Ok let’s be honest, it started on the plane.
Our driver was really friendly and pointed out all of the hot sightseeing spots along the way. The hotel was fantastic. If you’re headed to the city and want to stay in style, may I strongly recommend the New York Palace. You simply cannot ask for a better location or a more friendly and helpful staff. Not to mention, it is pretty swank.
Our first order of business after unloading our luggage at the Palace was to find a hot dog vendor. That was actually typed out on the schedule that I prepared weeks in advance. We didn’t have to go far. Street vendors are everywhere. So we enjoyed a healthy snack in the courtyard of the Palace before setting our sights on shopping.
Again, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of hotel location. We had plenty of shopping to do, and there were plenty of shops to be found. Before we knew it, we realized we were standing in Rockefeller Plaza.
We saw Radio City Music Hall just next door.
We watched the ice skaters and decided not to join them. Instead, we headed to the Top of the Rock to view the city skyline.
We took in the city from every angle, seeing the Empire State Building
Chrysler Building
Statue of Liberty (wayyyyyy out there)
Times Square
And so much more.
We went back to the hotel to change clothes and enjoyed a little pre-dinner room service.
Bellinis and a cheese tray
We had dinner reservations at ViV, which serves fantastic Thai food in a really cool environment.
Girls, please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the ride to ViV was our first experience in an NYC taxi. It was like a traveling carnival ride with the jerking motion, speeding up only to slam on the brakes, sliding left and right across the seat, thrilling in a way but also makes you wonder when is the last time someone inspected the lug nuts on this thing? You pay way too much to ride, then immediately regret that hot dog you just ate and spend the rest of the ride praying you don’t end up twisted in crumpled metal wreckage. Someone told me that you can buy shirts all over the city that say, “I survived an NYC taxi ride” or something to that effect. If terror could be monetized, I’d have bought the franchise.
The biggest problem I could pinpoint is that there aren't really any lanes. The street is wide enough for 3-4 lanes, but without any lines clearly dictating where the cars should stay, it is just a giant free for all with cars swerving this way and that, with drivers giving themselves points for every car they cut off and every pedestrian they almost strike. Throw in a few bikers who all seem to have a death wish and completely ignore all traffic lights and signs, and you've got the picture.
When I saw the 49th St sign, I knew we were close to the restaurant. In fact, I was pretty sure we were within a block. It didn’t really matter to me at that point, and I yelled at the driver, “ this is close enough!” One of my sisters asked me, “What are we doing?” I replied very matter of factly, “We’re getting out of the taxi.” They did not need convincing, blindly following me out of the death box and onto the street. It’s odd how surviving a near death experience can sometimes induce laughter. We actually were within a block of the restaurant, and we laughed all the way there, promising we would only take taxis when absolutely necessary.
We were completely exhausted by the end of the day, so after dinner we retired to the Palace courtyard to unwind and discuss our plans for the next day.
Friday was supposed to start with a bang, bright and early at the Today show. But somebody turned off their alarm before it went off, so we slept right through it. We got a late start at Starbucks before hitting the city. We went back to Rockefeller Center to see if we could get standby tickets for Jimmy Fallon and perused the NBC store. I found a few gems there that I brought home with me, namely a SBTB t shirt that I would almost rather frame than wear.
According to our schedule, we were supposed to have breakfast at Serendipity, of the movie Serendipity. I believe it is also featured in the movie One Fine Day. We did not know that they were not open for breakfast. It didn’t matter though. It took so long to find a place to buy subway tickets (we could have bought them in the station, but we were told that particular station did not sell tickets. I think that person must have been toying with us. Not funny.) Anyway, once we got our tickets and got back to the station, we had to wait for the train. Then I panicked and made us get off one stop too early. So by the time we walked to the restaurant, it was almost 11. Blessing in disguise. They don’t open until 11:30, and by 11:30, the line is so long that you can only hope to get in by dinner time!
Luckily we were some of the first people in line, so we got in almost immediately. After eating, we were told we simply must have a frozen hot chocolate. So we did.
It was divine.
From Serendipity, we walked in the general direction of Times Square. We made a few stops, the most worthy of mention was Dylan’s Candy Bar. Three stories of candy. It was so overwhelming, but totally worth the 45 minutes and $100 we collectively spent there. I still have a wonka bar and some sweet tart suckers that take me back to when I was about 10 years old at the city baseball fields where my brothers played summer ball. I probably won’t even eat them. Just keep them to look at nostalgically.
Friday night was Broadway night, so we hit up a TKTS booth to get tickets for Chicago. We strongly considered running into Sbarro, Michael Scott style, to get some authentic NYC pizza but decided to wait until after the show to eat.
Chicago was so much fun to watch. Perfect for a girls night. When we left the theater, we were approached by a young man who was eager to give us a ride on his bike taxi.
We pondered several things regarding his offer. First of all, it was pretty late, and the hotel was quite a few blocks away. The Broadway / Times Square area is not the safest place to walk at night, and we were all wearing heels, so walking wasn’t really an option. The last taxi ride we took was to the theater, and it was even more frightening than our first taxi experience. The woman driver appeared furious that she had to drive us, and she drove as though she wanted to kill us. I remember she was wearing gloves. Fingerless gloves. I don’t know why that creeped me out even more. A motorized taxi was about as high as walking on the scale of desirability. The bike taxi looked kind of fun, and it certainly wasn’t something we could do anywhere else. So we decided to go for it.
...To be continued
1 comment:
oh dear...
I am really going to need you to continue with this tale.
It was as if I was there with yall. Don't keep your fans waiting long.
Post a Comment