New York
New York, New York, so good they named it twice! Or in our case, visited five times!
First trip was in 2008, a treat to ourselves after a couple of tough years. In those days, the exchange rate was basically $2/£1! If only we’d known.
We flew economy with Delta from Manchester to JFK, and stayed just off Times Square at the Paramount Hotel.
Over the course of the week and a half, we shopped, ate and explored. We realised that the hop on hop off buses are great – at least if you accept that if you don’t like the tour guide, you can get off and get the next one. We learned that buying Comedy Show tickets from the guys in Times Square isn’t such a good idea.
All in all, we spent the holiday falling in love with the Big Apple! It was supposed to be a one off, but we ended up going back for the next few years!
In 2009, we stayed at Radio City Apartments on W49th Street. It’s close enough to Times Square to be in the middle of everything but just far enough out the way to be quiet. Over the three stays we’ve had there, we also discovered a lot of good eateries nearby. Handy tip – head off the main avenues and try the food places there. They might not be as glamorous, but they’re usually cheaper and good!
This was the trip we discovered baseball. We booked one trip in advance, then enjoyed it so much we went back for a second one the following week! And we now try and get to a ball game on pretty much every US trip – dates and weather permitting!
This was also the fist time we visited the Intrepid – a former aircraft carrier turned Museum of Air, Sea and Space, which includes a decommissioned Concorde. Would love to have had the chance to fly on that!
2010 saw us deciding to try a hotel further north – the Hotel Newton on W96th Street. The hotel itself was fantastic, but the location not so much. It was worth the try, but we decided we much prefer the hustle and bustle of midtown and Times Square. It didn’t help that we landed in a heatwave, so by the time we got anywhere, we were soaked with sweat and wanting to shower and change!
More baseball this year, and we saw La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway, with Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge in the lead roles. Who would have thought that Frasier would be so good on stage!
One delight we found on this trip. was called the Hidden Harbour tour. Instead of all the touristy bits, the tour routes go in and out the working side of the city. The difference perspective, coupled with a guest “tour guide” from the Environment and Development area, gave a brilliant view of what makes New York as a city actually work.
Our final New York trip for a while was 2010. We went back to the Radio City Apartments in midtown and enjoyed being back in the hustle and bustle again.
We did the baseball again, saw Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on Bradway – after seeing it twice in the West End – saw a Richard Cheese concert on a paddle steamer, and finally, after trying every year, got tickets to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Well worth the wait!
After visiting four years in a row, much as we love New York, we decided we were ready for a break, and after much debate – ideas of Boston, Canada and Tennessee were floated round – decided to have a year off while Chris learned to drive. This would give us a bit more freedom on future trips, as I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being the only driver!
Our next trip – and currently our last one – was 2017. We had to take a slightly different approach on this trip, due to Chris being back on crutches. Trips had to be more carefully planned, rather than our previous approach of let’s just wander.
We finally saw an MLB game in New York, seeing the Mets at Citi Field. We also saw a couple of shows, and two concerts, Metallica and Billy Joel.
I’d like to go back some day, but we’ll need to plan carefully for accessibility to do that.
