Our New York City trip was AWESOME! We were pleasantly surprised that the whole experience was even better than we had anticipated. The old pre-conceptions of the city were blown out of the water. Everyone (with the exception of cab drivers!) was friendly, kind, and helpful; we had no trouble getting around; it was not dirty, stinky, dangerous, or overly crowded. And this is the perception from two middle-aged people who grew up in a tiny town in Kentucky.
Friday - We traveled from Newark to Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel and got our first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. After checking into our hotel, Gild Hall, we were off! We had our first real New York pizza, took the round trip on the Staten Island Ferry, walked around Battery Park, saw the Morgan Stanley bull, walked up Wall St, and to Ground Zero. We didn’t have time to take the tour at the Memorial Gallery so we came back on Monday for that. (It was a surprisingly emotional experience for me both times we were there. I didn’t expect it to hit me that hard but just being there makes it so much more personal than seeing it on TV.) We found our way back to the hotel and rested a while before getting ready to go to Mesa Grill. When I told Alma (the lady from Food Network that made all our arrangements) that while we were on the trip we would be celebrating our 24th anniversary, she said she would see about arranging a nice dinner out for us. So she made us reservations at Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay’s restaurant) and sent us another $200 gift card to use there. We took our only cab rides there and back. We were hoping to get in the Cash Cab but no luck – LOL! The overall experience was great and my favorite parts were the Cactus Pear Margaritas and the Shrimp and Roasted Garlic Corn Tamale with Fresh Corn Salsa. I had the mahi and my husband had the ribeye and we shared a dessert – Chocolate and Dulce de Leche Layer Cake with Tres Leches Ice Cream. After that, we were exhausted (we left Daytona airport at 5:44 am) so we went back to the hotel and collapsed.
Saturday – We decided to try using the subway so we walked there from the hotel, stopping along the way at a donut shop and having breakfast. We had no problem at all finding the right train and took it up to within a couple of blocks from where we needed to be for the cooking demonstration by Bobby Flay. He was very down-to-earth, informative and entertaining. He prepared his turkey and dressing recipes for Thanksgiving. You can see them here: http://www.bobbyflay.com/contents/recipe_print.php?id=168. Afterwards, my DH told me he hadn’t been looking forward to it but he found himself enjoying it after all. After it was over, we walked around some more and then made our way to the Grand Tasting. It was awesome! We were in there 2 ½ hours, tasting wine, mixed drinks, and all kinds of food. And we came home with 4 gift bags full of samples, coupons, recipes, etc. Again, we were exhausted, so back to the hotel.
Sunday – We bought day-long Metro Cards for the subway and took off. Our first stop was an antique flea market (DH is an antique toy collector & dealer), which we both enjoyed immensely. Didn’t wind up buying anything because of having to travel back with it, but loved seeing some of the items. We left there and went around the corner to a diner for a late breakfast and then went to Union Square, where there was a farmer’s market. Then I spied Filene’s Basement and DSW Shoes, so I had to poke around in there for a while. After that, we took the subway to Times Square. OMG! I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I was amazed by all the hustle and bustle and lights and TV screens. It was great. I even had my picture taken with the Naked Cowboy! I also loved the ferris wheel in Toys R Us. Then we went up to Rockefeller Center and to the Top of the Rock. What fantastic views! We could see everything, the Empire State Bldg, the Chrysler Bldg, Central Park, the bridges, etc. Then we went back down for the Grand Tasting again. We only spent about an hour there because we knew what to hit and what to skip. After that, we went back to the hotel and decided to have dinner at the restaurant there. It was excellent – I enjoyed it more than Mesa Grill.
Monday – We packed our bags and then walked down to the South St Seaport area and had breakfast at an outdoor café. After exploring that area, we went back to Ground Zero and took the tour. Then we went by the NYSE (that was the day the DOW went back up over 900 pts – thank you very much!) and had our final NY pizza slice. We were back at the hotel by 3:45 for our driver to take us back to the airport. After some delays, we finally arrived back in Daytona Beach at 11:15.
Our trip was wonderful and on the way back home, DH told me to get back on ST and start entering every sweeps I could find to NYC so we can go back soon. LOL!!
Thanks again Mr Sweepy (and ValPak and Food Network)!