Memorial Day Weekend in NYC

Author: Newdaawn
Date of Trip: May 2010

After visiting NYC in May of 09 there was so much more we wanted to do we decided to go back. This time it was Memorial Day week-end for 4 nights and 5 days. We flew out of Portland Maine on US air with a direct flight to LaGuadia. This was on a small plane with fewer than 40 passengers. The day was sunny and nice and the flight was uneventful. After arriving we got a taxi into Manhattan and our hotel (The Bentley) on East 62nd and York Street. On the previous May we stayed at The Courtyard on Third Ave. and 53rd Street. Of the 2 places I prefer the location of the Courtyard. The Bently was a good neighborhood but a bit of a walk to the places we wanted to see. Bentley also had no coffee maker and no ice machines. Ice had to be delived to your room – thus a tip! Breakfast at their restaurant was $15 pp so we at at near by cafe.

On previous trip we took city bus to get around and found this to be a good and inexpensive way to see the city. So on our first afternoon we set out about 3 pm and caught a bus up to the Conservation Garden at the North end of Central Park, then after that another short bus ride down to mid Central Park to the Boathouse Restaurant and Cafe. It was a bit upscale at the restaurant – every one dressed up – so we had a quick supper in the cafe. We took the long walk back to E 62nd and were very glad we had brought an umbrella as it started to shower off and on.

Friday we decided to tour the Museum of Natural History on the West side of Central Park – walked to this as well. It is a fascinating place and we bought the extra ticket to see the show at the Hayden Planetarium. On our way back down the Westside we stopped and had a late lunch at a place called Luce – which had sidewalk tables as well as indoor. We opted for the sidewalk as it was a lovely day. The food was great and as we sat there Concheta Ferrel walked by, she is the maid on 2 and a 1/2 men.. That was fun! People watching in NYC is fun.

Saturday was our choice to stand in line at the TKTS booth on Broadway to see if we could get one of our 3 choices for that afternoon’s matinee. We sure got lucky – only about 20 minutes in line as we arrived before the booths opened at 10 am. We got front row seats to “A Little Night Music” with Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones at the Walter Kerr Theater. It was great! The seats were even better than the ones we had in 09 at the Majestic, which were in the 7th row. Early dinner after the show was at an Irish Place on 47th – I think – called Langan’s. They had great food and pictures displayed of present and past stars. It also noted that Meryl Streep had brought her parent’s to eat here and liked it so much that she came back later for dinner with a girl friend.

Sunday we took a city bus over to the Westside then walked the rest of the way to the pier where the Circleline tours begin. The 2 hour tour which is a half circle with naration of lower Manhattan with both the Hudson and East Rivers was very good. It was a lovely sunny day and well worth the $27 per person. We had received a voucher for one free ticket from Expedia – when we booked our NYC trip, but when we got to the ticket window we could not use it. They told us it had to be exchanged at a place on 8th Avenue. I felt a bit ripped off by Expedia – who was making us jump through hoops to use the “free” voucher. At that point it was too late to do that so we bought the 2 tickets. About a 25 minute wait in line to board the tour boat.

Our plan home left on Monday at 2 so there was litte we could do to tour anywhere on that day. If we had been able to get a later flight or to stay nearer the action we could have done something that day. We got to the airport early and decided to have lunch at a white table cloth – stemware place. lol A treat as we usually don’t do that.

Last year we went the 2nd weekend in May and it was a bit less crowded as it wasn’t a holiday weekend.

I love NYC.