New York City May 2007

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We've wanted to go to NYC for a really long time but never made it a priority. This year we moved it to the top of the list. What a trip! We stayed in the Financial District at the Embassy Suites for a week and it was awesome. This trip took some planning as we wanted to do things that required advance purchase of tickets.

When we got there it was freezing. I have no idea what possessed us to bring coats but we did and we were better for it. Our room wasn't ready so we got our coats and the Frommer's and made our way over to Katz's deli. We had a lot of good food this trip but this was amazing. We had a pastrami sandwich and a corned beef sandwich. They were so big that we couldn't finish them. We couldn't bring them back to the hotel because we had no fridge.
Our hotel was right on the Hudson River. This is the view from our room at night. That's New Jersey across the river. We were in a great location. Very close to the subway stop.
We were also right across the street from the Ground Zero. The construction was going on 24 hours.
The first excursion was to Liberty Island to see the statue. The Frommer's said you should get there early because the lines are long. Well, they weren't kidding. We stood in line for probably an hour after we got our ticket. Then we stood on the dock under a tent crammed in like sardines for another 45 minutes waiting for the boat. We got there at 9:00 am when they opened and the line was already winding through the park.
The boat ride was nice. Once we got to Liberty Island, there wasn't a whole lot to do but look at the statue. You can't go inside but it still has some nice views. This is Manhattan as seen from Liberty Island.Next stop was Ellis Island. I'm sure we all have relatives that came from somewhere else. My grandmother came from England in 1925 with her family. At this museum, they have luggage (actual luggage) that people had back then. People would come with all their belongings in these small cases.
J's family also came through Ellis Island. I think it's his great-great grandfather that has his name on the wall here. It's amazing. Panels and panels of names of people that emigrated to America and came through Ellis Island.

After Ellis Island, we took the subway over to another part of town where we were going to this cool museum. Unfortunately, I still hadn't mastered how the subway worked and we got off too soon. We ended up walking through Chinatown to get to this museum. It was at least a mile. But I thought it was worth it. We went to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. So cool. They took you into these tenement buildings and described the way people lived during different time periods. The families they described were actual families that lived there (they did a lot of research). At one time, the building we were touring was inhabited by Italian families. I can imagine my family living in that neighborhood. Sadly, no photos inside.

By then it was time for food. We'd heard about this awesome pizza place that was in Brooklyn. We were very close so we found a subway line that would take us over there. We were really turned around when we got off the subway. This very nice man came over and gave us directions. And people say New Yorkers are rude.
We found Grimaldi's and this was the line to get in. It was some odd hour of the day, not lunch, not dinner, something like 3 or 4 o'clock and this was the line. When we got in, the seating was family style. They put you where there were two seats together. But I have to say, this was some good pizza.
We read that you could walk across the Brooklyn Bridge so we decided to do that. Originally, it was a foot bridge. They built the car bridge right below the original. This was cool. It was a great way to see New York.Here's the view going back across the bridge to Manhattan. I know the hair looks bad but it was really windy that day.

By the time we got across the bridge, we were halfway back to the hotel so we hoofed it the rest of the way. The trains all run North/South so we ended up walking a lot. As it turns out, this was not a bad thing.
Our first day was pretty full so we took the next day pretty easy. We had lunch reservations at this nice restaurant called Gotham so that morning we hung out around the hotel. Since we were right on the bank of the Hudson River, we walked along there. They had a really nice jogging trail that went all along the river. We sat out here and had coffee and people watched.
That night we went to a Yankee game. It was Yankee's vs. Red Sox. I don't know how we got so lucky, but that was a great game. Those New Yorkers really love their Yankees. This was at dusk. On the way out (we didn't stay for the whole game), we got this sausage that was out of this world. We split it because I wasn't very hungry. In fact, I was only going to have a bite. But by the time J got his mustard pack open, I'd already eaten half! Poor J.
They are tearing this stadium down in the next year or so. So much history. It's sad really. At least we had the opportunity to see a game here and that was a real pleasure.
Then we went to the Guggenheim Museum, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Unfortunately, they were refurbishing the outside so it was covered with tarps. The inside was kind of cool. Basically, you walk around these loops to get to the exhibits on the higher floors.
We decided on a walk through Central Park was in order. We were looking for Strawberry Fields and based on the map, we were quite close. Not so. It was amazing how large this park is.
This is the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. It's really peaceful here. There are lots of runners. Wouldn't it be cool to run in Central Park? We kept on walking and looking for a hot dog vendor. The street vendors are supposed to have the best dogs. I found one and it was the worst hot dog I've ever had. The only thing it had going for it was that it was cheap. What a let down.
We finally found Strawberry Fields. It's part of Central Park that was dedicated to John Lennon who was shot outside his building, The Dakota (which is right outside the park).
This part of the park was set aside for reflection. We had anticipated sitting here and relaxing, maybe reading but there were a lot of nannies with crying kids so we just moved on.
Next we stopped at the Top of the Rock (which is the top of Rockefeller Center). Everyone goes to the top of the Empire State Building so there's always a line to go up and to come back down. We read about the Top of the Rock and opted for that instead. What a beautiful view of Central Park.
Here's a view of the Empire State Building. It was very cool up here because it wasn't crowded so you could take your time and enjoy the view without being shoved and pushed, etc.
We went to the famous Carnegie Deli for lunch. We split an open faced pastrami sandwich that was as big as your head. It was ridiculously large. Needless to say we didn't finish it. However, we did order a New York style cheesecake to split (here they just call it cheesecake). The waiter highly recommended it and he did not steer us wrong. It was awesome. In fact, that could have been my meal.
That night we had tickets to Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre. The play was really funny. The Shubert is a really old theatre and it looked really cool inside but no photos allowed.
When the play was over, all the signs were all lit up. So we wandered over to Times Square to check it out.
This was all there was to Times Square. Nothing but hoards of people and neon signs.
The next day we had tickets to the David Letterman show. They tape it early in the day and air it at night. The taping is a very well organized process. (no photos inside). I hadn't watched this show in a while but after seeing the taping, I can see why it's been on so long. Dave is funny.
We couldn't pass up a trip to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue. This cube is at street level and the store is down below. They have a person whose sole job is to keep the Plexiglas clean. Yikes!
Prior to heading over to the taping of Dave Letterman, we tried to have lunch at this place in the park called the Shake Shack. This line was ridiculous. We stood here for 45 minutes and didn't even move so we gave up for the day and went back the next day to try again. When we went back, it was for a late lunch, around 2 or 3. The line was still this long. We waited for over an hour to get up there and order. When we got our food, it wasn't anything spectacular.
Next was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This place is huge! I love looking at paintings and there were lots here. So much so that we had to rest.
There were so many paintings to look at that it was overwhelming.
Renoir
Paul Cezanne - The Seated Peasant.
Then there was the statue garden. We basically spent the better part of the day here.
The last day we had no plans so we went back to Central Park where I got to run just like a New Yorker. I don't know why I was so thrilled but I was. I ran around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. Each loop was about 1.5 miles and I went around 3 times. The view was beautiful. So much so that I made J walk around again with me so that he could enjoy it as well.
This was about the halfway point. Most of the route was shaded, which was good because it was warm.

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to chill out. We walked along the Hudson River some more.
Here's our famous Self-Portrait. (taken earlier in the week.)
There was a weird little park that was right outside out hotel next to the Hudson River. A lady offered to take our photo. That's New Jersey behind us.

This was a most fabulous trip. We did a lot of stuff and we probably didn't even scratch the surface of things to do in this city. I think my favorite meal was Katz's Deli. I'd have liked to have gone back. I didn't get to try any of the legendary hot dogs in this town, except the one at Yankee Stadium and the one in the park (but that one really doesn't count!). So many places to try, so many things to do. I hope we have the opportunity to go back.