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| Gambrinus |
I've never been to Coney Island before and, since I'd shown mom all of the sights that she was interested in and it was a hot day, we figured we might as well spend some of it at the beach. The water was a little cool, but refreshing. The Luna Park amusement park was just opening its gates, so we had a look around but didn't go on any rides.We continued walking along the boardwalk and stopped at Winter Garden, a beachfront bar with an extensive beer menu for a couple of thirst quenchers: a Bavick Pilsner and and Ommegang Witte. We left the beach and walked through the Russian neighbourhood dubbed Little Odessa, where we stopped at a nautically themed restaurant/bar called Gambrinus that had a welcoming patio and a decent selection of draught beers. I had a satisfying half-litre of Julius Echter unfiltered wheat beer before we made our way to the subway for the almost hour-long ride back to our hotel.Since this was our last day in New York, we picked up our bags and took the subway near the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Mom decided she wanted more Thai food for her final meal of the trip, and we were pleased with our curries from Talent II Thai Kitchen at 925 9th Ave.The ride home was uneventful and, while some people may not enjoy spending 10 hours on a bus, I'm happy to recommend it. You leave at night, sleep as well as you can, and arrive at the beginning of the day. And if you order your tickets two weeks in advance, a round trip costs just $90.
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| Yankee Stadium |
A leisurely Sunday morning walk up Lafayette detoured into Chelsea for a visit to the hotel that bears the name of the neighbourhood and has a distinguished and notorious history associated with musicians and writers. Everything seemed normal, but I found out upon returning home that it was the last day that the Chelsea Hotel was open.We took our final Gray Line bus tour on the uptown loop, which took in Central Park West, Lincoln Center, Dakota Apartments, American Museum of Natural History, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Columbia University, Grant's Tomb, Harlem and the Apollo Theater, the "Museum Mile," Fifth Avenue and back again.There was an hour to spare before our Circle Line cruise around the entire island of Manhattan, so we took advantage of the beautiful weather and had a drink on a patio near our embarkation point at Pier 83. The three-hour cruise covered three rivers and five boroughs, while passing under seven major bridges and past several landmarks. It offers a different look at Manhattan and, while some parts are a little dull, it also offers some great photo opportunities.I fell in love with the High Line, an elevated railway line that's been converted into a park and walkway combination along the western side of Manhattan when I visited it in the summer of 2009, and was eager to see the second section that's been added to make the High Line go from the Meatpacking District in the south to as far north as West 30th Street. It offers great views of the city and the Hudson River and is a great addition to Manhattan and makes it an even better walking city.We continued our walk through the West Village and Greenwich Village, where we stopped to take in Washington Square Park before a late dinner at Boyd Thai Restaurant on Thompson Street, where mom again had steak while I went for some duck. After a brief pitstop back at the hotel, I picked up a traveller beer at a convenience store to drink before arriving at Manitoba's on Avenue B in Alphabet City. The bar is owned by The Dictators' Handsome Dick Manitoba, and I decided to stay with the bars owned by musicians theme by hitting Niagara, which Jesse Malin has a piece of. I stayed until a hard rain subsided and walked back to the hotel.
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| Central Park |
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| Central Park |
We walked to the former World Trade Center site to see the new construction and visit St. Paul's Chapel, Manhattan's oldest public building in continuous use, on Saturday morning. We then hopped on the Gray Line bus and made our way north through several neighbourhoods before getting off at Central Park. We ambled leisurely through the southern part of the park, browsed a street fair and picked up some gifts at the M&M store before the Sister Act matinee at the Broadway Theatre. I'm not a big fan of musicals, but was entertained by this one -- and mom loved it, which is what really counts. Post-show drinks were in order, so we went to the Heartland Chop House Brewery for a flight of seven five-ounce glasses of their house-brewed beer. None of them were exceptional.We had a look through Grand Central Station before deciding upon dinner at an excellent Brazilian restaurant called Ipanema, where I enjoyed churrasco mist -- a combination of grilled beef, chicken, pork and Portuguese sausage and mom had a steak. New York City has lots to look at during the day, but it can be just as enthralling by night with all of its bright lights. The two-hour Gray Line night tour took us south from midtown, across to Brooklyn and back again. We fought our way through the throngs around Times Square and elected to keep on walking down Broadway back to our hotel. We took a number of breaks so mom could rest her feet, but we completed the more than 50-block journey in three hours.That was enough for mom, but I set out again for more late night drinks and made stops at The Magician, National Underground and Home Sweet Home.
New York City was a place my mother had always wanted to visit, so this summer I granted her wish and took her to the Big Apple for an extra long weekend.
I booked a room at the well-located Holiday Inn SoHo on Lafayette Street between Chinatown and Little Italy, and within easy walking distance of the Lower East Side and East Village for my late night dive bar visits. This was my sixth trip to NYC, so I know it reasonably well, but thought the best way to introduce my mom to the city was through a three-day, hop-on hop-off Gray Line double-decker tour bus pass.
Our first day began with a walk further downtown that took us past a number of captivating buildings, the Brooklyn Bridge, the South Street Seaport (where we stopped at the TKTS outlet and bought a pair of tickets for Sister Act for the next day) and the financial district before arriving at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
The free ride took us within easy viewing distance of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, which I've visited in the past but didn't on this trip. Upon disembarkation, we strolled past the Richmond County Bank Ballpark (the home of the Staten Island Yankees of the New York-Penn League) to the September 11 Memorial and then back to the terminal for the 25-minute return ride to Manhattan. This was my second time in Staten Island, but both have been short trips, and I'd like to explore more of it sometime.
The same can be said of Brooklyn, which I got my most comprehensive overview of on the Gray Line tour of New York City's most populous borough. The two-hour tour was the of the day and our guide and driver made it entertaining and informative.
We decided to have dinner on Mulberry Street, the heart of Little Italy, and just made it inside Cafe Napoli before a massive downpour hit. My mom had an expensive but tasty stuffed veal dish, while I went with some fish. She called it an early night, I did some writing and then stepped out for drinks at Lower East Side watering holes Iggy's Keltic Lounge, The Cake Shop, Max Fish and Arlene's Grocery.
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| Max Fish |
