New York First Timers - Day 3, 9/11 memorial, Brooklyn Nets game, Wicked & Juniors!

[abiknox]

I woke up today at 7.30am, that’ll do First thing I did was check the weather report, minus 2! Eeek, woolly’s on again then!



Today’s plan was the 9/11 memorial, followed by lunch at Katz’s deli (from when Harry met Sally & Man Vs Food fame) and then we were heading over to Brooklyn for a Brooklyn Nets Basketball game! After that we had to get back to the hotel, get ready and head back out to see Wicked! It was going to be a busy day!

The Subway was our choice of transport today. We had been told the Metro card @ $30 for an unlimited 7 day pass was a good deal but when I worked out how many times we would use it, I realised it wasn’t going to be cost effective for us. We loaded a card with $40 in the end and this worked out about right, I think we came home with $5 left on it.

We got the R train from 28st planning to get off at Rector Street near the memorial but when we got on we realised it was forking off into Brooklyn. We had to get off about 5 stops early and ask someone for directions, the suggested that we get on the next train that came (I cant remember which one it was) get off at City Hall and walk. This turned out to be a fabulous way to do it, the area was beautiful and we got out first glance of the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s such a strange feeling to walk out of the grotty underground station and then literally pop up in one of the most beautiful places!














We set off on foot to the memorial, it was absolutely freezing so we popped into a Pret for a hot drink and a pastry treat! I had an Almond Croissant and a Hot Chocolate, while Aaron had a regular croissant and a Latte. All very nice! We just sat in the window and watched the world go by for a bit.

[abiknox]

We found our way to the memorial just in time for our 10am reservation and it wasn’t too long before we were through security and making our way in. I won’t go into too much detail here as we didn’t stay long. The memorial has been beautifully done, but the feeling of being there, mixed with the shock that people were treating it as more of a tourist attraction as opposed to a place to remember, made me feel very uncomfortable. We walked around each memorial and then headed out, leaving a donation on our way. We didn’t go in the shop and we didn’t take any photos.

From here we decided to walk to Katz, it was about an hours walk but we detoured through China Town and via Donut Plant so it was well worth doing on foot. China town was very interesting, and a lot bigger than I was expecting! Donut plant was fab too, we bought a peanut butter & blackberry jelly donut as well as 2 small crème brulee donuts and kept them ready for dessert. ($10, expensive donuts)!






Couldn't resist!



On arrival at Katz, we were a bit confused as to where the queue started so I asked a member of staff. Basically it was a free for all at the counter and then a fight for a seat, or we could put our name down for waiter service with a 5-10 minute wait. We did the latter and within about 2 minutes we were being taken to our table! Excellent!




My face was like ice when this picture was taken!

We had checked the menu in advance here to decide what we would have. I had a full pastrami sandwich, while Aaron had a ½ corned beef Ruben, with a chicken noodle soup. The Ruben was a risk as neither of us is keen on pickles but we were adamant we wanted to try it. Just to be extra greedy, we added a side of fries.



Before long, Aaron’s soup was brought out and he enjoyed it. This was soon followed by our sandwiches and fries. My pastrami was good, not like I imagined it to taste, more like the flavour of a frankfurter but I love them so that was all good. Aarons sandwich on the other hand was not good! Only because of our personal tastes but it just wasn’t at all edible for us! A real shame as that meant we paid $15 for a pretty average bowl of soup. Hehe! I gave him half of my sandwich and we devoured the fries too before settling the bill ($45 + tip).

[abiknox]

A great experience and I’m glad we did it but the deli style sandwiches didn’t live up to our expectations. From Katz’s we headed towards the Subway eating our crème brulle donuts as we went. They were absolutely amazing! Crunchy burnt sugar topping, fresh donut and delicious vanilla custard within! Yum!







Again we make another error with the Subway trying to get over to Brooklyn and choose one that doesn't run on weekends, we only realised this once we had swiped our passes and had our ticket price deducted. I went back out and asked the lady in the booth what we needed to do, luckily, the next train due (D) was also heading straight to the Barclays centre and she let me back in via the gate so I didn’t have to pay again! The train journey took no time at all and we went over the Brooklyn Bridge so got a wonderful view as we went.

We headed into the venue, forcing our remaining donut down asap as we weren’t allowed to take in any food / drink. It was yummy but im still annoyed I didn’t get to savour it! I was also informed that my DSLR camera was deemed professional and therefore I had to check it in. Boooo. We were walked over to the guest services point and checked it in without much hassle, after Aaron had quizzed them about their insurance ect My main worry was that as we were already cutting it fine with getting to Broadway on time for our show, I didn’t want to be stood in a queue trying to get my camera back for half an hour after the game finished!



Anyway, off we went to find our seats, literally the furthest back row possible but I actually thought our view was pretty good! Well worth the £20 tickets!



The atmosphere was brilliant, every time the game stopped even for a couple of minutes, something was happening on the court. Either the cheerleaders, the mascot or a local kids dance school (who were absolutely amazing) raced on and entertained everyone! At half time the Nets were winning In the second half though, they started to drop behind. I was getting fidgety at this point, really starting to worry about packed tubes and queues to get out of the Barclays centre. It had always been in the back of my mind that we might not stay until the end and so with 6 minutes left on the clock (which probably equated to 30 minutes with all the stoppages ect) and a very small chance of the Nets coming back to win, we made a swift exit. (I have checked the score since and I think it was a 109-97 win for the Detroit Pistons in the end ).

We grabbed my camera and made our way hastily to the subway. We got on the N train all the way to 28th Street and walked back to the hotel via a food market.



We were conscious that we wouldn’t be eating until about 10pm at night so a snack was definitely in order. I had a slice of pizza but Aaron couldn’t decide on anything he wanted so he went without. The pizza was ok, but as I was eating it on the move in minus temperatures it was freezing cold by the time I finished it!



Back at the hotel, Aaron Facetimed his family whilst I tried to get ready. I was getting really stressed at this point as we were running out of time, I couldn’t get changed as he was pointing the Ipad in all directions and I was conscience of giving his family an eyeful and to top it off, because of all the high winds today my hair was absolutely matted! There was no time for me to fix it, my hair has to dry naturally and there was no way i was heading outside with wet hair If I were to wash it! I had to scrape it all into a side ponytail and grin and bear it – hence not many photos of me tonight!

After throwing Aaron a few dirty looks, he finally ended his call and started to get ready.

To save time and allow us an extra 20 minutes or so to grab a drink, we jumped on the subway instead of walking. It was the N line again and we got off at 49st.



We headed back to TGI Fridays to give it another go and headed straight to the upstairs bar. The place was dead! So different to what we expected. We didn’t have enough time to head anywhere else so we propped up the bar and ordered a couple of drinks. Aaron had a Long Island Iced Tea and I ordered a Vodka, Archers & Cranberry juice. We drank up quickly and asked for the bill, when it came the Ice Tea was listed as the ‘ultimate’ and we had been charged $13. Aaron, with his obsession for mixology and cocktails had watched carefully while the barmaid mixed his drink and noticed that she was using the cheaper liquors. The menu described the ultimate to be using SKYY vodka ect… all the branded liquors, so he asked her why he was being charged for the ultimate. She tried to brush it off as being no different and to be honest I was in too much of a rush to argue. I paid the bill $23, with minimum tip and popped off to use the loo before leaving. When I got back, Aaron asked me if we had time for another as the barmaid had come back to him offering another round on the house! I told him if he was quick we could manage it, but I declined a drink. He was much happier with the second cocktail; I think she may have been a bit more lapse on measuring the shots! He drank it pretty quickly and after giving her an addition few $ tip we raced towards the Gershwin! Aaron taking the lead as per usual!

[abiknox]

We got to our seats pretty quickly, after taking advice from dibber Hannikins I had booked the restricted view seats! We were more than happy, in fact, even paying full price they would be the seats I picked if we went again! They were right at the edge by the doors so Aaron was able to quickly escape to get a couple of drinks and during the interval we were the first out to the loo! Back to the drinks, I had a glass of wine & Aaron has an ‘Oz-mopolitan’ Both came in epic Wicked cups, although they were pretty pricey at a cost of $26 + tip!











Soon enough the show had started! All I can say is WOW! I have wanted to see Wicked for years and I’m so glad I waited to see it in New York. The lead cast were amazing, as expected and I soooo didn’t want it to end! I could have sat through Defying Gravity 100 times over and never got bored!

Far too soon, the show was over and we set off in search of Juniors!





I have read only good things about this restaurant and I was really looking forward to dinner by this point. We found it easily and although it looked heaving, we were seating pretty quickly. We did ask to be moved after a few minutes though as we had been seated by the back entrance and there was a serious draft coming through. No, problem and we were soon settled into our new table.


Matted hair alert!

We ordered shared chicken strips to start and then while Aaron when for a bacon cheeseburger, I had the club sandwich. The food was fabulous and I was devastated that I didn’t manage my whole sandwich! It was delicious, what I wouldn’t do for some of that right now! Along with a couple of diet cokes the bill came to $51 + tip. No room for cheesecake unfortunately which was a shame!







Back outside, we decided it was far too cold to walk so we chose to hail a cab. The temperature gauge was reading minus 4! I’m not sure why but I was expecting to pay about $15-20 so I was very impressed when we arrived at the hotel with the meter reading $6! Bargain Back in the hotel room, I had a shower and battled with my hair and before long we were fast asleep again! No partying until the early hours for us!

Tomorrow - Central Park, Shake Shack again, Heartlands Brewery and the Empire State Building at night!

[Guest]

another great day - you are giving me loads of ideas for our trip in April.

[sandshal]

Can you let me in on the tip for the restricted view tickets please ... Never been to a show and would love to take one in in NYC without breaking the bank.

Oh and forgot to say ... , another fabulous report from the Big Apple xxx

Sharon

[abiknox]

Originally Posted by Maves Wife

another great day - you are giving me loads of ideas for our trip in April.

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good good, I got most of my ideas from other people trippies so its good to pass on the knowledge!

Originally Posted by sandshal

Can you let me in on the tip for the restricted view tickets please ... Never been to a show and would love to take one in in NYC without breaking the bank.

Oh and forgot to say ... , another fabulous report from the Big Apple xxx

Sharon

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You just need to select the very edge stall seats on ticketmaster. I think I bought mine about 3 months before we left and paid $93 each while the ones in front of us were $155 each . Listed as partial view but there was nothing we couldn't see.

Thanks for reading

[Guest]

Wow what an amazing day, the nets game and wicked in the same day!

[abiknox]

Originally Posted by Mermaids

Wow what an amazing day, the nets game and wicked in the same day!

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I know, not ideal. I already had the Wicked tickets booked when the NBA schedule was released! I was just happy there was a game on

[disney owl]

another full day