NYC-Our legs are going to be so pretty About This Page:

[Kelly66]

Our Party - Linda -her 40 something's birthday trip to NYC, She grew up and lived in Louisville, KY. She used to be a Louisville Police Officer and studied criminal justice, so this trip is often interrupted to take pictures with random Police Officers. She is a very trusting person who has a great positive attitude about everything.
Brittany-College age daughter of Linda, who just returned from England to study abroad. Brittany is always enthusiastic about everything and has fun no matter what she is doing. She is very assertive and helpful.
Honorary Party member-Chris, DH is 47 years old. He has been in the city for business several times over the years and worked in Brooklyn a couple of years. He rarely tours with us, but he is our driver twice!! Thanks so much to the bestest husband in the whole wide world.
Myself-Kelly-47 year old. I have lived in Westchester (2005-2009) for 4 years and was able to get to the city often. DH worked in Brooklyn for a couple of years and goes into the city now for work occasionally. Due to the illness of a family member, even though I have lived in NJ for the past two and a half years, I haven’t been to the city much. In between Westchester and NJ, I lived in Puerto Rico for a couple years, so the city has changed a great deal from what I remember. DH and I had our first trip to NYC in 1989 and the city has changed a HUGE amount since then. We were able to get to NYC a couple times in between. (Waldorf Astoria 1989, Roosevelt Hotel 1995, Palace Hotel 1997, Sheraton Lincoln Harbor Hotel?, Weehawken, NJ 1998, Roosevelt 2001, DH’s apartment on Park Row 2005)
Our Lodging-Hilton Times Square (just one night with points)
The Journey-Although I offered to drive & bring up all of Linda’s children, when there were only two people coming, we decided it would be less expensive for them to fly on frequent flyer miles than for me to drive them. Louisville to Detroit to Lehigh Valley Airport.
Our Special Plans-Wicked, visit Anderson Cooper’s refurbished firehouse, Walk the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Trump Tower, Coney Island, walk through ChinaTown and Little Italy, 9/11 memorial, Yankee Stadium....kind of, Good Morning America
Our Dining-Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Pub, Junior’s Cheesecake, Hard Rock Cafe in Yankee Stadium, Staten Island Ferry (for a view of the Statue of Liberty), Olive Garden, Arriba Arriba

[chezp]

Great start!

[jimmymac]

Great start. Welcome to the best city in the world

[Cam22]

Great start!

[Kelly66]

Before I left I noticed that the plane was due to arrive 15 minutes early. I gave myself an hour and 20 minutes to get from Hackettstown, NJ to the Airport in Allentown, NJ. I had forgotten (and should have known since I went that way twice a week to dog training) that there was a detour. THEN I got behind a farm vehicle. Don't you love the GPS system that tells you when you will arrive?......until you get behind a farm vehicle going 20 miles an hour (isn't that fast for one of those?) on a 50 mph zone? I watched for ten minutes while the time got closer and closer to when they would land. As soon as he could, he moved over so everyone could pass. Thanks.
In the end I arrived shortly before they were to land. I didn't wait long, and they were off the plane and we were on the way. They did check one bag, but had to pay for it. This trip was a birthday present, so I wish I could have paid for the bag on my credit card in advance for them, but the system wouldn't let me. My guests said PA was beautiful and I agreed. We came back to the house, Changed very quickly and went to the Bistro (which was close to the house). I had told my friend about this older neighborhood behind mine where the houses looked more like ‘country homes’ or cabins and where the bears frequent the roads on Monday mornings (when the garbage is picked-up), so we drove through that neat neighborhood on the way to dinner. The Bistro is so yummy, and although it is so fancy with linen table cloths, they never seem to mind if we aren’t dressy. They have patio seating, and we sat outside. NY and our area had just gotten over a heat wave and now it was comfortable. I had the special which was a caprese (did I spell that right?) sandwich, and we had calamari as an appetizer. Linda was brave and tried one. Brittany enjoyed it. We skipped desert because the plan was to drive-and by-to drive I mean for my husband to drive into the city and have Junior’s cheesecake for desert. We went back home and changed and got in the car and headed toward the city. We take this road -a different one than what the GPS recommends. We think it is shorter, but it does go between two multi-thousand acre state parks, so we sometimes don’t go this way at night because of roaming critters like deer, but this was the middle of the day. As we get on the ramp to the ramp to the interstate, there is a bear crossing the road!!!! What a start to the evening in the city!

[PhilsEagles08]

Great start! Can't wait to read more!

[Cam22]

So nice that in spite of the slow moving farm equipment you made it to the airport to pick up your friends in time. I wasn't expecting this TR to have wildlife sightings, but a bear on the ramp to the highway.

[chezp]

Glad you made it to the airport Ok to pick them up. Oh my goodness, that's amazing/scary about the bear!

[Kelly66]

Day one Friday, July 25th -As we drove our roughly one hour to the city, we discussed how my husband and my best friend are kind of alike. Linda always says I married someone with her temperament and she married someone with mine. Opposites attract. I wouldn’t say the part of Louisville, KY where we were raised is a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business, but the priest who met with us before we were married asked if my Maid of Honor (Linda) was related to my husband. There is a small town a few hours away from Louisville that is populated by people with their last names, so we haven’t pinpointed where, but somewhere way back they are probably related. As we drove the tree lined Interstate 80, it still kind of looked like KY. Brittany took some pics of the signs which actually turned out well. DH said, you will get your first glimpse of the city in just a minute. DH said, the big building is the Freedom Tower, and then....while he was looking at the road and driving he pointed out many of the other landmarks we could see. We went over the George Washington bridge, and got into Manhattan at 96th street. Linda asked Brittany to take a pic of the subway. We decided to drive through the park & down 5th Ave. to 53rd. We passed the Guggenheim, and when we got to the Met, Brittany’s father (who is also Linda’s husband) called. He couldn’t believe we were right in from of the Metropolitan Museum of art, much less that since they had landed in PA (plane was due at 1:51 PM) we had also eaten and seen a bear! It had been about three hours since they landed. One of Linda’s friends from KY who had lived on Long Island told her that New Yorkers don’t think flip flops are real shoes. I do remember one time my daughter wore open toed shoes and her feet got very dirty. But we were noting how many people walking along the outside of Central Park were wearing flip flops. But we decided they must live there right off the park. We passed the Apple Store and the Plaza. Brittany took a picture of the Apple Store. I guess the Plaza is just hard to photograph from the car to be able to tell what it is.
There were comments about the traffic. It is unnerving how many people cut each other off going between lanes and how close the cars get to one another. They expressed concern about pedestrian’s safety. May I say my husband is a wonderful driver and I am very glad I was not driving! We drove on down Fifth Avenue and passed Trump Tower. Brittany took a pic of the Luis Vuitton Store. We passed CBS and Charles Schwab and Brittany took pics. It was either at or right before 5:45 on Friday night and the traffic was starting to get nuts and my DH with nerves of Steel had enough of driving. So and turned right on 53rd Street and planned to park. The numbered street wasn’t moving as quickly as the Avenue, ok so it wasn’t moving at all. So DH suggested we get out and walk and call him when we were ready to go and he would park near Times Square closer to the Henry Hudson(at 8th Avenue). Brittany asked a very smart question, on which side of the (one way) street will we go?
Now we get to the point where I (Kelly) am the navigator instead of DH. My plan to navigate the city is simply to sing, “New York...........of a town the Bronx are up and the Battery’s down.” We walked across the NUMBERED STREET (53rd Street) which go East to West-we were walking WEST) and I knew that Times Square was downtown of where we were (but that’s about all I knew about where we were). We saw the sign about the Late Show and they turned right to take a pic. When we were finished with pics, we started walking and once we went a block I realized we were going the wrong way-the streets were going up and we wanted to go downtown, so we had to turn around. This happened so many times, we should call it something cute.
We saw the theater for Cinderella. I explained how TKTS works. One may get same day theater tickets for 25-50% off TKTS | Discount Broadway Tickets | TKTS Booth | TKTS Times Square NYC There is a note there that some people try to sell you a ticket directly and a link to how to protect yourself. Something new since I have done it is that there is an App that tells you ‘these shows were on the boards recently’ Cinderella had been on the app when I checked at 6 AM. However, I explained, you never know which shows will be available when you get to the front of the line, much less if there will be enough seats for your party. We have gotten three seats (in the past for my husband and my daughter) that were in the same section but only two of them were together. We also, in the past, have been in line for hours and got to the front of the line and not gotten tickets because they didn’t have anything we wanted to see. I explained that another way we have gotten same day tickets is to go to the box office 30 minutes before the show and see what is available. They are ‘regular’ price tickets, but you aren’t paying any kind of fee for internet or printing or receiving your ticket or a third party or anything. We kept walking and enjoying the atmosphere and I managed to get us to Times Square. We were taking pics in Times Square and getting teased by a guy selling/ advertising Comedy Central for looking like tourists.
This little building housing the New York Police Department was right in the heart of Times Square. Linda is my best friend from high school and worked full time while in college where she studied Criminal Justice (and got all A’s). Back then when she would tell me about what she had studied, if she wasn’t analyzing serial killers, her classes were teaching about what the NYPD did. So, to her they are real celebrities.We all think so too!!! She asked if she could take a picture with them. They said yes but they had better make it quick or there will be a line. She had us take pics of the police car too. She also mentioned that all the police cars have two officers in them.
My goal was to go to the Times Square information center, but we were on the wrong side of the street. We went to Toys R Us. The first glimpse of the ferris wheel is awe inspiring, but walking around the store gets even more exciting. There are dinosaurs that are their life size, and several iconic buildings made out of legos-complete with King Kong. There is even a Statue of Liberty. Did you know they made legos that color? I asked Brittany if she wanted to go to the Barbie section. She said yes. We usually skip this with my daughter. In case you are wondering, my daughter is ill so she stayed at home whenever we went to the city. Linda is also my daughter’s God Mother. Anyway back to the toy store. We went to the restroom, and then walked around to CandyLand. It could be missed if someone didn’t tell you that it is like walking through a life size version of the board game! By the time we finished all the toys, I remember looking at my watch and wondering if the Visitor’s center would close at 9 PM. We got there before 9 but I guess it was closed. I asked Linda what she thought and she said there was a lot of noise and chaos. Oh I know how to fix that. So we went to the Marriott Marquis. The floor where you walk in at street level is pretty much nothing but elevators. The lobby is on the 8th floor I think-it tells you in the lobby. I went to the elevators and pressed the number on the keypad-the display said M. I wondered it if needed me to go to the mezzanine, but it wanted me to go to elevator M, so we did. Everyone who wanted to go to that same floor was directed to that elevator, so there were no other stops. There were shops up there and big tables with booths. We went to the restroom. I then found out that Linda had been up all night doing laundry and only had about an hour sleep. So I called Chris and asked where he wanted to meet. He asked if we had desert already. I said no, and he said Juniors was ‘behind’ the Marriott Marquis and we would meet there. We went to the bottom floor and asked the guard at the desk where was Junior’s and he pointed the proper direction. It was right outside the door. We went to the bakery wanting to take something home. We walked back to the car and paid $42 for parking and headed back to New Jersey.

[chezp]

Sounds like you had a great time.

[Kelly66]

Please forgive me!!! I miswrote--NUMBERED streets run east to west and we were walking WEST!!!!! Avenues run north to south. This is why the title is -Our legs are going to be so pretty. My sense of direction had us walking a great deal more than we needed to walk.

[Kelly66]

Ok so now that I messed up the Avenues and the Numbered streets, I feel the need to explain the singing part. Numbered Streets, and by that I mean a road called Blah(a number) STREET run East to West. If you walk along a numbered Street the block is longer. If you walk across an Avenue (which also have numbers such as 5th Avenue) you will be passing the Numbered Streets. These blocks will be shorter. As the STREET numbers go UP (a higher number) you are heading toward the Bronx. As the STREET numbers go down (a lower number from the one you just passed) you are heading Downtown towards the Battery. "....the Bronx are up and the Battery's down." First Avenue is over by the United Nations on the East River. Avenues increase in number as one goes West toward New Jersey and the Hudson River. This makes most of Midtown Manhattan easy to navigate, and easy for a map deficient person such as I to figure out where I should go. Eleventh or Twelfth AVENUE is toward the Hudson River. The only places that I get mixed up is because Broadway and Seventh Avenue cross over at (actually above) Times Square.
East to West you have First Avenue, Second Avenue, Third Avenue, Park Avenue, Madison Avenue, {I remember this because the Sun rises in the East and then at P.M. (for Park and Madison) it sets in the West-but I am told it is just easier to memorize it} Fifth Avenue, Avenue of the Americas....Then if you are Uptown of 45th Street you will hit Seventh Avenue and then Broadway, where as if you are Downtown of 45th Street, you will hit (as you walk east to west along a Numbered STREET) Broadway and then Seventh Avenue. 8th Ave, 9th Ave, 10th Ave., 11th Ave., Henry Hudson/9A/12th Avenue. The grid is nice and square such as this until you get below 14th Street, then things get skewed. But singing the song does help one navigate going Uptown (as the STREETS) go up and Downtown toward the Battery. Now I am not going into all of this because I think the readers aren't intelligent-it is just because I am direction challenged and I miswrote which way I went (which I have gone back and edited).
The other place it gets confusing in Midtown is by Grand Central Station because Vanderbilt Avenue APPEARS between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue, but only between 42nd Street and 47th Street. This is nice to remember if you have taken the Metro North in from Westchester or CT and are walking out of Grand Central Station.
OH DEAR!!! How could someone from Hackettstown, NJ have failed to mention touring the M'n Ms STORE!!!!!! This is a fabulous (HUGE) store in Times Square with exciting fun merchandise and we were even able to pose with a life size, interactive, Live, M n M. Check out the single color dispensers of M n M s. Need a beach towel? Get one here. Anything like that you could have forgotten at home, you can buy here, P.J's, coffee mug?
Tomorrow-Actually, Day Two coming up-Coney Island, walking the Brooklyn Bridge, Greenwich Village, Central Park, Trump Tower, Grand Central.....

[B.M.]

Sounds like a great day; but that parking fee sounds astronomical!!

[Cam22]

Sounds like you ladies had fun wandering the streets and avenues of NYC!

[Tconst]

Thanks for posting this trip report! I'm planning a trip to NYC w/my family over Columbus Day weekend. It will be a 1st visit for 4 of us. My daughter was able to spend a few hours there last year touring with friends. So at 18, she'll be our experienced tour guide! Can't wait to read more!