New York - The City That Never Sleeps

This is a fitting title because it kind of seemed like we never slept on this trip. Not at all because of our accommodations - they were excellent. Rather it was because we had a whirlwind trip and late nights every night.

We left on a Thursday and took a late flight to New York. We landed around midnight and made it to our hotel in midtown around 1:30am. We are staying at the Hilton Conrad Midtown. It is easily the nicest hotel we have stayed at in New York. Every room in the hotel is a suite. It has really beautiful comfortable rooms. It is also quite expensive. We used some Hilton reward nights we earned with our credit cards so our room was free, otherwise, we wouldn't have been staying there.

On Friday morning we slept in. Once we were up and ready, we found a nearby deli and ordered our favorite NYC breakfast - omelets with home fries and toast. We love breakfast in this city. 

After breakfast, we took a jaunt through Central Park. Our hotel is close to the park - it is only a couple of blocks south. Our main goal moment was to get some Levain bakery cookies - so we meandered in that direction. It wouldn’t be a trip to New York without stopping to get our favorite cookies - they hit the spot. 

After eating a couple of cookies we headed back to Central Park. We really had no plans for most of the day. It was a gorgeous summer day in New York. It was one of those rare summer days that are sunny and warm, but not sweltering. Given the near-perfect weather, we decided to spend the day in the park. We walked all the way up to the north end of the park by the Harlem Meer. While we walked we talked and enjoyed being together in Central Park. 

As we made our way back down to the southern edge of the park, we stopped by some of the best spots throughout the park - the Conservatory Garden, Cleopatra’s obelisk, the Belvedere Castle, the Ramble, Turtle rock, and the Mall. I love the Mall area. It is picture-perfect Central Park at its finest. 

When we had finished our walk we stopped by our hotel for a minute before catching the subway to the Bronx. 

Tonight we went to the Yankees game. They were playing the Cubs and it was Andy Pettite bobblehead night. So there was sure to be a crowd at the stadium. We arrived plenty early and walked around visiting some of our favorite shops and areas around the stadium. Bald Vinny still sets up shop outside the stadium selling his hilariously irreverent original Yankees gear so things seem to be pretty normal around these parts. We got some pizza outside the stadium for dinner. This was a wise decision because we were very hungry. We arrived at the stadium around two and a half hours before game time and I thought they would open the gates two hours before game time but they only opened up 90 minutes before. If we would have been waiting to eat until we got inside we would have been famished. 

We used the clear lane at Yankees stadium and while the line was fairly long it moved fast. Once the line started moving we only waited about 5ish minutes to get in and we scored an Andy Pettite bobblehead. 

The game itself was quite exciting. Both the Yankees and the Cubs stayed off the board for the first few innings. Until the Cubs took their starter out early in the game. Alison called it when she said Gleyber was going to hit a lead-off home run off the new pitcher. Which he did to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. This lead didn’t last long as Jason Hayward would hit his own solo shot to tie the game 1-1. This was Severino's, the Yankee starter, only mistake as he would throw 6 strong innings striking out 10 Cubs along the way. 

While both teams had opportunities neither team scored again at the end of nine innings. We entered extra innings - free baseball. Alison was keeping score and had to add two new pages for the continuation of this game. During the pandemic, they added a rule where both teams start each extra inning with a runner on second. They decided to keep this rule - it certainly adds to the excitement of the game as each pitcher is walking the razor's edge. It kept us at the edges of our seats. Both teams had good opportunities to score but neither team could break through inning after inning. Every time the Yankees seemed to have their best chance the Cubs would intentionally walk Judge (twice) or Gleyber Torres to escape. Finally, in the bottom of the 13th, it seemed like the Yankees were in business because the Cubs weren’t going to walk both Torres and Donaldson. However, before you knew it they had 2nd and 3rd with two out and it looked like they would blow another golden opportunity. Higoshioka, the catcher, was up and he has been an automatic out lately. We were gearing up to have a 14th-inning stretch when Boone pinch-hit the last player on the Yankees bench - the Yankees starting catcher Jose Trevino. The stadium came alive with energy and Trevino came through with a walk-off single. 

This game was long and kind of a slog, but it was worth it for such a thrilling conclusion. It would have been deflating if the Yankees lost, but it was exhilarating when they won. This year's Yankees team is something special. They have played incredible baseball. They currently lead MLB with the best record of any team by a wide margin. They win in all sorts of ways and they have that fighting spirit. It was fun to attend a game in person at Yankees stadium and see this team in action. The crowd at the stadium celebrated and we all listened to Sinatra belting “New York, New York” before heading to the subway. 

We decided to take the orange line uptown and so it seems did the remaining Yankees faithful. The station was as full as I have ever seen it. People were on top of each other. We carefully navigated and pushed our way through and down to the platform. Once we got down the stairs and to the platform we headed all the way to the end. At the end, it wasn’t crowded at all. For some reason, the stairs were a major bottleneck. 

We made it to the subway stop by our hotel a little after midnight. By this time we were both hungry, however, even in NYC there weren’t many restaurants open at this late hour, but there was a Ray’s Pizza near our hotel. So we found ourselves eating pizza in the middle of the night. And what a night it was!

We slept in the next morning. We had breakfast at the same deli before taking the subway to Grand Central. Grand Central is one of our favorite spots in NYC. The grandeur and the hustle and bustle of this place really capture the spirit of the city. 

Grand Central also happened to be the entrance to our next stop - the Summit at One Vanderbilt. This is a relatively new observation point that opened last year. I actually heard about it through TikTok. This observation point is unique because it uses mirrors on the floor, walls, and ceiling to enhance the experience. They reflect the skyline and create a psychedelic effect - everything appears to go on forever in every direction.  There are also stunning views of the NYC skyline. We have visited many observation experiences around NYC and this was easily our favorite. Since One Vanderbilt is closer to midtown we had great views of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the One World Trade Center. The viewpoint consists of three floors with a variety of viewpoints and experiences. For example, one room was full of mirrors and silver balloons. People were playfully tossing the balloons around. It was quite a place. They also had an area where you could walk out into a glass floor and look straight down at the city streets below. This observation deck has it all. 

After Summit we took the subway further downtown. We got off in Battery Park and wandered around. We walked over and saw the Statue of Liberty in the distance - it is a good thing to do when we are in this area. Since we were here we walked over past the Staten Island Ferry and reminisced about the marathon. That was a fun trip to NYC. It is crazy it was only 8 months ago - it feels like it has been so much longer. 

Then we went to find a place off the beaten path. We visited the elevated acre. This a park located between a couple of skyscrapers. From the park, you have nice views of the Brooklyn Bridge and a nearby helicopter pad where you can watch helicopters come and go. It was a surprisingly peaceful place located right in the hustle and bustle of the city. 

When we were done there, we walked up to Wall Street and over to the 9/11 memorial. We like taking a moment to reflect here if we have a chance. It is a beautiful memorial. It has been interesting to watch it grow and change over the years. They have made it into a really fitting memorial to those who lost their lives on that sad day.

We stopped by the Oculus and ate some gelato. Then we took a train uptown. We were going to visit Washington Square Park, but when we got there they were having a huge Indian festival with free food and tons of people. While it looked pretty cool it was also crazy and not what we were in the mood to experience. Instead, we walked over to the High Line. We walked along the High Line for a while enjoying the scenery and artwork. 

Then we had to head back to our hotel to change our clothes for our date night. 

We started date night with a nice dinner at Keens Steakhouse. This historic steakhouse had it all - great service, a fun ambiance, and delicious food. It is famous for its renowned mutton chop, which I ordered for dinner and it was legendary. 

After dinner, we walked through Times Square on our way to Hadestown. I have been quite excited to see this musical. Last year I read Steven Fry’s retellings of Greek mythology and it rekindled my love for Greek mythology. I really wanted to see Hadestown last November, but try as I might I couldn’t make it work. Instead, I bought tickets for June - this was the impetus for this trip. 

Hadestown is a phenomenal show.  It is a retelling of the tragic story of Orpheus and Eurydice, as well as, Hades and Persephone. Within these classic tales, the story explores prescient modern themes of climate change, poverty, building walls, and labor issues. All of this is done with catchy music, innovative staging, and great dancing. We loved this show. 

I am partial to characters like Orpheus. I love the Ted Lassos, Walter Mittys, Mr. Smiths, Don Quixotes, and Orpheus of the world. Characters who are full of unabashed optimism and see the way the world can be, in spite of the way it is. And they keep believing in that world - even if they fall short. 

All of this is to say Alison and I both love this show and would highly recommend it. After the show, we stopped by Junior's to get some strawberry cheesecake to eat back at our hotel. 

On Sunday we had another slow morning after our late night. A rainstorm had moved in so we weren't in a hurry to leave our hotel. So this morning we at breakfast downstairs at the hotel restaurant. When it was about time to check out of the hotel we left our bags at the front desk and walked over to 5th Avenue. Turns out today was the Puerto Rico day parade and 5th Avenue was hopping. We watched a little bit of the parade as we made our way to Tiffany's. We were on a mission to find a nice piece of jewelry for Alison. She found a ring that she absolutely loved. We bought it and it will be a really meaningful piece for us and we will always have the memory of buying it in NYC. Maybe one day I will write out the full story on this blog. 

We had just enough time to take one more short walk through Central Park before we caught the subway to JFK to fly home. 

This was an excellent weekend trip to NYC. It was everything I hoped it would be - baseball, broadway, pizza, cookies, and lots of time together with Alison.