NYCYouLater – New York Travelblog the Last

We made it home Tuesday afternoon (leaving HJ jr behind to spend a few days in New York with his father) after our terrific five days in NYC. I think everyone had a great time and The Cinnamon Girl and I hope that the kids have some memories from the trip that will last them throughout their lives.

On our last day – the day of the Major League All Star Game – we made it by foot to Rockefeller Center and, though the NBC tour was sold out, we did get to wander around the building, get out of the oppressive heat, and grab a bite to eat. Our goal was to make it back to the hotel in time for the All Star Parade – the red carpet for which had been laid out down 42nd Street overnight.

Stretch’s hat is on the left. Damn Dinger!

Make it back we did and we got to see the overwhelming majority of All Star players ride by us, waving at the crowd, seated in the backs of Chevys.  The MLB mascots were there, too, the Colorado Rockies own Dinger – the other purple dinosaur among them. Stretch has never been a big fan of Dinger and was decrying the dino’s presence at such an event even as the big purple thing approached us – perhaps egged on by The Cinnamon Girl yelling for him to come. Dinger, seeing Stretch’s Colorado Rockies baseball cap, stole it, put it on one of his horns and walked down the street. It was a great moment. Stretch got the hat back and got to watch the rest of the parade while Sous Chef and The Cinnamon Girl escorted HJ jr to meet his father at the Waldorf Astoria.

Yes, you read that right. The Waldorf.

Our hotel – the Grand Hyatt – was very, very nice. The Cinnamon Girl compared it to a DMV after being in the lobby of the famed Waldorf.

So, final NYC reflections?

• We had a great trip and we all will go back at some point, though none of us wish to live there.
• We got to do all that we wanted to do – almost all, Sous Chef didn’t make it to Carlo’s Bakery (made famous by Cake Boss) and had to settle for Dylan’s Candy Bar. I can’t tell you how that place got famous.
• The Cinnamon Girl noted how many people were engaged in service professions and what a good thing that was. There were many folks we saw working jobs that could have been automated (ticket takers and the like) and we found them to be incredibly helpful – unlike stereotypes would have suggested.
• LaGuardia Airport is a dump. Period.
• Gray Line Tours are the way to go. Wow, we got our money’s worth.
• Magnolia Bakery cupcakes are the best cupcakes ever.
• We will always treasure our walks in Central Park.

Now, Sous Chef is charged with pulling it all together into a scrap-book. She’ll do great!

She better. The supplies themselves cost over $100.00!

Get to work, Sous Chef!

 

We were a part of it. We loved it.

We will miss you, New York, New York. (Can you hear Sinatra?)

 

A More Relaxed Pace as the NYSight-C-ing Beings to Wind Down – NYC Travelblog Six

Another morning, another Central Park walk. This one was over six miles. Thinking the kids would like to get some sleep (Stretch and Sous Chef were up late watching for MLB players in the lobby and HJ jr was very tired when they hit the rack) The Cinnamon Girl and I made our way into the Park and up, again, to the Dakota Building. We made a point of finding Strawberry Fields and crossed back through the park taking a less commercial, more residential route back to the hotel. As it turned out, Sous Chef was none too pleased that we had left her behind – though she did get a good night's sleep!

 

We went to Grand Central Station and descended on the food court sharing an eclectic breakfast/lunch and our second round of Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. Desirous of the total New York experience, we decided to take the Subway back to Battery Park to the harbor and a ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We looked very much the tourists as we bought our fare cards and found our way to the correct platform. But find our way we did and, minutes later, we were at Battery Park heading for the harbor.

 

The ferry was packed and I was personally happy that we had to sit inside and out of the sun. The heat wave out here has been FOR REAL. Sous Chef's day got a little worse as she felt a bit sea-sick on the ferry. She toughed it out and we got to see Lady Liberty and Ellis Island from the expansive windows of the boat.

This ticket was included in our Gray Line pass package we bought and I cannot recommend sightseeing this way enough. The bus tours were all very good, the included tickets were helpful and kept us out of lines and the night tour last night was, in-and-of-itself, almost worth the price.

We headed back to the hotel after the harbor tour and cooled down before embarking by foot back to Times Square for a little shopping. Sous Chef was in search of Dylan's Candy Bar and, after a stop at the Disney Store for me (remember, Disney owns Marvel… I wasn't looking for princesses!) and a swing through the why-did-the-world-need-anything-like-it M&Ms Store (weird, weird, weird), we set ourselves to find it.

On foot, we failed. This led us to what was, perhaps, our most quintessential NYC experience: the New York City taxi-ride at rush hour. Dear. God. It was an experience I am none too eager to repeat. Dylan's Candy Bar was, likewise, something that, done once need never be done again. Sous Chef loved it and I will admit, it was cool, but the memories of it will sustain me. Forever.

Cafe Metro served as our dinner spot. We all loved this place! The made salads and pastas to order and we all got to eat what we wanted to eat. It was quite delicious. I highly recommend it and wish there was one in Denver.

I dragged the family to one of the two Midtown Comics locations which we discovered today was located very close to our hotel. I could still be wandering around there now. I might find my way back at some point tomorrow. This is the kind of comic shop I wish we had in Denver. I wish we had it in our house!

Finally, our night was capped off with a walk to the Empire State Building and a trip up to the Observation Deck. There is very little way to adequately describe the view. Breathtaking. Overwhelming. Inspiring. All of the above come to mind. We all were speechless and breathless as we moved through the crowd to see the view from each side of the deck.

What a terrific way to end the day.

What a terrific way to end the vacation.

Tomorrow, Cinnamon Girl, Stretch, Sous Chef and I will be leaving while HJ jr will stay behind with his dad for a few days. Sad to see our trip ending, we also prepare to leave feeling like we've completely maximized our time.

A few hours remain tomorrow… I know we will make the most of them.

 

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Too Much to Report Including a Times Square Sit In – NYC Travelblog Five

It's too late a night to blog much about our day which included:

• A walk through Central Park (6 short miles)
• A downtown Gray Line Tour which took us all over town (with a guide who must have been someone's cousin to get the job)
• New. York. Pizza.
• The 9/11 Memorial
• Battery Park
• A quest to find the Colorado Rockies Apple (more on this later and I am mad at a non-tweet responsive MLB)
• Our first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty
• A continuation of our Gray Line Tour (with a great guide) that dropped us in Times Square for a delicious Italian dinner
• A nighttime Gray Line Tour that took us from Manhattan into Brooklyn and back (photos to follow soon) with a tremendous and erudite tour guide
• An encounter with the Times Square Zimmerman verdict protest
• A brush with fame as we people watched in the hotel lobby for Major League Baseball players arriving for All Star Weekend (Barry Larkin and Chris Berman)
• A very, very late bedtime

It's been another full, fun, frenetic day.

 

 

 

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10 Plus – NYC Travelblog Three

We got an early start this morning leaving the hotel at about 8:30 and, after a quick trip to Starbucks (I don’t drink coffee at all so I had some kind of orange refresh-y thing that was… ok) we set out for Central Park. About 2 miles from our hotel, Central Park laid out expansively and gorgeously in front of us. Breathtaking is the right word. The weather was moderate, though the humidity was heavy, and we passed the Central Park Zoo as we moved into the park proper.

What a great walk. Though our destination was the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we took our time enjoying the beauty of this iconic location. Every spot we saw looked like it was right out of a movie. Among the many cell phones among us, I think we took over 50 pictures

And that was before we hit the museum.

The Cinnamon Girl teaches an online AP Art History class and knows so much about what we were seeing. From room-to-room, she gave us insight into pieces from the artists of the Renaissance to the Impressionists to modern day masters. In a whirlwind two hours we moved throughout the museum in awe. At lunch, we all talked about the pieces we thought we most arresting. I have to say that the Monets were, for my money, pretty impressive.

Lunch was a bit of a challenge. We walked to a restaurant called La Pain Quotidien which looked terrific on the smartphone. However, the menu had just changed two weeks ago to all organic – which is fine but not a meal we would have chosen for the whole family. A mental adjustment made, we all enjoyed a great meal which included olive tapenade, prosciutto, curried chicken sandwich, local cheeses and organic lemonade among other things. It really was delicious and felt very “New York.”

I have revealed what a yokel I am, haven’t I?

Our return walk to the hotel included a two minute stop at the Apple Store (oh, dear God) and a run through FAO Swartz at my request (though no purchases were made).

We felt it was a good idea to regroup after our morning and afternoon which had featured 10 plus miles through the city.

Refresh, recharge and regroup before we head out tonight to Times Square and Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark.

 

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