Progress report on our 3 week trip to the US
 

We are now 1/2 way through our trip to the US. Spent 4 days at San Francisco, weather was wonderful and we did most of the tourist sites. I have posted a mini trip report about this previously.
We then flew to Columbia Maryland and stayed there for a week with e-mail friends, first time we have met in person. Had a fantastic time there also, weather was fine but very cold. The first day we visited Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms but unfortunately had nearly all been blown away by the time we got there. Went to the Smithosian Air & Space Museum didn't spend a lot of time there as it was very crowded. We also went to Harpers Ferry a great historic village,, Annapolis where we had dinner at the Ramsgate Hotel and caught a show, and did a trip to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, snow flurries were happening the day we were there and we were very grateful for the very thick coats, scarves and hats our friends lent us. DH and I went back to Washington DC on the Tuesday and managed to master the Metro rail system. We walked to the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, went to the old Post Office building and went up to the top of the Tower, what an amazing view. Also spent a short while at the Smithosian Natural History Museum.
Today is getting towards the end of Day 2 in New York. We took Amtrak from Baltimore Airport station at 8.35am yesterday morning and got into Penn Station New York City at 11.15am. The train was crowded but was a great trip. We caught a taxi to Radio City Apartments and straight away were caught in a traffic jam. Cost $ 13.50 for our cab ride but that's okay it was better than walking with all our luggage. Did the Uptown loop of the Double Decker bus tour yesterday afternoon and went to Wicked last night, That was awesome I'm really glad I booked tickets months ago. Today there was heavy rain and it was very cold, so invested in two umbrella's and a couple of beanies. We were planning on doing the Brooklyn Bridge today but hopefully we will get there tomorrow. Spent the day visiting music shops, and the big Apple computer store, my husband had a great day, hmm it's my turn tomorrow, I did get to FAO Scwarz as it was next to the Apple shop. Waked down 5th Ave for a short while, and had a look at Rockerfeller Center. Tonight we are going to Hairspray, thankfully it has stopped raining. We may also do Top of the Rock after the show.
We are having a great time here, we are in New York until Sunday morning then flying to LA for a week the weather there looks good!!!

Keep it coming nelsonian, this is interesting.

Enjoying this report. It would be easier to read with some more paragraphs. @-) Look forward to hearing about Hairspray etc.

Btw, Tiffany's is right near the Apple store on Fifth ave. ;)

Sorry about lack of paragraphs, thought it was going to be a brief report but I got carried away. Now we have figured out the subway will head down to Tiffany's another day. :)

Welcome to America!!!! Enjoy a pizza at Grimaldi's before heading across the BBridge. If it's still chilly have a hot chocolate at Jaques Torres down the street or just a little chocolate treat. Walk along Canal street for a little bit of Asia! Stroll thru Central Park.

Embrace the city and the lights of Time Square tonight!!!

Oh and the marriott marquis has a great little corner area on the 8th floor overlooking the center of time square with appetizers and drinks - on the right hand side, in case the naked cowboy is working the crowd - good people watching from above if you get the window tables.

nelsonian - Thanks for bringing us uptodate.

Did you stay with your e-mail friends and how did your e-mail friendship begin? How nice that you finally met each other.

You are now in one of the best cities in the world. I spoke with my son who lives in NYC today and he mentioned the pouring rain and cold. You appear to be having a marvelous time in spite of the bad weather. Always lots of good shows.

Any comments on The Radio City Apartments?

Sandy

Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for posting your trip report.

the Hairspray musical was awesome totally different to Wicked but very enjoyable. We got front row mezzanine seats from the theatre using the promo code from Broadway Box.

The visit to Top of the Rock was amazing, 70 stories is a long way up. Views were outstanding, we did lots of videoing. Printed off discount tickets from the internet so got $ 3.00 off per ticket.

After that walked down to Times Square, the hundreds of people walking around is just unbelievable, you would think it was 11am instead of 11pm. The rain stopped mid-afternoon which was good and it didn't seem so cold tonight, maybe we are getting acclimatised.

Radio City Apartments are very centrally located, close to all the theatres, subway station, and cafe's and restaurants. We have a studio room which has a double bed, dresser, small table, kitchen area , and bathroom. We are paying $ 155.00 per night and think it is excellent value for money. there are lots of reports on trip advisor about this hotel so check it out if you're interested. We booked several months in advance.

Yes we did stay with our e-mail friends. In 1996 I posted my name on a penpal list on the internet and Linda replied. In 1998/99 our daughter spent a year with her and her family and attended high school in Columbia Maryland. Finally we managed to visit them also.

nelsonian - Refreshing to hear such a lovely story about your e-mail friends who sound like kind and wonderful people.

So glad you are enjoying NYC - what a great city.

Sandy

Excellent report. You're talking about two of my favorite cities. Glad you are enjoying them; wish the weather had treated you better!

BTW, where's home?

Nelsonian, I applaud all of your preparation for this trip. You seem to be thoroughly enjoying your visit to our beautiful country. Sorry about the cold weather - as a Michigander I am frustrated at our lack of spring this year. Once you get back out on the west coast you will get to see that glorious sun again. You have made excellent use of the advice given here. I hope you're still around on Fodors when I start planning our trip to "down under". Cheers!
Maggi

Got all tingley reading your last post. Glad the trip is going so well. It looks like a beautiful day today so hope you take advantage of it. Might be a good one for the Brooklyn Bridge walk. ;)

I was reviewing some of your previous planning posts and just want to mention a few things. I don't know whether you decided to go to Nassau coliseum or not, but you can take the Mineola train as someone suggested--or Westbury. If you want to see the difference in distance between the various stations use mapquest.com You can find the location of the stations by clicking the station name (ie Mineola) on the train schedule page. http://lirr42.mta.info/stationinfo.asp?station=042

Take the E train from near the hotel (53 st & 7th ave.) down to Penn Station. This is the same train going in the other direction (toward Queens) that you'd take to get closer to Tiffany's (Fifth Ave stop puts you at 53 st & Fifth), but Tiffany's is also not a bad walk from the hotel.

I notice you were considering Danny's Seafood Palace and I've heard it's closed. Blue Water Grill while more expensive has jazz downstairs and might be a nice treat. Jules Bistro is an inexpensive French bistro in the village that also has good jazz. Near your hotel, Birdland and Iridium are both good jazz venues. Dizzy's Coca Cola in the Time Warner building has nice views and good jazz (affiliated with jazz at Lincoln Center).

Buy the NY Times today and look at the Weekend section for other ideas. Have fun!

Home is Nelson New Zealand, a town of 40,000 people and no train service so we are enjoying the Metro, subway, etc. Tonight is the Andre Rieu concert in Long Island so will be using the LIRR to Mineola. Will leave about 6pm in case we have any problems.

Great report and thanks for all the weather details!
My son is in NYC on a school music trip right now and I'm so glad to hear the rain has stopped and it's a beautiful day. I'm not going to hear as much detail from him that's for sure. :)

Yesterday was not the greatest day for sightseeing, the windchill factor was very high and sitting on the top deck of a double-decker bus doing the tour of Brooklyn was a pretty dumb decision. We did not enjoy it at all, we didn't really pack for mid winter:-)
However earlier in the day we took a ride on the Staten Island ferry and got some terrific shots of the Manhatten skyline and the Statute of Liberty.

We had a few problems catching the subway on the way back from South Street Seaport, and nearly got on the train back to brooklyn. We gave up and decided to walk back to our hotel. Oh we had made it to Penn Station at this stage we where got tickets to Mineola on the LIRR. Walking back to the hotel thorugh Friday afternoon crowds and traffic wasn't much fun really.

However our day got better, we managed to get back to Penn Station at 5pm to catch the LIRR train thanks to Mclaurie's subway directions, and watched the board and made it to the right track for the Mineola train thanks to another Fodorite who gave step by step instructions. At Mineola got a taxi to Nassau Colliseum for the Andre Rieu concert.

The concert was fantastic a huge crowd and great music, and singing. It was well worth all the planning and travel to get to see Andre Rieu in person. Their version of Bolero was just magical.
After the concert had to wait 30 minutes at the Mineola train station which was interesting and a bit cold as the waiting room was locked. Had a great cab driver too from Nassau Colliseum back to the station. He was an Andre Rieu fan but doesn't tell his friends or co-workers that, his father was a church organist in New York so he was brought up with classical music.

Today so far we have been to Toys R Us, walked down 5th Avenue to Central Park. The weather has warmed up and it was lovely wandering around a small portion of Central Park.
Now back at the hotel waiting to check in for our Southwwest Airline flight from La Guardia tomorrow morning. have booked a car from Carmel car service, thanks again to Fodorites advice.

This afternoon planning to go to the Frick museum and check out Grenwich village later on.

Great report.

The Frick is fantastic.

We found it on a visit several years ago and really enjoyed it.

Many New Yorkers we know have never heard of it.

Glad things are going better. I really don't think those hop on/off buses make much sense except in perfect weather. Hope all continues to go well. ;)

I hope you have a great time in L.A. The weather should certainly be better.

I'm enjoying your trip report.

I hope your flight takes off okay tomorrow -- maybe you'll get out before the worst of the forecasted nor'easter hits!!