New York City
June 6 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F
Our route into NYC took us across Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey, then into the city via the Lincoln Tunnel. The whole genesis of this trip was the idea of rendezvousing with Thomas at the end of his school trip. By a nearly miraculous stroke of luck, the hotel we selected, the Manhattan Club, was literally around the corner from where Thomas and his group would be staying. We had no idea where they would be when we booked our hotel, so the odds of that working out so well were microscopic. Sometimes things just work out!
I'd never driven in Manhattan before, so getting into the city was an experience. The tunnel was predictably jammed up, and when we got through we were met with the expected chaos of closed lanes, double-parked cars, and people turning left or right from whatever lane they happened to be in. But we made it without incident and happily turned the car over to the valet. The Manhattan Club turned out to be a fantastic place to stay. While not cheap, it was very much in line with standard Manhattan hotel prices. And for that price you got what was much more like a large apartment than a hotel room. A closed off bedroom with a king bed, plus a queen pullout in the other room. TWO bathrooms, plus a kitchenette. And valet parking for $35/day. No complaints at all!
We'd been to New York with the boys before, but we'd stayed way downtown, near Chinatown. This time we were midtown, so there were new things to see. Liz, DJ, and I went out to see what we could see. We walked down 5th Avenue in the direction of Grand Central Station. We popped into St Patrick's, where a wedding was wrapping up (it's kinda weird that weddings happen while the church is still open to tourists...but this bride seemed to be thoroughly enjoying being the center of attention).
We walked through Rockefeller Center, thoroughly rainbowed out for Pride Month, and grabbed a bite to eat at a couple of the eateries in Grand Central. We then walked through Bryant Park and through Times Square. It was a Saturday night and we got the full Times Square pedestrian experience: very shoulder-to-shoulder! A quick sweet for DJ at Max Brenner and then we hustled back to the hotel to beat a developing thunderstorm. Racing back as the wind blew all the usual NYC detritus around was a kick for DJ :)Read more