Adventures in New York

It's HOT in New York City in July!

I just got back from a fun-packed 4-day vacation in NYC and Long Island with my mom, and it was such a blast!  This was my second visit ever to the Big Apple (the first time was for just a day and a half in 2002), and this time I drove.  Driving in New York City is an adventure in itself - though I stayed close to the Queens area where the hotel was located, as well as Long Island, so traffic wasn't too scary.  My mom flew up into LaGuardia from Virginia to meet me.  She's been there two or three times before with some of her girlfriends.  Here's a day-by-day review with photos for what my mom and I did!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

1:00pm: Headed out on the road in my trusty '98 Nissan Altima.  Traffic was surprisingly light with one exception around New Haven, Connecticut.  I made it to the Pan American Hotel in Queens, New York around 5:45pm.  I found out about the Pan Am Hotel after Googling NYC hotels.  It's an inexpensive place to stay that has the all the basic amenities - nothing fancy - but exactly what you need.  All I really wanted was air conditioning, a clean room, and free parking.  It was just $105 a night.  And only 4 blocks away from a subway station that had a direct line to Manhattan (a bit long 35-minute train trek, however).

6:45pm: Took the subway to Times Square and saw American Idiot on Broadway at the St. James Theatre.  It features all Green Day songs and was co-written by the band's singer Billie Joe Armstrong.  90 minutes in length and no intermission.  A musical not for the faint-hearted!  The storyline centered around three main characters who experience serious hardships in their lives: unintended pregnancy where the boyfriend initially ditches the girl; getting injured in the war in Iraq; and becoming an heroin addict.  Oh and there was a simulated sex scene... that was, um, almost too realistic.  Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed the show in its entirety.  I took a few photos of Times Square, too!  I love the Toys R Us store there.  Despicable Me was plastered over the entrance, and I really want to see that movie soon!

Your Traditional View of Times Square.

Despicable Me at Toys R Us!

A Trippy Long-Exposure Shot of Times Square.

Friday, July 16, 2010

9:30am:  My mom arrived at the hotel!  We hadn't made plans for the day time so after glancing through some web sites, we decided on Greenwich Village, since neither of us had done that before and it was sort of off the beaten path.  It's kind of a posh neighborhood with lots of shopping.  We walked along Bleecker Street for a couple hours.  We ate at a little Italian restaurant called Risotteria.  Their menu was big on gluten free products.  In fact, most of the restaurants in Greenwich Village seemed to be very conscientious of people with celiac disease, which I thought was pretty cool.  Here are some shots from our little venture there.

Our Lady of Pompeii Church.

I had never seen a model display with a teddy bear's head before!

A Gorgeous Little Residential Block in Greenwich Village.

Ever see an ice cream truck that sells Coach bags?  (Actually, it did sell ice cream, but I was confused at first!)

4:15pm: The highlight of the trip!  We drove out to Westhampton Beach on Long Island.  They say it takes anywhere from 1.5 to 4 hours to drive into Long Island from NYC depending on the time of day.  Glad I planned on a long drive, because it took nearly 3 hours to drive about 70 miles.  I never knew the Hamptons was rural country land!  Westhampton Beach was BEAUTIFUL and had such a nice cool breeze and breath of fresh air.  We went there to see Diane Birch at the Westhampton Performing Arts Center (a very small venue seating about 425 people).  Ms. Birch is quite possibly my favorite singer-songwriter for the past year.  I adore her and her music!  If you haven't heard her music, check out her web site!  I'd describe her style as being similar to Carole King.  The stars were absolutely shining on me that evening, because I asked at the box office if they had any closer seats.  The response: "Let's see... um, wow, yes, there are two front row seats!"  JACKPOT!!! Seats A1 and A3.   Needless to say, I was in HEAVEN for that concert.  Check out the photos from where we sat, along with a fantastic shot of me and Ms. Birch, and the front entrance of the performing arts center.  Also, we ate at a fantastic Asian cuisine restaurant with outstanding sushi!

Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center: Diane Birch!

We could not have been any closer to the stage!

My heart's fluttering a bit here.  That sounds so stalker-ish.  I promise that is not my M.O.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

3:00pm: We got a late start this day because a lingering sinus infection I had decided to strike back that morning.  After a nap, I felt better though.  We made a spontaneous trip to 5th Avenue for some shopping.  I decided I wanted to splurge on a very fashionable and expensive summer cap.  This seems to be one of my new vices - hat collecting.  JJ Hat Center had an expansive collection of hats to try on.  Such a blast... Later, we ate at a little restaurant called Cafe Park.  Good turkey burgers there, I gotta say...

7:45pm: Top of the Rock!  If you want to see a view of the city from high above the skyscrapers, do the observation deck at 30 Rockefeller Plaza where NBC Studios is.  The lines are shorter than at the Empire State Building, and this place is hipper, anyway.  Plus the views of the cityscape are so much better when the Empire State Building is in it!  Also, at the observation deck, there's a crazy psychedelic room with these glowing multi-colored lights that react to people's movement.  I probably took way too many photographs there. 

 

Psychedelic blue lights - that room was too cool.

New York City at Night from the Top of the Rock.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

8:15am:  Every NYC trip must include a visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Honestly, I enjoy Ellis Island so much more because of my passion for genealogy and family history.  America's immigration history is captured so well there.  At Battery Park (where you board the ferries), you'll find a beautiful statue that was once in one of the World Trade Center towers during their collapse.  The statue, although damaged, was one of the few surviving remnants of that tragedy on September 11, 2001.  A flame burns in front of the statue round-the-clock as a memorial to that day.

Entrance of Ellis Island.

Lost luggage at Ellis Island.  At least two of my ancestors departed from the port of Bremen, Germany.

 

The Main Hall of Ellis Island.  Millions of immigrants passed through this hall.

World Trade Center Statue, now in Battery Park.

3:30pm:  Sadly, we had to leave... I expected to be home in 4 hours.  That turned into 5.5 hours due to heavy NYC traffic.  But I really loved this trip... it was so bitter-sweet to come back home.