I'm not really sure what their first reactions of the city were. Some of them have been here already, but majority had not. I think they thought it was going to be like Times Square everywhere, so i think they were surprised to see that some parts of the city are really nice. When James came to visit I made the mistake of taking him straight to Time Square. I think it really freaked him out. This time I took my visitors to Chelsea first. I think this move really helped our trip. The views towards the city were much better.
We did a lot throughout the trip. Much more than I ever expected. We took the subway everywhere, walked miles upon miles, took hundreds of photos, created inside jokes that will be around forever, and had the best time.
Since we did so much and I was too exhausted at night to update, I am just going to list what we did each day with a few comments. I hope the list gives you an accurate vision of our experiences. We did so much fun!
Wednesday
- Entire Group
- Chelsea Market for lunch
- Fashion Institute of Technology Museum - Chelsea
- Visited my apartment - Herald's Square
- Checked into hotel - Koreatown
- Boat Basin Cafe - Upper West Side
- Rockefeller Center - Top of the Rock - Midtown
- Jill, Sam, Jeanie, Marcella
- Martha Stewart Office Tour - Chelsea
- Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Grace, Kate, Kelly, Jessie
- Century 21 and Wall Street - Financial District
- Karen T, Nancy, Brittany, Erica, Elizabeth, Victoria
- Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tours
- Jill, Sam, Jeanie, Marcella, Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Grace, Kate, Kelly, Jessie
- Ground Zero and St. Paul's Chapel - Financial District
- Jill, Sam, Jeanie, Marcella, Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Grace, Kate, Kelly, Jessie
- Staten Island Ferry - free and fabulous view of the Statue of Liberty and city skyline - Battery Park
- Entire group
- Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn
- Joque Torres - chocolate stop
- Movies with a view
- watched Pleasantvile under the Brooklyn Bridge and enjoyed Grimaldi's Pizza
- Sam and Kelly
- Coffeehouse Lounge - Union Square
- Erica, Brittany, Elizabeth, Victoria, Karen H.
- Today Show - Midtown - Erica was interviewed!
- Grace, Sam, Julie, Karen H, Kathy, and Marcella
- Jonas Brothers Concert - Bryant Park - Midtown
- Jill, Sam, Jeanie, Marcella, Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Grace, Kate, Kelly, Jessie
- Yankee Stadium - Bronx
- New Leaf Cafe - Fort Tyron Park - Harlem
- Cloisters Muesum - Fort Tyron Park - Harlem
- Central Park - walked around the lower half
- Tavern on the Green
- Central Park Summerstage Concert
- Karen T, Nancy, Brittany, Erica, Elizabeth, Victoria
- Bloomingdales
- Saks 5th Ave
- Tiffanys & Co.
- Tavern on the Green
- Mustang Harrys
- Sam, Karen H., Kathy, Jill, Jeanie
- Me Bar - Koreatown
- Entire Group
- Union Square Market
- Chinatown - purse shopping!
- Lunch in Little Italy
- Finished shopping in Chinatown/Little Italy
- Sam, Karen T, Brittany, Kelly, Kathy
- Buying tickets to Broadway for the evening - tkts stand - Times Square
- Jill, Karen H, Marcella, Jean, Kate, Grace, Erica, Elizabeth, Victoria, Jessie, Julie
- Hotel/Shopping around Herald Square
- Entire Group
- Times Square
- dinner at Heartland Brewery Chophouse
- Jean, Julie, Karen H.
- Mamma Mia
- Jill, Kate, Grace, Marcella, Erica, Nancy
- Legally Blonde
- Sam, Kelly, Kathy, Jessie
- In the Heights
- Karen T, Elizabeth, Brittany, Victoria
- Phantom of the Opera
- Entire Group
- Hershey's Store - Times Square
- Sam, Kelly, Erica
- Me Bar - Koreatown
- Karen T, Nancy, Erica, Brittany, Victoria, Elizabeth
- SoHo shopping
- Kathy, Karen H, Julie
- Statue of Liberty tour
- Sam, Kelly, Jessie, Kate, Jean, Jill, Marcella, Grace
- Hell's Kitchen Antique Market
- Annex Antique Market
- Kathy, Karen H, Julie, Sam, Kelly, Jessie, Kate, Jean, Jill, Marcella, Grace
- Lunch at Rogue - Chelsea
- Chelsea Antique Market
- Sam, Julie, Jessie
- tkts booth Times Square - hoping for STOMP tickets - it was not a success
- STOMP Box Office - St. Mark's/Lower East Side
- Bubble Tea!
- Jill, Kathy, Karen H., Marcella, Kelly, Katie, Grace, Jeanie
- SoHo shopping
- Kathy, Karen H, Marcella, Kelly, Katie, Grace, Julie, Jessie
- dinner at a BBQ restaurant
- STOMP off-Broadway show
- Jill, Jeanie, Sam
- Mystique - shopping
- Hotel/Apartment
- Rosa Mexicano - Union Square
- Erica, Brittany, Elizabeth, Victoria, Karen H., Nancy
- The View Restaurant - Times Square
- Jeanie, Jill, Sam, Kelly, Erica, Brittany
- Me Bar - Koreatown
- Karen H, Kathy, Julie, Jean
- Today Show
- Kelly, Jessie, Kathy
- attempted going to The Metropolitan Museum of Art - closed on Mondays =(
- Jeanie, Karen H., Julie, Marcella, Sam, Kate, Grace, Jill
- Martinque Bar - lunch - Herald Square
- Jeanie, Karen H., Julie
- Empire State Building
- Entire Group
- various shopping throughout Herald Square
- 5pm - goodbyes until Wednesday!
Phew. What a trip! I think I may have a future in tour guiding! This trip definately caused me to pull out my project and event management "knowledge" =) I think I would call my business Liberty Tours. lol.
I look forward to your comments on this one. It would be great to see the comments/thoughts of the other 16 visitors. My blog doesn't do justice for their experiences!
Enjoy!
-Sam
this is the first time i've ever read your blog only because i never check my e-mail and i must say i am impressed! thanks for such an awesome trip sam!
ReplyDeleteSamantha...you did a great job. I will cherish the memories we had there forever.
ReplyDeleteIt was great seeing what she has been expriencing this summer. I absolutely loved getting a tour of Martha Stewart and loved it even more when they thought I was her sister...(sorry Jean(Mom))
Some of my favorite times there were:
I loved the boat basin's atmosphere. Ground Zero and St. Paul Chapel...I am still trying to think of the words to express what I felt there. It is something everyone should do.
I loved walking across Brooklyn Bridge. I strongly suggest everyone to do that. The pizza at Grimaldi's was awesome. The lines are usually so long so we decided not to try and go there. Then someone in the grocery store said we had to try it...so glad he convinced us to go and wait. The view from where we watched the movie was unbelievable.
The cloisters...the Leaf cafe was awesome...great great atomosphere and great food. Then we walked to the Museum...which was a beautiful walk..then we got to the sign.....QUIET ZONE. If you know any Timmermann...that is not a good place to be. Sam needs to post the photos by that sign :)
Tavern on the Green was a lot of fun...we were all there together which made it extra special and it was a beautiful place and great drinks.
The Me bar was a roof top bar Samantha has mentioned in her blog and was right across the street from our hotel. There was a great view of Empire State Building since it was next door. We had a lot of laughs there.
Purse shopping in China town was an experience...I will let someone else comment on that. Lunch in Little Italy...awesome.
I went to see Legally Blonde with Marcella, Erica, Kate , Grace and Nancy. It was really a good show. I think everyone enjoyed it. We had dinner before and that was a great time being together...
We met after the show at the hershery store...sitting outside who would of thought we would run into Clinton County people...Dan and Carol Imming. The world is a small place.
The Irish Nachos at Rogue were sooo good. I am now a fan of smoked gouda cheese.
It was a lot of fun going through the flea markets in Hell's kitchen. It was fun to watch the younger girls hunt for scarves and jewelry there and find things to buy.
I wish I wouldn't of missed the BBQ dinner because of all the text messagees I got from Grace...but the best meal I had was with Sam and Jean at Rosa Mexicano's. The food was absolutely awesome.The Margaritas was pretty darn good. The company was the best. We had so much fun taking crazy photos on the way back.
Tomorrow ...I get my girl comes back home. :)
I meant...Tomorrow.. I get my daughter back home.... :)
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ReplyDeleteNYC was great esp with Samantha as a tour guide. I "envisioned" (those that had lunch with me at New Leaf will understand my choice of words) lots of people and buziness. I underestimated the noise. Samantha would narrate as we walked the streets and she would have to repeat what I didn't hear. I hope I wasn't too big of a pain. I was very impressed with her abiltiy to answer our questions. Plus she would go home in the evenings and do more research on the internet and return in the mornings with more details. She worked very hard at keeping everyone happy. Thanks for the great memories.
ReplyDelete"Only in NYC" is one of Samantha's lines. I felt that was true when we arrived at The Boat Basin to eat the first night. The restaurant was under an exit ramp and we are able to view cars driving over as we ate.
ReplyDeleteTop of the Rock at night time was an experience for me. First of all, I had to use Kelly's arm as a hand rail on the elevator ride up. I took baby steps to get off the elevator. I was like a snail walking towards the edge. Looking over the edge was a little slower than freeze frame. I didn't need anyone to get close to the edge. I survived and I am glad I went up. Maybe I will try the Empire State Building on my next visit to NYC.
Ground Zero and St. Paul's Chapel had an emotional effect on me. I had goose bumps several times. I am happy about the rebuilding and the memorial park. I would like to visit it when completed.
DUMBO, eating pizza from Grimaldi's, watching boats travel pass, outdoor movie and the nighttime view of the buildings was a favorite for me.
NYC sure knows how to build big buildings but they also have beautiful parks. Fort Tyron Park and the Cloisters Museum was awesome. I loved the little bit of Central Park that we seen. I would like to go back some day to see the rest of CP and eat at the Tavern on the Green.
I loved the variations of produce when we went to Union Square Market. I was also excited to see the people playing chess in the park.
Chinatown was crazy. I love my purse and smile when I put it on my shoulder thinking about seven or more of us in a room smaller than my laundry room and much warmer, the walkie talkie business and the swapping of English and Chinese. After Chinatown the smell of Little Italy was welcomed and the food was even better.
I loved the big boards in Times Square but I struggled with how crowded the streets were. I did love the broadway musical "In the Heights".
I needed to see the Statue of Liberty up closer so I got up at 5:30am on our fifth day of NYC. It was a great trip. I called Tim on the spot to tell him how awesome it was to stare up at the Statue of Liberty.
ReplyDeleteStomp was one hour and 45 minutes of no words, but lots of energy and noise. We had front row seats and dust and dirt sprayed, spilled and pushed over. I was glad the performers didn't fall over.
After the Today Show wasn't on the plaza because of the Olympics, after learning that the Metropolitan Museum is closed on Mondays and a heavy shower in Central Park, it was time to go home. I had tears in my eyes when I left Samantha and NYC because I enjoyed them both tremendously. Count me in if anyone wants to visit again.
Wow you did more on your trip than i did living there for a month!
ReplyDeleteOne thing you could have done though is skipped lining up at the TKTS booth and bought your tickets in advance using www.broadwaybox.com where you can get codes that will allow you to buy tickets for 50% off or more (just like TKTS) and you don't have to wait on any lines or wait until the day of the show and risk the show you want to see won't be there.
hope my tips helps everyone as much as your post did, glad i found your blog on google.
You can spend some time sun bathing at the beaches and also get some close-range views of the shell. You can have a picnic lunch at one of the restaurants that provide shell tours and you will have the option to choose your own shell. If you are curious to know more about marco island boat tours, read me.
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