OG719

Got good Priceline airline tickets to NYC, leaving Okaloosa Regional Wednesday evening and arriving LaGuardia around midnight Wed night. Never flown into LGA, but baggage retrieval was easy and taxi dispatcher right outside the door. Took taxi to Mansfield Hotel on 44th between 5th and 6th ($20).

Hotel room was small, but who cares if you're only sleeping in it. Clean, comfortable and right in the middle of where we wanted to be. Polite staff. We got the rooms for $129 a night and considered it a good deal.

Thanksgiving morning had continental breakfast in the hotel (very good and about $21 for two of us), then walked two blocks to 44th and Bdwy to see part of the parade. Crowded, but not jammed like it looks like on New Year's Eve. Left about halfway through the parade and walked to Grand Central Station. Wow! Loved it.

Being the rubes from South Alabama that we are, we couldn't stop looking up while walking the streets. Twice cops stopped and asked if we needed some directions. Very polite. Walked from GC to Rockefeller Center and watched skaters for a while. Looks much smaller in person.

Went to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular that afternoon. I enjoy anything done well, whether it be Tiger Woods playing golf or the Blue Angels flying. I have never in my life seen anything done as well as the Rockettes do what they do. Awesome! Great, over the top show.

Dinner at Le Madeline on 46th, about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Great food, fair service.

keeping

Friday morning up early and headed out. Bagels and coffee at a small deli called Park something on 41st and 6th, right across the street from Bryant Park. Then down to Macy's! Macy's on the day after Thanksgiving is so cool! Huge crowds moving like one person. Long lines at the registers. Great sale prices on everything. Spent a couple of hours there buying Christmas presents.

Dropped presents off at the hotel and then to the Empire State Building. Long line to go to the top, but she who must be obeyed wanted to do it. Probably should have done it the day before when there weren't so many people walking around. Anyway, got to the top ($10 apiece), took some pictures and came down.

Spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and walking. Had a great pice of cheesecake at Leo Lundy's on 51st and 6th, about a block from the Ed Sullivan theater.

We had planned to see a Broadway show and went to the TKTS booth at about 4:30. Line wasn't too bad, but they didn't have tickets to see anything we wanted to see. Oh well, that's the chance we took. Decided to have dinner later and just walk around and soak up the city some more.

I had wanted to eat at Becco or Patsy's, but they were overbooked. Concierge at the Mansfield recommended Torre di Pisa, right across the street. Even though I realized he was getting a hug from them, we tried it. Skip it. Food was okay, but a little too frou-frou for us. $135 for her pasta and my lamb, plus one drink and two glasses of wine. The price didn't bother me, but the quality of the food did.

Spent the rest of the evening walking around B'way and 42nd, 43rd and 44th. Oh yeah, we did take the "F" train up to the 57th street station so we could walk to Hard Rock Cafe and get the kids a couple of shirts. Saw Carnegie Hall and bought some great cigars at a tobacco store on 6th.

All in all, a great trip. I wasn't a NYC fan before this, but I had been there in the summer, not winter. This trip changed my mind. We left there in the Christmas spirit! Everyone was polite, prices weren't as bad as I expected, city was clean, taxis were clean, felt safe the whole time. We're going back next year same time!

Owen O'Neill

Great trip report - concise and a pleasure to read. Glad you had a good time and plan to come back. I'm not familiar with Torre de Pisa but agree that $135 is way too much for lamb and pasta w/a drink and a couple glasses of wine unless the food is exceptional. Although it has its detractors and certainly has its shortcomings, the Zagat guide is worth the investment for your next trip. It's certainly not the end-all be-all of food recommendations but it will often serve as an easy way to weed out the overpriced places fromt hsoe that are a better value (particularly when it's a restaurant that is nopt well known enough to get discussed regularly here or in food forums).

SEH

Great report - glad you had a good time. Can you comment a little more (what you had and price if I'm not being to nosey) on Le Madeline? It is on my list of theater district dining possibilities - maybe I should cross it off?

OG719

SEH, Le Madeline was a great find! I had the marinated pork loin and my friend had roasted chicken. Both were excellent! Our wine tastes differ, so we each had wine by the glass. I also had a drink before. For dessert, she had a chocolate caramel mousse that was awesome, and I had creme' brulee and a B&B. Total bill was $120 with tip. If you go, ask for a table in the garden room. When I first made the reservation I forgot to ask, so I emailed them. Received a very nice reply saying they would try to seat us in the garden room. When we got there, the maitre' d mentioned our email and took us to a great table in the very back corner of the garden room. Quiet, romantic and perfect.

Regarding my comments on the service, I think it was just our waiter who didn't want to be there on Thanksgiving Day. We noticed other servers with great attitudes and excellent service. Ours wasn't awful, just kind of indifferent.