aliska

Very spur of the moment trip to visit elderly relatives in Livingston, NJ for 4 days over Mother's Day weekend (we were hoping to do this over summer but can't wait). Will have Thurs & Fri for day trips to NYC with 2 girls, 17 & 20. Youngest has never been to NYC, not really into art musuems, loves shopping (discount), nature, history. Any ideas for places to rest or put our feet up (tea salon?) in late afternoon will be much appreciated. Looking for sightseeing, restaurant, shopping, transportation suggestions, thanks in advance for help.

Suggestions solicited to pack as much into 2 day trips as possible (without killing me!). Supposedly it is a one hour bus ride from Livingston to NYC PATH station. Thanks!

escargot

My favorite place for tea is Lady Mendl's (there are others)
here is that website:

www.innatirving.com/dining-lady.asp

It is just outside Union Square which is a great place to be with the girls - Forever 21, Filene's Basement (which has a great view from the top floor), Max Breener's Chocolate by the Bald Man for some chocolate -
some fun stores on the side streets and on down to Soho/Nolita area - or start at that end early, work your way back up to Union Sq and end with tea -

the only thing about tea is it takes time- about two hours, and I am not sure if the girls would want to lose that much time from shopping, etc - is there not somewhere you can enjoy a ladies tea with them at a hotel near your home?

otherwise, maybe an afternoon tea somewhere else that is less 'complete' say than Lady Mendl's -

but I thought I'd include it just in case - it is special -
good for lunch with all the courses and treats -

Otherwise, you could shop Soho/Nolita little shops (also lots of chains down there now) and add some history if you want by going down to Lower East Side to the Tenement Museum - which is deep in history and immigration -

start with the film in the office on Ellis Island, then the one hour Living History tour in the Tenement -
so the entire thing takes a max of 2 hours -
maybe do that first in the day, then walk up to Soho, etc for shopping and keep walking right up to Union Sq and end the day with chocolate !! in Union Sq....
or keep walking up to Madison and go to the Shake Shack the girls might get a kick out of that and the burgers are goooood.....

http://www.shakeshacknyc.com/

For the nature/history end, how about the next day doing some strolling thru shops down Madison and Fifth and into Central Park - look on the web sites

www.centralparknyc.org

and

www.centralpark.com

you can stroll through, see the Literary Walk, on over to Belvedere or whatever appeals to you most after looking on those sites -

also, if you put into the search this forum bar at the top things like "discount shopping nyc" and "soho shopping nyc" and things like that, you will see a lot of threads with great suggestions.

escargot

Another option is also doing a self walking tour of the Brooklyn Bridge to get some great history and views of the city and some great pizza, ice cream , etc on the other side !

Here's a link with many options for that and other self walks with transport directions, etc

http://preview.tinyurl.com/52pfgy

also plug in "NYC Trip Reports" and you'll see lots of great itineraries that might work for you

Here is one of mine that included a great history/fun food tour:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35099570

aliska

Thanks for the suggestions, please keep them coming. Will investigate Lady Mendl's, I might need a 2 hour sit down after being on my feet all day. Is the South Street Seaport nice and is that where you take boat to Statue of Liberty?

Ulterior purpose of trip is to do some Mother-Daughter bonding, spend some time with older DD, whom we haven't seen since January (at college). We will only have 2-3 days together before she leaves for a 12 week overseas volunteer trip. The next opportunity will be 2 weeks in mid August prior to Fall Semester.

Older DD has been to NYC quite a few times, as have I, and we want to show younger DD a little of the city. Not going to obsess too much on sightseeing as she is 17 and will return to NYC. Any other thoughts??

zimmaphobia

HM was an amazing place to shop in NYC. Also, if your daughter is interested in history, there are all those historical beautiful cathedrals.

escargot

I am not a huge fan of the South Street Seaport, but many love it - I have enjoyed the area when I am in the city in the spring/summer - but to me it is much like many other chain store/restaurant areas that have been built up in tourist cities and I have most of those stores/restaurants or types of in Boston/Cape/etc.

So it may depend on where you are from - and if you don't have those stores and that type of shopping experience near you

southstreetseaport.com

will list for you all the stores restaurants etc

I personally have not done the Statue of Liberty for years, but I know many who do the Circle Line tours - but there are threads on here about which tour is better and that might not be the best one -

I just plugged in "Circle Line Tours" and "Statue of LIberty nyc tours" and a bunch of threads came up on the left so you will see many opinions in those -

As far as Lady Mendl's - it is a treat my daughter and I treasure.

Your schedule trying to find that special times with your DD sound familiar...one of my children has been living in NYC since graduating, another graduating college this year and it is hard with their schedules to fit in that family time between their adventures, work, etc - so much of which today takes them far, far away!

Lady Mendl's is a quiet, old world elegant place to have a nice relaxing break where you can hear yourself think and speak - and feel like the world has stopped for a bit - I highly recommend it for mother/daughter bonding

Maybe you also want to leave some time for Rockefeller Center, St. Patricks, and if you do stroll down Madison, etc to Central park, you could fit that in on the way there or after...

have fun - report back !!
and if you go to SoHo, my two favorite places for snacks are pinkberry (mine original with captain crunch and strawberries) and rice to riches -...yum

www.pinkberry.com
www.ricetoriches.com




http://preview.tinyurl.com/eeqn6

escargot

sorry, don't know how that circle line tour thing ended up so far at the bottom of my post ! was supposed to be up with that info.....

aliska

Have tranportation question: using www.njtransit.com, they suggest bus from Livingston to Orange to take commuter train to Penn station. We will have rental car, is it far distance to drive to station and will we find available parking on Fri, Sat, or Sun? Any other alternative transportation suggestions? Please don't mention driving and parking in NYC, really don't want to do that.

tchoiniere

Would recommend the Natural History Museum if you have the time. It was a lot of fun when I went there a few weeks ago.

ellenem

<<Is the South Street Seaport nice and is that where you take boat to Statue of Liberty? >>

To take a boat or even just to see the Statue of Liberty, you must go to Battery Park. The Statue is not visible from South Street Seaport.

escargot

I don't know how long a drive from Livingstone to West Orange - try google maps or mapquest -

however, I take the train from Penn to West Orange and it is quick and easy - I get picked up by relatives so I don't know of any parking, I would think parking options for each station should be on that website too-

some stations are safer than others (area wise) to park in - or to get on/off at - I would ask that question before choosing too.

escargot

sorry, that would be S Orange
dont' know if that would work for you
there appears to be a small parking lot but not sure if short/long term

aliska

Escargot, did MapQuest and Livingston appears to be equidistant between Short Hills, Maplewood and South Orange railroad stations. Any ideas which ones would have better parking options/safer for 3 women? Found Gladstone Branch schedule on NJTransit. Don't want to bother relatives to drive us, as we may stay out late. Thanks for all your help!

escargot

ALiska:
I do not know, I could ask my relative, but I think best if you do a new posting and ask just that in the title, I would think you will get lots of great info - something like
"Short Hills, Maplewood and South Orange: help w station and safe parking info"

escargot

well, partially wrong - S Orange seemed lovely but I don't know if the parking is long term, that I can find out if it is not on the train web page.

Attnymom

I haven't read all the other replies, so I may be repeating someone here, but you have to take your daughters to H&M to shop. It has all the latest high-end fashions at bargain prices. They will love it!

ellenem

<<Livingston appears to be equidistant between Short Hills, Maplewood and South Orange railroad stations. Any ideas which ones would have better parking options/safer for 3 women? >>

More to the point would be to check the train schedules from each of these stations for the hours you hope to travel. Not all stations have the same frequency of service, especially outside of rush hour.