Todd and Cindy's Travel Blog

Day 5

Well, it’s no longer raining, just a constant drizzle. We had planned walking Brooklyn Bridge today, but the weather has dictated a different course. We checked out some indoor options, and decided to tour SNL Expedition.

It was a little overpriced, but quite fun and interesting (and dry…).

You actually become a part of how the show as it’s created from the tossing out of ideas on Monday to the final taping on Saturday.

It was so much fun seeing clips from past shows, costumes, and memorabilia (brought back memories from the past – SNL began in 1975)…. Chevy, John, Chris, Dan, Gilda, Bill, Mike, Adam, Tina…so many common names…

After exiting the exhibition and heading towards 34th, we came upon a parade – a Korean parade.

One of my goals was to see and visit Macy’s on 34th – the store featured in my favourite Christmas movie – Miracle on 34th Street. The store is impressive; one of the world’s largest at 2.2 million sq ft (loved riding the wooden escalators…).

The drizzle finally ended around dinner time area, so we decided to walk to a BBQ restaurant we had seen featured on Food Network TV – Mighty Quinn’s.

This was an excellent choice. We ordered our food (ribs, broccoli salad, and potato salad) at the counter then found a seat. The food was delicious! Todd said the ribs were the best restaurant ribs he has had…

Day 6

This is football Sunday, and we like to head to a local bar to watch the home team play when travelling, but before that we decided to just walk around the area. And, we came upon another parade – the start of it (does NYC have parades every weekend?). Today was the Polish parade.

Apparently this Polish parade is the largest in North America.

Instead of sticking around to watch the parade, we headed to a local bar to watch Sunday afternoon football (Todd had asked one of the locals at the One World Trade Center the other day where to go and watch the game in Midtown). We went to Lansdowne Road.

It is a great sports bar. The bar was packed, numerous TVs aired various NFL games with the main TV broadcasting the NY Giants game. The crowd was very passionate/animated…

After the game we popped in to another recommended bar – a true dive bar… Rudy’s (think dark room and red vinyl seats taped up with red duct tape…). We struck up a conversation with some couples from Scotland who have visited NYC (and this dive bar) five times…Guess they can’t turn down the free hotdog with every drink !

Day 7 (Final full day)

Hooray! The sun is shining! (Figures, our last full day in NYC and now the forecast is looking great for days…). On the real plus this is the day we pre-booked tickets for the ferry over to Ellis Island and Liberty Island and the weather is great (Would not have been near as good in the rain).

We passed by the Statue of Liberty to go to Ellis Island first because we had a tour scheduled. Prior to the tour we wandered around the main building, walking in the footsteps of millions of immigrants as they began their life in the United States.

From 1892 to 1924, Ellis Island was America’s largest and most active immigration station. Over 12 million immigrants were processed. On average, the inspection process took approximately 3-7 hours.

Here is a photo from the era showing the people lined up to be processed.

=For the vast majority of immigrants, Ellis Island truly was an “Island of Hope” – the first stop on their way to new opportunities and experiences in America. For the rest, it became the “Island of Tears” – a place where families were separated and individuals were denied entry into the United States. Families could become separated if any kind of medical condition was discovered. Then the immigrants would be hospitalized and treated. We took the tour that took us to select areas of the 750-bed Ellis Island Hospital Complex.

We visited the Laundry Building, with much of the original equipment still in place. More than 3,000 pieces of laundry were washed and sanitized here daily.

We passed by the infectious and contagious disease wards.

We entered the autopsy room / morgue.

Throughout the hospital complex an art exhibit, “Unframed –Ellis Island,” by renowned artist JR is on display. The exhibit features life size historic photographs of Ellis Island immigrants installed on the interior walls.

After an interesting 2 hour tour, we boarded the ferry to wander around Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty.

We had a ticket allowing us access to the Pedestal for 1PM (Crown access needs to be booked months in advance; we got the last pedestal time access available when I booked it a few weeks ago). It was after 2PM, so I didn’t know if we would be able to go up to the pedestal – no problem…we went through security and up the pedestal.

The 360° views are impressive.

The Statue of Liberty is impressive.

Today’s visit to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty were an excellent way to end our New York City Adventure. Now home for a few weeks…

 

Day 1

We arrived without incident at LaGuardia (well sort of – we were charged for our luggage, so I need to contact Aeroplan because it was supposed to be free, and Todd seems to have misplaced his headphones…). Anyway, after we picked up our luggage, we boarded the Q70 bus to the E subway, getting off at Penn Station, a short distance from our hotel (so pretty straight forward). We are staying at the Homewood Suites just south of Times Square in the Garment District. What a wonderful hotel – great location (except for the noise from the street – lots of road work) with modern decor rooms and a modern lobby – breakfast is included, and free wine and beer with some food options Monday to Thursday.

The hotel has a quiet patio out back and also a rooftop terrace on the 22nd floor to sit out and take in the views of the city.

Day 2

We began the day wandering around Times Square…so much fun; a bright, loud, and energetic area. Neon billboards dominate the area.

Times Square is a great area for people watching…

We saw “The Ball”, the one that drops down on New Year’s Eve.

After leaving Times Square, we walked down 42nd and came upon the impressive New York Public Library.

We wandered around a bit admiring the interior,

then stumbled upon an author talk. Erica Jong was discussing her new novel.

We took refuge from the rain at Radio City

and then continued our walk to the Grand Central Terminal. It is truly grand…

We saw the Empire State Building from a distance, but never got close because we weren’t intending to go up to the observation deck.

After a brief rest back in our room, we made our way to the Rockefeller Center.

This is where NBC is located. We were attending a taping of Late Night with Seth Meyers (got tickets online through 1iota a few weeks ago). We were there for a total of about 4 hours – checking in, going through security, waiting in the Peacock Room, and then filming the show in the studio. We met a couple from San Diego and passed the time chatting. The studio rules are very strict – no recordings or cameras allowed once inside. (One guy did get escorted out because he pulled out his cell phone and took a picture…). Overall, it was a lot of fun and an experience. We lucked out – Robert DeNiro was one of the guests.

Day 3 –

We went to another TV show taping today – The Chew at ABC studios.

The experience was quite different from the night before – not as organized or as comfortable during the waiting time, but the show was lots of fun.

The show is very energetic. Everyone in the audience received a slice of pizza when the Pizza Master guys came on. Other guests included Camila Alves (Matthew McConaughey’s wife) and a taped segment with Amanda Freitag (seen her a lot on Food TV). During breaks, Carla interacted with the audience.

Once taping was done, all the hosts (Clinton Kelly, Michael Symon, Carla Hall, Daphne Oz) except Mario Batali interacted with the audience. As we exited, everyone was handed Amanda Freitag’s new cookbook.

We had planned on leaving the studio taping and walking to nearby Central Park, but the books we received changed that plan. We walked all the way back (from 67th to 37th), then back up again to Central Park.

We were surprised by the amount of bedrock poking up throughout the park.

We walked for a bit along the trails. A skating rink was being prepped for winter, bikers flew by, tourists took pics, and the carriages trotted along. Lots of walking today…

Day 4

It’s raining, but we are here to see the sites. We took the subway to the 9/11 Memorial. Words cannot express what you feel here.

Everyone knows where they were the day the Twin Towers were hit. Everyone knows 2,977 people were killed. Everyone knows how this changed North America. But reading name after name after name…no words…

(…Just have to say it was unbelievable the few people we saw taking selfies here and smiling…really?!). From the Memorial we went to the new One World Trade Center, completed in 2013. It is the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere and the fifth-tallest in the world.

We took the elevator up to the 102nd floor. It was very impressive even if the rain did impede the view.

The observation deck gives a 360° view of area – New Jersey, Manhattan, Brooklyn…

A relaxing bite and some cold beers while looking out from the top of the One World were a welcome break.

After drying out, it was time to brave the weather again. Through wind and rain, we headed to the Financial District. We are lifetime TD customers, and we have seen many TD branches here in NYC, but it was a surprise to see 2 Wall Street.

Since 9/11, the NY Stock Exchange is off limits to the public (still interesting to see…).

All wet again, we headed back to the subway to go back to the hotel and dry off before figuring out where to have dinner. Have to say the rain isn’t near as annoying as dodging all the umbrellas…