NYC 2009

Last weekend Grant and I headed to NYC for four days. The trip was planned last mingute when I got an email with a hotel deal near Times Square. We stayed at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Times Square South. We got a great deal on the hotel and the location was good.

We arrived Friday afternoon. After landing at JFK we had several options for transportation to the hotel.

Option 1: Taxi...$45 plus tax plus tip
Option 2: Shuttle...$15 per person plus tax plus tip
Option 3: Airtrain/Subway...$7.25 per person

We opted for option 3 and tackled the public transportation system of NYC. We boarded the Airtrain at the airport to Jamaica Station. At Jamaica Station we transfered to the E subway train to Penn Station. Penn Station was just a few blocks from our hotel. It took about an hour and 15 minutes, but it was fun and a great deal!

We checked into the hotel and were upgraded to a higher floor and a king bed after I asked to be as far from the street as possible (thinking that it would make for easier sleeping if it weren't loud!). We quickly dropped our bags off in the room and hit the town.

We were pretty hungry so we stopped at a small italian place near Times Square. It was yummy and definitely hit the spot.

After lunch we walked all around the city. We saw Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, the Empire State Building, Macys at 34th Street...and much much more!

In Central Park we took a horse and carriage ride. I think it's one of those things everyone should do once in their life.

We headed down to the Empire State Building and took a ride up to the 86th floor. It was so clear outside you could see the whole city all lit up!

We walked back up towards Times Square and grabbed a snack at Crumbs. We got two cupcakes and shared them back at the hotel.

On Saturday we got up early to meet Jen & Keith at 9A at Times Square Hot Bagel. I got a whole wheat bagel with chive cream cheese. It was definitely a good bagel! After breakfast we all headed towards MOMA.

We arrived at MOMA before it opened. At first we didn't know what to do since we were there about 30 minutes before it opened. Then someone that worked there informed us that it was $20 to get in, but if someone signed up for a membership it would be a little cheaper and we could get into the Tim Burton exhibit early since it wasn't open to the public yet. She also told us that if one of us were a student the membership was even cheaper! Keith is the only one of us who is still a student, so he signed up for the membership! We were able to check our coats at the special members only check and see the Tim Burton exhibit! ... and now Keith can go for free for the next year and bring up to 3 guests for just $5 each. What a deal!

The Tim Burton exhibit was really cool. Johnny Depp was there earlier in the week to check it all out. Too bad we missed him!

We left MOMA and headed towards Central Park...my most favorite part of the city! We walked around Central Park. Keith showed us a few parks where he used to play when he was a kid. We all started to get hungry so we headed towards the Upper East Side to find a place for lunch. Before I had left for NYC my friend Jordan asked her friend Darcy for some restaurant suggestions. Darcy used to live in the city. We were walking around trying to find a good spot for lunch and I saw Serafina's and remembered that Darcy had suggested it...so we ate there. I got procini ravioli and it was very yummy!

After lunch we took the subway downtown to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge was HUGE! Much bigger than the little version I've walked over many times in Las Vegas! There were a lot of people walking the bridge. The views were to die for! We also saw a bride and groom there taking photos. I bet they're going to turn out amazing!

After the bride we walked towards Chinatown where Keith and Jen were catching a bus back to Philly.

We said bye to Jen and Keith and headed to Little Italy where we found a cute cafe. We stopped there and I got some coffee and we shared some pastries. It was a nice stop!

We then walked through Soho and Greenwich Village. It was so pretty and there were lots of cute shops. We had dinner reservations at BLT Fish and arrived there a little early. My Uncle Jim had said that BLT Fish had the best seafood in NYC. We were suprised that at 6P it was completely empty! We were the only table. I ordered parmesan-crusted halibut and Grant got the tuna. My halibut was good (but not quite as good as the parmesan-crusted Halibut at Joe's Stone Crab) and Grant's tuna was good too. After dinner we walked back towards out hotel. By the time we got back our feet were killing us! It was a LONG day of walking!

On Sunday we grabbed breakfast at a little corner cafe near our hotel. We walked around the Hell's Kitchen area and Restaurant Row. There were a lot of cute restaurants. I think you could live in NYC for a year and never eat at the same restaurant twice!

We took a subway downtown and headed to Ground Zero. There were a lot of people near Ground Zero. There was one really old church that we saw right across the street from Ground Zero. It was amazing to think that it survived the fall of the towers.

After we walked around Ground Zero we headed to the Staten Island Ferry. I was really surprised to discover that the ferry was free to ride. So we rode it over to Staten Island and then back to Manhattan. The views of the Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline were really amazing.

After the ferry ride we took the subway back towards out hotel. We stopped and grabbed NYC pizza for lunch. The pizza was really good! I wish we had great pizza down here in Florida!

We rested for a bit at the hotel before heading out again. We walked down to Central Park and checked out The Plaza Hotel and FAO Schwartz. We walked down 5th Avenue and saw some decorated Christmas windows and then went to dinner at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain. We LOVE Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, so we wanted to try another Bobby Flay restaurant in NYC. The restarant was packed! I was glad we had reservations. We were sat immediately and each had a great meal. Grant ordered the Filet - it was REALLY good! I ordered a BBQ port appetizer and cauliflower gratin. It was yummy! I definitely saved room for dessert. We ordered the blackberry souffle. It was fabulous! Bobby Flay definitely did not dissappoint.

We went for a long walk after dinner and then back to the hotel.

Monday was our last day in NYC. We grabbed breakfast at Roxy's in Times Square. We just got a couple pastries and coffee...needed to save room for our fabulous lunch! We walked down to Central Park and over to Madison Avenue and then to the Upper West Side. My feet were killing me at this point! I hobbled to the subway and we took it down to Greenwich Village. We walked a few blocks to Il Mulino for lunch.

 had tried to get reservations for dinner at this restaurant, it came highly recommended from my Uncle Jim. However, the phone was incessently busy and when I did get through they were all booked for Friday and Saturday night, but luckily were open for lunch Monday-Friday. From the outside you wouldn't even know Il Mulino was a restaurant. We walked in and were sat immediately as there were only 3 other table of people. Definitely a good choice to go there for lunch! There are only 16 tables total in the restaurant and I'd imagine that it would be crowded and loud at dinner time. When they sat us they put fresh bread, parmesan cheese and bruschetta on the table. The waiter was italian, so much so that I could barely understand him rattle off the numerous specials. One grabbed my attention, procini ravioli. I decided to order that. Grant ordered a shrimp dish. Both entrees were AMAZING! We decided to order dessert as well. We ordered a flourless chocolate cake. It was good too, but nothing out of the ordinary. When we got our bill I was shocked that my ravioli cost $50!! At least it was fabulous!

After lunch we headed back to the hotel to get our bags and head to JFK. It was a really fun trip. Thanks to everyone for their restaurant and attraction suggestions! I don't think I'd ever live in NYC, but it's a fun place to visit! We were lucky that the weather was amazing. It was sunny and in the upper 50s Friday-Sunday. On Monday it was supposed to rain, but didn't. It was just overcast and a little colder. It's definitely nice to be back home where it's 70 and sunny!