The Big Apple was Amazing!
 

We had a wonderful time in New York December 13-19 ~

Who/Why: Started out as a trip for my 14 year old daughter and myself - 44 on 12-19 :) We are from California but moved to Texas in 2010. My husband spends a lot of time on Long Island with work - and my stepson, dd's brother - lives in NYC - DD and I were to hang out for a few nights in the city and head out to Long Island and onto visit family in Staten Island and NJ. My husband is a NY native - Brooklyn and his family is still all there...

My stepson became unemployed after we planned our trip so he ended up spending most of the time with us and my husband ended up coming into the city as well.

My 14 year old has had a horrible time adjusting to Texas and we ended up removing her from school and doing an independent study program - so wanted to take advantage of that with some travel. She LOVES NYC and theater. Me? I am always up for a trip :)

Tuesday December 13th ~
We departed DFW on AA (we used miles and had no issues with not a ton of advance notice) we arrived no issues in LGA and thanks to the advice of the board went straight to the Taxi line which moved quickly - The weather was wonderful ~ sunny and cool ~ could not have asked for a nicer day.

Taxi ride went fine - not too much traffic (3:15 arrival)

We were staying after the advice from here at the Marriott court yard time square south http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...-square-south/ - we picked this hotel because I was using points and the main purpose of the trip was to see theater.

Check in was great - room was ready upon arrival - the front desk was very nice and this courtyard is one of the nicer ones I have been to. (My husband is a platinum Marriott Rewards member and we have stayed at so many Marriotts - this was very nice)

Now... there are only double beds for those traveling with 4 adults there is NO way I would suggest you stay here - it would have been fine for my daughter and I - (2 persons) but when my stepson and husband ended up in the room we were more than cramped. The decor is modern - it appears to have been recently redone. It located right by Bryant Park and in a good location.

My daughter and I got settled and headed out to grab a bit to eat before our 7:00 pm show... Mary Poppins - my choice.

We ate at a place on the way called Jack's. The bill for the two of us was about 50.00 prior to tip. http://jacksrestaurantandbar.com/ ~ it was "fine" I would not highly recommend it but would not "not" recommend it... (does that make sense???)

We had a little time still to wonder over to Time Square and Toys are Us - ohhh the bright lights and crowds - it was fun and festive and not too overwhelming...

Onto Chim chiminey Chim chiminey Chim chim cher-ee! ... :))

:)

Well... on we went to see Mary Poppins - let me start off by saying that I wanted to see it. We were able to get good seats via American Express priority seating - row G and the rows in the lovely theater start at A (not AA etc) We were in the center - the theater is breath taking - one of the loveliest I have seen.

The New Amsterdam Theatre is stunning. My 14 year old was taken aback by how beautiful it is as well. It is located on 42nd street - we got there in plenty of time - and we were settled in our seats. The crowd was the loudest I have ever heard in a theater - any theater - including Jr. Theater - it was sort of odd... I assumed they would quiet down as it sounded more like a rock concert or football event than a musical on broadway...

The lights dimmed and much "shhhhhhhhhhing" was going on to no avail... it was all coming from the mezzanine level - I could tell my 14 year old was annoyed by the noise and I felt badly for the cast... and myself. :-?

The show itself was underwhelming - or I was just distracted - again not able to imagine what all the noise was!??! I had young children sitting by me and they were completely silent and controllable... weird.

The first act ended and I could tell my daughter was less than enthralled and more than annoyed. I asked her if she wanted to leave and she hmmmeedddd and hawweedddd and finally at the start of the second half I made an executive choice when the crowd was just as noisy to leave.

Now you might be questioning spending 160.00 and leaving at the second half but at this point it was more annoying to stay than to go. They were REALLY loud.

When we were leaving the usher by the exit asked if we were returning and we said no, and she wanted to know if everything was okay - we kindly explained that it was really distracting with all the noise from the mezzanine level - and she said that the manager would speak with us - I really was not interested in complaining - the manager appeared like the butler from Mr. Deeds - he was just THERE and we again, nicely explained the noise level was overwhelming and odd and he went on to share that they were hosting a charity event and having a difficult time with the noise and unsure of what to do? That he wanted to give us tickets to another date/time and was VERY apologetic - it was some homeless or foster event?

We sort of felt like heels and were glad we were so nice about it and ended up just leaving - as there was not time to see it another time...

So we missed the second half of Mary Poppins...but not to fret we carried onto a most exciting and enthralling tourist attraction in time square - other wise known as Ripley's ripeoff errrrr I mean Ripley's believe it or not.

How on earth you say did I get sucked in? I say ask the 14 year old.

She REALLY wanted to go and I was taken aback by the fee but said "what the heck" once in a life time eh??? Big spender that I am... ohmy.

What a waste of time and money - the good news is that things like that make for funny conversations and memories later.

After the ever engaging Ripley's there was simply nothing that could top it..so we headed back to the Marriott to call it a night on the first eve in Manhattan! We had an early morning - my stepson was meeting us at the hotel at 9:00 am...

Day two NYC - rockefeller center - and workin' on our roar - Lion King!

Great beginning... yup - Ripley's is a rip off - I haven't seen MP by my 4 and 7 yr old great niece and nephew really loved it.

Thanks for reading Sue :)

We arose a bit tired but ready to go on Wed morning - my stepson lives in Harlem - starving actor - and currently unemployed (well I think today he starts as a bike messenger - brrrrrrrrrr but alas that is another thread!) - we had breakfast at the courtyard Marriott for the ease of the situation - we were running late and told him to just have some coffee and we would be down in a few.

They serve a full breakfast there - it is costly (imo) I think it was about 16.00 per person? We usually go to a deli and get a 4.00 breakfast but today we took it easy. The day was BEAUTIFUL - I could not have asked for any nicer weather. I really wanted to see the Dead Sea Scrolls but my daughter is a huge CSI fan so she wanted to go there.. (same place Discovery center) - we ventured over and bought the tickets and had time to just walk around the city - it was glorious (did I mention that??? )

We went to Rockefeller center, saw the tree, (was not crowded) the ice skating, all the amazing decorations along the streets - the city could not have been any more alive, fun, and in all "its" glory. Truly.

We headed back around 12:00 or so to the CSI exhibit - which was another money suck and waste of time and money - even my dd who is a huge fan thought it was LAME - okay - striking out on the things so far that cost $$$ and having a blast just walking around. The natives (my dd and ss) were getting restless and hungry and we saw Carmines - a favorite on this board - oh wait - not a favorite of the board (I must be making you all crazy with the tourist traps!) and we went in to eat...but wait... across the way... Hugh Jackman was having a matinee - was there any chance to grab tickets?? We decided to run over and get in the same day line... but no luck... alas No Hugh for me.

We had 8:00 pm Lion King Tickets - for the 3 of us and dinner reservations that I now knew were going to get canceled as it was creeping to 3:00 or so by the time we were done eating - I know Carmines is not a crowd pleaser here, but I went for the first time on my first trip when I was dating my now husband about 16 years ago after seeing my first broadway show and have wonderful memories over the years of it. The three of us laughed, ate too much and had a great time.

We decided to head back to the room to chill out a little before our show at 8:00 - the Lion King. I had taken the children to see the Lion King many years ago in Los Angeles and was not too excited to see it again as I recall being underwhelmed with it - but it is my daughter's favorite disney movie and she was pumped up.

My husband was in Melville Long Island working and called me and said he was taking some time off and would be coming into the city - so now it was a party of 4! With three tickets... ? Ohmy.

"the good news is that things like that make for funny conversations and memories later. "

I find the best memories of a trip are often the unforeseen things (good and bad) that happen along the way. Nice report.

((H))

So... my husband called to say he was coming - but that changed a number of things around - we had 2 tickets to the rockettes for the next morning at 11:00 am, 3 tickets to the tenement museum tour and we were supposed to take the train to Long Island on Thursday night to met up with him...

and the biggest thing was the three tickets to the lion king. He arrived and valeted the car (important fact to hold onto for the next day....) and I was able to get two more tickets to the Rockettes and one more to the tenement museum - but what about tonight Lion King :-? I told him to go ahead without me - I was happy to chill in the room or explore a little - he wanted me to come to see if we could get another seat...

So onward we went - it was still super nice out - we went to the box office and I gave them my three tickets and told them to go ahead without me - I would wait - truth be told I was just going to give it up - as my budget was now 100% busted out with the adding off the extra tickets etc. dh knows me and said "you better try to do this or I am going to be mad" silly guy.

So I DID wait and I DID get great seats - same row as them but center (I had wanted aisle seats for dd as I recalled that sitting on the aisle is a great treat in the lion King) -

The biggest fun for me was that there were two young girls next to me from Israel that had never been to NYC or a broadway show but knew EVERY Lion King song and sang them in utter delight - it was fun to see their joy (they had to be in their 20's). The show was a big surprise in that I LOVED it - it was fun, original and just great. The family loved it too.

After the show my daughter loves to stand by the stagedoor and get the photos and autographs of the cast - this did not disappoint either - even my husband hung in there - and then as we were crossing the street - a beautiful Bernadette Peters was exiting into HER car and got a sighting of her too :) -

We decided to have dessert after the show and walked around too long deciding where to go (sometimes my ss thinks he knows everything about NYC after living there for one year but does not really if you know what I mean) --- so we never ended up with dessert - ss and dh were now hungry and I told them to go and eat and dd and I would head back.... honestly I cannot rememeber if they did? I just know that ss headed back to harlem to catch up with us in the am and at the end of the night it was cramped with dh in the room (6'1 240 pounds he takes UP a double bed)....

No sleep was had that night... and it was not due to anything fun! ;-)

Glad you has a good time.

Nice trip report. It is so nice when people take the time to post about their adventures. Thanks!

Bowspirt, Tom and Aud - thank you! The New York Fodorites have been amazing with assisting me plan our travels there over the last few years - I was so afraid to take a subway at first but got over that with assistance from great folks here :)

We really had a wonderful time. I have felt like a fish out of water for the last year in Texas - let's just say I do NOT blend and I realized I fit in with ease in New York. It felt "right" - it is not surprising since I was born in NJ and lived there till I was 9 and my husband is 100 percent Italian from Canarsie ...

Thursday - new career scalper ~ tenements and chinese ...

We woke up a little cranky on Thursday morning - lack of sleep had got to me and my 14 year old was suffering badly from cramps - we had 11:00 am Rockette tickets that I was pretty excited out and had just purchased TWO more the evening before as now my husband and stepson were going to join us...

Hubby went to the deli next door to grab some morning breakfast stuff (a total of like 15.00 for the four of us) and yummy. (right next to the Court yard - but they are every place in the city...

I tried to decide what to do - I was not crazy about leaving my 14 year old alone in the room while the 3 of us went to the show and truthfully I wanted HER to enjoy it - she was pale and not up for anything.

I also was not going to blow the 160.00 - we got "special" tickets with a rate code that were good seats at 40.00 each - I decided to head down and try to sell the tickets - which sent my husband and stepson into hysterics for some reason :-? (you would have to know me to know how far out of my comfort zone this is - and generally speaking I would have just given the tickets to someone - but times are a changin' and this low budget trip was already getting busted out with the addition of two more people - so onward I went with stepson and husband in tow to try to sell the 4 tickets to the 11:00 am Rockette show...

I wish I could show you a video - stepson tries to sell them - people are afraid to buy them - they could not understand how the seats were only 40.00 - husband looks like a big Italian Guido... no one was biting - they were sort of running.

Yes, I sold them - I ventured out of my comfort zone and sold the tickets - took a small hit on the second pair but got most of my money back...

The day was still young still the weather was amazing -

I wanted to walk through Bryant Park on the way back to the room to check on dd - it was of course great - all the little shops, the yummy food - my husband bought me a beautiful necklace for my birthday at one of the booths/shops - we watched the ice skaters for a while - all was right... except I needed to get back to the room and get packed up as we were headed to the tenement museum - and of course check on the ailing daughter.

hubby and stepson stayed out and I headed back to the room and got all packed up - our daughter was feeling a little better -

The plan was to load the car, drive over the tenement museum which has parking, and do the tour, have something to eat in that area - and drive to Long Island about 8:00 pm or so to TRY to miss the crazy traffic...

The valet was taking foerver - It took about 45 minutes to get the car due to the traffic in the city - I was getting stressed about missing the tour - I had been looking forward to this for a long time - my paternal great grandparents came from Russia and my husband's family came from Italy - and it was a Jewish and Italian families tours that we were going on...

We finally got the car - our son tried to tell us to go a different way - so that was fun in the car (see: not) we arrived with NO time to spare, hubby dropped us off and went to park and caught up with us a few minutes late.

The tour was WONDERFUL. I loved it - my family indulged me - I could tell that they were not as enthralled as I was - although my husband did enjoy it and the museum itself was GREAT - he said it was like going to his grandparents house when he was little, the tiles, so much of it was exactly like he remembered growing up.

After the amazing tour - my stepson and husband wanted to eat chinese and my daughter and I wanted Italian - so ever pleasing as my spouse tries to be - and ever hungry ;-) - he and stepson ate at a place around the corner from the tenement museum. I wanted to go and explore a few places in the area - but my husband really wanted me to stay so I missed out on a few things that I will have to check out if we get back there.

AFTER the chinese food - we wanted to take our daughter to little Italy - I realize again that it is a tourist place but you have to know that it is fun for us - and we enjoy the big Italian guys on the street trying to lure you in - it is like my husband's family ;-).

We had an EXCELLENT meal - I mean excellent - Gennaro - the service was very good -- I had an amazing lobster ravioli - I would go back and eat again - it was very very good. If one wants to eat there (I know again there are wonderful Italian places all through NYC but it was fun for us) everything looked so pretty with the lights for Christmas and the joy was really abundant.

We got the car and got ready to head out to Long Island - Melville here we come! NYC was stupendous!

here are some photos we took while there if interested :)

oppsss the link helps:



http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...1&l=aadb174d5e

You know, if I didn't know better, I would say you were a NYer in another life!

Your joy and enthusiasm is contagious; someone reading your report would want to book a trip to NYC based solely on your expeditions.

I am so glad you all had such a good time.

Dawn, is that you and your daughter - you look like twins!

Great report Dawn!

Dawn, I loved reading your trip report. I want to go to NYC again after reading your report and seeing your wonderful pictures. Glad you had such great weather also. We just got back to CA from MN and it has been 88 degrees here - really too hot for me in the winter. Guess I never got rid of that MN blood. Happy New Year to you and your family.

Love your trip report Dawn, some great memories were made!!

Maybe your step-son can do what my DD and SIL do to survive in New York. They are not making any money as musicians there and have decided to do two or three cruise ship gigs a year so they can earn enough to be able to stay there.

Thanks everyone!

Yes, SF that is my daughter - 14 going on 21. ;-) She has decided (subject to change) that she wants to live in NYC - loves it so much.

Nelsoian - I will let him know - good idea !

Cali - thank you so much - happy New Year to you and yours :)

Debit - I would not want to live IN NYC but just seemed to blend more with the North East than my good ole state of Texas ;-)

We arrived with not too much traffic to Long Island and my husband was already checked into the Melville Marriott - we stayed on Long Island Thursday night and Friday night. My husband had a holiday event to attend on Friday night that we accompanied him to. My daughter, stepson (who took the train out) met up with friends and hung out during the day - it was really nice.

Sat morning we headed out to Staten Island to see family and onto family in Whitehouse Station NJ. where we spent the weekend.

We departed from Newark on Monday am.

It was a wonderful trip and I am looking forward to being able to go again in future!

While it is VERY hard on us to have my husband gone so often, it does afford us miles/points and we were able to do this trip based on that - so I try to keep that in mind.

Love NYC and loved it more at Christmas time. :)

Thanks for the trip report, Dawn. I'm glad you had a great time!

(I have one suggestion regarding your daughter that you may have already considered: birth control pills. They really help the cramps. No young woman should have to suffer through that pain every month.)

Birdie - side note - it is horrible and we have a second md appointment - they pooh-poohed us the first time in August. It is life altering and debilitating. :(