You guys ROCK...a great day in NYC

Hi, all,

Thanks to the wonderful advice on this board about getting around, DH and I had an amazing day in NYC today!

We flew from Columbus on a 6:15 flight, landed in Newark at 7:45. We got our luggage quickly and took the Airtrain to the hotel shuttle waiting area. We were on our way to the Newark Penn Station Hilton by 8:30.

Miraculously, our room was ready, so we were able to put all our stuff in the room and freshen up a bit before heading out. The stars had aligned and we had a great rate available when I booked it months ago. We could have had a prepaid rate of right at $100, and for only $140, I was able to book a (non-prepaid) executive level (concierge) room. This entitled us to free breakfast and free internet. And robes. Which as all cruisers know is worth $40 all by itself.

Here's a pic of the view of the train station from our room:

We stopped by the concierge lounge and got some breakfast. Keep in mind that we left Ohio this morning and were having breakfast in NJ. Awesome. DH enjoying breakfast:

By 9:30 we were on our way to the city, which is where the great advice on this board kicked in. We took the enclosed walkway from the hotel lobby to Newark Penn Station and found the PATH track. We got a $7 Metrocard at the kiosk to use for our 2 roundtrip PATH trips, and there was a train waiting to board. 25 minutes later we were disembarking at the World Trade Center Station and heading out to walk along Battery Park. A couple pics from the WTC station:

It was a beautiful day, and we were able to watch pilots practice for the Red Bull Air Races. Very cool.

Next we visited St. Paul's church and the Sept. 11 preview center before taking the subway to Rockefeller Center. The great advice kicked in again, and we bought two unlimited 1-day passes for the day at the kiosk in the station. These are $8.25, and since we took two buses and three subways over the course of the day, they were a good deal for us.

We did Top of the Rock, then splurged on lunch at the Rock Cafe. Very good but very expensive.

After that we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, then took a cross-town bus to the Intrepid museum. Yes, we are kinda geeky. But we know it, so it's all good. It's actually a very cool place, and we got a good look at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal right beside it.

We hopped back on the bus to head back to 5th Avenue and then wandered north so we could gawk at the fancy stores and I could visit the Mecca that is the Apple store. Told you I was geeky.

We enjoyed leisurely walk through the southern part of Central Park on a lovely afternoon, and then we took a subway from Columbus Circle to Times Square. I must admit we went the wrong way the first time, but I hope we score points for realizing it immediately when the numbers got bigger instead of smaller.

We played tourist in Times Square, then grabbed a light dinner before seeing "Jersey Boys". Great show - it had to be to keep us engaged after our 4 am wake-up and long day touristing!

After the play, once more relying on the great advice of the posters here, we grabbed the E train subway at 50th to the WTC. We ALMOST went down the wrong side, but we're "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" types, so we figured it out. It was an easy, well-marked traverse to the PATH station at the WTC, and we were back at the hotel by about 11:45.

A GREAT day, thanks one more time to everyone for your great advice.

I will post more pics, including some from the hotel, when I get a chance to upload them, but now I have to get some sleep. Got a ship to board tomorrow!!

Sue

Sue - sounds like you had an awesome day. Love the pictures - they really show what a big time operation Newark Station and WTC Path really are. You bought yourselves a lot of transportation for $23.50 - you figured out how to get all over NYC in a day and with the all day pass had the flexibility to "hop on/hop off" buses and subways to go wherever you wanted.

Have a fabulous cruise - I'm looking foward to hearing all about it.

YAY! Sue, I'm so glad you had a wonderful, jam packed day. Your photos and info are priceless additions to the board. Have a great cruise. ;)

Thanks for the great report and photos! Looking forward to more. Enjoy Bermuda, you will love it.

Thanks, all, it really was a great day!

We are twiddling our thumbs waiting at the hotel for our 10:00 ride to the port, so here are a couple more pics I had time to upload:

Practice rounds for the Red Bull Air Races from Battery Park:

View from Top of the Rock:

St. Patrick's Cathedral:

View of the Manhattan Cruise terminal from the flight deck of the Intrepid:

By the way, I forgot to mention, the Intrepid museum is pricy - $22 general admission - but as a military retiree, DH got in free, and as a retiree spouse I got 20% off. So they treat the military right!

Central Park:

And Times Square:

Thanks so much once more for all that help. Now can 10:00 just get here????

Sue

Gorgeous photos! You have a good eye. ;)

Awesome pictures of my fabulous city! Thanks for posting and have a wonderful cruise---you have another beautiful day for sailaway!

Marge

Sue...great pix........glad it all worked out for you!

Have a great cruise!

We love it when peeps come back and post that things worked out!!

BTW..great pix...and you made the Newark RR station look PRETTY!:p;)

I'm exhausted just reading about your trip! My goodness you packed a ton of stuff into one day!

Love Rock Center in the winter when you can watch the skaters.

Thanks for the photos.

OT but can you email me...i am headed to FLL this week for a couple days!

i think i had your email but i don't know where...(need some opinions on dining...have all the rest in order)

megtravels@yahoo.com

thanks....

What a wonderful report! thanks so much for sharing!

Sounds like you had a very good time here in NYC where nearly went smoothly. I especially enjoyed your picture of Newark Penn Station . . . it is an angle that I've rarely seen photographed, yet it makes the station really look nice.

OT but can you email me...i am headed to FLL this week for a couple days!

i think i had your email but i don't know where...(need some opinions on dining...have all the rest in order)

 

megtravels@yahoo.com

 

thanks....

You've got mail!

Glad you had a great time and great pics...

Alrana

That's the same view we had out of the Newark Penn Hilton this past March. It can be a little noisy overlooking the train station, but not a problem.