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Old 2 Nov 16, 03:51 PM  
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neilhd
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The Amazing Race! Canada/USA Road Trip July-Aug 2016 - Day 7 (Second Day in NYC)

Early start today - awake at 7am. Breakfast was just a protein bar for Ele and I, and leftover pizza for Joe!

The reason for the early start was to beat the queues. Obviously with years of Florida under our belts we know the importance of getting places early to avoid queues and today we were going to the Empire State Building. All research said it gets bloody busy, so get there at opening. So that's what we did! We walked there which took about 15 minutes, then went through security and some empty queuing areas (very Disney) and then up the elevator to the top.

The views were, obviously, amazing:



Flat Iron building:





After we'd drunk our fill on these we went in the second elevator to the outside bit even higher up. The telescope looked like a very friendly owl:





We took pictures, gawked at the view, got irritated by morons with selfie sticks and finally had enough of the awesomeness and went down. I saw a mug I really liked in the gift shop but we didn't buy it for some reason. Not sure why, probably price, but I really want it now!

This being New York, there was a Starbucks downstairs so we got one of those, used their loo and then walked off to the Subway (Penn St) so we could go all the way down to the tip of Manhattan and get on the Staten Island Ferry.

We bought Metrocards from a machine, topped up with the appropriate amount that we'd need (all very easy), and went south.




It was a direct line so no changes needed. The Subway is right by the ferry terminal. There were loads of touts outside the subway station drumming up business for their tours, but we were just doing the free thing so we ignored them and went into the terminal and joined the queue.
The doors opened for a ferry pretty much as soon as we got there, which was lucky. We sat outside, enjoying the ride, then went to the other side of the boat for a better view of Mrs USA:





It doesn't go quite as close as I hoped, but then it's free, so never mind. Ele was expecting it to go right past it, and loop around it - she didn't really understand this was a commuter ferry!

The only bad point about it is you then have to wait for the next ferry back, which was 30 minutes wait. So we bought a few snacks and waited, along with everyone else from the boat (nobody actually leaves the terminal!). We sat inside on the way back and just chilled.

Once back in Manhattan we walked over to the East River Ferry which was about 10 minutes away and we found it easily enough, and bought tickets for that to go over to Brooklyn ($4 each):



We had about a 20 minute wait here. The ferry was small and quick - it took only a couple of minutes to cross the East River and deposit us next to Brooklyn Park. We wandered around the park for a while and took pictures of the Manhattan skyline:




The main reason for coming here was to walk back over Brooklyn Bridge, so we headed off in what we hoped was the right direction (there's no signposts as such). Pretty much the first thing we saw was a Shake Shack, which didn't have any queues to speak of. We weren't hungry but we were determined to try it so we ordered a burger each, some fries to share and a milkshake each. And actually - it was delicious! The burgers are a little small but they are really, really good. The milkshakes were amazing. There's one in Covent Garden so I might be paying that a visit!

We left, followed our noses to the start of the bridge and started walking. I made a comment that we could sleep now, but Ele didn't really get the Beastie Boys reference.

The walk over the bridge was brilliant. Really recommend doing it.





It was quite busy but perfectly navigable. Something we've always wanted to do!

At the other end we sat by City Hall and watched some break-dancing guys for a while, then walked through the mini park by City Hall to go to the Subway. We dodged a young girl (12 or so) throwing up all over the place - looked like heat stroke to me. Obviously before getting on the Subway we went to a Starbucks and got a drink. It had been at least 3 hours since I'd last had one so I was due.

We took the R line uptown and got off at Times Square. This is a big station, unsurprisingly. We had one more thing left on our City pass and we were torn between going to Senor Frogs for dinner (we had let Joe choose where today as reward for completing his daily Amazing Race challenge - which had been to take a photograph of the Statue of Liberty and count how many spikes she had), and going to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. In the end we decided to do Ripley's and then just go to Senor Frogs anyway (they are basically next door to each other).

Ripleys was cool. We've been to the Orlando and London ones so knew what to expect really. It wasn't busy, either. I think it was about 5pm when we got there.





This photo is disturbing on many levels:


We then went to Senor Frogs. As I mentioned yesterday, we had used the loo in there and thought it looked kind of fun. We were seated immediately as it wasn't busy (I think it was about 7pm by now). The waiter told us it was happy hour which meant some cocktails were only $5, so we decided to have one each (not Joe, obviously!). Now in my mind there are 2 types of cocktails. Those carefully created by people who know what they are doing, to produce concoctions that both look and taste incredible, and then there are those that are basically just a couple of types of spirits chucked into a glass and then topped up with something. This was one of the latter - they were both not very nice at all.

We weren't starving so we skipped starters and went straight to the main course. Ele had some pasta, Joe had a burger and I had a burrito. All 3 were pretty gross, and my burrito was pretty small, too. Whilst we were eating some karaoke started which just made things worse. Then a balloon seller guy came around (one of those ones who makes animals and stuff). He made Joe a "crown" of some sort. It was pretty rubbish but Joe liked it - mainly because it was bloody enormous! So that was a $10 tip.



Then a waitress came around and offered us $5 shots of tequila from a syringe! I mean, seriously. We're there with a young child for a family meal, do we look we are going to start doing syringe shots?

Frankly, this was an awful restaurant, with awful food and awful service. We got the bill, left a minimal tip and got the hell out of there. Joe had to walk down the streets of NYC wearing the ridiculous contraption:



We wanted some dessert so we looked on Google Maps to find that there should be a Cinnabon in the Port Authority bus terminal. After much searching, I can conclude it is no longer there! That place is huge though. Instead we went to Carlos Bakery, where the queue was pretty much the same as it is for Splash Mountain during a heatwave in August. Ele insisted though, so I waited outside, holding the balloon monstrosity. A woman actually stopped and asked if I made them and could I make one for her child! I was tempted to just give it to her for $10, but Joe would have had a fit.

45 minutes later (I am not kidding!) they emerged with a bag containing a slice of cheesecake, a cookie for me and something else that I can't remember. For 45 minutes it'd better be a damn good cookie. It was ok. Nothing amazing. We took it back to our hotel to eat, and packed up our stuff because we're leaving NYC tomorrow!
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Old 5 Nov 16, 12:27 PM  
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Mortimer Mouse
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Well you certainly packed alot into your day!
Lovely photos. Looks like Senor Frogs is somewhere to avoid. I noticed there are coupons for it everywhere, so I wonder how many other unsuspecting tourists end up trying it.

Thanks for posting.
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Old 5 Nov 16, 12:48 PM  
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It seems you had a lovely day, with the exception of your dinner experience. What a shame.

Got to love a Shake Shack burger though.
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Old 5 Nov 16, 01:59 PM  
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Shame about Senor Frogs but looks like a jam packed day
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Old 6 Nov 16, 07:34 AM  
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That crown is hilarious.
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Old 11 Nov 16, 09:52 PM  
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shame about dinner. great photos today
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Old 21 Nov 16, 10:16 AM  
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The view of Manhatten from Brooklyn is stunning isn't it. The same from the top of the Empire State Building.
A very full day, it's a pity about your dining experience, somewhere to avoid I think.
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Old 29 Nov 16, 02:34 PM  
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Guessing you won't be visiting Senor Frogs on your upcoming trip then

We loved walking over the Brooklyn Bridge - I couldn't get over how busy it was when we did it, cyclists, roller bladers etc.

Great photos
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Old 18 Jan 17, 01:09 PM  
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Great trip report, I love your humour. We, me, DH and 16 year old DD, are going to New York for 4 nights in July this year for our first ever visit. It's good to see how well you coped in the heat. We are staying at Park Lane Hotel on 59th Street right on the corner of central Park and Fifth Ave

We definitely want to walk Brooklyn Bridge too but wasn't sure which way to walk it i.e into Brooklyn or out of Brooklyn, but the ferry over and walking back sounds amazing. Can I check which direction you did head towards when leaving the ferry? Really fancy going to Shake Shack there too, so would follow your route

Also, metro cards, do you need one each or one per family? Wasn't sure how easy the subway would be to use, but good to hear you found it good.
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Old 23 Jan 17, 10:30 AM  
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neilhd
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Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil View Post
Great trip report, I love your humour. We, me, DH and 16 year old DD, are going to New York for 4 nights in July this year for our first ever visit. It's good to see how well you coped in the heat. We are staying at Park Lane Hotel on 59th Street right on the corner of central Park and Fifth Ave

We definitely want to walk Brooklyn Bridge too but wasn't sure which way to walk it i.e into Brooklyn or out of Brooklyn, but the ferry over and walking back sounds amazing. Can I check which direction you did head towards when leaving the ferry? Really fancy going to Shake Shack there too, so would follow your route

Also, metro cards, do you need one each or one per family? Wasn't sure how easy the subway would be to use, but good to hear you found it good.
Too kind

The heat was fine - if you're used to Florida then you'll be quite fine in NYC. We went past your hotel on our sneaky week in NYC last week - looks nice! Great location.

Definitely worth walking back from Brooklyn. That way you are heading towards the amazing views of Manhattan, rather than having them behind you and looking into Brooklyn, which is not as inspiring.

From the Ferry we headed left-ish I think, and just followed our noses to find the bridge, passing Shake Shack on the way, and then that pizza place that everyone goes on about. It's not actually signposted. You cross a couple of roads and then cut through some kind of small park I think, and kind of end up under the bridge and there are steps up. Well, we did at least. There may be other places to join it!

Metro cards - depends how you do it. If you get a weeks pass (which is $30 I think) then you need 1 each (you can't swipe it twice in the same station without waiting about 15 minutes). If you just top up some money, then you can share it and pass it back over the turnstiles. That said, they are only $1 each so we just did that as it was easier to give everyone their own.

Hope that helps!
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