5 days in NYC

Author: Newdaawn
Date of Trip: May 2009

I’m sure this will seem tame to those of you that have traveled the world but it was a perfect time for my husband and I. We had been wanting to go to NYC for quite a while and until this year the prices of the hotels were so high we had put it off. Finally this spring things changed and the prices came down quite a bit. We flew from Portland ME to JFK on JetBlue and arrived mid afternoon on a Thursday. We rode the NYC shuttle bus to Grand Central Station where they put us on a smaller shuttle and took us right to the door of our Hotel – Courtyard Marriott on Third Avenue and E. 53rd St. I highly recommend this hotel – for location, price and cleanliness. We walked up to Grand Central – for drinks and appetizers, saw St. Patrick’s Cathedral and other landmarks and got a bit more comfortable with our location.

Friday we took a city bus to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was wonderful. It was a nice sunny day so when we got back to the area around mid-town we took a stroll in Central Park at the 59th street end.

Saturday was the highlight of the trip for us – as we got discount tickets to Phantom of the Opera at the Times Square TKTS and the seats were 7th row orchestra for 50% off. The show is fabulous!! If you are in NYC don’t miss it. After the 2 pm matinee we returned to our Hotel to relax and thing about where to have dinner. After walking a few blocks to E. 48th we came to a wonderful Greek restaurant that had both indoor and outdoor seating. We were lucky enough to get right in without a reservation and sat in the couryard. The food was exceptional – It was an excellent choice for us and only about 3 or 4 blocks from the hotel.

Sunday we again took the city bus to the South Street Seaport and rode the Staten Island Ferry. That gave us a wonderful view of the Statue of Liberty. After returning to the Seaport area we had lunch at an outdoor cafe there right near a great view of the Brooklyn Bridge. The bus fair is the same as the subway. You use the same metro card for both.

On Monday – our last day there – our plane left for home at 5:30 – so we had the whole morning and part of the afternoon. We went up to St. Patrick’s again and this time went inside. It is lovely. Then we spent some time at Rockefeller Plaza and shopped a bit at the NBC store. Thought about going to the top of the Rock but decided not to.

All in all it was a great trip – I’m ready to plan to go again soon, especially to see another show.