Trip Report - March 2009

Spent a fantastic 4 full days with my mom March 22 - 25. Trip report following.

Trip Report - March 2009

I left Vancouver March 21 with my mom on Air Canada. We arrived at JFK at 11 pm. Since it was so late we decided to take a cab to our Hotel - Best Western Bowery. We did bypass the gypsy cabs and waited at the taxi stand.

We arrived and checked into the hotel, unpacked and went to bed so we could get up early and enjoy the city.

Sunday March 22

We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel before taking the subway up to the market at Columbus and 77th. Lots of great vintage jewellery and other interesting items for sale. I could have bought lots but limited myself to one pair of earrings.

We decided to walk through Central Park to get to The Frick. It was a beautiful day, cold but sunny and we enjoyed the walk. There was a Cancer Fundraising run going on (I think) and it was good to see so many people taking part to raise money for research.

Since we arrived before 1 pm on Sunday it was pay what you wish at the Frick. I had been here 3 years ago with my sister and loved the museum. My mom doesn%26#39;t like large museums so the Frick was a perfect choice.

After the Frick we walked down 5th ave to Rockerfeller Plaza, St. Patrick%26#39;s (peeked in) and Times Square. We continued on to Macy%26#39;s but decided to skip Macy%26#39;s and went to Daffy%26#39;s instead. Our feet were tired by this point so we decided to head back to the hotel. The B line wasn%26#39;t running so we took a taxi back and rested up for an hour.

We decided to stay in Chinatown for dinner and ended up at Yee Lin on elizabeth street. We shared some noodles then headed out for ice cream. The Chinatown Ice Cream Factory was closed so we grabbed some from the Haagen Das store.

Back to the hotel to sleep.

more to follow.

Trip Report - March 2009

oops! Forgot to mention that we walked around Chinatown and Little Italy while enjoying our ice cream.

March 23

We were met in the lobby by our Big Apple Greeter! We walked through Chinatown to explore the Lower East Side, Greenwich Village, over to Brooklyn (DUMBO, the promenade and Fulton Landing).

It was a great tour and I highly recommend the BAG program. Andrea was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her city. She pointed out things that we never would have found out from guide books and tailored the tour to our interests.

We ate at Rice to Riches, had an egg cream at Gem (something), pizza at John%26#39;s on Bleeker, bought chocolate at Jacque Torres in Brooklyn, chocolate chip cookies at Milk %26amp; Cookies in Greenwich Village. All of it good and I was glad we walked a ton!

After Brooklyn we went back to the hotel to freshen up before Avenue Q. We grabbed some steamed pork buns from the dumpling place across from the hotel for after the show since we were still full from all of our tastings.

Avenue Q was great! I had seen it before but thought mom would enjoy it and she did.

Subway back to the hotel and sleep.

March 24

Got up and took the subway to Rockerfeller Plaza to go to Top of the Rock. It was sunny and clear so we got some great shots of the city. We then walked down the the library to visit Patience and Fortitude. We walked through and checked out the small Art Deco exhibit there. Mom was very impressed with the building and can%26#39;t believe it%26#39;s a library not a private building.

We walked past Bryant Park to the International Center of Photography for an exhibit there on fashion photography. Really well done and interesting. Walked over to Chelsea and just wandered around. Took the subway to Soho to take some pictures and check out the neighborhood before heading back to the hotel.

We had a large deli lunch so we decided not to eat before heading uptown to see Blythe Spirit. Angela Landsbury was fantastic. Cute play but she was definitely the scene stealer.

We got seated quickly at Carmine%26#39;s. Since there were just the 2 of us we only ordered one dish and it was still way too much. The waiters were funny and the food was good. It was too bad we didn%26#39;t have a fridge and microwave at the hotel to take the leftovers with us.

Subway back to the hotel and sleep.

March 25

Our last full day. We took the subway to the Staten Island Ferry. We got some great shots of lady liberty and ellis island and going back into Manhattan.

Subwayed to Union Square and wandered around the market before going into DSW and Filene%26#39;s Basement. We only ';adopted'; one pair of shoes each (there are another 4 or 5 pairs that I sadly left behind).

Crossed the street to Union Square again to pick up some muffins to eat in the square and people watch.

The subway stopped at Canal Street so we walked along it to get back to the hotel. We picked up some dumplingss (8 for $2) from the Good Dumpling House. The line for the man who makes the mini cream buns was short so we picked up some of those too (20 for $1). We made tea and ate our snack in the hotel room before heading uptown again to see Altar Boyz. Funny show and the audience really got into it.

subway back to the hotel for hot chocolate, packing and sleep.

We had the hotel arrange a car to pick us up just after 5 AM for our 7 AM flight out of JFK back to Vancouver.

Mom loved NYC. The hardest thing for her were all the stairs in the subway system due to her arthritis. We were lucky with the weather (no rain!) and can%26#39;t wait to come back.

S

If going again with Mother %26amp; as she prefers smaller museums I suggest the Morgan Library - we loved it esp East/West Wing.

It sounds like you gave your mom a great trip :)

Sounds like a great trip. You must have checked in right after we checked out of the Best Western. What a great neighborhood. I%26#39;m glad you were able to show your mom so much of New York!

It sounds like you had a very special mother/daughter trip. Congratulations and thanks for writing your trip report!! :D

Orphaned and stray, unneutered shoes are a major problem in NYC. It%26#39;s a sad, untold story. Every year, thousands of shoes remain on shoe store shelves, waiting for a good home.

Thank you for doing your part to combat this tragedy. But, you%26#39;ll just have to come back again to help more!

Thanks for a great report and congrats on a successful visit!