direction on this trip. I am a true Fodorite now.

I LOVE NY!

Glamgirl:

You did a lot! Glad you had a great time. At least you missed the 'monsoon" weather in favor of the Tropical heat season!

I missed your earlier posts> Is your daughter going to NYU? One of the countries great University experiences!

John

Great trip report. Thanks for the smiles!

So glad you had a great time. I also love the UWS and it's a wonderful place for a college student to live. I'm sure your daughter will have a great time. And, didn't it relieve a lot of your anxiety to actually *see* where she's going to be?

Come visit us again soon!

I appreciate you taking the time to post. I noticed you mentioned the grayline bus tours. I'm still debating whether I will do that or not. It will limit my time. I know I can't do the two days but, do you think the one day is worth it? I could just go to the same places on my own. Thanks

The Gray Line all-loops tour ticket is good for two days, but that doesn't mean you have to spend two days riding it! Each full loop takes 2-3 hours, but you can start at any time of day and hop on and off as much as you like, so rather than limiting your time, it gives you a bird's-eye-view of everything as you get from one point of interest to another, without worrying much about maps or schedules. You just show up at one of the stops (they have plenty of route maps, brochures, and street signs) and a double-decker bus will be along soon. As a person who enjoys people-watching and all sorts of architecture, this is time well spent for me. Slower than the subway, but far more interesting.

very funny, glamrgal, I can picture those Muppet feet !! I can almost feel them, having had them in Paris and London ~
And what can be more amusing than a Toasted Muppet, what fun !

I had heard Fez had bad food but good belly dancers, is that true?
I really enjoyed this post, hope you are coming back soon for another visit with your lil girl, maybe there will be a Manhattan Fodorite GTG?

Glamrgal,
Out of curiosity which college is your daughter going to and why is she starting now? My daughter almost went to the Lincoln Hill campus this coming fall.

Glad you had fun! THANK YOU for giving an honest review of Fez...the food IS bad...and one of my friends always sets up group get-togethers there which drives me nuts (but last time he had a meal so bad he couldn't eat it...hopefully we never go there again!)

Glad you enjoyed the Boat Basin w/o the crowds. Food's not great there either, but it's worth going to because it's such an extraordinary setting.

Good luck to your daughter in school!

Answers to some questions:

No, my daughter is not attending NYU. She audtioned for the theater program there, but didn't make the cut. She is going to AMDA (American Musical Dramatic Academy), and starting there with the summer semester. It's a 2 year program that concentrates on voice, dance, acting and offers practical insight to the REAL theater business. So, someday I will be visiting NY and staying at my daughter's penthouse apartment and sitting in Broadway orchestra seats for free.

I'm glad we did the GrayLine bus tour, and agree that it gives a nice "bird's eye view" of the surroundings. I just don't think it really needs to stop at so many stops that are only a few blocks apart. I think that it would be just fine to stop just once in each neighborhood (maybe twice in larger areas). But here's a tip: if you don't like the tour guide on your particular bus, get off at a stop and wait for the next bus. *POOF* New tour guide, with a whole new personality.

Also, I agree with the recommendations I received that suggested the Downtown Loop is the best bet, if you don't want to commit time or money to the full All Loops tour.

Fez: No belly dancers the night we were there, but it was a weekday evening, and not very crowded. My NY friend loves to hang there, too. (I noticed that she said she had "already eaten" the night we went.) My daughter ordered some sort of cold soup as her appetizer (not gazpacho)...and it was truly the most tasteless bowl of foo-foo crap I have ever eaten. (She shared a spoonful with me, because she couldn't believe her own tastebuds.) The calimari was like eating crunchy rubber bands. (And I love calimari) Fez food bad. Fez food bad. Fez food bad.

And yes, I am sooo relieved to know my daughter is living in such a great area. It was important to me to see and experience her surroundings for myself. I want to be able to visualize things and understand when she tells me about her life there.

A funny note: my daughter and I were walking around Central Park West & 77th when we passed a group of several young men with a young woman. They all looked a little "punk-y". The young woman looked for all in the world like Avril Lavigne (you know, the 20-something singer who wants to be punk, but who's music sounds pop)....anyway, she looked like Avril because she probably was Avril. So...as we passed the group of kids. my daughter adopts her best mid-western- Valley-girl tone, leans into me and says "Uh, hi Avril"....making a comment on the young woman's wannabe look. I had to explain to my daughter that in NY, if someone looks very much like a celebrity, there's a very good chance that they ARE that celebrity. My point was proven when we saw Dr. Ruth emerging from a limo in the next block. (She is only 14 inches tall, by the way.)

Ah, New York. I wanna go back right now.

I knew it !!!!
I knew Dr Ruth was 14 inches tall!!!

Can't wait until you come back to visit your by then famous Broadway daughter and we can meet for a drink somewhere other than bad Fez bad!

ahhhhhhhhh . . . thanks for the wonderful detailed report. My daughter and I were there a month ago and we're still having withdrawals . . . what a magical city, sigh.

Great trip report - really enjoyed reading this. I promise, I will not tell anyone else about the UWS. It will be a carefully guarded secret {;-)

As for her dumping you in favor of the new friends - prepare for it to get worse - my daughter is entering her senior year of college and the progression (becoming an "independent" adult) continues. The good news is that you now have a good excuse to visit NYC and if she's like my daughter, the lure of a free meal in a decent restaurant or a ticket to a Boradway show (with you of course) will draw her out.

About Dr. Ruth - I was absolutely sure she was at least two feet tall. It's amazing how the camera can make people look so much taller than they really are.

I stopped and read your Mom/daughter report because I just got back from my first trip to NYC with MY mom! However, we are 50 and 70! Oh dear...she saw me smoke!!! HA! Anyway, thanks for the report! My daughter is in college and will be transfering...she is thinking east coast! I am afraid if she sees NYC I'll never get her home!!! What a great city!

My daughter and I did your trip 2 years ago when I dropped her off at grad school at NYU. She hadn't been to NY since she was 3 and applied to NYU and decided to go! I had big reservations even after dropping her off at her tiny aparment in the Financial District. A week after she arrived September 11th happened just down the block from her apartment. She managed to make it through that, graduated from NYU, got a job, and got engaged! She is happily living in NY and I have enjoyed MANY fun visits from the midwest since.