Thank You For All The Adivce! We Leave For New York City In The Morning!!

[Drew's Wife]

:D Just wanted to thank all of you for your helpful insight and advice for our trip to New York City tomorrow. We are all packed and ready to leave as soon as Church is over. Will head to Tampa and then board the train. Will be staying in DC for a night first. DH wanted to see the new Air Force Memorial, and we have not been back there since our honeymoon!:) Then it is on to your wonderful city!! We are both really excited and I will let you all know how our trip was, and again I thank all ya'll "NEW YORKERS" who posted and gave us advice. Have a wonderful weekend!:)

[Name game]

Have a great time. Do let us know how the trip goes.

[ZoneHPH]

:D Just wanted to thank all of you for your helpful insight and advice for our trip to New York City tomorrow. We are all packed and ready to leave as soon as Church is over. Will head to Tampa and then board the train. Will be staying in DC for a night first. DH wanted to see the new Air Force Memorial' date=' and we have not been back there since our honeymoon!:) Then it is on to your wonderful city!! We are both really excited and I will let you all know how our trip was, and again I thank all ya'll "NEW YORKERS" who posted and gave us advice. Have a wonderful weekend!:)[/quote']

yeah i'm totally jealous. sucks to be me.

[emmy]

:D Just wanted to thank all of you for your helpful insight and advice for our trip to New York City tomorrow. We are all packed and ready to leave as soon as Church is over. Will head to Tampa and then board the train. Will be staying in DC for a night first. DH wanted to see the new Air Force Memorial' date=' and we have not been back there since our honeymoon!:) Then it is on to your wonderful city!! We are both really excited and I will let you all know how our trip was, and again I thank all ya'll "NEW YORKERS" who posted and gave us advice. Have a wonderful weekend!:)[/quote']

 

 

Indeed have a fabulous trip and please so come back and give your thoughts on how things went... some feedback would be wonderful..for now ENJOY!

[Drew's Wife]

Hi everyone, We are back from NYC and what a wonderful city it is!!! Everything went according to plan, and we were able to see and do most everything that we had planned.

 

The Hotel Mela was great! Beautiful rooms, with plenty of space. The only thing that I was dissapointed with was the location of our room. They had told us we would be on the 14 or 15th floor with a Times Square view, and when we got there we were on the 8th floor with the view of a brick wall. But since we weren't in the room that much, it really was not a big deal. The staff was really nice, and went out of their way to make our stay comfortable. There was one slight problem when we got to our room, (the bath was not clean) so after a call to the front desk, that was taken care of in a matter of minutes.

 

We found some really good places to eat, and only one that I was not thrilled with. Virgil's was a few doors down from the hotel, and the food was so good! Of course I had the hot dogs!

 

We were able to go to The Statue of Liberty, just AMAZING!!:) The Empire State Building. I'm am glad we had purchased the express passes, as the lines were just so long. The express pass is a lot more expensive, but well worth it. All we did was show them the pass, and they whisked us right through everyone else! I would certainly advise anyone to pay the extra and go this route.

We did the tour of Yankee stadium, and Drew was just like a little kid again! I was so pleased and thrilled for him that he was able to get to go to Yankee Stadium. The tickets sell out fast for the tours, I think they said about 50 tickets for each tour. By the time we got there they were all sold out for every tour. However, being as Drew was 20 years retired military, they waved us right on through the tour at no charge!! Again totally unexpected, but so nice!!

Certain things that we just had to see, Wall Street, Trinity Church, etc were everything that we were told they would be!

Of course we made our way to the WTC site, and what a humbling experience that was. We talked with the fireman at engine company #10, and Drew gave them a copy of the CD that he recorded. The song "Some Things We're Not Supposed to Know", was a song that Drew wrote and recorded especially about that painful time for our Nation. The firemen seemed really touched, and they gave Drew a Company #10 patch. He plans to put it on his vest that has all his military patches on it. He actually has gone to an Air Force meeting right now, and took the patch with him to show everyone.

We did not make it to any plays. We were just to tired from the daily events. The subways were so much fun, even though I was still scared of getting lost from Drew. It really is a wonderful city and the people were so nice. We hope to go back some day, but it is good to be home. I am not used to that fast pace....:) you could certainly tell who belonged in the City and who the gawking tourist were!:D

Willys Grandma, I did ask about the candles, and they are called "Votivo". They did not have the name of the scent, but they did find out the name and called the room to let me know. I have already found them online at lots of places. They seem to be pricey, but I'm sure they are worth it.

Just wanted to tell everyone "Thanks Again" for all your help, and to tell you what a wonderful city that you have.

[Name game]

I'm so glad you enjoyed your stay in New York. About the hotel having a view of a brick wall as opposed to overlooking Times Square - that's not always a bad thing if you were exhausted and wanted to get some sleep.

 

It sounds like you guys will be back in New York for another visit, you can see a play then.

[willysgrandma]

I am so glad you had a good time. Did you ask if they could move you to another room at the hotel? Those candles did smell great, right?

 

The WTC site is very humbling. We went down right after it happened and the devastation was something I will never forget (nor will I forget the smell - we could smell th eburning where I live on LI).

 

I took my grandsons two years ago for the Yankee Stadium tour and it was awesome.

 

Glad you liked Virgils, too. Did you go to Tony's Dinapoli by any chance? DId you go into Toys r US to see that ferris wheel?

[Drew's Wife]

The hotel was booked solid, so there wasn't an option as far as changing rooms. But it was very quiet and sleep was not a problem. And oh my, the bed was about the most comfortable, I have ever slept on! The bedding and linens were so plush, even the robes were a nice soft material.

 

Willys Grandma, as far as the candles, they actually did not have them buring anymore. I just told them how we "chatted" over the net, and had never actually met, but that you had been there for a Hotel tour, and wanted to know about the candles. He said it was something they had only done for a little while to get people's feedback, but he did remember having the candles out, and was very nice about finding out the maker's name.

 

They do have the restaurant open, now for lunch and dinner, however there were so many other places that we wanted to try. We did go to an Italian restaurant, but for some reason Drew nor I can think of the name of it!:o It was so good, I had the pizza and Drew had pasta, but I don't think it was the one that you have mentioned here.

 

Went to Viva Panchos one night, and it was also excellent. Huge portions. I had the Enchilladas and Drew had the burritos. We stopped off in the Food court at Grand Central for lunch one day, and I had the hot dogs, while Drew found a place that had wonderful soups and salads.

Went to a place called Pronto's Pizza one evening and it was also just great! The food was good at every place we went to, but my favorite was still Virgil's. I would really suggest this restaurant to everyone. They even had biscuits and gravy on the menu, but being from the South, i just can't comprehend six dollars for some biscuits and gravy!:) WE also ate at the Flame diner for breakfast, and the French toast was really good, The only place that I was not thrilled with, was The Brooklyn Diner, which everyone kept recommending. I'm going to have to be pert near starved to death, before I will pay $14.95 for pancakes!:D

 

Oh,and yes I did go to the Toy R Us, Had to get pictures for my grandaughter! Also wanted to get something special from NYC for her and my new grandson. I just wandered around there for about an hour taking pictures and video. I hope to get all the pictures loaded to the computer in a little while. Want to have some ready to show our friends Wednesday night at Bible study.

 

Yes, we do plan to go back, it was just the most exciting, and enjoyable trip. Thanks to each of you again.

[willysgrandma]

If you ever go back, contact me, I'll meet you for a day.

 

We stayed at the Millenium Hotel one Thanksgiving Eve and watched the parade from the hotel. We ate out Thanksgiving dinner at Virgils - smoked turkey. It was just awful!

 

But I do love their regular BBQ.

 

Did you see the Naked Cowboy in Times Square?

[Drew's Wife]

If you ever go back, contact me, I'll meet you for a day.

 

We stayed at the Millenium Hotel one Thanksgiving Eve and watched the parade from the hotel. We ate out Thanksgiving dinner at Virgils - smoked turkey. It was just awful!

 

But I do love their regular BBQ.

 

Did you see the Naked Cowboy in Times Square?

 

We'll do lunch!! Drew said he plans to go back, but it won't be for a couple of years most likely.

 

I can't say that I would like smoked turkey much either! It should be slow cooked in an oven and basted for several hours, and stuffed with cornbred dressing!!:)

 

I don't think I saw anyone running around Times Square without their clothes!:D Who and what is the Naked Cowboy?