September 2008 Weddings
xojo1
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NYC Recommendations
We are very excitedly planning a vacation to New York City the week after Thanksgiving. We hope to do some sort of walking tour, see some sort of production (Broadway or maybe the Christmas special at Radio City Music Hall), and other things.
Does anyone have any recommendations for places to stay? We'd love to stay in Manhattan, but also want to keep the hotel to $300/night and as hotel snobs we know this may not be possible. The most important thing for a hotel is that it is clean. We won't spend much time there, but it has to be clean.
Also, any places we must eat? Things we must see or do?
Re: NYC Recommendations
Fun! We're hoping to go for a long weekend either the 2nd-4th or 9th-11th!
I went with my MIL and SILs last May, but we were really only in NYC for a day. MIL had a ton of Hilton points so we stayed at the Waldorf, but there were several hotels in the Times Square area, check out the Marriott and see what prices are.
We also went to Mesa Grill for dinner, it was fab, but I have about 50 restaurants I want to go to in NYC, all expensive of course since DH and I are total foodies.
We tried to go to Serendipity for a frozen hot chocolate, but it was too early in the morning and they didn't open until noon or something on Sunday.
We went to Battery Park, but didn't ferry out to the Statue of Liberty, Rockefellar Center, Madison Ave. shopping, and some other general walking around.
When DH and I go, we'll plan to see a Broadway musical, some off-Broadway regular play, and probably plan our food tour very carefully:)
I'm sure you can stay in Manhattan for $300/night. Just don't look around Central Park! (I've never stayed in a hotel here though so I can't recommend)
You MUST go to Ellis Island & the Statue of Liberty. Its one pass/boat. The Statue you can just float by; its not too interesting on the island. Ellis Island is awesome.
I also like the Tenamant Museum on the LES. The Guggenheim is cool if the exhibit is fun - Andy Warhol was there one year, but the next time it was boring brown metal things. Both the NAtural History Museum and the Art Museum are nice of course. I'd definately do the Empire State Building (probably early in the day). Times Square is more fun at night when its bright.
I can get you resturant recs - what's the price range? Cusine? I eat at cheaper places (and don't eat in the city all that often) but one of my friends frequents fancier establishments (her family is foodies) and run into Rangers and Yankees etc regularly (well, moreso in other cities when they travel to see teams play). Pizza and bagels are always good bets; they're good at pretty much every hole in the wall here as long as you're not on Broadway or something.
oh and I prefer Crumbs cupcakes. For food, theres a place called Tony's in the theater district that is borderline touristy but is REALLY good -my foodie friend loves it - and is family style.
And we should try to meet up (easy if i am still working here in Chelsea).
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You definately have to get a cart hot dog & pretzel. It'll be chilly so the nuts will be out too. Honestly carts have stricter sanitation laws than some resturants (and licenses can be several 100k/yr depending on location. They don't screw around).
I haven't seen a ton of shows, but can ask my friend (the foodie) one if you want - she sees pretty much everything. I have seen Wicked and it was eh. I love the Radio City show though so if yuo're only seeing one....it IS a classic! I did see American Idiot (TKTS tickets, I wouldn't pay full price) recently and it was pretty awesome but BRIGHT. I love Green Day though. The TKTS line moves pretty fast, so might be a good option if you're willing to go on a Wed morning and get crapshoot tickets for a matinee (esp if you have set tickets another night). I saw American Idiot on a weekend in October without issue that way.
one of the museums on the park - I can't remember right now - used to do free admission on Wednesday with Amex. Worth checking into. You might want to consider Priceline for hotels too. Just check 5star or whatever. Everything is accessible in NY. Where are you flying into? Don't do LGA; it is horrible to get to Manhattan from LGA (bus to subway, and you have to time it right, unless you want to cab it, and LGA is a horrible airport and should be condemmed anyway).
The Statue & Ellis Island are all one ferry/ticket, so you don't really have to stress about it. I just think the island with the statue is boring. The views are better from the ferry (I have been there like half a dozen times though). I think the inside is open again (it was closed after 9/11 for a long time) but even when the crown is open you have to get there at the crack of dawn for access.
This is the Tenament Museum http://www.tenement.org/. It is seriously cool, but I'm a history nerd. The Intrepid is also pretty cool to visit. It'll be even cooler if they get a space shuttle
There used to be a City Pass that had tickets to all the main things (Statue, Empire State, Intrepid, a Museum etc and some random ones) for a good deal but I don't know if its still around. Worth checking!! I would also skip the bus tours since the traffic in tour areas would be super annoying.
In December, the "flea market" might be set up already (dates escape me) in Bryant Park, so that's worth checking. It's probably also late enough for Christmas displays on 5th Ave. The window shopping there is pretty fun anyway. Times Square has fun stores too (Hershey, TRU, etc). You can totally kill some time there.
and, duh, Rockefeller Center. The tree should be lit around then. Don't ice skate there - line is too long + $$. There is ice skating in Central Park if you're so inclined! At night there's snowflakes on the Sak's building too.
OK, I'm done now
If we do a tour (likely), we'll do a walking tour to avoid traffic. It will be chilly, but we can definitely handle it when we're having fun.
I'm not sure on the airport, but I think the flight we have picked out is to LGA. It's quite a bit more expensive to fly to Newark since we fly from either our small hometown airport on another small one an hour away. We could go to St. Louis, but it's a pain compared to our other two options. I'll do some more looking. We'll probably take a cab to and from the airport anyway since we'll have luggage.
I'm still deciding on the shows. I am leaning toward the Radio City Christmas show, though, because I can see the Broadway shows in Chicago and can still walk down Broadway in NYC. I can't see the Radio City show elsewhere. If we have time, I'd love to do both, but I think I will have to choose.
I'm getting excited, even though it's still a while away. We haven't taken a vacation in 2 years, so this one is going to be fun.
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Haha, thank you! I appreciate the advice.
The whole reason we are going when we are is because I want to see the tree and all the lights and decorations. Matt wanted to go when it was warmer, but I am set on seeing it all so he gave in. I think the tree is being lit on the 30th, so we may get to see that. I need to look in to it more. We'll definitely see it lit up, though.
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Check JFK too. The big difference (besides not looking like its going to fall apart and not landing over the water) is there is a train to JFK from midtown. If you do fly into LGA I would plan to take a cab to the hotel for sure. All three airports are about the same drive time (LGA is technically less but the traffic makes up for it). If you're coming in off hours, a cab is great and not much more than the airtrain, but you probably want an alternate plan if you arrive or leave during busy hours. Just something to consider when you pick tickets.
Also, just fyi, the theater's aren't all on Broadway
You can also get tickets day of at a lot of older shows, so you could always pop by and check if you're feeling inspired some afternoon.
I wouldn't worry too much about the cold - it is normally in the 40s-50s daytime then, so it'll be fine as long as it doesn't rain.
I'm excited for you. I love NY.
Great time to go! Not too hot, not too cold, comfortable to walk around in! You definitely got great ideas already! When my Matt and I went, we stayed in Jersey and took the bus in, so I am not sure about hotels, but I can ask him for you since he's got it all!
Must do's:
All the typical touristy things! Cliche? Yes. Fun? Hell yeah!
Walk from Times Square to Central Park. Grab a grilled chicken on a stick from a street vendor (Amazing!) Check out Carnegie Hall while you are over there!
Walk down 5th Ave and drool! Then head over to Grand Central Station! Then stop at Rockefeller Center and maybe stroll through the diamond district.
Walk down to The Empire State Building - we thought it was worth it to go to the top. We watched a thunderstorm roll in from the top and it was crazy cool.
Then take the subway down to Ground Zero. Walk through Wall Street and over to the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are a must, no question! We didn't go into the statue at all, but it was still neat to walk around it and take pictures. Plan for more time at Ellis Island than you think you'll need ... it'll be worth it.
To Eat:
Street Vendors! So yummy! We liked the hole in the wall pizza joints a lot. I am guessing you've had Chicago Pizza so of course you have to try New York Pizza!
We honestly just walked around and found something when we got hungry. There are lot's of options around.
Yep! We're looking at going either the first or second weekend in December! That'd be hilarious if we ran into each other!
Logan isn't a huge theater guy, but the stuff I've dragged him along to, he always has a really good time and is like "We should do stuff like this more often". He's a closet theater guy:)
We're probably also going to go to ground zero, I'm not sure what other tourist things we're going to do, other than Rockefellar Center of course, which is why we're going that time of year!
Thanks, Jules! I'm definitely printing out this thread for reference. There is also a thread on the NYC local board that has lots of great tips.
Andrea - Matt won't go to the theater on his own, but will go with me. He doesn't dislike it. It just isn't something he would choose. We have a vacation agreement that if someone really wants to do something, then we do it. So, we're definitely going to some show.
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Ditto all of these recs, esp arriving in JFK. We took a direct flight from Oakland to JFK and it went flawlessly. We went 6 mos after 9/11 but it feels as if we just went.
DH and I did a walking/history tour of the Rockerfellar Center and we loved. We ran into Ann Curry from The Today Show too!
We did the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island thing too. It was so warm out we passed out at Liberty Park.
We went to the Financial District on a Sunday when it was a ghost town. Grant it, you will not see the hustle and bustle of that district but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
We went to a Yankee game and gorged ourselves on every food there.
We took the subway and walked EVERYWHERE. It also helped my SIL was living there when we visited NYC.
We did the Central Park/Strawberry Fields thing too. Since we went in June, there were some humid days so we had to do things in the morning but then again it was humid at 7 am and still humid at 7 pm.
oh and I apparently I had a CA accent according to the hot dog vendors?!? Who knew.
CRAFTY ME
my read shelf:
It's late, so I'm not reading everyone else's responses first, so this may have already been said...
We went to NYC for the first time (I know, crazy...I've lived in NY most of my life) in Sept. Sadly we only had 1 day there and stayed outside of the city at my friends hotel (she's the AGM) in White Plains/Tarrytown. We found the best way to get to see all of the major attractions and for realitively little $$ is to buy passes to a double decker tour bus. Yes it's obviously super touristy, but really it takes you to everything. Also, with your bus ticket you will get tickets to lots of other attractions. We got tickets to a ferry ride, top of the rock, and a couple of museums. Due to time constraints we only made it to the Top Of The Rock (highly recommended) but it was super fun and they extra tickets were all included.
DH and I are starting to talk about planning a trip back in the fall/winter...probably around the same time you're going. I want to see all of the decorations for Christmas time.
Kasi - Pizza is a given! I'm not a fan of Chicago style pizza, but I think I will like New York style.
Luen - Let me know when you decide to go and if you'd like to meet for lunch or something. Matt knows that it is always a possibility that I might want to meet my friends when we travel.
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