theDIBB - Let's See How Many Airports We Can Visit...NYC-NC 2022

Tuesday 5th July
The journey begins at Cardiff central station as seems to be the custom these days. Petrol and parking is so expensive that the train works out cheaper- and no driving after an overnight flight!
This is "Gronky" - my partner's travel mascot - who may feature in several more pictures over the next 10 days 😀
This trip has been booked, postponed, changed & rearranged numerous times over the past 2.5 years.
Original plan was Chicago, Detroit & New York but that's changed for a variety of reasons- #1 being that my brother moved states last year!

Finally made it to the Sofitel. The severn tunnel is closed for electrification works so we went the scenic route via Gloucester which adds almost an hour onto the journey from Cardiff.
Off for some dinner...

Weds 6th July
Early morning journey through the airport was fairly calm. Currently in the galleries south lounge having breakfast and copious amount of coffee.
Lounge was fairly full, with many dirty tables. Staff couldn't confirm the gate so the signs encouraging passengers to use the B gates lounge were a bit redundant.
Bacon roll was disappointingly dry.

After much to-ing & fro-ing with BA over being unable to upgrade a flight booked with an e-voucher with avios we eventually bit the bullet and took a cash upgrade to club.

The flight was a very pleasant experience, the crew attentive & the new club suite comfortable. OH was unable to charge his laptop which was disappointing but no major complaints.

I gave a hard pass to dinner (yuk) so the afternoon tea was very welcome.

We had the two middle seats which meant we could chat during the flight but still has our own space.

Have to admit I'm team Virgin when it comes to the Club/Upper experience now that I've sampled them both in such close proximity.

We landed at EWR on time, immigration was quick and the Officer had a quick joke (!) about getting in the miles at Disney ( I was still within the 90 days admission period from my previous trip which flagged up on the system).
Luggage was swiftly retrieved and we headed for the AirTrain. The journey from the airport to Penn Station was $15.75 each and it was fairly easy to figure out.
The hotel we'd chosen - Stay Pineapple- was only a 6 minute walk from Penn and manageable even with luggage.
We were greeted with cookies and pineapple water and given vouchers to exchange for a welcome drink ( non- alcoholic). The room was small but well designed and comfortable for a two night stay 🍍

After freshening up a bit we headed out for the Highline. It was a glorious afternoon.

There was free entertainment at Hudson Yards in the form of live music 🎶

We headed south, stopping to view/ photograph the artwork

...and other oddities along the way

Final stop was Chelsea Market for some food

Before heading back to the hotel

Thursday 7th July

This was our exploring day - we had a rough plan but nothing set in stone.
Started with breakfast at the Tick Tick diner by Penn. Eggs, bacon and French toast for me, eggs sausage and pancakes for him. Wasn't particularly cheap but it was a high traffic area. Service charge for paying by card added to the cost and we were asked to leave the tip in cash.

We headed out past Macy's and on to the Empire State Building.