The Amazing Race! Canada/USA Road Trip July-Aug 2016 - Day 5 (Drive to NYC)

[neilhd]

Waking up this morning I checked my email to find that my missing booking had all been sorted by my chums at work and the hotel had managed to "find" it - down the back of the sofa or something I suppose.

We decided to eat breakfast in the hotel, as otherwise we'd have needed to go out into Scranton and I'm not sure we'd have come back alive from that. The breakfast was fairly cheap ($13 for adults and less for Joe) and plentiful. It was a typical buffet type thing and perfectly acceptable.

We got our bags, double-checked at the front desk that I wasn't going to be charged for the night and went to get the car, thinking I'd get it from the multi-story, drive around the block (It's a one-way street) and load up at the front of the hotel. That was the idea anyway. When we went outside we discovered that some roadworks had started right outside the hotel and you literally couldn't drive down the road now, let alone enter the hotel's drop-off/pick-up entrance. It was fairly obvious that in about 10 minutes they'd have blocked the exit to the car park as well, so we legged it to the car and drove out before we were stuck there for the rest of the day! Some warning this was happening would have been nice!

The drive to New York City proved fairly uneventful. We passed from Pennsylvania into New Jersey and eventually, just like Will Ferrell in Elf, we went through the Lincoln Tunnel. This costs $12 which was quite shocking. I'll never complain about the Dartford Tunnel again!



Our hotel was really close to the exit of the tunnel, so we were there in no time. We were staying at the Distrikt Hotel on West 40th street, between 9th and 8th Avenues. The hotel has no parking, but does have a Valet operation that is outsourced. I'd enquired before arrival and they said to just park outside and they'd take care of it.

There were already cars parked outside, but it seemed that double-parking is pretty common so I just did that. I hopped out and went in and they got the valet to come and sort it out. Well, kind of. He was already taking care of the car parked by the kerb - which I was double-parked next to - and he needed to move that so that I could park my car in its place. This was going to be fun, especially as directly behind us both was a construction site meaning part of the road was blocked. Actually, maybe that made it easier as it provided a block to oncoming traffic.

So, I waited for a gap in the traffic, pulled out, then backed up again so he could go out in front of me. He sure took his sweet time in coming out. The patient New Yorkers stuck behind me honked their horns to tell me that they were happy to wait and to take my time. Obviously the best thing to do would be to reverse in as the space wasn't that big, but the other cars behind me were not going to allow that - if I moved past the gap I'd have to keep going, so I dived in the space forwards as best I could, then waited for another gap in the traffic to pull out a bit and park it properly.

When I went back in, the woman on the reception desk actually complimented me on my parking. Apparently New Yorkers can't parallel park for toffee. We emptied the car and I handed over the keys to the valet. Wouldn't be needing it for 3 days. Parking cost? $75 per day! Ouch! You could go and find your own parking for maybe $15-$20 less per day, but frankly as a first-time visitor this was just by far the easiest option.

It was about midday by now and our room was not ready, so we left our bags and headed out to explore the Big Apple!





I pretty much knew where to go to get to Times Square, so that's where we went. It was only 5 minutes away. We passed the theatre where Aladdin is playing on 42nd street. Ele said she wanted to see it (she has been absolutely dying to watch this) and walked into the box office. I wasn't expecting them to have any tickets, but they actually did. At a cost of $99 each in the Balcony, I might add. Still, balcony tickets range from $59 to $99 so these must be good Balcony seats, right? Right at the front or something. I clearly had 2 choices here. I could leave here holding tickets for tonight's performance, or I could leave here holding my testicles after Ele removed them for me. I handed over my credit card…




With tickets secured and a very happy wife and child we explored Times Square a bit. The queue for the TKTS booth was absolutely massive so I'm glad we didn't join that (it had been our first idea to get tickets from here for a show). I did notice they had some availability at about half price for School of Rock which I would rather have seen, but never mind.

We went into the M&Ms store and Joe bought some dog tags for himself, and we got some socks for our DD Jessica and our niece. We also went into the Disney store but somehow actually left without buying anything.

We walked back to our hotel now, stopping to buy Joe a NYC cap, and also a T-Shirt from a street-stall. We got a cap for our niece also. Our room was ready now so we went up to it. Like most NYC hotels it wasn't massive, but was very nice. We freshened up for the theatre and decided to head back to Times Square for dinner at Bubba Gump's beforehand.



Bubbas was nice, but still not as fun as the Orlando one at Universal. Joe had fish and chips, I forget what Ele had and I had a mahi-mahi, shrimp and mash thing that I've now had in Orlando, London and New York. I am indeed a creature of habit. We had some popcorn shrimp to share as a starter. We browsed the gift shop but didn't buy anything. We had a bit of time and Ele was worried she'd be cold in the theatre, so HAD to go and buy some kind of pashmina. Obviously this didn't mean buying a cheap one from a street place, but instead walking to 5th Ave and finding Desigual. Luckily she found one for about $20 in the sale, so it could have been worse. Incidentally - the theatre was not cold and she didn't wear it on the entire holiday! I don't think she's worn it since, either. It's just joined the collection.

We walked back to the theatre, bought some sweets on the way and arrived just before the doors opened. When we got to our seats we discovered that we were, in fact, at the very back of the balcony. Like literally the back row. I've no idea what a $59 seat gets you. A toilet stall, probably. Still, it was actually a perfectly good view, and the show was brilliant, especially the Whole New World bit. No pics of the performance obviously, but here's one of the stage:



It was a bit late for Joe as he a) doesn't do late nights anyway, and b) hadn't quite adjusted to USA time. In the interval we bought him some coke (the drink…) to try and keep him awake, but he did actually nod off during one or two of the slower songs. He woke up again for the finale.

I thought about reviewing it: "So good, my son nearly stayed awake".

It was a really good show and I totally recommend it. We wanted to go to see Times Square at night when we left, but Joe was too tired so we just went back to the hotel and went to bed.

[MHM]

Great report. Love your sense of humour! Looking forward to more 😀

[Mortimer Mouse]

You've very brave driving in the city. But that parking fee has gotta hurt.

[neilhd]

We drove a very short distance to be fair - it was literally about 400 yards from the exit of the tunnel!

The parking fee was a bit "ouch", but wasn't really any way around it. We just built it into the cost of the holiday.

[abiknox]

Whoa at that parking cost! Jaysus!

Very brave of your driving in NYC! I wouldn't attempt it that's for sure.

[disney owl]

a great start to NY

[stecee]

You had me lol.
Love New York, it's one of my favourite places. Look forward to see what you get up to.

[Glee Fan]

Blimey - you are so brave to drive in that mayhem!

I don't think I could have sat in those Aladdin seats either I think I'd have felt like I was toppling over!

Love NY - the Distrikt was our first choice hotel but I got a much better deal elsewhere and couldn't really turn those savings down. I'd definitely consider staying there though if the price was right.

Busy day - and for your info - a girl can never have too many scarfs