Aquamarine asked for more info on what I did in NYC on my recent long weekend.
DH had clients in Manhattan, so he stayed at the Marriott Downtown, and I joined him later in the week. He has gold status with Marriot so we had some free meals at their "concierge club" which is similar to what airlines provide in their European airport lounges. Limited selection but pretty good.
Activities
Staten Island Ferry. we took a ride out to the island and back in mid afternoon. Free. A fun way to see the area and I always love a boat ride.
911 Memorial and Museum. This is an exhaustive and exhausting tribute to that horrific day. It takes a few hours to see it all. They have done an incredibly good job, it's well worth the visit, but plan on being emotionally drained afterward. However, when you leave you get back into the vibrant, bustling city of New York which has not allowed that day to ruin their love of life.
Oculus. This is an underground shopping mall and train station that was rebuilt under the WTC after 911. A portion of it sticks up onto street level. Very contemporary, all made of white marble. Worth poking your head in and walking around.
Metropolitan Museum Michelangelo exhibit "Divine Draftsman & Designer". open until Feb 12. The MET only sells general admission tickets and they are not for timed entry so it got crowded fast even though we were there at opening. It was a great education in how Michelangelo did drawings for sculptures he was going to create. The museum is massive.
Intrepid Air & Space Museum It's got the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier first in service in WWII, with a lot of small military planes up on the flight deck, and a submarine called Growler from the cold war era. You can go inside them. Also the Enterprise Space Shuttle, although you can't go in it. There is also a Concorde although we didn't see it. DH and I love this sort of thing.
Hunger Memorial. This is a small stone wall structure with pathways and patches of grass that is a memorial to the Irish immigrants to the US during what Americans call the potato famine. A quick visit is all you need.
Trinity Church. We popped in to see the architecture as the Sunday morning service was nearing it's end, and were greeted with free coffee!
TJMAXX. Huge store, huge bag section, SE's asked if we needed help (never happens in my local stores). However I had the feeling it was a massive pile of junk, and that's coming from a TJMAXX lover!
Dining
Dutch Fred's. This is in the theater district, and since DH is 1/2 Dutch and named Fred, it was a no-brainer must see. The food was good.
Fraunces Tavern. in the cities oldest building, George Washington bid farewell to his troops here. Great food, extensive mixed drink menu. they had a seafood combo special that included the best octopus I've ever had.
Bills Bar and Burgers. This was in our hotel but there are several others around the city and in some other cities. Good food and almost had the feel of a neighborhood bar. I had a shrimp burger that was great!
