|
Users viewing this topic:
none
|
|
Login  | |
|
Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/23/2008 4:11:05 PM
|
|
|
2shaye
Posts: 5425
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: So. Cal.
Status: offline
|
We will be in New York City at the end of June for 9 days. We've booked our hotel and air fare. Dh will be in a conference for at least two days, and we will all be going to a big banquet, as well as a few church services (Times Square Church). My dd is 13. We will be going with a very large group of people from dh's work. Dh has been once with work, and dd and I have never been.
I know, as a group, we will be going to the staute of liberty, Ellis Island, and a broadway show. I don't know what else they've planned. Also a few other ladies wanted to join us and go in together to rent a car and go to Niagra Falls.
What are some "must see/do" things in the city that are relatively inexpensive? Dh and I have to plan this out this weekend (or next). He MUST have a plan or will get frustrated and think we've wasted our money. He is not spontaneous. Oh, and none of us are really interested in museums - maybe just one.
Thank you!!!
_____________________________
aka Skipperjoe
I Love New York!
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/24/2008 9:30:48 AM
|
|
|
stellaluna
Posts: 3894
Joined: 4/11/2005
Status: offline
|
Most things to do in NY are free or inexpensive. There's a zoo in Central Park--Central Park is worth seeing anyway. If you're only going to one museum, I would recommend the Museum of Natural History. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge...go to Coney Island...visit China Town and Little Italy...Rockefeller Center...the Diamond District...the United Nations...Empire State Building.
_____________________________
I'm tired of signatures.
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/24/2008 2:58:01 PM
|
|
|
humbleinspirit
Posts: 16671
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Just Outside of Boston
Status: offline
|
Also, do the free Staten Island Ferry and see either the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island as well. Make sure that you eat at one of the fine establishments. Try to get free tickets to one of the shows such as Saturday Night Live, Late Night With David Letterman, etc. Take the NBC tour. Ride The Subway, see the Bronx Zoo. These are just a few things that you can do there.
_____________________________
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/25/2008 12:54:17 AM
|
|
|
brothertodd
Posts: 119
Joined: 4/7/2008
Status: offline
|
When did Staten Island go free It was .25 (manhatten side) free other side.
I do recoment the Circle Line -boat ttrip around NY, but it does cost. Walk around Coney island and the boardwalk, and if your willing to spend a little Take a ride on the Cyclone, and eat a nathans hotdog. I introduced my wife to one and she doesn't really like anyothers now.
I know you said you dont like Museums ..but i have to recomend the Museum of Natural History.
And a walk around the South Street Seaport -a mall, shops, old sailing ships. If your around the south ferry area. Its been over 10 years for me Im getting homesick
omG..no its been 20 years, man time flys. One more thing if you all like baseball see a Yankee game if possible, becaus ethis is the last season of the House that Ruth built, they are building a new stadium.
< Message edited by brothertodd -- 5/25/2008 1:04:04 AM >
_____________________________
Brother Todd, servant of Christ
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/25/2008 12:58:35 AM
|
|
|
humbleinspirit
Posts: 16671
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Just Outside of Boston
Status: offline
|
Now wasn't Coney Island being closed this year?
_____________________________
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/25/2008 1:00:47 AM
|
|
|
brothertodd
Posts: 119
Joined: 4/7/2008
Status: offline
|
i dont know
_____________________________
Brother Todd, servant of Christ
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/26/2008 3:03:52 PM
|
|
|
techne
Posts: 559
Joined: 4/12/2005
Status: offline
|
MOBIA (museum of biblical art)
_____________________________
And when people cease to believe that there is good and evil
Only beauty will call to them and save them
So that they still know how to say: this is true and that is false.
One more day by Czeslaw Milosz
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/26/2008 7:03:59 PM
|
|
|
humbleinspirit
Posts: 16671
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Just Outside of Boston
Status: offline
|
Not to mention the American Bible Society as well.
_____________________________
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/26/2008 11:32:51 PM
|
|
|
djv1255
Posts: 152
Joined: 8/11/2005
Status: offline
|
I visited the museum at Ground Zero. In the basement, you could post messages. One post from a little girl really got to me. It reminds me every time I think about it why we can't forget 9-11.
_____________________________
Favorite Photo Blogs: US Military Doing Good Deeds
US Torture and Atrocities (the blog name is poking fun at liberals not our soldiers)
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/27/2008 10:33:45 AM
|
|
|
iwillfearnoevil
Posts: 3587
Joined: 11/6/2007
From: upstate NY
Status: online
|
quote:
Can we do all these things in 5 days?
i think niagara falls is really pushing it. you're talking at least a 7 hour drive one way and that's counting no traffic into or out of city. plus there is walking to do at the falls, you just don't drive up, see them, and turn around. so you're going to be there at least a couple of hours and even longer if you want to do the boat ride.
also you can't do all those things in 5 days. nyc is big and spread out and very tiring. have you bought a nyc tour book from the bookstore yet? there is lots of walking and subways. i guess if you just want to speed by a building in a cab and not get out and go in it's doable. some of the things you listed are all day or half day activities. i believe a guidebook can help you narrow down your activities to what you think would be most enjoyable and then come up with a gameplan.
_____________________________
Photoblogging my life
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/27/2008 10:54:05 AM
|
|
|
Wild-Rose
Posts: 296
Joined: 1/11/2006
From: Upstate NY
Status: offline
|
quote:
think niagara falls is really pushing it. you're talking at least a 7 hour drive one way and that's counting no traffic into or out of city.
I agree. I live in Rochester NY and it would never occur to us to see Niagara Falls and NYC in one vacation. It would be one or the other. NY is a big state!You don't want to waste so much time just driving around. Closer to NYC is the lovely Hudson valley. That would be worth a drive if you want a day out of the City.
_____________________________
Wild-Rose
Rejoice that your name is written in heaven. Luke 10:20
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/27/2008 11:21:54 AM
|
|
|
elastic
Posts: 2580
Joined: 4/15/2005
From: NYC
Status: offline
|
quote:
Here's what we've got so far:
Broadway, or off - Broadway play
Niagra Falls (one whole day since the drive is so long)
Gimbals
Tiffanys
FAO Schwartz
Century 21
Macy's
Fifth Avenue
United Nations
Ground Zero
Grand Central Station
Union Station
Wall Street
Metropolitan Museum of Art
History Museum
McDonalds (dd really wants to go to the biggest one.....)
Greenwich Fillage
Radio City Music Hall
Empire State Building
Carnegie Hall
Madison Square Garden
Rockefeller Center
Brooklyn Bridge
Coney Island
China Town
Little Itlay
Diamond District
Federal Reserve Bank
Staten Island Ferry
NBC Tour
South Street Seaport
Bronx Zoo
Times Square
Must Eats
Boardwalk at Coney Island - Nathans Hot Dog
Asain Letterman guys deli across from theater
New York Bagels with cream cheese and lox
New York Cheesecake
Can we do all these things in 5 days?
I'd love more comments, ideas or suggestions!
ok, doing all of that in 5 days is only realistic if you aren't planning on actually staying at these places for more than 5 minutes each 
for instance, if you are planning on going up into the empire state building, you should give yourself at least 2 hours...you have to stand in line, then ride up to the top, then see the view, then come back down. it's not something you can do in 15 minutes...however, if you just want to look at it, then you'd be fine.
i suggest if you want to do the majority of these things, group the things that are closest together.
for instance: Macy's, Herald Square, Madison Square Garden, and the Empire State Building are all located near 34th Street. Easy to do in the morning.
Broadway, the McDonald's she wants to visit in Times Square, Times Square, etc..are around 42nd Street. Dave Letterman and Times Square church are in the same area, around 51st-ish streets. Grand Central Station is on 42nd also, but on the opposite side of the island. if you take the bus or subway across, you can be there in 5 minutes. (The shuttle or the number 7 train)
for times square church, unless your group has called ahead for seating reservations, be prepared to get there very early, approx. 2 hours before the service begins on sunday morning, to get a seat. That is why i changed churches 
For Coney Island, you need a day. it's located in Brooklyn and it's pretty far out. it takes just over an hour by subway to get there...if you are taking a cab there, be prepared to spend around $75.00 each direction.
Same for the Bronx Zoo....it's way out of the city, and you'd need a day to do it. you should just do the Central Park zoo, that way you could visit your FAO Schwartz and do all the 5th avenue shopping things, since they are relatively close together.
you could also group the following things together since they are all located downtown and are within walking distance of each other (if you have 20 minutes or so to walk from one thing to the other)
in no particular order:
South Street Seaport, ground zero, wall street, brooklyn bridge, china town, little italy, staten island ferry, etc....
you will do a lot of walking if you don't use public transit, so i suggest getting the 7 day metro cards. i believe they are around $10.00 per person. They will give you free subway maps at the info booth, so you can't really get lost. if you have tons of money, then feel free to take cabs everywhere, but they can get pretty expensive.
let me know if you have any more questions.
_____________________________
MMM...pumpkin burger. Delicious.
 I Stand with Israel!
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/27/2008 11:35:21 AM
|
|
|
iwillfearnoevil
Posts: 3587
Joined: 11/6/2007
From: upstate NY
Status: online
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: elastic
i would also add, don't go to coney island *just* for the hot dog. they are not that good, and you can get them in other places in the city.
lol ... yeah i think a few things can be overly romanticized ... like you want to see Macys ... to say you've been or to actually do shopping? do you really want to spend hours in an department store on vacation that sells things like your macys just a bit more in price though and then have to lug the stuff through the city with you? :)
_____________________________
Photoblogging my life
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/27/2008 12:34:14 PM
|
|
|
2shaye
Posts: 5425
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: So. Cal.
Status: offline
|
Thank you so much you guys! I spent the ENTIRE day yesterday researching, mapping and more researching these activities. Then, the three of us decided on what was most important for each of us to do, so we put those at the top of our priority list.
We have 5 days as a family, then dd and I have 3 days to ourselves. I know this sounds utterly ridiculous, but Elf is a family favorite movie, so, dd really wants to kinda "walk" in Buddy's footsteps to some degree. I know....
We've ruled out the museums. None of us have any interest whatsoever in museums. I put that on my list because "everyone" says we "have" to go. Gimbals is really Macy's so that is out too. I know, we have Macy's here, too. We are not going to shop to buy stuff, but we want to "experience" and take a picture of most of these things.
Niagra Falls we are doing with another group and we plan to take the whole day. I know it's long, but this is what 100% of us want to do. Dh's priority is Coney Island, so we plan to take a day to do things in that direction. Ground Zero and Grand Central Station, I found out, are on the schedule for when we are in the big group, so we won't do that on our own. We're cutting Greenwich Village and Union (Penn) Station too. We might cut the walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, but that's something I wanted to do. I've walked across the Golden Gate, so...
Dd wants to go to the Bronx Zoo, so I'll suggest (again) the zoo in Central Park. We will probably spend most of another day there. I found some cool maps online and everyone seems excited to explore that.
I've got a reservation to take a tour at the Federal Reserve Bank. Supposedly, we will get to go down to the vault and see the gold. Everyone is pretty excited about that too. Surprisingly to me, dh and dd are really looking forward to experiencing little Italy and Chinatown. We've got those here in LA and I'm not impressed, but it's something they want to do.
Regarding all the shopping, dd and I just want to experience how "the other half" live. We likely won't buy anything. Oh, and we've crossed off Century 21.
Thanks for the tips on transportation. That's dh's part! We don't have tons and tons of money, so we will likely be riding the subway or walking. I'll look into the metro pass thing too.
Anyone have recommendations on restaurants for about $30 a plate? We'd like to go out nice to dinner a few times.
Again, thank you so much for all your first hand advice and experience!
_____________________________
aka Skipperjoe
I Love New York!
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/27/2008 12:49:49 PM
|
|
|
elastic
Posts: 2580
Joined: 4/15/2005
From: NYC
Status: offline
|
quote:
Anyone have recommendations on restaurants for about $30 a plate? We'd like to go out nice to dinner a few times.
that depends on what you are in the mood for, or what kind of food you want to eat. you can eat any kind of food from any nationality in nyc.
all the touristy places are about $15-25 per person...hard rock cafe, planet hollywood, bubba gump, chevy's, espn zone. i don't consider those 'nice' places, but the tourists seem to flock there.
there is a pizza place called john's pizza near 44th between 7th and 8th. not the best pizza, but it's in an old church, so the architecture is nice, and it's an experience. it really depends on what kind of food you are wanting to eat. at south street seaport, and (also near the museum of natural history) there is an UNO's pizza..which is quite delicious. their pastas are pretty good too.
if you are wanting a more fancy upscale place, you are going to pay way more than $30.00 per person....examples would be Sardi's or Le Cirque.
_____________________________
MMM...pumpkin burger. Delicious.
I Stand with Israel!
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/27/2008 4:20:03 PM
|
|
|
2shaye
Posts: 5425
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: So. Cal.
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: elastic
all the touristy places are about $15-25 per person...hard rock cafe, planet hollywood, bubba gump, chevy's, espn zone. i don't consider those 'nice' places, but the tourists seem to flock there.
Yeah, we have those here too. I love Bubba Gumps, but I think we'd rather go for something new. I'll check out that link. Thank you SO much elastic!
_____________________________
aka Skipperjoe
I Love New York!
|
|
|
|
|
RE: Vacation in New York City - what should we do? - 5/27/2008 7:31:42 PM
|
|
|
stateofgrace
Posts: 1942
Joined: 4/12/2005
Status: offline
|
Check into the CityPass...if you or someone you know is a member of Costco, you may be able to get them at a discount (at least a few years ago). It's like 5 or 6 attractions like the Empire State Building.
The Bronx Zoo is VERY nice but the area around it, not so much.
Central Park would likely be pretty that time of year.
The NBC tour is fun but I wouldn't recommend it for young children (too much standing around and waiting).
Between the Broadway/Times Square area and Central Park, getting closer to the Park, are some more inexpensive restaurants.
For girls - the American Girl store, especially the restaurant (going for afternoon tea is less expensive than lunch or dinner, and is a lot of fun with the small sandwiches, etc.).
It might be fun to watch some movies set in NYC and then recognize the sites...Enchanted, Leopold and Kate, You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle.
DD#2 saw Mary Poppins a few weeks ago; said it was very good, very well staged, liked it better than Beauty and the Beast.
_____________________________
less junk, more Jesus
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Tools
Printable Version
