I went to New York with my friend, Debbie at the end of April/beginning of May. The goal was to see a couple of Broadway shows. Today I’m sharing some of our adventures.
FLIGHT AND ARRIVAL
I was really pleased with my flights both there and back including the price. I booked my tickets in February when airlines were still in their COVID pricing phase so I got a round trip ticket from SFO-JFK for $325! Currently, this ticket is going for about twice as much!
Though Debbie and I arrived from different places, we both got there around the same time-about 5:00 PM. I got picked up for my flight at 5:30 AM so I was already tired. We had already talked about taking it easy and just going somewhere close to the hotel for dinner. It’s New York so there were plenty of options!
We stayed at the Hilton Midtown which is in a fantastic and central location. Debbie has a timeshare in this spot which we were sampling. The suite was beautiful and had a very fancy bathroom with an automatic, heated toilet!
We had a fabulous dinner at Pazza Notte which was a quick 5 minute walk from the hotel. They had a lovely drink special of which Debbie and I both imbibed in! These are my martinis Debbie has her own 2!!
SATURDAY
The following day we had plans to do a Hamilton walking tour in the late afternoon before our 1st show so we had a late breakfast/lunch and walked around and did a little shopping.
As we walked around we noticed flowers every way! Gorgeous displays in windows and lining the streets.
The Lego Store of course never disappoints with their displays!
St. Patrick’s Cathedral is gorgeous inside and out and it was quite fun to see a wedding taking place.
After a casual and delicious meal at Rue 57 and walking around, it was time to head down to the charging bull on Wall Street for our Hamilton Haunts walking tour. This tour highlighted spots where Hamilton, Jefferson, Washington, and the crew hung out “back in the day.” The tour guide was excellent at using the musical soundtrack to talk about and relate events described in the musical.
The Fearless Girl has nothing to do with Hamilton! However, she is close to the Federal Reserve Building which was started by Alexander Hamilton.
The tour ends at Trinity Church Cemetery which is where Hamilton and his family are buried. According to the tour guide, the cemetery had been closed and had just opened earlier that week so we felt fortunate that we got to see the graves up close.
These 3 graves are fairly close to one another while Angelica is off in another section but not too far away. Trinity Church remains an active congregation with regular church services and burials. There isn’t much room left in the cemetery but we did see a grave for a past pastor of Trinity Church who was buried there earlier this year.
THE 1st SHOW
After our walking tour, we rushed back to get ready for our first show. Tonight, we saw Hadestown which had won a bunch of Tony awards pre-COVID. The original cast was back and they were magnificent!
SUNDAY
Saturday was fun and exhausting yet we were ready to do it all again on Sunday. We liked our lunch spot from Saturday so much that we went back for brunch! And again, it did not disappoint. After, Rue 57, we went back to a couple of shops that we spied that day before. We also walked by Rockefeller Center. During the winter, the ring is an ice rink but for the first time they have roller skating in the spring and summer!
We didn’t have a ton of time to hang out because today’s show is a matinee.
THE 2nd SHOW
Take Me Out is a play and not a musical. While the topic matter is a serious one, it is handled with a lot of humor. This piece was written over 20 years ago but remains very current and timely. The playwright stated that he did not update the dialog or the story at all. It is amazing how something written more than 20 year ago is so current not just in topic but also in language.
After the play, we went to eat and then grabbed some dessert at the famous Magnolia Bakery. I had a piece of chocolate cake with buttercream icing and it was heavenly.
LEAVING NEW YORK
Both Debbie and I had flights out of JFK so we were able to share a taxi to the airport. JFK is about an hour ride from Manhattan and there is never not traffic!! The flights were leaving around noon or 1:00 PM so it was nice not to have rush in the morning.
This was a really great quick trip. I got to see 2 Broadway shows, eat good food and see some of Manhattan. Next time, I might like to try and get in a 3rd show! Doing it on Friday night or the day I fly in, might be pushing it but maybe a Saturday matinee and then a Saturday night show or even doing a matinee and night time show on Sunday. That would be 4 shows!
I felt like we had a good mix of relaxing, walking around and generally not stressing. It was really fun and I look forward to doing this type of trip regularly.
Any questions? Share in the comments.
