New York City vacation: part three

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.