More Baseball and Broadway
Ray and Traci’s latest adventure brought them back to the
Big Apple, for some baseball and other experiences. They took the nonstop
American Airlines flight from Seattle to JFK, and enjoyed an uneventful
Saturday afternoon arrival. Ray booked a low budget (but highly Yelped) car
service called Quick-Ride who charged the same as the NYC taxis. Unfortunately,
the car service was late (in fairness, the flight was early – something very
unusual at JFK) so Ray and Traci took a cab instead. NYC has a flat $45 rate from
the airport to Manhattan which doesn’t seem fair for the drivers since the trip
can take 2 hours with congestion. Saturday afternoon traffic wasn’t too bad,
and the taxi dropped Ray and Traci off at the New York Hilton (the one in
Midtown, not Times Square where they stayed during a previous trip). Ray and
Traci were quite impressed with their 31th floor room which was quite spacious
even by non-New York standards. The bathroom was small but functional. The room
was well equipped with an empty refrigerator, desk, sitting area and flat
screen TV.
On their first evening in NYC, Ray and Traci rode the subway
to a place they learned about on the Food Network – “Eataly.” This large
building included several food markets and restaurants all with an Italian
theme. Ray ordered a meat wrapped square pasta dish called Agnolotti al Plin,
while Traci ordered a more classic pasta dish Vesuvio di Salciccia. Ray
preferred Traci’s tomato sauce based pasta and Traci liked Ray’s so they ended
up switching meals. On the way back, they stopped at New York’s Walgreens owned
chain store Duane Reed for drinks to stock the refrigerator with.
Sunday was a beautiful high 70s degree day in New York. Ray
started his day with a run thru nearby Central Park – he arrived to find a
Japan Day benefit race going on, and joined the runners until they reached the
reservoir where he again experienced a New York tradition of “running the
reservoir.” After returning, the baseball fans spent the afternoon at the New
Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Ray and Traci enjoyed their previous trip to “The
New Bronx Zoo” and again, their favorite team was facing the Yankees. After
‘stalking’ Mariner catcher Jesus Montero, Traci got to take a picture with him in
the hotel lobby before he headed to the stadium for the game. Ray and Traci,
unfortunately, were not invited to ride the team bus, so they took the express
subway right to the park. The Mariners, in the midst of a bad season, managed
to win the matinee game. Ray and Traci watched the game from the 4th
deck behind home plate which fortunately enjoyed the limited shade available at
the stadium. Afterwards, Ray and Traci traveled to “The High Line,” a wonderful
park created from an old 1 ½ mile section of elevated railroad trestles
extending south of 34th street. Rather than tearing down the
structure, New York turned it into a park with greenery and entertainment
features.
From the park, the travelers had dinner at the highly rated John’s
Pizza (278 Bleecker Street). Wanting to further expand their pizza experience
from previous trip’s visits to Grimaldi’s and Lombardi’s, both enjoyed their pepperoni
pizza. NYC is considered pizza capital of the world (by New Yorkers) and John’s
was no disappointment!
Clouds greeted the travelers on Monday. Ray and Traci
traveled downtown to Grand Central Terminal where the new Apple Store nests
high above. They visited the amazing architecture of the New York Public
Library. Much to their surprise, the main library rooms have few books – mainly
long rows of tables with lots of users enjoying free wi-fi access. In one area,
the library actually loans people laptops to use. More museum than library, the
building is a great contrast between the past and the future.
In addition to
the library, Ray and Traci visited the United Nations. After getting thru
security, they decided to not take the $16 tour and instead looked around at
the visitor center exhibits. They also studied the many flags outside and
concluded they would do very poorly on an international flag quiz. After a rest
stop at the Hilton, Ray and Traci boarded the subway to Queens and made their
way to the Mets new home, Citi Field. Ray and Traci last saw the Mets play
during their very first visit to New York when they hosted an interleague game
against the Mariners in decrepit Shea stadium. Many years later, Citi Field is
certainly an upgrade to Shea, yet lacks a unique character. Other than the
giant apple which rises after a Mets home run, the stadium seems unremarkable
and unfortunately overlooks a junk yard positioned just outside centerfield. Using
Stubhub.com, Ray obtained great tickets in the 4th deck above Home
Plate – even with service fees, both the Yankees and Mets tickets were about
the same as the equivalent ticket at Safeco Field. Ray enjoyed a hot dog while
Traci helped him eat his “Box Fries.” Surprisingly, the crowd was very small –
certainly a lot less than the “official” paid attendance of 20,000. The Brewers
on Monday with the threat of showers may not be a great draw, but Ray had never
been to a major league game with so few people. Despite the sparse crowd, the biggest line was
at the Citi Field Shake Shack – a famous New York Burger Joint that branched
with this Queens location. The Mets ended up winning the game, but Ray and
Traci left after the 7th inning stretch having crossing Citi Field
off of their grand MLB stadium tour.
Ray and Traci’s good luck with New York weather ended
Tuesday with rain which became heavy at times. First stop was near Wall Street
to visit the New York Fed Museum. Unable to get free tour tickets to the
world’s largest gold vault, Ray and Traci had to settle for the exhibits which
were quite interesting, covering money and monetary policy. Surprisingly, in
this era of global money printing, was the attention paid to the evils of inflation
in many of the exhibits. The New York Fed also had comic books explaining
various aspects of the economy available free to visitors. Ray couldn’t fine
the comic book discussing the virtues of quantitative easing. From the New York
Fed, Ray and Traci visited the very emotional memorial at the World Trade
Center site. The large twin downward waterfalls provided a contrast to city
noises giving an opportunity for personal reflection on the tragedy. A museum
is under construction, as are the giant towers rising from the site.
Soaking
wet, Ray and Traci next traveled to a culinary highlight of a New York trip –
lunch at Peter Luger’s. Suggested by a very knowledgeable ex-New York resident,
Ray wanted to make a trip to Brooklyn just to experience a meal at this very
busy establishment. Fortunately, the restaurant is located quite close to the
Marcy subway stop. Peter Luger’s actually has a signed photo of Johnny Carson
supposedly claiming he had “the best meal of his life” here. Peter Luger’s is
difficult to get a dinner reservation at, and they only take cash. Ray had
their “small steak” for lunch, and Traci had their salmon. Ray thought his
steak was great, and agreed with all of the accolades heaped on the restaurant
(maybe not Johnny Carson’s). Traci found their salmon surprisingly good. One
warning, if go to Peter Lugar’s don’t expect fancy décor with conversational
waiters – the butcher block tables and used plates barren of any remaining meat
tell you this is a great steakhouse. Also, if you want well done steaks, don’t
go to Luger’s – they will tell you they don’t make well done steaks at their
establishment. Following the culinary highlight of the trip, the entertainment
highlight was seeing Spiderman – Turn Off The Dark. Both travelers enjoyed the
show – good music, entertaining story, and great stunts abound! While Traci
leans more toward classic Broadway musicals, Ray thought Spiderman was one of
the best shows he had seen. Since the aerial stunts could never be performed on
a national tour, Broadway will always be Spiderman’s home.
On Wednesday, the travelers packed for their return to
Seattle. The skies cleared but the 80 degree temperature felt quite muggy.
Traci wanted to bring some macarons home from the famous Parisian maker Laduree
so an Upper East Side trip started the day. Afterwards, Ray and Traci decided
to repeat a previous experience – one of the great free tourist stops in
America, the Staten Island Ferry. One of the best (and certainly the cheapest)
way to see the Statue of Liberty, the 25 minute voyage brings gorgeous views of
the city to all of the passengers. First time visitors (or repeat visitors with
2 ½ hours to kill) will find the Ferry a great destination!
To return to JFK, Ray and Traci decided to take the subway
as their taxi driver warned them an average rush hour trip would take more than
1 ½ hours. After claiming their stored bags from the Hilton, they got on the E
train which brought them to the JFK AirTrain stop in Queens. The whole trip
from Manhattan took about 45 minutes which was much faster than any car. Ray
and Traci had an on time departure from JFK and actually arrived 45 minutes
early in Seattle, a perfect ending to another great New York visit.
