NYC Vacation Journal Part 1

At the end of May, my husband and I traveled to NYC with my parents along with Rob and Roda, for a family vacation.  It was during the Memorial weekend.  Dad created the travel itinerary and oh my gosh, was it jam packed.  I might have to break up the days in a few posts, because we did so much within just a few days.

We flew in late on Friday, May 26th (Yes, I know, I'm behind in blogging about the trip :)  The only newbies to NYC were Greg and Roda.  I was in the city before and after 911, but it's been a long time.

The best man at our wedding, Danny, suggested that we go to Tony's Di Napoli for supper.  It's located at 147 West 43rd Street, NYC.  I love this part on the business card, "Between 63rd and 64th Streets."  This is how it's said.  Not the street name, note the place of business, but the "between the streets" location.  You can't tell a cab driver, "I want to go to Tony's Di Napolis," because no matter where you say you want to go, the cabbies don't know where it is... and if you only give them an address you could be driving up and down the street for a while in heavy traffic, with lights on almost every street.  So, it's the cross streets that are imperative.  If you go to NYC and someone gives you an address, get the cross streets.

Danny warned us that if we order something from Tony's, it's a family style restaurant.  Meaning, the portions are very large, so only get a couple of entrees that everyone can share.  Our waitresses' name was Heidi.  She was awesome from the minute she arrived.  There was bench seating on my parents' side.  Heidi flung herself at the bench, parked herself by Dad and said, "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."  Considering we just arrived from a two flight trip and long cab drive over... she mirrored our feelings, which caused a great deal of laughter.  Here's a picture of my Dad and Heidi:


The menu is a little pricey, but it's good food and large quantities.  Warning though.. it's a bit loud in the restaurant on a Friday night.


For appetizers we had friend zucchini.  Normally when it comes out, it's long strips of zucchini, but here, it was potato chip slices and was very good.  The stuffed mushrooms were delicious too!


We ordered two main entrees (Veal and Zucchini and Chicken Parmesan) and one side dish of grilled veggies.


Are you hungry yet?  Just looking at the food makes me feel full again!  The atmosphere was very New York with crowds and noise and rush, rush, rush..


Even though we were stuffed and sleepy, we went to Times Square.  If you go there, go at night time on your first visit, no matter how tired you are.  The nightlife is really cool and seeing everything lit up at night makes a difference.  I liked that the streets around Time Square are blocked off, so pedestrians can move freely without being chased down by yellow bugs (cabs).






Below is a quick video I took that night.  Oh and we decided not to bring the big camera.  We didn't want to look like tourists, though I imagine all the iPhone camera action and our heads craned to see the top of the sky scrapers was a give away already.  All pictures/videos shared about this trip are compliments of the iPhone :)






Part 2 - 911 Memorial

Comments

Glynis Jolly said…
It's been ions since I've seen NYC. I loved being a tourist there. I don't think I could ever live there though.
Coffeypot said…
I love New York City, but only to visit. I don't think I could live there. I love my trees and driving and a slower way of life. But it is a great place to go on vacation. I'm glad you had a full, fun visit.
Aleta said…
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Penny said…
How fun!! Your food pics made me hungry, lol!!!
Lauren said…
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Aleta said…
Well, I love New Orleans, but I live in a subdivision outside of it. Love the city, wouldn't want to live in the rush of it. I did think that NYC and New Orleans are a great deal alike, but NYC is on a bigger scale.
Looks like a wonderful trip! I love your blog! It is really beautiful! Still figuring mine out :) Anyway hugs to you all! You deserve to enjoy yourself!