Wow! I got back late Wednesday night from Rebecca's "graduation trip". It was intense!!!! We did both New York and Boston in 5 nights. We arrived in NYC by noon on Friday and left Boston around noon on Wednesday. We could have used more time in Boston. I still feel like I haven't seen everything in Boston even once much less to my fill. I could visit NYC every year and still have things I would have preferred to have spent more time on.
We flew into Newark on Friday. I've never flown in to Newark before. I have to say, I kind of liked it! If you are somewhat young and mobile, I would totally recommend flying in to Newark and using AirTrain to get into the city. It is quick and VERY cheap. We spent less than $13 each to get into the city. It was comfortable and easy. You get on an airport train system right at your terminal which takes you to the AirTrain station. We bought our tickets where we got on the initial train at the terminal. The train ride into the city was less than 30 minutes. It was super easy and so much cheaper than a taxi from Newark. Usually flying into Newark is much cheaper than JFK or Laguardia. So if you think you can tote your luggage around and either get a taxi from Penn Station or ride a subway from there, I totally recommend it.
We took the subway from Penn Station to the stop closest to our hotel and walked a few blocks dragging our luggage. We did manage to do the trip with carry-on's only since we knew we couldn't check luggage on Amtrak. But even so, it was a little bit of a trek from the subway stop to our hotel. We did much tougher treks than that during the trip. I felt that it would be more than my Mom could do with luggage. So for someone over 60 or a person with mobility issues, it's probably not the way to go.
We stayed at The Manhattan at Times Square. The location was wonderful. The hotel was perhaps a little run down, but it was still clean and convenient. It's no Novetel or Hyatt Grand. But it is good. In summer be aware that the A/C will not get the room any cooler than about 75 degrees no matter what you do. While we were there, the outdoor temperature was never above 85 and even at those temps, the room was just okay temperature wise. During a heatwave, it might be intolerable. I think it was the best location of any hotel I have stayed in in NYC. I liked the 7th Ave. location and that it was just north of Times Square.
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| Pizza guy at John's Pizzaria |
After checking in, we went to Times Square for a few minutes where I bought some sunglasses since I had left mine in the car at the airport in Dallas. Then we went to
John's Pizzeria. We both loved the pizza and it was fun to watch the guys on each side of the dining room pounding out the dough and making pizzas in the brick ovens right in front of the diners. The location is actually a couple of blocks west of Times Square, but it is in the vicinity. Following lunch, we began walking and visited St. Patrick's Cathedral which is undergoing restoration so it was all covered with scaffolding. But the inside of the church was a beautiful as ever. Rebecca lit candles for her grandparents on the Baumgart side who have both passed away, her grandfather very recently. So it was nice.
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| Lighting candles in St. Pat's |
After St. Pat's we made our way up 5th Ave. to Saks, Tiffany and Co., FAO Schwarz and the Apple Store. I normally have a strict rule against shopping on vacation, but this trip was Rebecca's graduation gift, as I continually reminded myself, so I made the sacrifices. She thoroughly enjoyed hopping from store to store. I do always like going into FAO Schwarz and Rebecca is the first person I've ever gotten on the Big Piano. So, that was a lot of fun. I will never understand the huge fascination with the Apple Store below the glass cube just outside of FAO Schwarz. IT'S JUST ANOTHER APPLE STORE PEOPLE!!!!! It was so packed you couldn't move in there and Rebecca loved it! (That was when I began to wonder for just a minute if we were really related.) There were actually people there taking classes on using their Apple products! How can you possibly take in any information in that hectic environment??!?!?!? I was miserable in there and I'm pretty sure it showed on my face since I can't hide misery very well.
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| Rebecca on The Big Piano at FAO Schwarz |
After leaving FAO Schwarz, we headed into Central Park. I'll never grow tired of walking through Central Park. To make it even better, the weather was perfect on Friday evening as we walked through the park and there was a festival of some kind going on, so there were a lot of vendors and entertainers, even a live band. We entered the park on the lower east side and made our way all the way over to the west side and Strawberry Fields which we sort of stumbled on. Once we found Strawberry Fields, we followed the trail around to the John Lennon memorial. Once there we took a few pictures and decided to make our John Lennon tribute complete and went over to the entrance of the Dakota where we got a picture of Rebecca with the doormen who informed us that they were not allowed to pose for pictures, but if I happened to take Rebecca's picture while they were behind her, it would be fine. One of them even smiled!
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| Yes, that's right. There was a wedding going on, a festival and ba-zillions of tourists walking around.... |
I think we probably spent a couple of hours walking in and around Central Park. By the time these pictures near the fountain were taken, I was in serious pain. (My feet and legs were killing me and it was still the first day!) But we still had a lot left to do and see for the day. So we sat down around the fountain and rested for a few minutes catching a second wind before making it the rest of the way across the park where we were to begin our impromptu Lennon trek. Once a number of years ago, I lost weight while on vacation due to all the walking that took place. This trip to NY and Boston with my niece will go down in history as only the second time this has occurred for me. Rebecca could be a great trainer. She has little pity for a fat old lady and just continues walking leaving you to either be alone or work harder. It's a little bit of a cruel thing to do to an old lady, but it works. :-)
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| The view of the Dakota from Strawberry Fields |
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| The entrance of the Dakota |
The goal for this day all along was to make it to Tom's Restaurant for dinner which we finally accomplished after a short cab ride from the Dakota on W. 72nd St all the way up to Broadway and 112th St. When I took Rebecca's brother, Jacob to NY for his graduation trip, he had wanted to go to the diner from Seinfeld, but I unfortunately didn't know where it was. A few years ago, during a ride on a HOHO with my mom, cousin and sister-in-law we happened across it and stopped for pictures. So, I had told Rebecca who is just as big of a Seinfeld fan as her brother, that we would go there. It's in such a great neighborhood and even though tons of tourists go there, it is still just a neighborhood diner. The food was nothing remarkable, but it was good. We both had sandwiches which were reasonably priced. All in all, I'd go back. The inside was never used for filming of Seinfeld, they only used the outside of the building on the show. So the inside looks NOTHING like Monk's did on Seinfeld. There seemed to be a number of regular customers having dinner while we were there who talked to the staff. I would totally recommend it.
Following dinner, we walked back over to Amsterdam Ave to see the beautiful
St. John the Divine church located at 112th and Amsterdam. I had only visited it one other time, but it is a really beautiful church. Of course, it was late in the evening so it was closed to tourists for the day. But we were able to get a few nice pictures as we walked around the outside before getting a cab to head back to Times Square for some night time photos and to see the craziness surrounding Times Square after dark.
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| St John the Divine at sunset |
We were back in our hotel by 9:30 and we were both totally exhausted after a long day of travel and sightseeing in Manhattan. Tomorrow, I'll tell you all about our trip to Yankee Stadium and the A-M-A-Z-I-N-G play we went to on Saturday. Have a great weekend!
We flew into Newark on Friday. I've never flown in to Newark before. I have to say, I kind of liked it! If you are somewhat young and mobile, I would totally recommend flying in to Newark and using AirTrain to get into the city. It is quick and VERY cheap. We spent less than $13 each to get into the city. It was comfortable and easy. You get on an airport train system right at your terminal which takes you to the AirTrain station. We bought our tickets where we got on the initial train at the terminal. The train ride into the city was less than 30 minutes. It was super easy and so much cheaper than a taxi from Newark. Usually flying into Newark is much cheaper than JFK or Laguardia. So if you think you can tote your luggage around and either get a taxi from Penn Station or ride a subway from there, I totally recommend it. 
After St. Pat's we made our way up 5th Ave. to Saks, Tiffany and Co., FAO Schwarz and the Apple Store. I normally have a strict rule against shopping on vacation, but this trip was Rebecca's graduation gift, as I continually reminded myself, so I made the sacrifices. She thoroughly enjoyed hopping from store to store. I do always like going into FAO Schwarz and Rebecca is the first person I've ever gotten on the Big Piano. So, that was a lot of fun. I will never understand the huge fascination with the Apple Store below the glass cube just outside of FAO Schwarz. IT'S JUST ANOTHER APPLE STORE PEOPLE!!!!! It was so packed you couldn't move in there and Rebecca loved it! (That was when I began to wonder for just a minute if we were really related.) There were actually people there taking classes on using their Apple products! How can you possibly take in any information in that hectic environment??!?!?!? I was miserable in there and I'm pretty sure it showed on my face since I can't hide misery very well.
After leaving FAO Schwarz, we headed into Central Park. I'll never grow tired of walking through Central Park. To make it even better, the weather was perfect on Friday evening as we walked through the park and there was a festival of some kind going on, so there were a lot of vendors and entertainers, even a live band. We entered the park on the lower east side and made our way all the way over to the west side and Strawberry Fields which we sort of stumbled on. Once we found Strawberry Fields, we followed the trail around to the John Lennon memorial. Once there we took a few pictures and decided to make our John Lennon tribute complete and went over to the entrance of the Dakota where we got a picture of Rebecca with the doormen who informed us that they were not allowed to pose for pictures, but if I happened to take Rebecca's picture while they were behind her, it would be fine. One of them even smiled! 
The goal for this day all along was to make it to Tom's Restaurant for dinner which we finally accomplished after a short cab ride from the Dakota on W. 72nd St all the way up to Broadway and 112th St. When I took Rebecca's brother, Jacob to NY for his graduation trip, he had wanted to go to the diner from Seinfeld, but I unfortunately didn't know where it was. A few years ago, during a ride on a HOHO with my mom, cousin and sister-in-law we happened across it and stopped for pictures. So, I had told Rebecca who is just as big of a Seinfeld fan as her brother, that we would go there. It's in such a great neighborhood and even though tons of tourists go there, it is still just a neighborhood diner. The food was nothing remarkable, but it was good. We both had sandwiches which were reasonably priced. All in all, I'd go back. The inside was never used for filming of Seinfeld, they only used the outside of the building on the show. So the inside looks NOTHING like Monk's did on Seinfeld. There seemed to be a number of regular customers having dinner while we were there who talked to the staff. I would totally recommend it. 
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