Serendipity in the Big City


The last thing I remember before falling asleep that night was Chris saying, “Ha-ha, I hope we don’t forget to set the alarm.” The next morning, around 6:15 a.m., I casually rolled over to check the time when it hit me…the alarm didn’t go off and our flight to New York was leaving at 7:00!! I elbowed Chris who was soundly dozing beside me, jumped out of bed and rushed to get somewhat presentable in the negative amount of time I had. Chris and I didn’t speak a word. We sprinted around the house, tried to avoid bumping into each other, our moves like a running back trying to make a touchdown…first this way, then that. If we hadn’t been in such a hurry, I might have stopped to admire our sophisticated moves. But alas, WE WERE LATE! How were we possibly going to make it to the airport 30 minutes away in time to make our flight?! We grabbed our bags, jumped in the truck, and raced to the airport.

This was just the beginning of our whirlwind weekend in New York City…

You can probably guess by now, since I’m writing this that yes, we actually made it to the airport on time. How we did it I will never know.

The players in this little adventure were: Chris (my boyfriend), his 24 year old daughter, Ashley, and me. We all decided to take a quick trip to New York City with the sole purpose of seeing a show on Broadway. More specifically, we were going to see what many believe to be the quintessential Broadway show – The Phantom of the Opera!

“The entire weekend can only be described by one word – Serendipity!”

The plan was that Chris and I would leave on Saturday morning and Ashley would take a separate flight and meet up with us at the show later on that evening. As with most well laid plans, they did not go according to plan; however, in this case, everything came together better than we had anticipated!! The entire weekend can only be described by one word – Serendipity!

We had reserved a room at The Club Quarters Rockefeller Center, located within walking distance to Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Fifth Avenue, and the Theater District. Chris and I arrived at the hotel only to be told that our room was not ready yet and we would have to wait. The desk clerk was kind enough however to take our bags and told us that we could go up to the restaurant and have a comped meal to compensate for any inconvenience. We decided to take them up on the offer and made our way to what we thought would be a simple dining area. We were wrong! It was a lovely outdoor terrace overlooking the city. We ordered appetizers, glasses of wine, salads, the whole kit and caboodle and everything was free. Not to mention the food was delicious!

Ashley was supposed to have gotten a ride to the hotel from a friend of hers who lived in the city. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the friend could not pick her up. Therefore, she took a cab to the hotel which actually worked out even better. We were then able to ride to the theater together.

The theater was beautiful and Phantom was incredible. After the show; however, things got a bit tricky. No one told me that we would be running around the city –Times Square, Rockefeller Center, etc. while I was still in my 3 inch heels I had worn to the show! As Chris and Ashley weaved in and out of the crowds, I just tried to keep up without breaking an ankle. We maneuvered through the tangled web of people in Times Square, catching a glimpse of Elmo and Spiderman along the way. I survived and even kept up with them quite well I’d say.

It had been a long day already; therefore, we headed close to the hotel to find somewhere to eat. We found a cute Irish pub called McHales Bar and Grill and ducked in for some food. Interestingly enough, I don’t remember much about my actual entrée, but the cheesecake was amazing! After that, we went back to the hotel to recharge for another day of nonstop go go go.

The room was nice and clean and had everything we needed. The only downside was that it was a long, narrow room with a queen bed and a sofa bed. When Ashley pulled out the sofa bed to sleep, it left no room to get to and from the queen bed. If Chris or I had to get to the bathroom we had to climb over Ashley in the process.

Bright and early the next morning we got dressed and headed downstairs. Next to the hotel there was a quaint coffee bar/diner. The staff was friendly, the food was good, and the people in general were unexpectedly pleasant. Being from New York myself, I know that New Yorkers can be a bit standoffish. Everyone we met was friendly and helpful, except when we went to the Met, but I’ll get to that later on.

As we fueled up for the day, Chris, our planner extraordinaire, mapped out our itinerary for the day and how to best utilize our time. He decided that we would take the subway south and work our way back up. I followed along as Chris navigated the seemingly complicated subway system.

Our first stop was The Freedom Tower, which unfortunately was a disappointment. Not the tower itself, but apparently I understood it to be something different. I thought it was built in place of the Twin Towers for everyone to see. As it turned out, everyone can see it, for a price. It was surrounded by high fences and an excessively long maze of lanes for visitors to stand in and navigate through in order to truly see it. We took a picture from afar instead.

The next stop was a view of The Statue of Liberty. Although we were pretty far away, I think we got some really cool pictures!

Because the trip was so fast and furious, some of the details are a bit sketchy. At some point we toured around Grand Central Station. Grand Central Station is a sight to behold in its own right. And ignorantly, I didn’t even know that there are all kinds of restaurants and little shops there.

“We wandered around Little Italy, meandered through Chinatown and beheld some quite interesting looking produce in the outdoor markets…”

Next, we walked and walked and walked. We wandered around Little Italy, meandered through Chinatown and beheld some quite interesting looking produce in the outdoor markets, and stopped for lunch in a little cafe in SoHo. Then we strolled through the streets taking in the sights of the Brownstones and the beautiful architecture of the city.

Having made our way back toward Rockefeller Center again, we stopped for a while to watch the ice skaters twirl and spin before searching for a place to eat dinner. We ended up at Angelo’s pizza, which is next to David Letterman’s studio. After a very extensive day of walking, again, we went back to the hotel to reboot.

Surprisingly, we still had extra time on our last day of the trip. I had really wanted to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art but originally we didn’t think we would have time. Turns out, we did! We headed to The Met via Central Park. I absolutely loved Central Park even though we took a couple wrong turns and had trouble finding The Met.

Once we got to The Met, we had to check in. I decided to pay for everyone since it was my idea to go. I had already looked online and figured it would be about $75.00 or so to go to the museum. I walked up to the counter and the woman behind it said, “How much would you like to pay?” This threw me for such a curve ball that I had no idea what to say. First off, I was completely confused and tried asking for some clarification. In a snooty tone I was told that the prices advertised are “suggested” but the museum is actually free to get in. Still in a state of confusion I asked my cohorts for some help; however, they left me helpless to fend for myself. In the end I decided to pay $60.00 even. I’m not sure how I came up with that number, but that’s what I paid. When we walked away from the counter, that same snooty lady started whispering to her colleague, staring at me, and laughing. Really? How was I supposed to know the museum was free?! I am still holding that experience and the lack of help from Chris and Ashley against them! See if I volunteer to pay for anything again.

After the debacle of getting into the museum, the museum itself was spectacular and quite extensive. We only had a couple of hours to spend at the museum due to the fact we had to make our flight back. Ashley went her own way and Chris and I powered through to see as much of the museum as we could before we had to leave.

When it was time to leave, we said our goodbyes to Ashley and made our way to the airport. It was quite a whirlwind, amazing trip and one I will never forget. I will say that, although I think we probably did in two days what most people do in a week, there were two things that I didn’t get to do. I never got to eat roasted nuts from one of the many vendors and I never got to eat a true New York hot dog! I guess I will just have to go back.

We hope you enjoy our travel adventures. Please SHARE.

Related travels you may like:

Where would you like to go?

Trips |  Reviews |  Tips |  Fun and Games