Adventure Awaits: Travel Blog: New York City
New York City is definitely a bustling mecca of entertainment. I recently had a chance to visit there for the second time. The first time I visited it was a working trip. I had volunteered for something called the World's Largest Bake Sale. This time i volunteered for Housing Works "Design on a Dime", benefit but I managed to do some touristy things as well. New york is expensive and you'll need to save a few pennies for this trip, however it is well worth the price of admission. The fast paced atmosphere like no other city, I've been too and the endless entertainment options make it worthwhile in my book.
(Around Town)
DINING: My daughter and I, stayed in Manhattan near the action. There are plenty of restaurant options, from of course New York Style Pizza to swanky upscale restauarants. Along with old standby's like Mc'Ds and Taco Bell. Surprisingly I never saw Burger king or KFC's, those may be in the burough's. When in New York do try out the pizza at least once, they are plenty of 99cent pizza joints which make it affordable to eat. and if looking to save money on dining do eat at the mom and pop joints.
(Manhattan Skyline)
LODGING: Ok here is the tricky part. In NYC, hotel rooms are small. You might think you'll feel a bit claustrophobic in your shoebox room, but lets be honest. If your in NYC there is so much to do there, your basically just sleeping in it, your not living there. My daughter and I lucked out and found a room with 2 double beds, which helps. So we felt comfortable in ours, but we were so busy exploring the city, honestly we pretty much just slept there. We also found a hotel that serves a full hot breakfast. This saves on food bill.
(Deathstar b4 Skywalker, Deathstar after Skywalker, Ha! Juts teasing)
You should also know that most NYC hotels don't have pools, I know right!
Space is premium in NY and to put in a pool would be less hotel rooms to rent.
Usually when I travel I stay at hotels with a hot tub and indoor pool. I know I sound spoiled, but here at home, I have neither of those things, so when going on vacation i like a hot tub for me and a pool for the kids. But trust me youll be so busy you won't miss a pool. On the plus side we had a work-out room, which we used. Ok we only used it once, ha! Our legs got quite a work out walking around the city.
I chose our hotel for its affordable price, we stayed at :Holiday Inn Express
Madison Square Garden. http://www.hiexpress.com/hotels/us/en/new-york/nycny/hoteldetail
NOTE: all hotels in NYC charge a $75 daily tariff fee, However when you make your reservation they only tell u the base charge. This means be prepared to pay an extra $100 dollars a night for your hotel.
(Art Gallery)
TRANSPORTATION: My advice is if staying in Manhattan dont rent a car, not only will u save money by not renting one, but you'll save more money not having to pay for parking, did I mention that space is at a premium., people, Ha!
Not renting a car also means less stress, driving in NYC is stressful and traffic is heavy. I always stay close to my main attraction/reason for the trip, so I can walk to it. Then pick my dining options from there and in that area. Manhattanites are really aggressive drivers. It would be easy to get in an accident and pay out even more money. All 3 Airports have plenty of shuttle options to take you to your hotel. Some hotels have their own. Our hotel was 2 blocks from Penn Station and we took the subway to Battery Park to take the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. We walked to everything else. Save yourself some money, time, and worry dont rent a car. You dont really need one.
(Lady Liberty and theFerry)
TIP to visit Liberty Island Via subway, at Penn Station take the number 1 train all the way to Its end of line, South Ferry Stop. Be sure to take 1 of the 1st five subway cars. At some point the other cars will veer off in another direction. When u see day light At South Ferry stop, Battery park should be across the street and on your right. You made it!
ATTRACTIONS:
After we visited Lady Liberty and Ellis Island and we returned to Battery Park we could see The new World Trade Center Building, we walked to the WTC Memorial in about 20 minutes from Battery park. It brought back memories from that day, felt so surreal being in a place where so many lost their lives. It is litterally the JFK/Pearl Harbor moment of our generation.
(World Trade Center Memorial)
There are many other things to do in NYC, Broadway plays, museums, Central park zoo. My daughter wanted to see the Lion King and I wanted to see Wicked, but we let proximity to our hotel and ticket pricing be the deciding factors in what we saw. We ended up seeing the Phantom of the Opera, which my daughter now fell in-love with and cant stop singing the tunes. If your looking to save money on tickets my advice is to shop around buy your tickets online and dont forget to consider if u can easily walk to the performance. Phantom was 9 Short City blocks from our hotel.
I purchased my tickets thru TicketsAtWork.com. This site has discounted travel related items, tickets to waterparks, plays, hotels, check to see if your employer has signed up with it and then you can sign up for great deals too.
(Phantom of the Opera before the performance)
SAFETY and security:
This city has been known to experience times of great upheaval. Keep your wits about you. Don't be paranoid but do be observant to your surroundings. Visiting the statue of Liberty is a thrilling visit, it is a symbol of America's history and the freedom we all enjoy, but the police presence and airport style security tells you, its a city on alert for the next one.
Ladies my tip for you is wear a crossbody purse and keep all zippers closed, this makes it more difficult for purse snatching and pick pockets, and keep your cell phone in your zipped up purse and not in your back pockets, and blend in and try not to look like a tourist. When New Yorkers jet across the street against the light, jaywalking, go on jaywalk too. lol!
(Harbor at the end of the day)
Men wallets in your breast pocket or front pocket pants, where you can keep an eye out. We had no issues keeping to these rules. Look like you belong and shouldnt have issues either
Hope you enjoyed our visit to New York City!
Keep it easy!
Yvonne M Doñate
Added May 13, 2016
