Since I booked us an extra day we had the opportunity to see more of the town than those people who showed up on the first day of the tour, so this was our first day of our tour.
I also prepaid for tickets to the Grayline Bus. I would highly reccomend this mode of transportation if you go to New York sightseeing. The bus takes you through all of the city and makes convienent stops all along the way. You are not restrained by "bus schedules" because there are several buses that run all day. The neat thing about this is that you can hop on and off the buses at your leisure and spend as much time in any given area that you want to see. The bus has several "loops" for you to choose from and you can take as many loops as you want.
On Thursday, April 22nd we boarded our plane (American West) in Palm Springs at 6:00pm in and flew to Phoenix where we had a layover until we changed planes at 9:25 pm. We arrived in New York at about 2:30am on Friday, April 23rd and took a taxi to the Grand Hyatt New York but couldn’t check into our hotel until later, so we had a bite to eat in some bijou little diner around the corner from the hotel and then walked down W. 34th Street past Macy’s and The New York Library. We went on to pick up our tickets for the Gray Line Bus (It’s a red double-decker) and we took the Downtown Loop which started in Times Square then went on to Broadway (Theater District), Macy’s, Madison Square Gardens, and the Empire State Building. Next we saw the Flatiron Building, Union Square, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chinatown, and Little Italy. Then on to City Hall, we drove past the Brooklyn Bridge and Battery Park. We got off at the South Street Seaport Museum and looked around then got back on the bus and drove through the Lower East Side, the East Village, United Nations Building, the Waldorf Astoria, and Rockefeller Center/Radio City Music Hall, went around Central Park and ended up back where we started. This loop took about 2 hours. We watched the sun come up. Eric slept on the entire loop he was so exhausted.
By this time our room was ready and we tried to lay down but I was too excited to sleep, so we headed out again and took the Uptown Loop which started at the Bus Terminal and took us past the Sawan Grocer, Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center, the Dakota Apartments/Strawberry Fields (where John Lennon was killed), next we saw the American Museum of Natural History and the Upper West Side which included the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Riverside Church, Fort Tryon Park, Heather Garden, The Cloisters, The Apollo Theater, Harlem Market, Central Park Conservatory Gardens, The Smithsonian Natural Museum of Design, the Frick Collection/Whitney Museum and ended at the Central Park Zoo where we changed loops and got off at the Empire State Building.
We hopped on the bus again and drove past the site where the World Trade Center used to be. There was so much damage to the surrounding buildings it was frightening how horrendous the blast must have been. Some buildings had the entire side, facing the World Trade Center, blown off. Next our ride took us to Fort Clinton where we bought our tickets and caught the Circle Line Ferry to Ellis Island. We couldn’t go into the Statue of Liberty because it was closed after 9/11.
After that we walked around Wall Street and continued on through lower Manhattan. We hopped on several different loops so we could see all of New York from the comfort of our seats. After our first loop we stopped and had a bite to eat in a store front deli.
I decided to break in a new pair of sandals on our first day in New York and got horrible blisters on my feet. Eric, angel that he is, hunted down a pharmacy where he bought me some Neosporin and Band-Aids. After doctoring my feet we freshened up and then took a taxi to Empire State Building (what a lot of steps that was!) and saw the NY skyline at night. It was breathtaking. We decided to walk back to the hotel and after returning we finally slept.
I also prepaid for tickets to the Grayline Bus. I would highly reccomend this mode of transportation if you go to New York sightseeing. The bus takes you through all of the city and makes convienent stops all along the way. You are not restrained by "bus schedules" because there are several buses that run all day. The neat thing about this is that you can hop on and off the buses at your leisure and spend as much time in any given area that you want to see. The bus has several "loops" for you to choose from and you can take as many loops as you want.
On Thursday, April 22nd we boarded our plane (American West) in Palm Springs at 6:00pm in and flew to Phoenix where we had a layover until we changed planes at 9:25 pm. We arrived in New York at about 2:30am on Friday, April 23rd and took a taxi to the Grand Hyatt New York but couldn’t check into our hotel until later, so we had a bite to eat in some bijou little diner around the corner from the hotel and then walked down W. 34th Street past Macy’s and The New York Library. We went on to pick up our tickets for the Gray Line Bus (It’s a red double-decker) and we took the Downtown Loop which started in Times Square then went on to Broadway (Theater District), Macy’s, Madison Square Gardens, and the Empire State Building. Next we saw the Flatiron Building, Union Square, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chinatown, and Little Italy. Then on to City Hall, we drove past the Brooklyn Bridge and Battery Park. We got off at the South Street Seaport Museum and looked around then got back on the bus and drove through the Lower East Side, the East Village, United Nations Building, the Waldorf Astoria, and Rockefeller Center/Radio City Music Hall, went around Central Park and ended up back where we started. This loop took about 2 hours. We watched the sun come up. Eric slept on the entire loop he was so exhausted.
By this time our room was ready and we tried to lay down but I was too excited to sleep, so we headed out again and took the Uptown Loop which started at the Bus Terminal and took us past the Sawan Grocer, Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center, the Dakota Apartments/Strawberry Fields (where John Lennon was killed), next we saw the American Museum of Natural History and the Upper West Side which included the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Riverside Church, Fort Tryon Park, Heather Garden, The Cloisters, The Apollo Theater, Harlem Market, Central Park Conservatory Gardens, The Smithsonian Natural Museum of Design, the Frick Collection/Whitney Museum and ended at the Central Park Zoo where we changed loops and got off at the Empire State Building.
We hopped on the bus again and drove past the site where the World Trade Center used to be. There was so much damage to the surrounding buildings it was frightening how horrendous the blast must have been. Some buildings had the entire side, facing the World Trade Center, blown off. Next our ride took us to Fort Clinton where we bought our tickets and caught the Circle Line Ferry to Ellis Island. We couldn’t go into the Statue of Liberty because it was closed after 9/11.
After that we walked around Wall Street and continued on through lower Manhattan. We hopped on several different loops so we could see all of New York from the comfort of our seats. After our first loop we stopped and had a bite to eat in a store front deli.
I decided to break in a new pair of sandals on our first day in New York and got horrible blisters on my feet. Eric, angel that he is, hunted down a pharmacy where he bought me some Neosporin and Band-Aids. After doctoring my feet we freshened up and then took a taxi to Empire State Building (what a lot of steps that was!) and saw the NY skyline at night. It was breathtaking. We decided to walk back to the hotel and after returning we finally slept.
No comments:
Post a Comment