NYC 2008

Well, we’re back — and we had a great time!  Of the original wish list, we were able to do the following:

• “National Train Day” events at Penn Station when we arrive (exhibits, simulators, etc)
• Stand in the median at Times Square and look up at all of the signs
• Window Shopping at FAO Schwarz, Macy’s, Toys ‘R Us, M&M World, The Hershey Store and Tiffany & Co.
• Statue of Liberty evening cruise
• A sampling of New York pizza
• Dinner at the Marriott revolving restaurant
• Central Park Zoo

Not bad for less than 36 hours in town from start to finish!

We left the house about 10 minutes late and were worried that we’d miss our train, but we made it there with just about 10 minutes to spare.  The train ride up to NYC was pretty uneventful except for the fact that the train lost power and coasted into Newark Penn Station.  We sat on the train for about 45 minutes before they informed us that they had lost power (duh!) and were going to transfer us to a New Jersey PATH train for the remainder of our trip.  There were no Amtrak personnel around to tell us where to go… we had to just follow the crowd of people.  As we, the merry band of Amtrak refuges, were standing in the PATH train, packed in like sardines, not moving, we started to wonder if we were even on the right train, but there was no one around to tell us that we were, or even how many stops to NY Penn Station.  Bad customer service; as soon as I get a chance I’m going to be calling about that.

We finally made it, about an hour and a half off schedule.. but who cares — we were there!  We looked around at some of the train exhibits, but the place was packed so we didn’t stay long.  We stepped out of the station onto the sidewalk and John was completely in awe.  He had never seen anything like NYC before so we just stood there for a couple of minutes so that he could take it in.

Our first order of business was to pick up our bus passes at Times Square, so we hoofed it over there.  After picking up the passes we decided to track down one of the pizza places I had researched online.  As luck would have it, it was on the street that we were standing on; but what we didn’t know (thanks to nonsense NYC addressing) was that it was 15 blocks away on that same street.  Ooops.

So, we had pizza at New York Pizza Suprema, and we both agreed that it was the best pizza that we had ever had.  Large floppy slices with flaky crust and a delicate crisp.  Amazing pizza — it was everything that we hoped it’d be.

Since we were in the area, our next stop was Macy’s for some “window shopping.”  Did you know the Macy’s store in NYC has 7 floors?  It does.  Seriously.  If you are an out-of-towner, go to the Visitor’s Center on the 2nd floor; show them your drivers license and they will give you a discount card for 11% off at any Macy’s store.  The shoe floor was totally packed with people, so we just moved on.  The perfume floor (see photo below) was insanely packed.  They have several food vendors including their own Macy’s Cellar Grill, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Auntie Anne’s Pretzels.  Warning:  bathrooms are few and far between.  There is a Ladies room on the 2nd and 6th floors, and the Mens rooms are in the cellar and on the 5th floor — so plan your shopping route accordingly.  They have a real fur shop; stop by and try on a few if you get the chance.

Victoria’s Secret is right across Herald Square, so we dropped in.  Unfortunately, I left my Angel card at home so no purchases for me.  The store was a bit of a disappointment for me.  For some reason, I was just expecting something more special for the NYC location.  From there we walked down Broadway back to Times Square where we checked out the Toys ‘R Us.  John loved it!  We only had a couple of hours until our evening Statue of Liberty cruise, so we hit the tour bus for the ride downtown.

John later said that the experience of seeing the Statue of Liberty up close completely wasn’t what he thought it would be — he was moved in a way that he didn’t expect.  Once the cruise was over, we briefly visited the WTC site, and then hopped the Number 2 subway line back to Times Square for our dinner at The View Lounge.  The Marriott Marquis (Times Square) is the only building in NYC with a revolving rooftop restaurant (and lounge).  Reservations are hard to get, and the line to wait in for entry to The Lounge is long; but we made it in.  They gave us a window table.  The View makes one complete revolution every 50 minutes, so that’s how long you’ll be there if you want to see the entire panoramic view.  The drink napkins have a legend (based on building shape) to let you know what you’re looking at as you go around.  We ordered the appetizer buffet ($30 per person), which consisted of various beef and chicken dishes, pasta salads, marinated vegetables, cheeses and crackers.  It also included an awesome dessert buffet with mini confections, sweet breads, cheeses and a chocolate fountain.  Was  the food truly worth $30 per person?  No — but the view was.

The View is something that we recommend that you do once… because it’s just plain cool.  But at $30 per person for food (the only menu is the buffet) and a 1 drink minimum per person (domestic beers are $7.50, mixed drinks start at $15) in the lounge, you can wrack up quite a tab and sit-down meals in the restaurant are even more expensive.  We’ve done it once so we don’t feel the need to go back.  If you get the chance and can afford it, it’s a great way to see the city at night.  But plan ahead — you will need advance reservations for the restaurant or patience for line-waiting for the lounge.

Our hotel room gave John a rude awakening.  I had warned him that NYC hotel rooms are notoriously small, but I don’t think he believed me.  This was our room:

Yes, except for the bathroom (which you can’t see off to the left), this was the whole of our room.  Small?  Yes.  Cheap for NYC?  Yes.  A place to sleep?  Yes.  We stayed at the Econo Lodge on 47th Street.  If you just need a place to crash, you can’t beat it for $200/night.

We got up at the crack of 10am on Sunday morning and headed out looking for window shopping and adventure.  Our first stop was the Hershey store and then M&M’s World, both in Times Square.  The Hershey store smells like chocolate the second you walk in.  They’ve got lots of cool stuff for sale that we can’t get here.  Our friend William would loooove this; I wish we had thought to buy a bottle for him:

M&M World was equally as cool.  If someone makes it, they sell it with a M&M’s logo on it.  They also have some crazy M&M mixes available for sale — like this one:

Who doesn’t love NYC taxis?  We were headed over to 5th avenue to window shop at FAO Schwarz, Tiffany & Co. and the Apple Store, but being a Sunday morning, they weren’t open yet.  Since our trek had brought us right to Central Park, we decided to waste some time there and then hit the stores on the way back to Times Square.  We took a spin through the Central Park Zoo, which was pretty cool, and then walked a couple of the paths around the other side.

Next up was the Apple store which was chaos (full of people).  If you get the chance, stop by there — you can try out everything they make.  After that, we went to FAO Schwarz to check out the toys and the big piano.  Yes, it’s really there, at the rear of the 2nd floor.  Anyone can play on it, you just have to take your shoes off, and they periodically have professionals in to “play” some tunes for you.  There’s lots of cool stuff in FAO, and sales doodles are always encouraging you to play.  They even have a baby doll nursery on the 2nd floor where your daughter can point to the “baby” that she wants and a nurse will then present it to the proud new “mom.”  And there’s a custom while-u-wait Hot Wheels factory.

Our next shopping stop was Tiffany & Co., where we purchased something for John’s mom (it was, afterall, Mother’s Day).  The service there was amazing.  They didn’t look down on us for coming in wearing jeans and sneakers, and very happily removed price tags and gift-wrapped the items.  We also purchased something for someone on our Christmas list, but we’re not telling who. :-D  In the same block was the World of Disney store, which was much the same as the ones in Florida, but they had the Disney princesses there for Mother’s Day photos.  Yes, dear Ashley, Uncle John & Aunt Patti did get to meet Jasmine.  Photos forthcoming.

What’s a visit to NYC without real New York cheesecake?  Perish the thought.  We trekked back to Times Square and had lunch at Junior’s at 45th street between 7th & 8th.  I had a grilled cheese sandwich which was, well, a grilled cheese sandwich.  John, lover of everything reuben, had a reuben and proclaimed that now he knows that he’s never really had one before.  It was that good.  And then there was the cheesecake.  He said that he could die a happy man now.  Too bad, because I was hoping to back to Disney again.  LOL  If you’re in NYC, you need to eat at Junior’s.  Tell Mr. Gus that we sent you — he’s a hoot.

On to more somber notes.  We rode the tour bus downtown to the “Ground Zero” site and went through the WTC Museum.  I had been once before, but still got emotional about it.  I think John was too.  Due to construction, they’ve taken down the photo memorial that was there when I was there last year, and fenced the whole area off.  But I was able to get a couple of photos through the fence.  That’s what remains of where one of the towers was.  I *think* that the Tower 1 site has been cleaned out and is now being built upon so this should be what remains of the cleanup of Tower 2.

We rode the tour bus back towards the Times Square area but got off at Rockefeller Plaza due to extreme traffic (NYPD was doing something around Times Square), then walked back to the train station.  The train ride home was a long one — we were both exhausted, but sleep didn’t come.  We finally made it home around 1:30am, and then got up and left for work around 9am.  Just another week….

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