Terri just finished journaling our trip to NYC, detailing all the daily activities.
Thank you Terri!
photos can be found on a previous post here.
http://whitebryant.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-york-city-before-chirstmas.html
Christmas Trip 2009
Sat. 19th
We are the last flight out of Atlanta; all other flights have been cancelled due to the blizzard due to hit the northeast later this afternoon.
We arrived in NYC around 1:30, took a taxi to the hotel, after several trips around the block we arrived at Alexander Hotel. After checking in we walked up 94th Street to Broadway and had a late lunch at Key Lime Diner.
We decide to walk from Broadway/96th to/through Central Park. It was light snow, some accumulation, as we walked through Central Park to Madison and 74th to Whitney Museum. After taking in the Georgia O’Keefe exibit we decided the night was still young- off we go in a taxi towards the Empire State Building. It is a blinding blizzard – yes, zero visibility, we will take to the top of ESB another day. Now, we are off and walking towards Time Square, first stop is Macy’s. We enjoyed all 9 floors and shopping for Christmas decorations. Off, walking towards Times Square I was on NBC news with weather guy from Miami. Others that were interviewed were: 2 guys from Sweden and a group from Canada. Just up the street we shopped at Bubba Gump and Hard Rock Café. Continued walking through Bryant Park, hot cider – nice during the blizzard that was totally stinging our face. We push on. Arriving at Rockefeller Center, rounding the corner- bam! There is the most beautiful Christmas tree ever! No skaters, tons of crazy, brave souls enduring the hardships of the pending blizzard. Ever onward, this time we braved the subway on our return trip uptown to 96th. That was the real new deal – riding the subway in NYC! Nice elderly man on the train/subway gave us advice on where/when to get off, which stops to make exchanges. Quote “You need to get off at 59th”. I asked how, do we know? “I JUST TOLD YOU”. Got to love this guy, he was right and we have our first New York words to live by. Once we arrived at 96th we had supper at corner Deli/bakery. Wow, all this in just one day – actually half a day. Blizzard and all we arrived back at our hotel for a well deserved night rest and we will be ready to go first thing in the morning- Good night New York what is up with that rattling noise all night – that’s why we don’t have radiators in the south.
Sun. 20th
Kelly was the first to venture out this morning. We woke up to a foot of snow – wow! Today we are walking. After a late breakfast at the corner bakery/deli, we are off to Central Park. First we thought we would take a carriage ride through Central Park, not going to happen right now. New plan, which is the case each time we take a turn. Not a problem, we do have a plan and we get it done. Once we get back to Broadway, we are on the subway, making our way to Brooklyn. We are at Brooklyn Bridge and walking across the bridge to Manhattan. The wind was so cold, but it did not stop us. The bridge, the skyline- beautiful. Once we made it across the bridge we decide to continue our walk towards little Italy. We are somewhat directionally challenged, we make it to parts of Chinatown, not to our liking, way too crowded and we certainly did not want to have lunch here. We push on, hoping to arrive, more like stumble into a nice Italian restaurant. Tonia is fast approaching a meltdown, she has to eat, stop – like RIGHT NOW! Lucky for us we arrive, just in the nick of time. Luffico Bar/Bistro, excellent meal, wonderful service, what a way to end a meltdown. After getting directions from the nice young waiter/new boyfriend, we are off walking on Mulberry to Spring and finally arrive at Broadway. Window shopping, Marilyn made a Christmas purchase for Matthew, what was the name of that store? We continued walking up Broadway, arriving at SoHo, until we all wonder the same thing, just where are we walking? Hailed a taxi, back to Empire State Building, I’m thinking it is on 34th Street. Anyway, it’s 4:30 and we are waiting in long q-line for our chance to ride up to the observation floor – 86th open observation. By the time we are on the observation deck, it is dark, cold, windy, but what a VIEW! On to the top – 108th floor. Even better, our personal tour guide – William, he lives in Queens, confirmed all points of interest. Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, Macy’s, (hey, the fire department is at Macy’s! What’s up with that?) Bryant Park, Central Park, Yankee Stadium, Chrysler Building. William explained a new term to us – “Touron”, a cross between a tourist and a moron. Great time – so glad we decided to ride that elevator! Stopped by the Heartland Brewery for a fast dinner, this was in the lobby of the ESB, discussed plans for Monday, Wow- what a great time so far! Love it, love it, love it! Off on the Subway, decide to make a stop and take transfer to Penn station – taking us to Grand Central Station. Another great stop. Once we arrived uptown – 96th we had late light supper at deli/bakery. So sad, after we got back to the hotel, Kelly realized she had lost her wallet. Spent the evening on the phone cancelling debit/credit cards, also with the airport for her return flight, concerns about getting through security without ID. Long day, overall a great day, it will take us a while to really take it all in. We did all this with 12 inches of snow!
Mon. 21st
Light Breakfast at corner deli/bakery. Took subway to south port for ferry ride to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. No tickets to the crown today, so we decided to stay on the ferry and go on over to Ellis Island. Met up with volunteer tour guide at Ellis Island, Malcolm. He gave us a private tour to the ferry building; this area was not open to the public and still being refurbished – very nice, informative. We spent quiet sometime leisuring exploring the main building. Again – love it! Back on Manhattan from the ferry ride we walk to Wall Street, NY Stock Exchange and American Stock Exchange, and Ground Zero. We had lunch at George’s New York Restaurant est. 1950. Took subway back to hotel so Kelly could get ready for her return flight. After we saw her off, (That was another adventure all by itself, Kelly’s bus ride to the airport), Marilyn, Tonia and I walked several blocks to St. John’s Divine – What a find! Beautiful, awesome, breathtaking – LOVED IT! Off on the subway to south end of Central Park to finally catch a carriage ride through Central Park. With warm cider we are off and it was a wonderful ride through the park, rode by Tavern on the Green. After the ride we walked toward Times Square, again. Stumbled up on Late Night w/David Letterman, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall. We decided to get in line and purchase our tickets for the Rocketts. Then we head on to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and skating rink- still no skaters, maybe next time. Back on the subway, uptown to 96th and supper. FYI – talent on the subway – dancers – break-dancers to the extreme! Wow! Europan – that is officially our spot! We start and end the day at Europan! Good, good day – very fun! Will surely sleep well tonight, despite the noisily radiator.
Tues. 22nd
Late breakfast at Europen. Walked down Broadway to 90th street to mail snow globes home (these a most prized souvenirs). Continued our walk to American Museum of Natural History. The movie Night at the Museum and I’m sure many others have this place as a back drop. We enjoyed the general admission, IMAX movie – Great Lake, Sturgeons. We all loved Wilson, the artist that painted the background scenes in the dioramas. After the museum we rode the subway to 49th – Rockefeller Center to see the ice rink – finally we have ice skaters. A late lunch at Heartland Brewery. This was absolutely the best! Marilyn had fish and chips, Tonia had crab/lobster ravioli, and I had smoked apple sausage w/mashed potatoes. Off to Radio City – Rockettes. You bet – LOVED IT! After the show we decided to continue walking – from Radio City Music Hall to Times Square, over to 5th Avenue. Wait a minute we have just made a GIANT LOOP –did I mention we were directional challenged. As we walked up 5th Ave. we saw all the great places – Tiffany’s, Trump Towers, many other NYC landmarks. Arriving at 59th FAO Swartz, across the street is The Plaza (Bride Wars), very, very tired, but trying to see it all. Hopped on subway for shuttle across town, then uptown to 96th. Well, it wasn’t all that easy, did I mention we were tired. We got confused on one of the many platforms and enjoyed people watching until we realized we were on the wrong platform – Tourons! Supper at our spot – Soup all around. Very good day! Last night, we check out and head home tomorrow mid-day.
Wed. 22nd
We slept in - imagine that! After a late breakfast at our favorite spot, we check out of the hotel and they are holding our bags for one last trip. Back on the subway for a trip back to Ground Zero. Marilyn wanted to go by NYC Fire dept. to leave a patch and firefighters t-shirt for her brother Gary. We left the patch, but did not leave the shirt, since we did not get to speak with or see a person at Ground Zero fire station. We are back on the subway from the Trade Center – red one to 96th – this is getting easy. On the way back we stop off at the print shop to print our boarding passes, stop at the fruit stand for kamquats, final stop at Europan’s for fresh bagels to take home with us. One last time we hail a NYC taxi for our trip to airport. How funny that we have a limo stop to pick us up, but I say, No way! On our way home, wonderful fun trip, but always good to be home. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Oh, yes, we had plenty of time to discuss our next Christmas trip! We can dream, just wait and see, it sure will be hard to top this trip!
