We're back and had a WONDERFUL time!

Wow! What a city! Thank you all New Yorker%26#39;s for sharing your town with all of we tourists and being soooooo hospitable while doing so! I am proudly wearing my ';I love (heart) NY'; shirt to work today so my coworkers knew my frame of mind when I arrived. May I also add that at the end of each day I wrote notes about the day so that I could post them when I got back! How funny is that?

Arrived at JFK (on time!) at approx. 11:30 a.m. on the 4th of July. Claimed our luggage at the pickup center and out the door we (5 of us-sister, her boyfriend, daughter (age 8), hubby and myself)went to get in the ';official'; cab line. We needed a mini van (which I had questioned here on the forum and got great results!)and the first minivan in line wouldn%26#39;t take us to Manhattan...said he won%26#39;t take 5 people! So we stepped aside for about 3 minutes and the next van in line took us graciously! We all decided to go to our (husband, daughter, mine)hotel - The Salisbury - because our check in was at 2:00 vs. my sister%26#39;s hotel which was at 4:00. Arrived at the hotel at 12:30 greeted by a wonderful doorman (set the tone for the entire hotel stay!), paid the cab driver ($60 incl. tip - even though he did not have to pay any toll)and were allowed to check in early! I wrote a sparkling review of the Salisbury already so all I%26#39;ll say here is what a great hotel it was, our room was huge and sooooo clean....we were extremely happy with everything. Dropped off our luggage in the room and out the door we went to tour Central Park - 2 short blocks away. BEAUTIFUL park which I%26#39;m sure we just saw

such a small part of. Back to our room we went to unpack quickly and went next door to ';Angelo%26#39;s'; for a quick pizza, calzone and salad. Great meal and very inexpensive....and I%26#39;d like to add my observation right now that contrary to what I had heard and read, we thought prices in NYC were very inexpensive and right on par with any place we vacation. We, however, did not do any major dining out at expensive restaurants......didn%26#39;t have time to get anything like that in to our plans this time! After filling our bellys with dinner we started out on our somewhat rainy walk to the fireworks. Decided not to go to the FDR for viewing....the whole idea of not being able to use a restroom for a long period of time with an 8 year old just wasn%26#39;t too appealing to us! We did get a good spot a little bit back from the FDR and viewed the fireworks through the rain and umbrellas! What a crowd! Shared my umbrella with 2 people who hadn%26#39;t packed one and had a super conversation with them. We saw a marvelous act of kindness displayed by a NYC policeman. There was a woman sitting in a wheelchair to our right and the police officer could see her through the crowd because she was sitting near a railing. He came over to her, asked her who she was there with and told her that he would be back to transport her to a ';safer'; area as soon as the fireworks were over. About 5 minutes later here he came again (before the fireworks even started) and wheeled her off for as he put it ';better and safer conditions';. Amazing and so impressive! Kudos to the NYC police department!

After the fireworks, we and the millions of other people walked back to our hotel (stopped along the way and bought a $4 soft serve ice cream cone for my daughter - OUCH)and got into bed about midnight. Long day! Lots of walking but so exciting!

Next day (Thursday)got up and had a complimentary breakfast from the hotel which was quite good and started out to the Subway for our first ride! The agenda for that day was Staten Island Ferry, Ground Zero and other ';downtown'; sights! The subway was fine, went like clockwork with absolutely no issues. Got on the ferry and did the return trip also. Views of the SOL are incredible. What a beautiful statue and all that it stands for. Very exciting to see. The whole trip took exactly 1 hour. From there we walked to Ground Zero. As much as I watched it on T.V. and have read about it extensively NOTHING could prepare me for the feelings that swept over my body. So sad. I can%26#39;t even put into words what was going through my mind. The lump in my throat actually started to gag me and I knew if I started to cry, there would be no stopping it. We viewed the firehouse and it%26#39;s brave firefighters still working for the good of the city.....remarkable men! The note outside of the firehouse was touching....paraphrasing...';Please take a look around, take pictures if you%26#39;d like but please don%26#39;t ask us questions. Many of us were working here the day of 9/11 and lost coworkers/friends. It%26#39;s still too painful to talk about'; God love these men (and woman). After leaving there we made our way to St. Paul%26#39;s Chapel and read through their walkway and viewed the pictures around the graveyard. Very touching and amazing stories. We then went inside the church where there was a midday service going on. Was wonderful to be there for that. After the service we viewed all of the displays and learned so much more about in what capacity that fine chapel was used during post 9/11. Many amazing statistics and stories. Once again, the lump in my throat grew larger. Onto a new area we went......stopping at the Amish Market was really fasinating....so many people, so much activity and the chicken kabob my daughter wanted was delicious! Back onto the subway we went after touring the area a little bit more and got off at 42nd street so the husband could go to ESPN Zone. He made a few purchases there and we toured the whole building. He had on a Pittsburgh Steeler t-shirt so he took a little attitude (in a very joking way!) from the sales associate! Walked back to the hotel and got changed for dinner and out the door we went again (took a taxi because it was on 33rd and 9th and boy did we get a true ';taxi ride';!!) for a surprise dinner for our daughter. O.K....now no jokes after hearing where we went to dinner. When doing research about NYC I found that there was a place called ';Cheyenne Diner'; in the city and that is our daughters name so as a surprise we went there so that she could eat at her namesake and let me tell you....it was worth it! The child was literally jumping up and down when she saw her name in pink neon lights! So excited and so appreciative...we were glad we did it for her! And actually, our food was quite good! After leaving there we walked to Toys R Us and did a little bit of looking around there. We had done a TON of walking this day and unfortunately our daughters ankle started to bother her (she had twisted it earlier in the day) so we called it an early evening and went back to the hotel. Husband went out to pick up a few drinks for us to have at the hotel and we settled in for the night. Next day (day 3) got up early and started our day by walking to Grand Central Station! Beautiful old building that is definately hustling and bustling with many tourists and commuters alike. After leaving that grand structure we went to FAO Schwartz (which we were all just slightly disappointed in for a reason I can%26#39;t quite put my finger on), Nike Store, American Girl Place (fabulous store for my daughter who had been carrying her American Girl doll all day! - spent alot of time here!), Disney Store, M %26amp; M Store, Trump and then my personal favorite store.....Tiffany%26#39;s! Yes, I did bring a pretty little blue bag out with me.....bought a wonderful necklace that I%26#39;m so happy to have been able to purchase! Saleslady that I dealt with was a total joy! Not pushy at all and took all the time in the world with me! After ';floating'; out of Tiffany%26#39;s we went to St. Patrick%26#39;s Cathedral which was amazing and mass was going on. I lit a candle for my Mom (who passed away unfortunately a year and a half ago unexpectedly)and Grandmother. I%26#39;m sure they were both thrilled! I could have stayed in that church for hours just gazing at its%26#39; beauty. Back to the hotel we went (alot of walking again this day!) and got ready for dinner. Ate at D.J. Reynolds which was within a few streets of our hotel (57th)and had a great meal. Leaving the restaurant we headed to the Top of the Rock and was not disappointed! Got there at approx. 7:30 with absolutely no wait and stayed until it was dark. Marvelous to see the city in the light, dusk and then total darkness. Highly recommend! On the way back to the hotel stopped by a deli/bakery and got a piece of chocolate mousse cheesecake that should have been outlawed because of the calorie count! Delicious!!!! Went to bed about midnight so that when the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m. I was able to roll out of bed in time to get showered, pack and get to the airport. Final morning (Saturday) - ate breakfast at the hotel, everyone showered, packed and out the hotel we went for the final time....didn%26#39;t want to go home yet! Walked to my sisters hotel and hailed a cab to go to JFK. Once again, the first cab we hailed said he would not take us because he doesn%26#39;t take 5 passengers! The next cab did take us. Got to the airport, boarded and found out that there were 19 planes to take off before us but that only took about 30 minutes...not bad at all. And now we are once again home thinking about when we can make a return trip. In closing, I%26#39;d like to say that New Yorkers are the most ';fit'; people that we have every seen! There are no overweight people in the city except for tourists! It has to be because of all of the walking you all must do! Also, the kindness that was shown to us while visiting the Big City was out of this world. You should all pat yourselves on the back! Thank you once again for so graciously extending such a warm welcome to all of we tourists....it was appreciated.

We're back and had a WONDERFUL time!

I enjoyed your report of a very busy few days. The Cheyenne Diner is one of the few authentic diners in Manhattan. %26lt;FAO Schwartz (which we were all just slightly disappointed in for a reason I can%26#39;t quite put my finger on)%26gt; that%26#39;s because when you get passed the hype, it%26#39;s an overpriced toy store. %26lt;In closing, I%26#39;d like to say that New Yorkers are the most ';fit'; people that we have every seen! %26gt; that%26#39;s because like everything else New Yorkers have to be overachievers--even if it is thinness.

We're back and had a WONDERFUL time!

What a nice first visit. How fabulous to have surprised Cheyenne with a visit to ';her'; restaurant! That was so special. Thanks so much for sharing.

Thanks for sharing and yes, most New Yorkers are very friendly and helpful.

Matte75

It was nice to read your, post. I am happy to hear when people post back and tell us their experiences.

hello, it has taken me ages to look for a hotel, i did look at the salisbury, snd you have helped make up my mind. thank you.

Great trip report! I was in NYC with my wife, son (aged 2) and daughter (aged 5) about the same time as you. I%26#39;ll write up a trip report after I%26#39;ve refreshed my memory with my daughter%26#39;s nightly diary that she kept.

I did notice a restaurant with my son%26#39;s name Daniel but it didn%26#39;t look like a highchair kind of place. The New Yorkers were very friendly and welcoming - they%26#39;re proud of their city and quite rightly so.

The only thing is; after a holiday (vacation) in New York you need another holiday to recover!

Great report! I%26#39;m so pleased you all had a great time.

Did you not meet up with your sister at all over the weekend? Although reading your report I can see why you might not have had time! Sheesh!

I%26#39;m so glad to see that my original (lenghthy at that!) post about my

trip is still being read and has been resurrected once again!

MAC039: I totally agree....you need a vacation after vacationing in NYC! I took a 2 hour nap the day after arriving home (I only had a 55 min. flight....nothing like you had...so I can%26#39;t even blame jetlag)Did your daughter go to American Girl Place? If so, did she love it?

Ange: We were with my sister and her b.f. about 4 or 5 hrs. a day but I tried not to include what she did in my report because I was afraid it would get too confusing. I did, however post a review of her hotel (Residence Inn-Times Sq.)for her this a.m. She loved the hotel and her time in N.Y. as much as I did. They saw Hairspray one evening and thought it was marvelous. We knew from the get-go that since she was travelling with another adult and we were travelling with an 8 year old that our interests and sightseeing would be a little bit different but we did all of the ';big'; things together (ie-SIF, TOTR, Central Park, Ground Zero etc.) It worked out perfectly!

It sounds as though it worked perfectly. Well done!

I meant to say that I was also underwhelmed by FAO Schwartz. It was smaller than I%26#39;d thought and even though we got a bit lost when we went in it seemed to be full of %26#39;not much%26#39;, if you get what I mean!

It%26#39;s a shame you didn%26#39;t make it to Dylan%26#39;s Candy, I%26#39;m sure Cheyenne would%26#39;ve loved it there. Another reason to come back though?

PS. Great story about taking her to the Cheyenne Diner. She sounds like a delightful little girl.

ANGE: Dylan%26#39;s Candy??? Never heard of it....will check it out though....next time! (I%26#39;ve already started a ';next time'; list!). I think our disappointed with FAO%26#39;s was.. after the hype of actually being there, it was a letdown because we%26#39;ve been in just plain toy stores that were so much nicer. Still very glad we had the experience of being there. And thanks for the nice words about our daughter, all parents think their children are delightful and I guess in that aspect, I%26#39;m no different! She was such a trooper.....we ran her poor legs off and she just kept going and going!