First Day In New York

12 September 2014
Weather: 23C and sunny

This morning we awoke at 4:30am to get ready and check out of The Quincy, making our way to the metro station to exit at Union Station to meet the Bolt Bus to New York City.  We purchased pastries and Justin grabbed a cappuccino.  To our surprise a Greyhound bus arrived which was very comfortable and had free Wi-Fi.  The trip from Washington DC to New York was four hours, they stop for 20 minutes at the 2 hour mark.  Justin found it was a good opportunity to get an egg and bacon roll.  Two hours later we saw New York get closer and before we knew it we had arrived at the bus stop.  We walked to the nearest metro station and got a train to within walking distance of the Ameritania Hotel.  One annoying thing about the metro in New York was that there were no lifts and plenty of steps, no good for carrying suitcases.

View from our room

Our room at the Armeritania Hotel

The hotel receptionist upgraded us to a King Room and the room was available straightway.  Something we would later learn that is a rarity.  We settled into the room and then walked down to Times Square.  The walkways were crammed with pedestrians; a mix of locals, tourists and sales people selling tickets to comedy shows and to the hop on hop off buses.  We were stopped by a man who sold us two tickets to see Michael Richards (Kramer) at the LOL Club.

New York City's Times Square

After our delight to get the tickets we visited the Hershey’s shop, where Justin got to buy the long awaited peanut cup chocolate bar.  

Hershey's New York

We then walked to Central Park where we paid for a Pedi cab, we were told it is normally $145 not sure if that is correct but we got it for $75.00.  Our guide Knight took us to Bethesda fountain and arcade, Cherry Hill (fountain which was used to style the one for the Friends intro), Strawberry Fields (memorial to John Lennon) and finishing near the Belvedere Castle.  I had arranged with Knight for this to be our finishing point unbeknown to Justin, as I wanted to visit it and then the American Natural History Museum nearby.  We climbed the steps to the top of the castle to get a fantastic view of Central Park.  

Bethesda Castle and Central Park

After getting some lovely photos we had to make our way to the American Natural History Museum which wasn’t too hard.  We took photos of the dinosaurs in the lobby and then planned to have a look through but was put off by the wording, “donation required, recommended $22 per adult”.  That is not a donation, just charge everyone $22.  Saying it is a donation just stunk, if it was just an entry fee we would have probably went through.  But we decided to return to Central Park instead.  It took some time to find our way out of Central Park, finally we decided to walk around the outside so that we no longer did circles within the park.  By the time we reached Times Square it was dusk.

Foyer of the American Natural History Museum

We decided to make our way to the LOL Club, 30 minutes before the show to learn that Michael Richards would not be there as they had other comedians instead.  Justin was annoyed by being misled like that, otherwise we would not have gotten the tickets.  Not the happiest of people by now we went in search of somewhere to have tea and found Guy’s American Kitchen and Grill.  If you are not familiar with Guy Fieri is an author, game host, restaurateur and television personality, working on America’s Food Network.  We saw some of his shows after having experienced this restaurant.  I had the Chicken, Bacon Mac and Cheese and Justin went for a New York Steak, of course.  We enjoyed our meals but mine was too much it was something I could have shared with hubby.  

New York Steak, Guy's American Kitchen

Chicken, Bacon Mac and Cheese at
Guy's American Kitchen

Once we had our mains it was time for dessert so off we went to the M&M’s store, where you can have a computer tell you which type to purchase.  I usually prefer Smarties over M&M’s but the computer worked me out.  It told me the Mega Mix was for me, oh yeah they were.  Justin’s turn, the computer told him to get the Peanut Butter Mix, which suited him nicely.  Luckily we hadn’t looked at the varieties first otherwise I might have been disappointed?  So we got the recommend M&M’s plus some mint ones.

Inside the M&M Store, New York City

Inside the M&M Store, New York City

Food was sorted so we headed back to the hotel, every time we walked past the people selling tickets, Justin would yell out it is a con, don’t do it.  One man stopped us, he apologised and gave us two more tickets this time to another comedy show.  We spent so much time talking with him, Justin gave him $20 as a thank you.  We still have this tickets to today as a souvenir.  From our travels in Fiji and New York, we have learnt we are push overs and we need to holiday in places without these types.  I wonder where we will go on our next holiday.