Trip report for 9/8-10th

I found this site a little late, but I did get alot of really great information from it. Thank-you so much for all of the great trip reports that I have read and continue to read even after our trip. We loved NYC and I am already putting together a file with notes and web addresses for our next trip.

My daughters ( twins 21 yrs.old ) and I ( Mom 44 ) flew from Seattle,WA on 9/8 at 8:30 am. We arrived in Newark at 5 pm and collected our luggage ( way too much luggage already ). We took a cab straight to our Hotel, LaQuinta by Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.It was rush hour and our driver was really crabby, he was smoking and talking on his cell phone for much of the 1 hour drive.

We checked in to our room, small but decent size and it came with breakfast each morning. Standard coffee, bagel,cereals, etc, we were glad of something quick as time was a premium. My daughter found this Hotel after much searching for something around 200.00 per night for 3 of us.

The evening was balmy , as we started to walk towards Time square for the first time. It is quite impressive when seeing it for the first time. We started taking pics of each other, passing the cameras around until a friendly man offered to take all 3 of us together. We shopped around , looked around ,looking up alot as all the buildings are soo tall ! Bought several '; I love NY '; t-shirts for the guys back home and for ourselves too ! Purchased several of the prints from the street vendors that we are framing now that we are home..only 5.00 for 16 X 20, great value !

We were getting hungry so we ate at Juniors, not the one at Grand Central Station though. We had a glass of wine and the largest bacon burger I have ever seen ! The waiters probably thought we were crazy taking pics holding up our burgers ! We each got a different cheesecake to go, I had the carrot cake cheesecake that people here have recommened. Wonderful, all of them were. I brought a flyer home so I can order one for the holidays on-line.

We then went to the TOTR, it was around 10:30 ,with no wait time . The elevator up was incredible , we looked up the entire time. Beautiful clear night and not many people, this was another great recommendation from this forum. I love the post card they sell here in the gift shop of the men workers sitting on that board eating their lunches, in the 1930%26#39;s sometime ? Their legs and feet dangling, it almost doesn%26#39;t look real.

After TOTR, we walked around more, past Bryant park, where a fashion week event was just ending. We noticed all the garbage piled on the side of the street waiting to be picked up from the different businesses,it was interesting and I%26#39;m sure totally neccessary. Back to the room to sleep around 1 am.

We were up and out of the Hotel by 9:45, and went to the closest subway entrance ,headed to Greenwich village to locate a fleemarket we had read about. We found it with the help of several people that lived in the Village. We also ate at Gray%26#39;s Papaya which was good ,2 hot dogs and a drink for $2.79. After some walking around there, we caught the subway to Canal street for some shopping. I was caught up in a ';deal'; for a watch when behind my left shoulder appeared an NYPD officer asking my seller what he was doing ? I had the watch in my hand at the time and he had me give the watch back to the seller, and told him he was going to let him go this time ! My heart was pounding pretty hard and one of daughters had left and went around the corner she was so embarrassed. We continued on , purchasing several pairs of sunglasses, scarves , belts, and handbags from several ';back rooms ';. We really enjoyed Chinatown it was so different from where we live. I love that about travel, a new experience ! We had to use the restrooms pretty bad so bought a drink at Burgerking so we could use their restrooms. We continued on into Little Italy where we ate cannolli sp? and several other pastries from a great bakery. We sat out in the afternoon and had a glass of wine and later a slice of pizza from a street vendor. They had Mulberry street closed to traffic so it was easy to get around.

We they went further downtown to the World trade center where we paid our respects, it was only 2 days until 9/11 and a camera crew was there at the fire station. After that we went into Century 21, it was very busy ,but the girls each found something to buy. From there I wanted to walk the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan so we took the subway to Brooklyn. I did plan this very well, so when we got off the subway I do not even remember where we were! We were loaded with purchases and the girls were getting a little tired, we walked around , and could not locate where to start across the bridge since we could not even see it ! I needed much better planning here . Well, we lost where the subway was, finally asked 2 guys ,and they were also looking for a subway station ! We ended up all walking together, I finally asked a man who happened to live in Brooklyn and he kindly walked us to the station ! It was 8 pm by this time, we headed uptown to LaQuinta to drop our bags and change clothes.

My son ,who is 16 wanted a t-shirt and a sweatshirt from CBGB%26#39;s , so we then went downtown again to locate this bar that is famous for having bands there but is closing for good very soon. We found it ,puchased the clothes,got invited to come listen to a band by the band menmbers, but my daughters did not want to do it ! So we left and went to Little Italy again for a great italian dinner and more wine ! We posed in front of a white statue of Michaelangelo that was on Mulberry street. It made for a pretty good picture !

Took the subway back uptown for more Times Square and them home by 2 am . We alwalys felt so safe here, even riding the subway so late at night. We were warned against being on them past 11 pm, but we didn%26#39;t think twice about it and this was out first time here .

Sunday morning slept until 10 or so, checked out and stashed our luggage until later. Headed to the subway again to Central park and 5th Ave. We loved the park, walked around ate the yummy sugared cashews and almonds from a vendor on the 5th ave. Also tried the soft pretzels that were good. On a side street off of 5th there was a food fair that we had gyros at, very good but hard to eat with no plates ! We sat on the Jockey club curb and ate. Sunny beautiful day in NY ! I bought a black cashmere scarve from a table set up by the food, can%26#39;t wait to wear it ! Only 10.00 dollars.

Girls wanted to shop at H %26amp; M, forever 21, we stopped at Macy%26#39;s , Bloomingdales,and a few others. We shopped around until we had to get a taxi to take us to Penn station to catch a bus to ..Atlantic City. We barely fit in the taxi with everything we had bought ! Still want to walk the Brookly Bridge, see Grand Central Station, see a show and lots more. Next trip...soon. We had a fantastic trip, thank-you for all of your help.

Trip report for 9/8-10th

Sounds like you had a great time and did very well for newbies, navigating the subways without much problem.

Lots more to see %26amp; do, come again soon.

Trip report for 9/8-10th

Thanks for the great post. It sounds like you all had a wonderful time! I am glad to hear that you always felt safe and that you did well on the subway. My daughter and I are leaving in 1 week and 3 days, it was nice to hear your story of you and your daughters.

Where are all your pictures.... you must share them:)

I agree, I%26#39;d love to see the photos.

Great report, you managed to navigate well and saw loads. Sounds like you%26#39;ll be back.

Don%26#39;t you hate it when you%26#39;ve got to buy a drink just to use the bathroom? It seems so self defeating when the point is to ';empty out,'; not ';fill up!';

Loved your review. You sound like my kinda person. I am taking my daughter (29) and daughter-in-law (26) to NYC in a few weeks. I have only been once before and was with a friend that knew her way around so I am a little nervous about going. We are also staying in the ';Macy%26#39;s'; area. How long was the walk to Times Square?? Do you remember the name of the Italian restaurant you ate at?? Your story about the Canal Street shopping was hysterical. My sister-in-law had told me about the back rooms. She said that the vendors would come up to you asking if you wanted Coach, etc.. Is that correct?? Did you take extra bags for your purchases for the trip back. OK, also tell me WHAT in the heck is TOTR????????? I have seen it in the forums but have NO idea what that stands for. Thanks for all your help. I%26#39;d love to see the pictures too!!

Hi, I%26#39;m glad you enjoyed my report. I wasn%26#39;t going to write anything, but decided I would. So you are staying around the Macy%26#39;s area, I really don%26#39;t know how far a walk it is, we took the subway from our Hotel which was really fast. The subway was a little intimidating when I was thinking about it, but when we arrived and actually did it ,it was fun, and we had so much help. If we needed help we always had someone offer, or we asked. How long are you staying ? In Little Italy there are alot of Itaian restaurants , I did not write the name down, they all look good, we just looked a posted menus outside and picked one. On our way there a man told us his favorite but we could not find it, so we just picked one . As we were walking on Canal and even before actual Chinatown, we started getting offers to come in the back room. After they see you carrying the '; large black bags '; I think they see you as ';safe'; and you get alot more offers. Our first room was the best, she had lots of nice handbags. She has her cell phone, and gets calls from out front if it is safe for us to leave or if we have to be quiet for a minute! We were on a stairway that was crammed with bags, we just sat down and picked some out . I bought 2 there, she started at 40.00, and only would take 2.00 off that price. We ended up with 5 bags total from her. It%26#39;s kind of nerve racking because you try to hurry and look around too, there are always others waiting to come in. I read a trip report from here b/4 we left form a guy and his girlfriend. She wanted a coach bag and wallet, so they were walking down Canal ,but dod not get any offers. Finally he sausd they were asked if they wanted to come in a ack room. She picked out the wallet and bag, paid the 90.00 bucks,and there was knocking at the door, police demanded to come in ! The guy and girl were told to leave, without the money and her purchases ! He was angry, and went back the next day ,but of course did not his money or any purses. I was remembering this when she was on her cell phone, so I didn%26#39;t pay until we were on our way out and it was safe. We did bring an extra duffle bag which we stuffed full ! One piece of luggage I had weighed 11 lbs more on the way home ! We went Atlantic city for a week, I got a cheap week there. We ended up taking the bus back to NYC one day and going back to Canal and Little Italy because we enjoyed it so much, and we wanted more stuff ! Also we were craving the cannollis ! It was raining that day but we still managed to get more things. My daughter said a guy offered her 7 jeans but she kept walking, I wanted to see , but we did not go back. She said we couldn%26#39;t try them on ! Hope this helps, I think I got a little long ! Janet.

I forgot to say what TOTR is. It%26#39;s the observation tower at Rockefeller plaza. Everyone seems to like it more than the ESB, because the lines are shorter and the employees are super friendly. On our way in the were handing out 1.00 off coupons It as 16.00 or so to go up. Go to the recommended attractions on trip advisor and they have a web address that you can see all about it on. It stands for Top of the Rock. Also, at Canal street they do mutter ';coach, prada,louie '; quietly, and if you want to do it say yes. Janet.

I will try to add some photos. My daughters each have digital cameras so I will ask them for help.

Bettina, do you think they would ever put in public restrooms in the China town area ? Probably would cost too much though and the lines would be endless !

Janet.

Thank you sooooooo much. My sister-in-law kinda said the same thing. She was nervous also. When you say ';black bag'; so you mean your duffle bag or a plastic bag?? So did you go anywhere else or buy all the bags at the same ';back room';? Also thanks for the info on the TOTR. I just bought tickets on line for Mama Mia. Decided I didn%26#39;t want to waste time in line for tickets in NYC. Thanks again!!

Great report - and you sure did pack a lot into a small amount of time - and did some shopping too! Wow! Hope you had a good time in Atlantic City too.

Until next time. Ta. MMM!

Thank you sooooooo much. My sister-in-law kinda said the same thing. She was nervous also. When you say ';black bag'; so you mean your duffle bag or a plastic bag?? So did you go anywhere else or buy all the bags at the same ';back room';? Also thanks for the info on the TOTR. I just bought tickets on line for Mama Mia. Decided I didn%26#39;t want to waste time in line for tickets in NYC. Thanks again!!