Spring Break in New York

We had a lot of fun on our trip to New York. It wasn't probably as relaxing Spring Break as we might have benefited from but we had a good time and squeezed a fair bit of the New York experience into our three days there.

The Manhattan Skyline from the Ferry to Ellis Island (Tuesday)

On Monday we got up dark and early (4:30am) had a quick breakfast, walked to the max station and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Our flight was oversold so they offered us $200 in travel vouchers each to fly through Atlanta instead of direct. We accepted and it wasn't until we were being rushed on to the plane going to Atlanta (it was leaving earlier) that we realized it meant we wouldn't be sitting together on that leg of the flight. So that was kind of lame but we connected fine in Atlanta and got to fly first class together from there to New York. Our two-leg flight meant that we got in to JFK 90 minutes later than we would have so by the time we tracked down our luggage (taken to but not yet scanned in at the luggage storage facility because it arrived on the direct flight that landed earlier) and took the subway all the way to Grand Central station we were pretty wiped out. Fortunately it was just a short walk to the hotel and after a rest we walked down 5th Avenue to the Empire State building and over to Times Square.

Emily in front of the Brooklyn Bridge (Thursday)

Matthew with Lady Liberty in the background (Tuesday)

Tuesday we slept in a bit had a big breakfast at the diner next to our hotel and then headed down to Battery Park for a trip over to Ellis Island. The weather was beautiful but the lines were long. We ended up boarding our ferry around noon and enjoyed the ride and a cool audio tour of Ellis Island itself. We were back at Battery Park around 4pm where we had a hot dog and enjoyed some street performers before walking through the financial district, past the bull statue, down Wall Street and over to the New York Stock exchange. From there we made our way over to Ground Zero before heading over to Times Square to see about discount Broadway tickets. We didn't like the selection too much and were pretty pooped so we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while. When our appetites returned we took the subway down to Chinatown and found a hole in the wall Chinese food place that our guidebook had recommended. It was obviously good because it was packed out but we didn't have to wait. The food was great and we shared a table with a couple from California which was fun.

The Statue of Liberty (Tuesday)

Wednesday we got a little earlier start, just coffee and a bagel for breakfast and plenty of snacks in out backpack and we headed to the Metropolitan museum of art. We spent a little over 4 hours exploring the art work from various time periods and regions, not counting a 30 minute break to have a snack and enjoy the sun in Central Park. From there it was over to Times Square to try for discount tickets again, this time we were early enough for a good selection of shows. There was a line but it moved quickly and we got tickets to a musical comedy for half price with time for a bit of a rest before dinner. After a little down time we got ready for our night on the town and headed down to Union Square for a fancy dinner at the Blue Water Grill. After dinner it was off to the theater district for our play. It was called Curtains a light hearted murder mystery with plenty of silliness and big song dance numbers. It starred David Hyde Pierce ("Niles" from Frasier) who was excellent and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Emily in front of the Flatiron building (Thursday)

The Empire State Building at night (Monday)

Thursday morning we got up fairly early packed up our stuff, checked our suitcase and checked out of our hotel before heading out for our last day in New York. We got Jamba Juice for breakfast and drank it while walking North on 5th Avenue past Rockefeller Center, St Patrick's Cathedral and some of the world's most famous stores. We even ducked inside FAO Shwarz to warm up and play for a while before heading down another block and beginning our exploration of Central Park. We spent several hours wandering through the park from it's woodsy interior (called "the ramble") to it's children's zoo, it's famous carousel, it's Shakespearean theater and Belvedere Castle which provided a great view. After all that walking we had worked up an appetite. We took the Subway over to Brooklyn and walked down to a little place under the Brooklyn Bridge called Grimaldi's in search of New York's best pizza, according to the people we'd met Tuesday night (and apparently the cityguide website). After a short wait we settled in and devoured a ham, olive and mushroom masterpiece. We took a short walk down by the water to take in a view of the bridges and buildings that make New York famous and then rode the subway the long way around so as to catch the line back into Manhattan that would take us across the Manhattan Bridge for some more views. We even still had time to make a quick stop to see the Flatiron building before buying our tickets at Grand Central for the 4:00pm shuttle to JFK and grabbing our suitcase and some Starbucks for the road. The traffic to the airport was horrid but we were able to relax and had no problem making our 6:55pm flight. After a long, but thankfully direct, flight home we made our way home and collapsed into bed thankful that we had Friday to unpack and recover from an amazing but draining trip.

Matthew in front of Belvedere Castle in Central Park (Thursday)