As I posted earlier, hubby won a 1 night trip to NYC with tickets to watch the New York Rangers play the Toronto Maple Leafs. We got there on Porter airlines - and had a terrific experience. Once we landed and cleared customs, it was off to our exciting whirlwind adventure.
We took an airport shuttle to the Port Authority bus terminal which was right across from our hotel, the Westin Times Square. I really like Westin hotels, I sleep so much better in their Heavenly Beds than I do in any other hotel bed (I think it's because they use duvets like I do at home, not scratchy blankets). We checked in (we were lucky and got early check-in), got settled and hit the town! We were hungry, so first stop was lunch - we had it at some Irish pub near Rockefeller Centre - good, but nothing to gush about. Then we started walking about - and I was getting a little stressed out because we didn't have a plan for what we would do until the hockey game started (and I like having a plan). So we were walking and deciding what to do when a woman from CBS walks up to us and offers us free tickets to watch a taping of the David Letterman Show. Are you kidding??!!?? That is soooooo NY, just walk around and stuff happens to you! It was around 1:20, and we had to pick up our tickets between 2-3pm at the theatre, so we decided to start walking that way.
We stopped at Banana Republic and they were having a terrific 50% off the lowest ticketed price sale - WOOOHOOOO!! I as usual, didn't find much, just a t-shirt and a sweater but hubby scored 2 shirts, 1 sweater and a pair of pants. And for all of that, we paid $80. Wow, the US sure does know how to have a sale, we suck at sales in Canada - and with the dollar at par, well..... it was quite a buzz!
We made our way over to the Ed Sullivan theatre - naive me, had it in my head that we would just waltz up to the counter and pick up the tickets...... WRONG! There was a line up halfway around the block, it was 2:40 before we got our tickets - which left us 40 minutes to run the 10 blocks back to our hotel, get dressed and be back for 3:30. The show starts taping at 4:30, but they ask you to be there an hour early. So, a mad dash back to the hotel, threw on our clothes for the evening and some makeup and made the mad dash back to the theatre - I can't remember the last time I walked that much!
The show was great - I will do a quick post on that later on. But after that it was another "walk" to Madison Square Garden. What a great venue, sadly the Leafs were slaughtered 7-0. But, if they had to lose, it was neat to be there for a game where the NY fans were so excited. On the way home we stopped off for a quick bite - at a sushi restaurant. Then we went back to the hotel and crashed in absolute exhaustion!
Hubby worked from the hotel all the next day, so I ran out in the morning and got us a couple of coffees and breakfast paninis - I felt so NY, running out to buy breakfast - and not in my car. I read my book in the hotel for about an hour, but then I decided to brave the winter weather and head out. I wandered the streets, spoke to some interesting characters, and bought a couple of trinkets for the kids. My wandering took me through the old garment district. Many books I have read in the past took place in the early 1900's in the garment district, and the area looked just like I imagined it. Lots of old little buildings squished together, specializing in something very specific, like beads, or silk flowers - I really enjoyed myself. After a few hours out in the cold, I headed back to the hotel where hubby was still hard at work - but it was time to go. Caught the shuttle back to the airport, and had another terrific Porter flight home.
Thank you AM640 - we had a wonderful time! I have been to NY before, but always with a purpose - I really enjoyed just wandering the streets without any real agenda. This trip motivated me to travel back to NY some time soon and perhaps stay a few days in another part of town, and wander those streets! It was such an unexpected and appreciated little trip! Proof that there are still "good" surprises out there awaiting us all!
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