Tag: New York

Architecture, ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Libraries, Museums, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Strolling Madison and Seventh Avenues

Jane Sadek

Travel There – Libraries, a Cathedral, an Architectural Tour and The Top of the Rock

There was only one thing wrong with our plan for the day and that was Deborah’s feet. Her shoes tore them up on that first afternoon, when we strolled Broadway and since then, all we’d done was walk – all over Liberty Island, Ellis Island, Lower Manhattan, Central Park and The Met, as well as a trip back up and down Broadway. Still, she is a trooper. She medicated her blisters, put on bandages, wore thick socks, pulled on shoes and kept on walking. I don’t know if I would have been so tough. I’ve had days ruined by a paper cut.

The Morgan Library

We had breakfast at the hotel since it was included, took a quick subway ride to save Deb’s feet a few steps and made our way to the Morgan Library. Our admission time was 10:30 and that’s all you get, admission. I sort of assumed someone would take us around and point out the highlights. I was wrong. They pinned a tag on each of us and set us free.

There is an audio tour available on their website and we did listen to some of that, but I like people. Yes, I know I am a dinosaur, but it is what it is. In the absence of a tour guide, it is still an amazing place. They were very serious about masks and overtly politically correct, but I can ignore almost anything.

There is the historical building from JP Morgan’s time, standing as a testimony to his taste and erudition, with a very, very modern building added as a sign they are keeping up with the times. By far, my favorite things were those in the historical part of the museum complex. Several interesting exhibitions were on view in the newer part when we visited – Hans Holbein, Gwendolyn Brooks and Woody Guthie. Of the three, I found Woody Guthrie’s the most compelling. I had known of him, but little about him until I saw this exhibit.

The New York Public Library

We started with our brown bag lunches on the patio, next to the famous lions of the Stephen A Schwartzman Building of the New York Public Library System. It was a very pleasant place to sit and watch New York go by.

Then we went inside got our tickets for the Rose Main Reading Room, which is the main attraction for tourists. We had an hour to kill, oooohing and aaaaaahing at all there was to see, while we waited to get into their very special space. It was totally worth it. Gorgeous. My photos are awful, so browse the websites I’ve linked to.

From there we checked out Grand Central Station. First, because it is a landmark everyone should see, but also we thought that’s where we’d catch the train to New Jersey for the christening, but it wasn’t.

I’d seen several hints that I should go to The Lott New York Palace which was once the Villard Mansion. It’s located right behind St. Patrick’s Cathedral, so I didn’t see any reason not to check it out. Totally worth the side trip, even if you wouldn’t have guessed it from the outside. Serious construction was going on, but inside, yes, it was worth the side trip. Several really amazing things to see, including the Gold Room, which all by itself was worth the visit. You’ve seen it in so many movies!

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Next up, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where the travel gods once again smiled on me. A wedding was going on which included an ethereal voice singing Ave Maria. It meant I could not walk up close to the famous altar and such, but it was a great trade off!

We surprised Deb’s great nephew who was working at a store across the street, which I will not mention, because he no longer works there. That’s when we decided to be spontaneous and have a little break, because resting our dogs while sipping a little wine sounded like just the thing. NYC did not cooperate.

I thought standing right next to Rockefeller’s famous rink, darling little wine bars would be all over the place, but in spite of further irritating Deb’s feet by walking all over the place, the only thing we could find was fast food. Saks had a coffee bar, but it was not an inviting place to rest, there was no alcohol and I don’t do coffee. We killed all the time we had stomping around to find a place to relax, instead of relaxing.

Architectural Tour and Top of the Rock

Having used up all our break time trying to find a place to take a break, it was time to go on the Architectural WALKING Tour of Rockefeller Center. I heartily recommend this to anyone. On the tour, we were introduced to many beautiful works of art we’d passed in oblivion in our search for a glass of wine. We learned a lot about Rockefeller himself and were pleased to learn he was a little rebel, purchasing and displaying works of art thought scandalous at the time, in part because the artists weren’t nice white people, but also because they displayed hitherto covered parts of the body.

After the walking tour we finally found an outdoor wine bar, which was exactly what we’d wanted before the tour. The area was shaded by the surrounding buildings, so it was a little chilly and the wine was downright bad, but we didn’t sweat it. We chatted with some eccentric old woman who would have us believe she was the antique maven of the entire city, and she might have been, but mostly what we liked was not walking for a while and taking an edge off the stress of walking around NYC via maps and our wits.

While it would be nice to say we could have spent more time there, the wine really was bad and it was entirely too chilly to be comfortable, so when it came time for our Top of the Rock tour, we were ready to go. We walked a couple of blocks back to the elevator, took a couple of escalators and there we were at the Top of the Rock.

Deborah told me the Top of the Rock tour had been her sons’ favorite thing about their visit to New York. I am glad I went, but I did not have that kind of enthusiasm for it. It was one of the most expensive things we did (except for the shows we went to) and I thought all of them were more my cup of tea.

I did the Hancock Building in Chicago and I have to say I thought that was a better experience. They have decals on the window to let you know what you’re looking at. There are more exhibits explaining the city and the building to you. I also felt less like a member of a cattle herd. To boot, Chicago is one beautiful city, while New York is overwhelmingly big.

But wait! The day is not over!! Come back next week and we’ll have dinner at Carmine’s a famous and much recommended Italian restaurant in Times Square.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Performing Arts, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Broadway Baby!

Jane Sadek

Travel There – Sardi’s and Moulin Rouge

It was supposed to be Joe Allen’s and Moulin Rouge, but I had a little planning hiccup, so we ate at Sardi’s instead. All of my life I’d heard of Sardi’s, so I wasn’t too upset, until I got there. BORING!! There is no longer any sizzle, only a very tired restaurant, mediocre food and a zombie waitstaff. Let’s move on to more exciting things.

So, while Sardi’s was a real disappointment, Moulin Rouge was not. There was frisson in the air as we approached the Al Hirshfield Theater. Everything was under construction along the street, which added it’s own chaos to the gathering crowd, wearing their masks and whipping out their phones for entrance into the theater. Apparently, actual paper tickets are a thing of the past.

Once inside the theater, we were all Bohemians, but you’d better not be carefree enough to take off your mask. All around me I heard stories of a show being stopped while an usher beamed a light at unmasked people. Someone else said they’d seen people thrown out of the theater for taking off their masks. A flyer warned us of all the things we were not supposed to do and just in case we missed it, an usher explained the seriousness of the crime of masklessness.

The musical was everything you’d want a Broadway production to be. The set, as you can see above, was amazing. The costumes were great. And the voices? WOW!! We were in the balcony, but we could see and hear everything with ease. We loved it.

I’ll be honest though, I did not love the music of the musical as much as I did the music of the movie. It wasn’t the singers. It was the songs. What I didn’t know is that the show was written in a way to include current music in the story. I’d especially loved some of the songs in the movie and was waiting eagerly to hear them. One of the first songs belted out was Lourde’s Royals. It fit in perfectly and it’s a song I like, but it was my first clue that I’d be hearing different music that night than I had anticipated.

It’s a great show and very much like the movie, but not exactly like the movie, even beyond the music. Logistics was part of it. You just can’t fit the movie set of Moulin Rough into a Broadway theater, so you saw only the inside of Satine’s dressing room, not the huge elephant it was on. While absinthe, the dangerous green spirit, plays a role in the live show, it is somewhat different than the movie. In the movie it was almost exalted, while in the show it is more clearly a villain.

Should you go? Absolutely! It was one of the highlights of the trip, but don’t eat at Sardi’s. All in all this was a red letter day. To go to the Met and a spectacular Broadway show, all in one day, was pretty amazing.

We trotted back up Broadway to our hotel, doctored our various ailments and got ready for the next day. Getting old really does suck, but it is better than the alternative.

Next up, a walking tour of Mid-Town, so be sure to come back next week for the Morgan Library, the New York Public Library, St. Patrick’s and Top of the Rock.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jane Sadek

Travel There – Museum Girl Goes to the Met

So far in NYC, our days have started with a long list of attractions. On this day the list narrowed down to the one thing I’d been wanting to do for as long as I could remember – visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No aimless wandering for this Museum Girl. I’d read everything I could get my hands on. I had my tickets in hand. I had also printed out a map from the internet, highlighting the most important areas and numbering the order we should see them in.

I know sometimes you look forward to something for a long, long time and when you get there it is a disappointment. That was not the case in this situation. I loved every minute of it and would go back again tomorrow – but my map would look different.

Getting There was Part of the Fun

I’ve mentioned before how perfect the Sheraton New York Times Square hotel was as the headquarters of this vacation, but I’m going to say it again. If I ever get back, I’ll stay there again.

Excited about the day to come I woke up at 1:30, 3 and 5. At six I finally got out of bed and made myself ready for the day. We had our breakfast and set out on the sidewalk towards Central Park.

It was a glorious day, crisp and clear. Other tourists and New Yorkers went about their business. Something that surprised me about the city it was the lack of crowds. I thought the sidewalks would be shoulder to shoulder and the streets, bumper to bumper, but it was oddly sedate. Since I’d never been there before, I can’t tell you whether this was the result of the pandemic or I’d just over-imagined it.

I cannot tell you the joy I felt strolling through Central Park. It’s a beautiful place and the city is so lucky to have it. Even though I’d never been there, it felt familiar, because so many movies and TV shows are filmed here. I kept saying to myself, “I’m here! I’m really here!”

We took a turn to the east at the famous Bethesda Fountain and made our way to the Met. If I’d been wanting a crowd, here it was. A line snaked around the front of the building and down the sidewalk. Unfortunately, those were the people with tickets. It really didn’t take long, because it was just a security check and then we were in. We’d entered on some lower level and I’d planned my tour to begin on the main floor, so getting oriented was a bit disorienting, but soon I was gawking at all the things I’d dreamed of.

Galleries of Heaven

Our day at the Met began with European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. We saw the Robert Lehman Collection and visited the European Paintings. I was in heaven. I love it all. I really couldn’t believe I was really there.

We took a lunch break at The Eatery. Like the café on Ellis Island, everything is prepped and wrapped in cellophane, but the fare is a notch above. The atmosphere is much tonier also. Everything is modern, white and accented with blonde wood. If you’re going to be at the museum all day, like we were, then it was the perfect spot for lunch.

We enjoyed the break and headed towards the American Wing. Those Europeans might have been around longer than us, but we caught up fast. I wandered around just as amazed in this wing as I had been during the morning. As much as I love paintings and sculpture, decorative arts are my passion. I can look at vases, cups and spoons until the cows come home. The Met delivered. Deb and I wandered into a section which held case after case after case of humble items made beautiful. These are not the showstoppers of the museums, more like the pantry, but I loved them.

It was time for another break, so we went to the American Wing Café for a glass of wine. This is such a great space. You are actually in the American Wing Gallery, not hidden away like The Eatery. Table space is at a bit of a premium and I suppose the abandoned glasses, cups and plates were a sign they were a bit understaffed, but it was a break we needed.

I’d saved ancient history for the end of the day and we saw as much as we could, but we were pooped. I wish I’d had time to go back the next day and start filling in the blanks, because I know there were many, but there’s just so much that a brain can digest on a single day. We walked across Central Park to catch the subway, which delivered our weary bodies almost at the doorstep of our hotel.

But the day is not yet over! Come back next week for a taste of Broadway. We’ll go to the All Hirshfield Theater for Moulin Rouge.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

What’s That About Dead Rabbits?

Jane Sadek

Travel There – Happy Hour and Dinner in Lower Manhattan

What a day Deb and I had! It was just the kind of day we love, running from early until late and seeing things we’ve never seen before. We rode the New York subway from Mid-Town to Downtown. We visited the sculptures around Battery Park. We island hopped on ferries. We climbed to the crown of the Statue of Liberty and connected with our ancestors. We saw museums, historical gravesites, a church and a famous sculpture.

Now it was time to slow down. Deb, my co-conspirator and best bestie ever, thought we should find The Dead Rabbit. The same person who suggested Fraunces Tavern ( a real winner in our book) had also said his friends and family enjoyed The Dead Rabbit. So, out came the phones and we googled it up. (See, I’m flexible. I don’t always have to have a map.)

If you googled it up today, it says it is “The World’s Most Awarded Pub.” Last year it said the bar was Manhattan’s best kept secret. Personally, I’m glad I was there when it was a secret. The name of the pub is loosely related to a historical Irish gang that ran in the area back in the days when Ellis Island was busy. Personally, I think the founders of the pub heard about the gang and decided it would be cool to name the pub after it.

The founders also couldn’t quite decide what kind of establishment they wanted to have, so they have three – The Taproom, The Parlor and The Occasional Room. Though all three are part of the same place, they are three distinct destinations with three different audiences.

Deb and I just wanted a drink, so we went to The Taproom. Deb does cocktails. She loves to browse the drink menu, discuss things like bitters and ryes and then try new things. My cocktail is a Margarita and the rest of the time I drink white wine. I love red wine, but the histamines make me miserable, so I stick to white.

I think she either had an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan and I had either a Margarita or a Pinot Grigio – or we both had one of each. I don’t think it matters. Deb struck up one of her conversations about bitters and ryes with the bartendress which resulted in some ideas she wanted to try as soon as she got home. I mainly stared off into space and was so happy to be there. I was not working and it was blissful.

Back to the Fraunces Tavern

If you remember, we’d made dinner reservations at Fraunces while we were there and we were still just around the corner from it. Lower Manhattan is actually a pretty small place. After our two drinks at The Dead Rabbit Taproom, whatever they were, we struck out to follow up on our dinner plans.

The place was virtually empty, which was a crying shame. Not only do I want the restaurant to support the museum upstairs, but oh my goodness, did they ever have good food. We shared a ginormous porkchop with mac & cheese. It was time to get back to Mid-Town, so we headed to the subway and did a fine job of getting back to our hotel.

After our very active day, we needed a little patching up. Deb’s heels had been rubbed raw. I’d broken my prescription sunglasses and a finger I’d banged up back in Dallas needed further attention. We found a Walgreen’s and bought up what we needed to keep going – moleskin, super glue and New Skin. Oh, and they had Diet Dr Pepper!! Happy day!!

One might think we couldn’t top a day like we’d had, but that one wouldn’t know we had the Metropolitan Museum of Art on our schedule, something I’d been wanting to see my whole life – even more than I’d wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. The only reason we didn’t go to it on this day, the first full day in NYC, was because it was closed on Wednesdays.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Music, Performing Arts, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning, United States

Immersive New York

Jane Sadek

Travel There – Looking for the Insta Moment

On a random Wednesday afternoon in Lower Manhattan, when we’d had Fraunces Tavern Museum and Trinity Church virtually to ourselves, people were lined up to have their picture taken with the Bull. Both of the empty attractions were ever so much more interesting and meaningful than the Bull, but the Bull was getting all the attention.

What you can’t see in the picture above is that there are actually two lines. One for the front of the bull and one for the back, where Gen Xer’s, Z’s and Millennials waited in a much longer line to have their photo made with the Bull’s genitals.

This made me sad. With so much to see, it seemed silly to me to wait around to get my picture made with a bull, even if it was THE bull. But as sad as it was for people to spend time waiting to get the picture with the front of the bull, when there was so much else of great interest around them, I thought the genitalia crowd was really missing the point. But that’s me.

Experiential Public Spaces

A few years ago I sat in a lecture at the University of Dallas, my alma mater. An influential lecturer was touting the importance of the new trend towards experiential art and monuments. I thought I knew what she was talking about, because I’ve always been about experiencing art. I will wait in long lines to see a Vincent Van Gogh painting up close, but that’s not it.

She was talking about those little boxes they put on the walls these days so kids can smell or touch something in relation to an exhibit. It’s a table set up so you can color or play a game next to a sculpture. It’s a sheet of paper with pictures on it that you are supposed to match to things you see around a museum. These are all well and good, but to me they are more often a distraction from what’s there, not a help to understand it.

I remember the first time I went to a museum with all these helpful boxes and games. It was the Bullock Texas State History Museum. The place was overrun with squealing kids hanging off various displays and they were having fun. They may remember the experience until today, but I ask you, did they actually learn anything about Texas history they could repeat to you now? Believe me! I’m not against fun. I just think in the big scheme of things it is overrated.

But back to that lecture! One of the things the lecturer presented was a slide taken at an experiential exhibit of Van Gogh’s art, somewhere over in Europe. At the time I thought it looked kind of like an Impressionistic disco. Then the exhibit came to Dallas as Immersive Van Gogh and I couldn’t wait to go, because I thought I must have misunderstood what I was seeing at the lecture.

Only I hadn’t. They played music and projected Van Gogh’s art onto the walls, ceiling and floor. You had the option of standing, utilizing a seating area in one of the rooms or sitting on the floor. It was an Impressionistic disco. You learned nothing about Van Gogh and even the music wasn’t in context.

I confess, I have good friends who loved it, who said they could spend all day there or plan on going back over and over. If you like it, that’s great, but don’t stop there. Find the art on the walls of museums and look at in person. Learn about the artist, his friends, the reasons people hated his work then but love it now, read his letters to his brother, listen to the music popular at the time, the fashions, the homes – know what you are looking at.

To me, whether you are looking at something on a website or being immersed in a audio/visual “experience”, you are being cheated. If these virtual experiences were catalysts for deeper exploration, that would be a good thing, but they aren’t. People are using them as replacements. Why spend the money to go to Paris and explore the Louvre? The Mona Lisa is on the internet. And the people who do go to Paris spend more time taking selfies at the Eiffel Tower than they do in the Louvre!!

This has been a concern of mine for a long time. Almost thirty years ago Bill and I went to Six Flags. Instead of one of the Broadway-quality shows I had seen in past, they showed me a video in the Southern Palace theater. It was sad to me. I thought of the DFW area talent that was going to waste and regretted I had spent my time watching a video. I just looked at their current entertainment schedule and it’s Looney Tunes. REALLY?

As we stare into our phones and post pictures with the newest filter we are loosing touch with the value of reality. When we are looking reality in the face (or the genitalia) we’re more interested in the entertainment factor than we are exploration. As soon as we post our selfie, we move on to the next experience. We are losing the ability to store up information we can reflect on over time and the opportunity to apply what we observe to our lives to make them better. We just get entertained and then we get bored.

OK, now I will step away from my hobby horse, climb off my soap box, quit my rant – whichever phrase you prefer. Come back next week and I will tell you about a bar around the corner where we went next and had fun. I will not mention experiential public spaces.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Presidential, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning, United States

Down in Downtown Manhattan

Jane Sadek

Travel There – Fraunces Travern & Trinity Church

These two books were were my bibles for NYC. I always like the Top 10 guides. They cover virtually everything, but they organize it into neat little lists of 10 items and they have fantastic laminated maps in a back pocket which fit in my handbag. The Top 10 guides have shown me a good time in a lot of cities.

The Knoff Mapguide was a new one for this trip. I’d never seen one before, but it was a perfect companion to my Top 10 guide and I will be looking for them in the future. It broke New York into 10 sections and then had a detailed map of each section with suggestions. No GPS to go off network. No touching the map and creating a new destination. No losing the screen to a call or a text. Just a map and a good one.

This is my idea of planning a route. For the rest of our time in NYC we’d be up in Mid-Town, so I wanted to see the best of what Downtown offered while I was in the neighborhood. Am I the only one who is confused by Downtown Manhattan being down? Usually, when I talk about downtown anywhere else, I mean down in the center of things, but in Manhattan, that’s actually Mid-Town!

On to Fraunces Tavern

Fraunces Tavern Today

Here’s another site I might have missed completely if it weren’t for my traveling companion and her co-workers. Someone who made a recent visit to NYC told Deb about the Tavern, its ties to Washington and its museum. What’s not to love and it was within walking distance of Battery Park, where we disembarked from the ferry.

So, Fraunces Tavern has been a part of Downtown NYC since the Revolutionary War, such a big part, as a matter of fact, when George Washington had a farewell dinner for his officers, this was where they had it. The tables and chairs from that party no longer exist, but the room where it happened is still there and they have furnished it as it would have been back in the day. That in itself is worth a visit, but there’s more.

Upstairs is museum of artifacts from the Revolutionary War, from Washington, from the Tavern, etc. It’s very interesting and just costs a few dollars to enter. It’s not very big, but well worth the time spent. I was especially interested in everything, because it was founded and still supported by the Sons of the American Revolution.

My dad was a member of SAR and they do an amazing job of protecting our heritage. I spent the whole time of the verge of tears, because I thought about how much my father would have loved to see it and how proud he would have been of his organization. Without actually intending to do so, we visited Deborah’s heritage on Ellis Island and mine at the tavern. All on the same day and both so close to one another. On a day like that, I’m proud to be an American.

A Few Other Stops in the Neighborhood

I’d known that the day’s timing would be iffy. In a perfect world we’d have arrived at the tavern at meal time, but things weren’t perfect. After seeing the museum, we decided to make a dinner reservation for a little later and in the meantime see a few other sites.

Our first stop was Trinity Church. Unfortunately, choir practice was going on and we were not allowed into the church. That was a shame. One of my favorite memories ever is being at Salisbury Cathedral when the organist started practicing. I thought I’d fallen through some hole into the past – perhaps inspired by the visit to Stonehenge which I also did on that day.

Still, the exterior of the church was beautiful and it was haunting to think how many great men and women had walked where we were walking. This had been the church of our founding fathers, long before Washington D.C was a thing.

Our walk through downtown was not through, but things took a slightly different turn at our next site. So come back next week for a bit more irreverent look at Downtown Manhattan.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Coming to America Via Ellis Island

Jane Sadek

Travel There – Share the Immigrant Experience

My family, on both sides, got here before the 1890’s, so they did not go through Ellis Island or get dumped into the great melting pot of NYC. Some came when America was more wilderness than civilization. Some fought in the Revolutionary War. Others served as indentured servants to pay off their debts. Two brothers married Cherokee women in Georgia about the time of the Civil War. We didn’t come with the Conquistadors or sail to Plymouth Rock, but we did not sail past Lady Liberty as we entered New York Harbor, either.

However, Deborah’s family did. Hence, the whole experience was more profound for her than it was for me. She really identified with the challenges faced by those shuffling through the halls of Ellis Island with everything they owned in a satchel. She was disappointed the records center was closed on the day we were there, because she wanted to go and find her relatives listed on the logs they kept. To her, this was her family’s history and heritage.

A Shadow of Their Experience

Whether they intended it or not, there was a feeling of lostness as we arrived on Ellis Island. There were arrows and people pointing you in what was the right direction, but you had no way of knowing whether it was the direction you really wanted to go or not. What’s going to happen? Will there be someone to explain the process to me? Will I get a chance to sit down? What about food? Will there be any?

What they had for us were signs, but they were informative and told you what you were seeing and where to go next. You entered through the Baggage Room. Were you an immigrant, you would have had to let go of your luggage here. Imagine that everything you own in the world, the only things you could bring with you from your home, is in a carpet-covered satchel and first thing that happens to you in America is that someone takes it away.

In our modern day of mobile phones, apps and GPS, it is hard for us to imagine what it would have been like to arrive here. Some people had family or friends to connect with, but there would be no contact until they were through Ellis Island. How could they tell anyone they had actually arrived or had run into issues with immigration? And if you didn’t have anyone here, where were you going to eat and sleep? How would you protect your family and provide for them? It had to be so overwhelming.

Next you climbed the stairs to enter the Registry Room or what’s called The Great Hall. For most of the immigrants this was a crowded, potentially embarrassing and inconvenient experience, but soon enough they were on their way. Not everyone was so lucky. Some people were sent back where they came from. Others were held in dormitories on the island. The third floor has many exhibits that demonstrate the hardships of the less fortunate people who came to America through Ellis Island.

The Ellis Island Café

Deb and I had a big breakfast at the hotel, so we were able to last until the afternoon without thinking about food, but towards the end of our tour we were feeling the need for sustenance. I’d brought along a Meal Replacement Bar, but I desperately needed caffeine. Deb was looking for lunch. Our only option was The Ellis Island Café.

The café is not some cozy little getaway with lace curtains. It is a very efficient little snack bar, but everything offered is prepackaged. You can get wraps and sandwiches, chips and candy bars. There’s plenty of bottled water and a variety of soft drinks. There is, however, no Diet Dr Pepper. I knew that going in, but if you’re me, it’s worth mentioning. A certain portion of my life is spent identifying places where I can score my favorite beverage. Just for the record, there’s no beer or wine either.

Refreshed and refueled, we discussed our options for the afternoon. Had the Records Room been open, we would have spent some time there, but now it was time to start our exploration of Manhattan in earnest. We headed for the ferry and were treated to a much easier cruise than we’d had that morning. The first picture in last week’s post is Deb and I on our way back to the mainland.

Come back next week and join us in Downtown New York City. We’ll be following in the footsteps of some of our Founding Fathers.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, Museums, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning, United States

Blown Away by Lady Liberty

Jane Sadek

Travel There – A Morning with Battery Park Monuments and the Statue of Liberty

Yes, the Statue of Liberty is pretty mind blowing, but I’m what I’m talking about is that we were by the Statue of Liberty and were nearly blown elsewhere! The weather man had warned it might rain the whole time we were in NYC, but he didn’t tell us that we’d need grappling hooks to stay on the sidewalk.

On our second day in NYC, the threat of rain was melting away, but it was still very chilly. We bundled ourselves in all the cold weather gear we’d brought along and headed to the subway. With visions of huge crowds in our minds, we’d imagined both New Yorkers headed to work and tourists like us headed to the Statue Cruises, we were up and out early – but, in fact, it was too early.

I am still blown away by the efficiency of the New York Transit system. I wish we had something similar here in Dallas. We went all over Manhattan with the greatest of ease and even popped over to New Jersey for a christening. Clueless as to how good it actually was, we allowed entirely too much time for our trip to Battery Park, especially since it wasn’t exactly walking around weather.

Still Deb is the easiest person in the world to travel with, so we just made the best of it. Chilled to the bone, we walked around and looked at all the statuary one is supposed to view when one visits Battery Park. As I did my travel homework I had imagined Battery Park and an immense expanse of green, much like Central Park, but it’s actually quite manageable. If you have half an hour, you’ve got more than enough time for it. Here are some of the pictures we took as we tried very hard to enjoy the chilly morning.

Eventually, we saw some folks forming a line at the Statue City Cruises dock, so we joined them. A word of warning the Staten Island Ferry does not go to Liberty Island, neither do all the rest of the tours that say you’ll see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Some of theses tours and ferries also leave from this area, but if you take them, you may see the islands, but it will be from the deck of the boat. Only the Statue City Cruises will take you to Liberty and Ellis Islands.

Thankfully, the line was in the sun or we might have gotten frostbite, but the wind was deadly. It’s a darned good thing we are such fashionistas. The colorful scarves we wore to dress up our outfits ended up tied around our heads in desperation. Here is the line, the boat and some of the scenery on the way to the islands.

All the wind made the ride pretty choppy, but neither of us is prone to seasickness and it was a very short ride. We were also so excited about our destination there really wasn’t much room in us for anything else.

You get off the boat and stand in line to show someone in a box your ticket. They give you a brochure with a map and then you are on your own. We had timed access to the crown, which means you actually get to go up in the statue. so we headed off immediately to the Lady herself.

I can confess here, that going up in the crown was not the highlight of our day. I am glad we did it, because they have some amazing exhibits inside the pedestal. Deb and I wandered around for a very long time looking at it all. So, my travel tip to you is that even if you don’t want to climb up the stairs and go into the crown, get the crown access anyway, because the museum there is very good.

With our newly discovered knowledge about the Statue of Liberty, we made our way back to the entry area and almost by serendipity went into the Information Center. It felt backwards, because we felt we’d already attended the main event, so what were we going to get information about?

Hello Park Service! It is not an Information Center! You need to find a more compelling name for it. An Information Center has brochures, a nice person to answer questions and perhaps a diorama of the area.

The Information Center on Liberty Island is more a celebration of all things Lady Liberty. It was in no way a repeat of what we’d seen in the exhibits inside the statue. We spent at least another hour enjoying the exhibits in the “Information Center”.

Inside the Lady, the exhibits shared the struggle to make the monument a reality. Though a gift from our friends in France, she wasn’t exactly free. It took a concerted effort by many, many people to get her standing in New York Harbor. It’s a story of a man with a vision and cooperation between nations, but also a tribute to the can-do determination of Americans.

The Information Center focuses more on the fabrication of the statue and what it has become since she climbed a top her pedestal. You get a sort of virtual peek at what it took to build her and then the role she has played standing watch in New York Harbor.

One of the challenges of being a tourist is deciding how to spend your time. If I were a New Yorker, a more frequent visitor to the Big Apple or someone with more than a week to see everything, I would have extended our tour of Liberty Island. There was certainly more to see.

Had it been a less windy and chilly day, we certainly would have spent more time on the pedestal of the statue, admiring the vistas of Manhattan and filling up our phones with photos. This really wasn’t an option in the powerful winds we experienced.

As it was, we’d passed mid-day and we wanted plenty of time on Ellis Island, so we headed to the Ferry Dock. From there it is a short hop to the second feature of the day. come back next week and experience Ellis Island with us. Please come back next week for the immigrant experience.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Performing Arts, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, Travel Planning, United States

Stardust in Our Eyes

Jane Sadek

Travel There – Ellen’s Amazing Stardust Diner

So, Deb and I are a great pair for traveling. I need her input. I am Museum Girl. I can find wonderful museums and historic homes almost anyplace you put me, but I am restaurant and bar challenged. In part, because I have a pretty solitary existence here in my home office, while Deb goes into a brick-and-mortar office everyday and has an eclectic group of coworkers who point her to the good stuff.

I’m so glad someone pointed her to the Stardust Diner. Believe me, it’s not the sort of place I would have wandered in on my own. It’s a neon-covered corner building which appears to have seen better days. At times it has a line wandering down the street from it, but that didn’t encourage me either. You wonder if they’ve got a gambling den or something nefarious going on.

Well, Ellen’s Stardust Diner is where future Broadway stars make a living until they make it big, alongside the guy and gals in the chorus, who need to pay rent. The diner is stuffed with linoleum topped tables and vinyl booths. There is no theme and the walls are covered with faded photographs. The menu is your basic diner food.

What set Ellen’s apart is the attitude and a slim catwalk running through the center of the restaurant. Other restaurants and establishments in the area employ wannabe Broadway stars, but they treat them like regular employees, who are supposed to show up for work, even if they have an audition, and if you actually end up getting a part, they’ll fill your spot and you won’t be invited back.

You also won’t sing. At Ellen’s auditions and casting are the lifeblood of her employees, so your work schedule is set around your singing career. When you finish with a booking, be it a few day or a few years, Ellen will fit you back into the schedule. And you will sing.

All day, every day, from the crack of dawn until after the bars close, someone is on that catwalk belting their heart out. And these folks are good. Not the girl-back-home-who-sings-solos-in-church good, but Broadway good. One after another, male, female and otherwise, tall, short, gorgeous and ugly, people with amazing voices grab a mic and balance on the catwalk, while belting out some of the best music you will hear in the Big Apple.

When we passed by the Diner just after sunset there was a very discouraging line running down the side of the building and it was misting rain. So, we gave it a little while and came back later. There was still a line, but it wasn’t raining and the line was somewhat shorter. We had nowhere else to be, so we just waited it out. And you are going to wait, because no one wants to move too quickly at the Stardust. Don’t go when you’re starving, because after you wait in line, you’ll need to wait on your food.

Singing is the main attraction at the Stardust, but there’s nothing wrong with the food. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and a chocolate shake. Deb had the Ruby Rueben. Both meals were great. We thought about dessert, as an excuse to stay longer, but what with the Junior’s cheesecake earlier in the day and my chocolate shake, I couldn’t face it!

Time to head back to the hotel. You come back next week and join us on our visit to Lady Liberty. It’s one of those things you have to do and it is well worth the time and effort to do so.

Accommodations, Architecture, ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Fashion, Gardens, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, Shopping, TRAVEL, United States

Walking Tour of Broadway

Jane Sadek

Travel There – Just a Couple of Texas Girls in the Big City

As soon as we got our stuff stowed away we hit the streets of NYC. In just a few steps we figured out the Sheraton New York Times Square is the perfect place to stay. Don’t let them put you in the Four Points by Sheraton Times Square, that’s a whole ‘nother place and I am so glad a fought the battle to get where we wanted to be. We were right in the middle of everything without being in the insanity of Broadway itself.

Broadway, just a few blocks away, was insane and I am glad we had a buffer zone. They smoke pot everywhere in NYC, but on Broadway they smoke it a lot and they want to sell it to you. They also want to sell you fake designer bags. I could have done away with that whole vibe, but you just have to take New York City as it comes at you.

You also get mobs of people all the time. Later in the trip we’d be there on a weekend evening and we would really understand exactly how crazy it could get, but for our first day in the city, it was crazy enough.

We hadn’t scheduled anything specific for our day of arrival, because air travel is so unreliable these days. I didn’t want to have tickets riding on me getting there on time and we’re still stuck in the air somewhere. So the plan was to stroll Broadway and see what we could see…or eat.

Junior’s Cheesecake

Our first stop on our tour of Broadway was one of the best of the trip and we repeated it several times. I had read in my research that THE place to have authentic New York Cheesecake was Junior’s. I cannot speak to the authenticity, but oh my goodness, can I ever speak to how delicious it was. We both love cheesecake, but if possible we love Junior’s Cheesecake more than any other we’ve ever had. Deb liked it best topped with various fruits. I had mine plain, but there was nothing plain about it.

Our Key to the City

Broadway, Junior’s and a MetroCard. We were knocking it out of the park in the first few hours we were there. This was not Deb’s first NYC rodeo, so we decided we’d be brave and use the subway system. She had the app and I had the maps.

On our stroll down Broadway we dipped into the subway and purchased a MetroCard, loading it up with rides for the next week. We weren’t ready to use it, but we’d be getting up early the next morning to head to the Statue of Liberty, so we wanted to be ready!

The Biggest Department Store in the World

Confession, I am not a big fan of Macy’s. Well, to tell the truth, I’m not a big fan of department stores, with perhaps the exception of Neiman’s and Nordstrom’s – but I don’t even shop there. I just eat and browse. I am a bargain hunter, so most of my purchases actually occur at one of the stores at the outlet mall.

However, this is New York, the home of Macy’s, so I wanted to be able to say I shopped there. We’d timed our trip to attend a christening, so I planned on buying my gift at the famous store. It is big, ridiculously big, but just like the closest one at Firewheel Town Center, they are short-handed and you are going to have to help yourself.

We found the baby department and I found a darling pink cotton knit sweater with matching socks in the Ralph Lauren section. They were embroidered with the familiar logo in baby blue. They do not, however, have gift wrapping, so I ended up buying a gift bag and card a few stories up in the stationary department.

Deb and I went all the way to the top and rode all the way down on the escalators. Towards the top, they still had the old original wooden escalators. That was something to write home about.

Back Up Broadway

Our goal was Greeley Square and we made it. We tucked over to the Empire State Building just to say I’d been there. We saw Herald Square, Times Square and Duffy Square. We were ticking off the sites!

The evening had set in, but we were still full of cheesecake and the line at the Stardust Cafe was intimidating. So, we went back to the Sheraton, found the bar and celebrated our first day in New York at Happy Hour.

Here’s a few photos from our day. Come back next week and we’ll visit the Stardust Cafe.