Report on Great Time in NYC

Hi, everyone. Just wanted to post a quick summary of our trip to NYC and also to thank everyone who contributed when we were planning our itinerary. Thanks so much, we had a blast!

I also read many other people%26#39;s questions and answers on the forums and that was very helpful in planning our trip.

We did lots of things, too many to write about. I%26#39;ll just pick a few quick ones. I am including a few tips for anyone going to see the things we did.

We were in New York from Thursday-Monday. Fleet Week was going on so that was great to see all the service men and women.

We purchased Adult Flex Tickets with Audio to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. When you are planning this allow alot of time for the lines. We went on Friday first thing in the morning. (I think if you went either in the afternoon or on Saturday the lines would have been much worse.) As it was, even though it was oh, about 9:30ish, we stood in line for the tickets at Battery Park. Then with our tickets in hand, we dashed over to the next line to get on the actual boat/ferry. This line was very long and slow. There were people playing drums, violins, etc. for tips as you were standing in line. Eventually, you get to this building that has about six airport baggage type screeners and you have to walk through a screener. So you break up into more lines to do that. After that you gather up your belongings and you get to board the boat. The monument wasn%26#39;t open that particular day although you could walk around the grounds. We skipped the Statue of Liberty because of that and stayed on the boat and went straight to Ellis Island. Very interesting.

We did the Grayline Bus Tours. Sit near the front by the guide if you want to hear what they are saying. Note: Early evening is chilly, take a sweater or windbreaker. Daytime you%26#39;ll need sunglasses or hat - it%26#39;s hot if you are on the open top level. Some guides were great and very knowledgeable. Some not so much. You don%26#39;t really know who you will get when you board the bus. Note they ask for tips everytime you hop off the bus. Buy these bus tickets in the Times Square area. There are Grayline bus tour guys standing on the corners with red vests. They will ask you what type of ticket you want to buy and they will swipe your credit card with a handheld device and give you a yellow receipt that is also the boarding pass. Don%26#39;t lose that! Note: there are guys selling tickets for the CitySights standing on the corners also. So decide ahead of time which company you want to buy your tickets from.

We got tickets to a Broadway show at Tkts which offers discounts on certain shows. Could not get tickets to Wicked. Our hotel had a special area to buy show tickets and I spoke to them and commented that I couldn%26#39;t get tickets to Wicked. They said that is probably because their ticket broker purchased all the tickets. Which I could then purchase from the hotel lady at a rather steep price. No.

So if you are planning to buy tickets try the tkts booth there is a large one in Times Square. It opens at 3:00 and the line will be very long. There is another tkts outlet in the South Street Seaport area and that one opens at 11:00. You may or may not sit together. They may or may not have tickets to the show you want to see. And different shows are discounted different amounts.

Eating out. Some places will give you a glass of tap water with your order. More on-the-go places want to sell you bottled waters for $2.00 or more. Something I thought was rather charming was, when we ordered our meal the waiter brought a dish of whole pickles to our table and individual small dishes of coleslaw as appetizers. One restaurant brought out dishes of pickled beets.

We went to a really fun place for lunch called Jekyll and Hyde between 57th and 58th Streets. It is a themed four story restaurant. Frankenstein, haunted house type fun. Waiters act out parts, animated manequins. Waiters very funny. I had the oriental chicken salad, it was pretty good. There is a $2.95 charge per person for the entertainment.

Go, it%26#39;s fun. Oh, and they only take certain credit cards otherwise pay cash.

We went to Central Park and got lost. Yes, we really did. I did not see any ';You are here'; type of signs once we were inside the park. We were fine until I saw this really cool castle (Belvedere Castle) in the park. So we made our way to it, climbed it, took pictures. Then we tried to go the way we thought was the way to the street. I think there was an easier route to the street, however, that was evidently not the path we took. Ended up asking random people if they knew the route to the street - no luck, they were clueless as well. Eventually stumbled out of there. (I think we were in the area called ';The Ramble';). Tip: Take water along with you and beware The Ramble! Ha, ha. Other than that, I have to say Central Park was such a peaceful, restful place. A great place to hang out.

All in all we had a great time. Everywhere we went we met the nicest people. Everyone was willing to help us. We felt safe and we had a blast.

I would love to come back again and that, to me, is the litmus test of a great trip.

Thanks again, everyone for all your help!

Report on Great Time in NYC

Lots of good info here. Thanks for writing. I always look forward to reading trip reports! :D

Report on Great Time in NYC

Planning a repeat repeat repeat visit so starting to plan. Did you enjoy the show you ended up seeing and if so what was it?

Thanks for the trip report and info on the EI ferry lines. I will be going there Tuesday! I can%26#39;t believe it is almost time to go!!!!

Every restaurant will give you tap water. It is just that some places bring it automatically, while at others you need to ask. The reason you need to ask is that as a water conservation measure several years back, restaurants were encouraged by the City not to put out glasses of water unless requested. This was done not only to save the water that would be put in the glass of someone who did not want it, but also it would save the greater quantity of water needed to wash that unused glass for the next patron. Even though there is no drought this year, some restaurants have gotten into this economy/ecolgy-minded habit. If you want tap water, though, and there is none on the table, just ASK for it -- say ';Can we have some water, please?'; If they ask you if you want bottled water, just say ';No, thank you; tap water is fine.';

Great TR you did have a blast i see as NYC is the place too see.

which show did you end of seeing? did you enjoy it %26amp; would you go again or pick something different?

Thanks for the tap water info GWB. That will be very useful to me when we visit NYC in July!

I%26#39;d also like to know what show you ended up seeing, if any.

What did you like about Ellis Island? Do you have any members of your families who might have come through there?

Did you use the subway? And where did you stay?

Thanks for the happy recap and congrats on a successful visit!

Mahj, Maryhou, and Queensboulevard: Thanks for all your comments. We ended up seeing Avenue Q at the John Golden Theatre on 252 West 45th Street. The tickets were 50% off on the particular day we went.

I thought all the cast did a splendid job. We were amused by the ';Bad Idea Bears';. I am sure there is a synopsis of the show online so I won%26#39;t go over it here. While I enjoyed the show I would probably go see something different next time.

By the way, for those with teens who like to buy T-shirts, caps, etc. with the show%26#39;s logo. Inside the theatre, on the lower level, they were selling T-shirts for $5.00 less than we had priced them at the numerous ';Broadway'; gift stores.

Secrets of Central Park from a Central Park tour guide - (me). The good news is it%26#39;s a park and there%26#39;s no signage -- The bad news is it%26#39;s a park and there%26#39;s no signage.

HINT - If you look at lamp posts - on most of them you will find 4 numbers -- the first two are the cross street. On the older black posts, the 2nd two have a code EAST is EVEN, WEST is ODD. On the newer gray lampposts you will see a E. C (center) or W indicator. Ignore the 2nd two letters because they are probably wrong.

When you want to ';get out'; don%26#39;t say point me to ';the street'; -- You are in a space that is 2.5 miles by .5 miles. Instead say ';I am trying to get to ???? the Met? Central Park South? the West Side where ever -- Then we%26#39;ll know what you are trying to do!

Glad you found the ramble - it%26#39;s gorgeous - most people don%26#39;t see that much of the Park

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