Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - NYC Trip Report (June 29th

I’d like to thank everyone on here, for all the tips that helped me plan this trip. We could not have had such a good time, if it weren’t for all the trip reports and advice I read on here. So here is my trip report, to give a little something back….

Thursday June 29th:

We (myself, and my husband in our early 30’s from Cleveland, and his Dad (63) and his Mum (55) from Scotland) arrived at LaGuardia around 9am. We took a cab to the upper west side ($27 + tip), where we were staying at The Excelsior Hotel (W 81st). The cab process and drive went smoothly, as well as the storing of our bags.

The Excelsior Hotel: I picked this hotel based on price and location. It was about 3 minutes from the subway, and Central Park was just across from the subway. Everything I had read about the Upper West Side sounded charming, and like a nice place to get away from the BUSY city at night. The street was quiet, and tree lined. We really enjoyed the UWS area, the cafes, the shops, etc. It felt very safe there, and relaxed. The hotel is across from the Natural History Museum (which we didn’t have a chance to visit on this trip), and I would recommend it. I had heard the rooms are a good size for NYC (but I have nothing to compare that to), and they were clean. The lobby was pretty, and the staff was extremely helpful. We only wished the rooms had had coffee pots/tea pots but we never asked (perhaps they would have been provided upon request, I don’t know). Also, there is only a dining room for breakfast, no other restaurant or bar. We did not eat here, as the prices were a bit ridiculous. Yes, I would stay at this hotel again.

After we stored our bags we attempted to work out the subway. We figured it would be a good time to try it, since it was around 10am and it wasn’t rush hour or lunch hour (although I never found the subway to be particularly bad to ride at those times, like the guidebooks all suggest). We bought week long, unlimited Metro cards for $24. We were staying for 5 days and figured if we rode at least 3x a day it would be more economical than buying a 1 day unlimited pass. We rode the subway 17 or 18 times all together, so I think we did the right thing with the weeklong pass. On our first day I absolutely hated the subway and was very confused by it. I was wondering why the tube in London is so much more user friendly. But the second day something just clicked, and my husband and I got it and figured it out quite well from then on. A few times I was asked for directions (on the subway and above ground), and was actually able to give them (I do have an unusual sense of direction though). I felt slightly cool at being mistaken for a New Yorker, or at least someone who knew what they were doing! J Also, I always felt safe riding the subway in the daytime and at night (I think the latest we rode was about 11pm or 11:30pm). I had been worried about all of that before the trip, but what everyone had said on these boards was correct. (We took subways or walked the entire time, no cabs or busses).

So we took the subway only a few stops to Columbus Circle and decided to get off and walk around a bit. We walked down 8th Ave. to W 42nd St. saw some of Times Square and then on to Grand Central Terminal for lunch. It was a very hot day and we were tired and thirsty. The timing worked out good as we got there at about 11:30, and were able to get a table at Junior’s right away. The walk there was a good way to get a feel for the city. We were amazed. Anyway, we had a nice lunch at Junior’s and tried their cheesecake (yum). After lunch we walked uptown, up 5th Avenue, stopping in some shops and Trump Tower. We sat at some benches across from the elevators there to cool off and relax for a bit. I spotted George from The Apprentice getting on an elevator. That was fun, for the seconds that we saw him. We also bought our Top of the Rock tickets for later that night (8pm entry, at dusk). The woman promised me it wouldn’t storm that night, but what does she know? Then we moved on to check out Bloomies and Serendipities. My big plan was to have some ice cream there since we weren’t having dinner until 10pm that night. We got there at 2:30 pm and were told there was an hour and a half wait. I was not happy with that, and knew that they don’t take reservations for dessert only. My wish of going to Serendipities on this trip would probably not happen (I’ve always wanted to go there since the movie One Fine Day).
But, we were VERY hot and tired (very humid day), so we decided to head back to the hotel, check in and relax.

We had plans to leave the hotel at 6:45pm to head over to Rockefeller before Top of the Rock at 8pm. It had been raining at about 6pm, and then at 6:45 it got MUCH heavier, so we waited in the lobby. 10 min later it seemed like it was clearing so we headed to the subway. At each stop I noticed people getting on and their umbrellas were still wet. We got to Rockefeller and checked out the shops there and knew it was still raining. We waited inside until our 8pm entry time for Top of the Rock. I was pouting and dragging my feet along the way, ready to ask for our money back (which I knew we wouldn’t get). My husband told me to relax. I was getting irritated that no one else seemed as disappointed as me. But we went up the elevator and then they told us to go up the escalator outside. I was wondering why we were; I didn’t even have my coat on at that point. But we got outside and it had stopped storming/raining. Literally within 5 min of us going up to the top. It was amazing. The views were spectacular, and we stayed up until about 9pm when the lights were coming on in the buildings. I got great pictures of the Empire State Building. Beautiful.

We left and headed over to the Bombay Palace for dinner, which was just 2 blocks away. Perfect location, and the food was outstanding. As was the service. I can’t recommend it enough.

Friday June 30th:

We had planned on going to Zabars Café for breakfast, but we got there and it was tiny and crowded (8:15am), so headed across the street to H&H bagels. We got some to go and ended up eating them in Central Park. Very nice (but sorry to the New Yorkers, I didn’t see a difference in the bagels that I can get back home). Central park was really great. I had ordered a map from their website before we went for $4. I’m very glad we did, because we never saw one of those information booths where you can buy them at until we were leaving the park a few hours later. The map was essential for getting through the Rambles. So we entered the park on W 81st street. We saw The Great Lawn, the Obelisk, Turtle Pond, Shakespeare Garden, Belvedere Castle (neat lookout), through the Rambles to the Lake and Bow Bridge and on to Bethesda Fountain. They were filming a Disney movie called Enchanted at the Fountain, so I was sort of upset that I couldn’t get close to the fountain. The others in my group were excited to see a movie being shot. It was all extras in crazy costumes. We sat at the benches near there for a while just relaxing in the shade, before heading off to Strawberry Fields and out of the park at W 72nd street. I think we spent about 2.5-3 hours in the park. We had time to kill before lunch so we wandered around the Upper West Side.

Lunch was at the Arte Café, which was really a cute place. We sat outside but the inside looked really nice as well. (mclaurie had recommended this, thank you!). The 2-course lunch for $9.95 was such a steal. We had huge caesar salads, and bread with oil. I got a chicken panini which also came with really good fries (skinny carnival style). My husband had a huge pizza, and my in-laws had huge plates of pasta. I would go back there in a second.

We rested at the hotel (which is key during these hot, humid days of long walking) and then headed off to the East Village around 6pm. We were supposed to go to Le Tableau for dinner, but everyone was still full from lunch. We ended up at little open-air type Italian café, Via Delle Zoccolette (Ave A. @ 6th St.). We all had the spaghetti and meatballs, which were good. Good prices and not too much food. Then we walked to the Public Theater were we had tickets to see the play Satellites. It was a GREAT play and stared Sandra Oh (from Grey’s Anatomy) in it. The theater only sat 250 people so not that many people stayed after to meet the cast (maybe 10-15). We waited and were the last ones to get to talk to Sandra Oh. She signed my program and we got a picture with her. I was elated.

Saturday July 1st:

Hey a new month, and a new hotel rate (our first two nights were about $240 and our last two nights were about $160). We headed to Café Mozart for breakfast (W 70th), which was really cute inside and a good value (lots of food for $10). We took the subway (1) all the way down to the last stop near Battery Park. Walking along the esplanade was just beautiful. I loved it down there. Then we walked over to the World Financial Center for some gelato and then past the World Trade Center site, and over to the church there (forget the name). It was sad to be near there, and sad to see all the vendors trying to sell stuff (illegally). We walked up to Wall Street and near Trinity Church and then took a subway over to Herald Square. We had a snack in Macy’s, and then walked up Broadway into the heart of Times Square. Crazy, crazy, crazy there. Once for only about 20 min was enough for me. I don’t know why someone would want to stay at a hotel in that area. We spent a few hours at the Old Castle Pub (W 54th St., near 7th Ave.) to watch a World Cup game, and saw France win. It was nice to relax in there out of the heat and off of our feet. I liked it in there, and had good fish and chips. It ended up being convenient since it was near the subway at 7th, and had a line that took us to a stop on W 42 nd St., a little further west than Times Square (so we had less to walk to the Pier). We headed to the Circle Line Pier to take the Harbor Lights Cruise at 7pm, a two-hour tour. We got there at about 5:45 pm and got our tickets then. We were sort of towards the front of the line. There were SO many that were behind us. I would advise getting there early. We got the last outdoor seat on the boat, at the edge, just where I wanted to be for good photo taking. We enjoyed the cruise, although the tour guide was quite cheesy. The boat goes quite close to the Statue of Liberty and gives BOTH sides of the boat a chance to get pictures (they should have announced that, because I was nervous our side wouldn’t get to go past it so close). (ps. The bathrooms at the pier are horrible). We walked back from the boat and felt safe since there were so many others also walking from the boat. Otherwise I wasn’t so sure about that area (W 42nd Street, between 12th Ave. and 8th Ave.).

Sunday July 2nd:

(this report is getting long, sorry). Had breakfast at Dean and Deluca (good for a quick bite at Rockefeller), and headed over to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for 9am mass. After that we headed to the Village for our Food Tour that we had pre-booked. The tour was meeting outside of Rocco’s Pastry shop. We were there early so we had a drink inside. The tour was 3 hours long and we got to taste a lot of food. It was adequate for lunch, but I wouldn’t say I was stuffed. I did enjoy the history and other information I learned on the tour (the non-food) info. I would say that the tour was too long in such humid weather (it was 88 that day), and I find it much harder on my feet when I am standing in place for a long time, versus walking (LOTS of standing on this tour, I think we only sat down twice, and less actual walking). It was not a highlight of the trip for me, but it was worthwhile. This is what we got to sample: pizza from Joe’s Pizza (full slice), mini cannolli from Rocco’s Pastries, bread from Amy’s Breads, and cheese from Murray’s Cheese Shop (we ate upstairs in their demo room), chocolate from Aphrodisia, a cookie from Milk and Cookies (YUM, cute place), meat kabob from Yatagan, and a tart from Bruno’s Pasticceria. We got to see this one restaurant on the tour, which I would love to go to, it’s called Palma and it has the cutest little outdoor garden in the middle of it that a lot of people don’t know about. It’s on Cornelia Street. Has anyone dined here?

After the tour we went to Minetta Tavern (near where the tour left off) for a drink and a seat (much needed). After some time there we headed to Washington Park that I would highly recommend if you need to rest up after the tour. It’s two blocks from where we ended. We had time to kill since our Tenement Museum tour wasn’t until 4:30pm.

The Tenement tour was great, again though it was VERY hot and humid and the tenement just has some fans set up. The tour was an hour long and we thought it was worthwhile and we would all recommend it. We did book these tickets in advance.

Back to the hotel for a rest and then out to Isabella’s for dinner later that night. This was just 2-3 blocks from our hotel and we had such a nice time there. The food was outstanding as was the service. I had a new addition to the menu; halibut (awesome) and my mother in law also had a new addition (pork chop in this amazing wine sauce). The men had steaks that were a special that night. We all had great dessert as well. It was a celebration meal, as my husband and I’s second anniversary was on July 3rd .A very nice last dinner in the city. I would highly recommend this restaurant.

Monday July 3rd:
Our last day. We stored our bags again and headed out to Rockefeller. There was a free Today Show concert going on (Nick Lachay), and we had tickets for the NBC Studio Experience Tour. We loved this tour and all of the inside secrets you learn. We visited the sets of the nightly news, Conan, and Saturday Night Live. I’d highly recommend this tour. After the tour we had lunch in the Rockefeller Concourse and then headed to the hotel. I had a car service coming to get us (Dial 7) and they arrived on time. It ended up costing $40 plus tip, which annoyed me, because a taxi would have been $13 cheaper and our bellman could have easily gotten us one (I saw many pass while we were waiting for the car). Oh well. We survived the city, never really got too lost, and had a fun time. I know we saw A LOT, and walked a ton, but it all felt do-able.

Highlights were: Central Park, NBC Tour, the off-Broadway play, Top of the Rock, and staying on the Upper West Side (exploring and eating there also).

I would recommend the Streetwise Manhattan map I got on Amazon beforehand (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188...610358?ie=UTF8).
I didn’t even really need the DK Eyewitness Guides I had, these boards have enough info. As well as the Central Park one I mentioned. I’d also recommend planning out a general idea of a subway route, before you head out to the actual subway (it’s hot down there and not as easy to think as in your nice comfy hotel room).

Again thanks for all the help, and here is a link to my pictures from the trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tammima...7594186431285/