Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - NYC Trip Report

Hi all -

Just back from NYC yesterday & I wanted to post my trip report in case it can help others with their planning. We had a wonderful time & everything went smoothly.

FYI - we were 4 women from late 20's to late 30's. Girls weekend away! I have been to NYC many times (probably over 25) but my friends had never been so I tried to cover lots of ground & tried to keep things within a reasonable budget.

Thursday -
Drove Pittsburgh to NYC (about 6 hours). No major traffic going into the city around 230pm. Found our way to the InterContinental Barclay & got checked in to 1 room with 2 beds. While the beds weren't actual double beds, they were larger than a twin & the room was large for NYC standards. Headed out for a late lunch/early dinner at La Bonne Soupe on 55th (btwn 7th & 8th I believe). On our way stopped inside St. Patricks Cathedral for a look. La Bonne Soupe is a cute French bistro that seemed to be filled with mainly locals. Went for their special of bread, salad, soup, dessert & a glass of house wine for $13.95. Wonderful food & very filling. Although it was too much food, we noticed a table beside us with the cheese fondue that looked great, so we got that as an appetizer to share & that alone would have been enough. It was delicious! Then walked through Times Square on our way to the Empire State Building. Line to the top said 45 - 60 minutes, so we decided to go for it, however the line was longer than an hour and was VERY hot with no a/c on. It was an uncomfortable wait (tkts were $12pp to the top), and by the time we got to the top, it was dark outside, so we were able to view the lights from the top. It was refreshing to be outside at that point. We had to go through more lines to get an elevator back down - but I think all in all it was worth it for them to have gone up. Hailed a cab and went to the Plaza Hotel - walked in the lobby just to check it out and then outside to a carriage ride. The prices I had before I left for the carriage ride either weren't accurate or we were charged more, but we were ok with the price. $40 (per carriage) for a 25 minute ride and we enjoyed a break to sit & relax. From there we walked down to Serendipity (60th btwn 2nd & 3rd) & put our name in (told us about 45 -60 mins) but we only waited about 20 minutes. It was about 1030pm when we were seated. Ordered the frrozen hot chocolate which was a fun experience, but not the greatest food in the world. We still were pretty full from our fondue dinner, though - and Serendipity has a $6.50 per person minimum food purchase, so we weren't able to share. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel & were glad to get to sleep!

Friday -
Woke up & headed out for a light breakfast around 10am. Friends wanted to go to Dean & Deluca outside Today show, so we went there for coffee & pastries. Some of the pastries were about $5, but I had a spinach/cheese muffin & coffee for about $4-5. Sat at the bar & looked out over the walkway. Today show was in Athens, so no taping on the plaza. Met one of the girls friends who works at NBC for a private tour of the studios which was fun to go where the other tours don't get to go! After the tour, we went for some shopping in H&M & then walked over to Arriba Arriba for lunch (51st & 9th). They had a lunch special for $6.95 including a very small margarita. The food we had was delicious & a great deal. Other posters on another link have claimed some bad experiences here, but we all enjoyed it. After a relaxing lunch, we walked to TKTS in Times Square. Got in line about 330pm and were at the window within 15 minutes or so. Tried for Producers, but there were only partial view seats left, so we got Fiddler tickets for 8pm. We were in the orchestra in the 4th & 6th rows! Tickets were $53/pp. Went back to the hotel to rest & get ready for the show. My friends LOVED the show! I enjoyed it as well, however I can't say it was the best Broadway performance I have ever seen. I love the show Fiddler itself, but I think this performance was different from others I've seen & I didn't like it as much. Tevye & the daughters, however, made the show - they were great. Anyway, after the show we took some time to just stand in the theater lobby overlooking Times Square from above & took it all in. Walked back to hotel & on our way we each bought a purse from a sidewalk vendor. We found the "better" purses come out at night (this was about 1130pm) and you can get better deals & better knockoffs! Off to sleep at 1am.

Saturday -
The wake up call came in at 6am. I was regretting the decision to book the early tickets for the Statue of Liberty ferry & tour. We had to be there at 8am - and with 4 women getting showered & dressed & time to get the subway....well you know, we needed more time in the morning! Thanks to someone on this forum, I was told you must book your Statue tours online or by phone at least 2 days in advance. We walked to Grand Central Station, so they could see the magnificent architecture there & grabbed some coffee & bagels for our subway down to Battery Park. There was NO ONE around & we decided this is when NYC sleeps! :) Saw the Sphere & eternal flame in memory of 9/11. Very chilling. That is right in Battery Park. Got to Castle Clinton & picked up the tickets I ordered online - NO LINE AT ALL. Got on the 830am ferry & made our way to Liberty Island. Were only able to get the tour that does not go to the observatory, but were given a tour through the Statue museum & saw some interesting things. (Tkts by the way are free, but ferry tkts are $10 per person plus $1.75 pp svc charge when ordered in advance). It was very uncrowded. FYI - you do go through some serious security points both in Battery Park & once on the island. I'll mention now that the lines for the security & the lines to just get into Castle Clinton to get tickets were outrageously long on our way back from the island.....so it was WELL worth the 6am wake up call. Go at 8am & get the 830am ferry - definitely. We also went onto Ellis Island and looked around the highlights there & watched the movie that is free. Very interesting. Took ferry back to Battery Park & got some hot dogs & sodas for lunch and ate in the park ($3 per person!). Walked down to the WTC site - which was so moving. I had been there a month after the events, and can't believe how different the area looks now. In Oct 2001, it was difficult to get any sort of view and hard to comprehend the vastness of the space left empty. It is a nice site they have put up so that people can remember those lost & the events of that day with some facts & pictures from that day. Unfortunately, there was a woman who felt the need to scream anti-government things to everyone there - which I felt was very disrespectful regardless of what stand you take in politics. That is not the place in my opinion. Anyway, we made the awkward transition to some shopping in Century 21 and spent some good time in there. Came outside to a major downpour so we hailed a cab to take us the whole way back to the hotel ($18 inc tip). Unfortunately, b/c of the rain we didn't get to go to Brooklyn for Grimaldis & walk across the bridge (something I really wanted to do & hadnt done before). Friends were tired & weren't interested in seeing another show or movie, so we decided to go get manicures & pedicures!!! Surprisingly, a cute place across the street (Zorbans) charged $28pp for the combo & allowed us to take some wine in with us - which conveniently there was a wine shop right next door! We had a great time in there being pampered after walking all weekend! Headed out to Carmine's for dinner - and bought more purses on the way! We got to Carmines (in Times Sq) at 740pm & they said it would be 1&1/2 hour wait but then immediately said we could be seated! Got the far back corner table which was good for us so we could enjoy a long last dinner together & actually hear each other. It is very noisy in there. We had wonderful food there & bought a bottle of their house red. Had the fried zucchini, salad of the day & the penne a la vodka. I think with tip we each paid about $25 (so much wine it is hard to remember!) & had lots of leftovers. Left there at 1130pm and walked back to hotel to pack things up.

Sunday -
Picked up some coffee & bagels at a nearby deli & checked out of hotel around 8am. Hit the road back to Pittsburgh with NO traffic getting out of city. Very easy. We were happy with the InterContinental location & service.

Since we had paid for the hotel before we went, we each took $300 cash for the rest of our expenses. Came home with about $30 each - so we were right on budget for doing NYC in $300 plus hotel!!! Had a wonderful weekend with wonderful friends!