NYC '13 Trip

Our trip started well enough using airline miles and getting the flight from Las Vegas to Syracuse for $5/ticket. From Las Vegas to Chicago was fine but Chicago to Syracuse was delayed 45 minutes. We got into Syracuse with the help of a great van driver from the hotel Embassy Suites... Again, using points, we had our hotel taken care of. We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday and then hit the hay. There was a hooting and hollering in the hotel due to a wedding party which is always annoying as no one likes a wedding party they're not invited to. Bill picked us up in the morning to go do some apple picking as planned. He brought 2 of his kids that are just awesome. Aiden and Connor, his 2 boys. Aiden is shy and intellectual while Connor is young, and curious. A 45 minute drive got us to Bill's house on Lake Oneida. The boys were eager to help us unload the suitcases when we arrived as it took about 45 minutes to crack their shell and open up to us. Bill gave us a tour of his compound. His lovely wife Shannon came home with Lauryn and sub sandwiches. We ate and then left for the orchard. The kids had a great time picking apples as did we. We took some goofy pictures and enjoyed watching the kids have a good time...it was pure Americana! We headed back and Shannon whipped up a great dinner. Then the adults had time to themselves as the kids slept. drink, drank, drunk 3:30 am came around quicker than it should have so we crashed. 9:30am came far too quickly as we succumbed to the kids will of waking us up. We got out of bed around 11. Bill hooked us up with some great french toast. But too soon it was time to leave for the bus station in Syracuse. The bus ride was as expected, and slightly uncomfortable. The views of the hillsides and autumn colors was beautiful and I'm glad I had the opportunity to just ride along and stare out of the window. So, about 5 hours later we arrived in NYC. It was dark outside and the New York City skyline looked awesome. I love coming to NYC during the fall season. The daunting task of getting us and our bags off the bus, through the Port Authority Bus Terminal, on to the subway and 5 blocks to Jim's apartment lie ahead of us. It worked out well for us and we made it safe and sound...but starving. We headed to le Chiele (Kayla) for the famed and fabled grilled cheese sandwiches. We ordered the ultimate grilled cheese with bacon, avocado and tomato along with great macaroni and cheese. Full and tired we showered and hit the bed...hard. Monday we picked up our tickets for the week which included dinner, shows and a dinner cruise. We then began our hunt for Christian's request for obscure Japanese toys. We stopped by Midtown Comics...no luck there. I remembered Forbidden Planet Comics near Union Square, so we hopped the nearest subway and headed south. We emerged from the subway into a farmers market and what a pleasant surprise. We found some items for Christian and walked around a bit making our daily Starbucks stop. Soon it was time for our dinner and comedy show reservations at the Stand. We ate pork belly rice balls, a pork chop, 6-cheese mac and cheese with truffle oil, tuna and drank lots of drinks. Then it was time for the comedy show downstairs and that was pretty cool seeing local small-time comedians. The room was small and "cozy". After creating a full belly and foggy head we headed back to the great NYC subway system and a couple trains later we're back at the apartment and winding down for the night. Tuesday we planned to hook up with an old friend from high school, Rene at Highline Park. A new park built on old elevated freight train tracks on Manhattan's west side. The park was awesome and beautiful. A nice botanical oasis in the middle of the city passing close to innovative new architecture and old buildings. We visited a few galleries and then ate lunch inside the Chelsea Market at Friedman's where I had a huge chicken torta. Patsy ate fish tacos and Rene had turkey chili. All the food was great and handmade with fresh ingredients. We then splurged on monkey bread at Amy's Bread. We left Rene and headed down to Time's Square before going to the Longacre theater to see First Date. First Date was disappointing in that it was like watching a modern day sit-com set to music. "Chuck" was a better singer than I thought. After the show it was off to our favorite $.99 pizza place, Z Deli. Then back to the apt for shut-eye. Wednesday we had scheduled a dinner cruise at 6:30pm. Most of the day was spent resting and relaxing. We headed out for Pier 61. By this time the weather was getting quite chilly. We got to the pier a bit early so we decided to walk around, saw some rats. The dinner cruise was nice. It provided a decent buffet and less than decent music for 3 hours. The boat's course was basically up the west side of Manhattan, turn around and up the east side of Manhattan and turn around. The coolest part was stopping by the Statue of Liberty. Thursday we hooked up with another old friend from DFW, Sophia. She met us at a highly recommended dim sum restaurant for lunch. We hung around Chinatown for a while then walked over to Ground Zero, or as close as possible which wasn't very close at all. We were basically killing time until doors opened for Phantom of the Opera. I figured we HAD to see Phantom of the Opera at least one time. It was great! Well worth every penny! It was dramatic and well-acted. Then one last late-night NYC snack at Le Chiele. The car service will pick us up tomorrow at 2:00pm to get us to the airport and back to reality.