Hick Goes to New York

[paula]

Since right now I'm alive and feel pretty good, my 94 year old mommie is stabilized and excited by current politics, and my kids are finally on their way back from the other side of the moon (knock on wood), I have decided that I will have a small adventure. New York City. Between the March colonoscopy and the CT scan coming up in May I have a little window from which to emerge out of the swamps and into the big city lights Can anyone give me some "insider" tips on where to stay (gulp), unusual places to visit, etc? I'd sho nuff appreciate it.

[CRguy]

Can anyone give me some "insider" tips on where to stay (gulp), unusual places to visit, etc? I'd sho nuff appreciate it.

Be careful what you ask for ...it IS NYC after all.
Sounds like fun. Yee Haw !
Cheers
CRguy

[Carolina Girl]

I love the "Empire State of Mind" as Jay Z alls it. Get a hotel in Times Square. It's central to a lot of things. Ride one of the tour buses to see the entire city and learn where things are. Go to Macy's - they have wooden escalators! Go to Tiffany's!!!! Window shop 5th Avenue. Go to a play. Go to Canal Street and shop the vendors. Don't let Customs catch you, but buy a knock off purse, scarf or other high price item from one of the vendors! Wonderful food in China town. Awesome Italian food. Carriage ride through Central Park - get a picture taken. Just walk around and be amazed that so many people can live like that! I think NY is a wonderful place to visit.

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the emprie state building, getting on top of that thing was a lot of fun. Lots of cool museums to see, central park's a good time. And if you're into the whole musical thing, don't forget to checkout the two-fer's at time square to get some nice cheap tickets.

[Gaelen]

Paula, there is sooo much to see and do in the city. I'll be there over Easter weekend myself for scans.
I would stay in midtown if you're picking a hotel, rather than Times Square, but I like things a bit more eclectic. Take a look at Travelocity and Expedia just to see what's available in your price range. When I was taking a no-holds-barred, treat my mom trip, I booked us into the FitzPatrick Grand Central, an all-Irish luxury hotel that made her trip. But for me, I'm more the Thirty-Thirty, the Pod hotel, one of the Radissons uptown because they usually have deals running all the time. Or even the Comfort Inn-Manhattan 35th Street. And these days, since I know neighborhoods, I usually do AirBnB and rent someone's apartment for the time I'm there.
Bring good walkin' shoes - I honestly believe the best way to explore any city is on foot.
But the hop-on/hop-off bus mentioned will let you see the city, and get on/off at something like a dozen pre-determined great sites, so you can use it as your transportation between hot spots. Pick up a copy of New York magazine, to get a feel for what's going on, and pick up a map in advance so that you can sort of get the lay of the land.
I truly don't think I'd ever go hungry in NYC - if there's someplace you're dying to go, you might need reservations. I kinda like finding the small neighborhood treasures, though - the little 10-table mom/pop Italian place that makes their sauce from scratch, for instance.
There is a lot of stuff you can do that costs money - and an amazing amount of stuff that you can do that is completely or nearly free. Central Park is always amazing to me (free). The Empire State Bldg. costs money to go to the top, but you gotta do it - just 15 bucks, plan about an hour. The Statue of Liberty actual tour is great - but it takes at least half a day. If you want to see Lady Liberty and still manage your time, take the (free, or 50 cents) Staten Island ferry - a cool thing to do all by itself. You'll sail right by the lady, and get the ferry ride and the NYC skyline, too. There are all kinds of stuff like that.
Pace yourself. Decide what you really want to do, and don't try to cram the whole place into a weekend.

[Terry]

Can I go with you? I've always wanted to go shopping in New York. When I'm off all this chemo crap my daughters, mother and I are all going to go and take in some broadway musicals.

Have fun, you deserve it! Who are you going with?

[lorrainem]

Baseball season is coming up, you may want to go to Yankee Stadium. As for chinese food, Dim Sum is awesome, right in the center of Chinatown and guess what they serve...Dim Sum. Canal Street is good, as is Soho to shop. They have Bloomingdales (my personal fav) and then the realistic stores all over. If Skyline Park is open it's also a must, it opened last summer, I didn't get the opportunity to go, but it's on my must-do list when it reopens this year. The Circle Line is a lovely boat trip around Manhattan Island. You see EVERYTHING. Any museum you want to go to, GO. Central Park is awesome. Macy's Herald Square is awesome. Go to the NY tourism sites. As a native NYer, I love everything NY...oooo Little Italy!!! See, it just never stops.

[NWgirl]

Even if you're not normally a fan of museums, I'd go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") - it is one of the best in the country (mind you I haven't been to DC yet). I went to the Modern Museum of Art (MOMA) too, but I just couldn't get into the Modern Art Stuff - but that's just me. A boat ride to the Statue of Liberty or at least around it is always fun. And maybe not something you'd be interested in - but if you can afford a good steak dinner and have any interest, you'll get the best of the best in NYC! I took one of those bus tours previously mentioned when we were in Chicago - where you get on/off at different spots and the buses come about every 15 minutes. It was great - my husband said NYC has the same thing - I would highly recommend that. You get to see so many sites and can spend all day doing it - no rush. If you like plays, definitely see a play - any play! There's a ticket booth, in Times Square I think, where you can get last minute tickets to shows for a significantly reduced price. It's first come, first serve and your choices may be limited, but it can save you a lot of money. I'm sure any hotel you book into would know the details on this - Gaelen probably does too.

While I wouldn't want to live there, NYC is amazing - beautiful - fun - exciting - a must see! ENJOY!!!!

[Gaelen]

A lot of info crammed into one place, but these sites will get you started:
The basics: http://www.nyctourist.com/
The insider stuff: http://www.nycgo.com/
Stay like a human being: http://www.airbnb.com
Those hop-on/hop-off buses: http://www.citysightsny.com/

One way to find local stuff - the small mom/pop restaurants for instance - is if you have a GPS, program a destination into it that is the address of a hotel you might be staying at. And then search for points of interest within a half-mile of the address you programmed in - food, shopping, local ATM machines (which are often in small newstands or bodegas), the nearest drug stores, and so on. I've found *great* stuff that way - not only in NYC but all over the country. Try searching for 'diner' or 'coffeshop' and suddenly you'll have real local stuff popping up all over.

[tdsamal]

We stayed at the Super 8 in Manhattan because it was the cheapest and it was great. It was a short 2 block walk to Times Square and was centrally located to many things. If I only had a couple of days I would make sure that I would take the double deck bus tours. For a good price you can ride around all day and stop at many different places. We also took the night bus tour which took you across the Brooklyn bridge to see the NYC skyline. It was beautiful. It is a must to go see a show. We saw Mama Mia and it was wonderful. They do have tickets for sale the day of the shows for a reduced price (in Times Square) but the lines were long and we wanted a certain show plus you also have to pay with cash. If I go back again I think I would try this option.That way I could go to more shows. The carriage ride in Central Park was so fun. We also took the circle line over to Ellis Island and toured through the Statue of Liberty. My husband is a history buff and his grandparents came to America through Ellis Island so he enjoyed it very much. There is so much to do that you can't possibly get it done in one visit. We toured the Empire State building, Rockefeller Plaza,the site of the World Trade Center and shopped at Macys and Tiffany's. Make sure you wear good walking shoes! Everynight we came back to the room and soaked our feet in the tub. You are going to have so much fun whatever you see. I want to go back so bad and take my daughter. Maybe after treatments I can think about it. Hope you have a great time!

[Surroundedbylove]

The Met, MOMA, Central Park, shopping in Soho, Tiffany's, Macy's, eating at fun restuarants, seeing a show.....

I'd stay in Midtown too - Times Square feels too "touristy" to me.

[paula]

Thank you all for taking the time to post your great tips and advice. At the same time I so appreciate your responses, I felt ambivalent about posting this in the first place as so many of you are suffering right now - and several of you face surgeries in April. I hope this didn't sound like trivializing because believe me, I'm no stranger to pain - none of us are. To me facing death has crystallized the need to take responsibility for life. "How is it that we are so much in oneness when each of us walks finally alone . . . we walk alone, but as we do, we walk together. Alone, together . . .somehow we are never more united than when each of us is paying the price for his or her own life." Take care everyone.

ps. Terry, pack your bags and let's go - my spousal unit will be with us

[Bev G.]

Yea for you, Paula! Great idea. I'm doing the same type of thing right this second. Within an hour of my PET scan on Wednesday I decided I needed to go away for a few days, before the liver resection in a couple of weeks, and being 13 days post chemo. Decided I wanted to go see my brother in VT. Knowing there was no way I could do this alone, my son is along. He had wheel chairs at each plane exit, through security, etc (I'm quite weak from chemo and diarrhea). We got to Boston, rented car and then I decided I wanted to go north first rather than west. We drove up the coast awhile and as I'm writing this I am looking out at a stormy Atlantic ocean from a motel in Maine and recharging my soul in the most wonderful way. My son and I had so much fun yesterday. Laughed and laughed, decided we are Thelma and Louise I even walked in the sand for about 10 minutes! Last night, with tremendous trepidation, I ate fried lobster tails. Delicious. Took zofran and lomotil after and made it through the night with no kolon katastrophe. We're heading over to Woodstock VT in awhile, and will pass through a couple of places that are very meaningful to me on the way. I am storing up wonderful memories to think of while I'm recovering from my surgery.

I'm happy for you that you are planning a getaway. NYC is always fun--so alive, and so much to do. I love every museum I've ever been to there, and the PLAYS Good for you! Have a wonderful time!

Hugs, Bev

[Bev G.]

Yea for you, Paula! Great idea. I'm doing the same type of thing right this second. Within an hour of my PET scan on Wednesday I decided I needed to go away for a few days, before the liver resection in a couple of weeks, and being 13 days post chemo. Decided I wanted to go see my brother in VT. Knowing there was no way I could do this alone, my son is along. He had wheel chairs at each plane exit, through security, etc (I'm quite weak from chemo and diarrhea). We got to Boston, rented car and then I decided I wanted to go north first rather than west. We drove up the coast awhile and as I'm writing this I am looking out at a stormy Atlantic ocean from a motel in Maine and recharging my soul in the most wonderful way. My son and I had so much fun yesterday. Laughed and laughed, decided we are Thelma and Louise I even walked in the sand for about 10 minutes! Last night, with tremendous trepidation, I ate fried lobster tails. Delicious. Took zofran and lomotil after and made it through the night with no kolon katastrophe. We're heading over to Woodstock VT in awhile, and will pass through a couple of places that are very meaningful to me on the way. I am storing up wonderful memories to think of while I'm recovering from my surgery.

I'm happy for you that you are planning a getaway. NYC is always fun--so alive, and so much to do. I love every museum I've ever been to there, and the PLAYS Good for you! Have a wonderful time!

Hugs, Bev

[Vega]

Make sure to take a ferry ride to Staten Island as it passes by the Statue of Liberty in the distance. I always love taking short little trips to get away and to get my mind off everything that is happening in my life. It's refreshing and I think it's good for our health. Also, be sure to check out Central Park especially in the Spring when the flowers and trees are all in bloom. I always love walking through China Town and Little Italy. It's like your walking through a different country and the culture is pretty fascinating.