trip report June 15-20

Day 1: We arrived at LGA airport at 8:30 am and took a cab to our hotel, Comfort Inn Midtown ($34). We loved the hotel, the location was great for us and we were able to walk or catch the subway to wherever we went. We checked our luggage and walked to GCT to buy our metrocard, tickets for Mamaroneck (US Open), and to take the subway to Yankee Stadium.

When we arrived at the stadium we had a drink in the bowling avenue bar, Stan%26#39;s and the Yankee tavern. We bought some souvenirs, then looked around the stadium before the game. This was my major league baseball game, I bought the tickets for my husband who is a Tigers fan. We both really enjoyed the game, the atmosphere was fun, even though the Yankees lost - and no rain - the day was perfect!

After the game we checked into our hotel, then went for dinner at Trattoria Trecolori - often reccomended on this site - I had salmon, and my husband had the pasta special, we each had a glass of wine - the bill was $60 - great dinner. We went to see ';Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'; - thanks everyone for suggesting this play - we thought it was terrific - very entertaining.

Day 2 : We were awake at 6:00am, so we took a walk to see the Today Show. Afterwards we had a quick breakfast back at our hotel, then walked to GCT to take the train to the US Open golf tournament - we had an amazing day - it was very exciting to see all the golfers we have watched for years on television. Everything was organized very well - the train, the shuttle to take you from the train to the course etc. After the golf we explored GCT, and had ';Two Boots'; pizza, then we took a walk in Times square - what a place!

Day 3: We woke early again and went to Bryant park to have our coffee. We then saw the library, and walked down 5th to the Empire State building - we weren%26#39;t going to go up since we decided to do TOTR instead, but plans changed when we saw there was no line at all. We are really glad we did, we got the audio tour and it was so informative - I liked knowing what I was looking at. I don%26#39;t know if we just go lucky - but Saturday morning at 8:30 - there was no wait at all. We discovered ';jamba juice'; after the ESB - I was hooked on these for the rest of the trip - they were very filling and good. We walked to Madison Square park, saw the flatiron building, then took the subway to Canal and Broadway to find a knock off purse for daughter. We walked down Canal to Mott, then took Grand to Essex, we saw Economy candy and the tenemant museum and enjoyed all the sights of Chinatown along our way. We went to Katz deli for lunch, then took the subway to St.Paul%26#39;s chapel and the WTC site. We walked through Battery park, took the Staten Island ferry, then walked to South street seaport. We spent the afternoon having a few drinks at the open bars and exploring the area, there were several street performers, and it was happy hour at the bars so the drinks were only $3 or $4 each. We went into Heartland Brewery for the beer tasting, then took the subway to Brooklyn. After having pizza at Grimaldi%26#39;s and icecream on the promenade we walked back across the Brooklyn bridge - beautiful night, we both enjoyed this day.

Day 4: Back to the US open today for the final round - we had another perfect day. We had dinner at O%26#39;Lunney%26#39;s - close to our hotel, then relaxed in our room with a six pack.

Day 5: Started off the day by attending the taping of Good Morning America - it was fun, but lots of waiting and standing. We did get a free sample of ';junior%26#39;s'; cheesecake at the show which we ate for breakfast - it was heavenly! We took the subway to central park and spent the morning exploring (ie getting lost) the park. We saw the conservatory garden, the reservoir, great lawn, belvedere castle, shakespeare garden, turtle pond, loeb boathouse, strawberry fields, bethsheda fountain, sheep meadow and the zoo. We then walked to ';Serendipity 3';, while waiting we went to ';Dylan%26#39;s'; and bought some candy for daughter. We had the famous frozen hot chocolate and some lunch, then walked down 5th Avenue. I bought an ipod at the apple store, my husband bought shoes at the Nike store, we went into FAO, trump tower (nice restrooms), disney store and St.Patrick%26#39;s. After dropping our packages at the hotel, we went to a bar across from the Rockefeller center, then went to the TOTR - it was really nice, we saw the sunset, and got some great pictures.

Day 6: We went to the taping of Regis and Kelly, we were a little disappointed that Regis wasn%26#39;t there, but we liked the show - it was interesting to watch how they tape shows. We then walked back to our hotel - checked out - then walked to the Circle Line cruise. We took the 3 hour full island cruise, it was very informative. We went to Bryant park for one last jamba juice, then had soup at Hale and Hearty soup and returned to our hotel to get a cab to the airport.

Thanks to everyone who offered me advice before the trip - I planned this trip over a year ago to celebrate my husband%26#39;s 50th birthday - we had an amazing time - everything was perfect. I read the postings on Tripadvisor almost daily and got alot of ideas from others reports. We had no problem navigating the subways, met many great people, were overwhelmed with the size of all the buildings and that there were no houses anywhere! Maybe we will be back one day - until then, if anyone has any questions I will be happy to answer them, thanks again.

trip report June 15-20

Sounds like a fantastic trip. Will you be posting your photos to a shared site (like shutterfly)?

trip report June 15-20

Wow, does your trip sound perfect, what a nice 50th birthday celebration for hubby.

Don%26#39;t be deceived by those buildings, lots of us LIVE in those!!!!

There are many houses, just maybe different from what you are used to.

Really sounds like you covered lots of ground and saw a lot, too.

Wonderful! You really did many of the top sights and activities. Good for you and glad it went well. Thanks for the report and come back again soon!

sounds like you had an amazing trip-will have to try the jamba juice next time!

Wow..sounds like a great trip!

We are staying in the Comfort Inn Midtown in September. How did you get a rate of $34???? Im jealous! Mine is $179

Cathy

Yankee - I think she meant the cab from the airport to the hotel was $34. If the rate was $34/night, I%26#39;d move in. ;-)

Ed22- Great report, I%26#39;m really glad you saw a lot of Central Park, and all I can say is wow - holy Day 3! You did a lot that day!

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us. You certainly crammed a lot into your visit especially Day 3. Noticed you didn%26#39;t mention that an Aussie won the Open! lol From what we hear he didn%26#39;t get much publicity anyway because everyone reported on the runner-up%26#39;s choke.

Great report and glad to hear that your husband had a truly amazing 50th birthday.

oh duh.. :(

I feel stupid now lol

Cathy

Great report!

We%26#39;ll be staying in the same hotel in about 2 weeks. Would love more details or a hotel report on it if you could! :)

Can you also elaborate on O%26#39;Lunneys?

O%26#39;Lunney%26#39;s is an Irish pub in Times Square with typical pub food. WYSIWYG. No surprises.

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