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Old 22 Jan 19, 02:25 PM  
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MrsBigdog
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:) Excited for New York? Excited for the food! New York Feb 2019







I'm going to attempt a trip report this time, after saying I would in 2015 and never getting round to it The picture above was taken when we last went to New York in Nov 2015, from our helicopter ride.

I'm Sam, almost 42, mum of 3 boys. Chief planner and holiday instigator. Lover of all things American, especially the food Coming along for the ride, because he's got nothing better to do is my husband Rich. 39 years old, shift worker at a well known bakery. Lover of all sports, cider and buffalo wings.

This was taken during our carriage ride in Central Park Nov 2015.


This trip came about after I booked my Mother in Law's flights to Newark back in October. She visits family in New Jersey every Thanksgiving and over the years I've become her unpaid PA/Travel agent! So after another year of me joking I would be coming with her, I decided to have a quick look at flights for New York. Well, I'm sure for anyone who is reading(all 2 of you), you know how the story goes... I'm just gonna have a quick look at flights, then oooh how about a surprise trip for Rich's 40th birthday in May? Pricing it up, it was not as reasonable as I was expecting. So I widened the search and checked the prices for late January/February. I knew the prices would be cheaper, but I was in for a shock! Mid Feb was the cheapest time to go and worked well with Rich's 4 on 4 off shifts. So then I asked Rich the question "would you like to go to New York again, this time to celebrate your birthday...3 months early in February?"

The first question he asked was "does that mean I can buy some new Calvin Klein pants". I forgot to mention he is a lover of CK pants too! Then he asked the more important question "how much" to which I replied £806 Of course, he thought I meant each, so when I explained this was for both of us, flight and hotel. I knew I had his attention. Cue the phone call to MIL asking if she could have our boys whilst we went away. I think you know the answer, otherwise this would be a very short pre trip report!

We could have booked for half term week, however agreed it would be best if we went the week before(a week before my birthday), so the boys were at school and MIL could still go to work etc. It does mean I get half term off with the boys to recover from jet lag, although I shall be giving melatonin a whirl this time. As I find the older I get the worse the jet lag.

Right, so off I went to book our flights and hotel. We are flying with Virgin, LHR to JFK on Sunday 10th Feb and coming home Thurs 14th Feb, landing Fri 15th Feb. I've booked Yotel in Hell's Kitchen as we don't spend much time in the room and it is an area of New York we walked through last time and I would like to explore it more.



Since booking our flights and hotel, I have arranged travel insurance, completed new ESTA's, booked NCP Flightpath car parking and No1 Lounge in terminal 3. This has brought our total cost for the trip to just under £1000, which I am very pleased with. I booked the lounge via flying club as it was £25 plus 350 miles each. We've used it before and it was good as it was just the two of us. I don't think it would be good value if we took our boys in.

Last week I booked the Premier Inn, Bath Rd for Sat 9th Feb. Originally our plan was to travel up to LHR on the Sunday morning(Rich was supposed to finish work at 6am), however Rich's shifts have changed and instead of his first day off being 10th, he is now on day 3 of 4 off. Therefore he will need to take extra days holiday to cover our trip. So we agreed to drive up from Bristol on the Saturday afternoon, stay overnight at PI and it's only a 5 min drive to NCP flightpath parking on the Sunday morning.

Now to get down to our itinerary...
I'm got nothing planned yet, because I can't stop looking at food picture on Instagram! I have about 54 places I would like to visit for food so far

I tell a lie, I started to worry that I hadn't planned anything when I read Neilhd's pre trip report. Unlike Neilhd, there will be no umming and ahhing about taking the big coats, they are coming with us It's freezing in NY in February. So I have been considering things. Rich would like to go back to Jersey Garden Mall in Elizabeth, so that is on the cards. Plus we our hotel is quite close to Port Authority to catch the bus to Elizabath. Although I read a post yesterday that there is a Cheesecake Factory in a mall in Queens, so we might pay that a visit(did I mention I like American food?). Macy's will be frequented once or twice for some CK pants. We have a Dunkin Donuts close and Auntie Annes is up the road.

Last time we managed to fit a lot in to the time we were in NY. We took a helicopter ride, carriage ride round Central Park, the Intrepid Museum(Rich's favourite), TOTR, JGM outlets, Jet's game at the Met Life stadium and all the sights and shops. So this time I would like to concentrate on southern Manhattan along with the area around our hotel. Weather dependent a walk over Brooklyn Bridge, Staten Island Ferry, Wall St/Financial District. Plus there are lots or restaurants and bars close to our hotel on 9th Ave.
Rich at the Intrepid Museum.


My list of restaurants and bars to try is growing bigger by the day. Some of the places we would like to try are: Bar Bacon, Mom's, Westway Diner, Rudy's bar and grill, Bourbon st bar, Junior's, 5 Napkin, Shake Shack and Bareburger.

After reading great reviews I am waiting for Ziggy to email me back to see if we have a place on his walking and eating tour of Hell's Kitchen. It's $60 per person and he takes you on a 4hr tour of the area, stopping off for food along the way. If you haven't heard of him, check out his reviews on Tripadvisor.

So, that's it for now. I have £500 worth of dollars, which I changed on Brexit night last week, thinking the rate would go down. When in fact it did the opposite. I'm holding out another week before I change the rest up. Plus we will use our Revolut cards/credit cards. I am hoping to do a bit of live dibbing from No1 lounge on Sunday 10th before our flight.
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Old 22 Jan 19, 02:37 PM  
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Will look forward to reading along. We go the day after you are home ! Never been before and am panicking about the whole thing at the minute. Especially the weather and not being able to plan for the unknown. ! Never done a cold holiday before. Son and daughter know we are going away but not where so having to get their stuff together too.

I promise a trip report every time we go away but never come up with the goods. Never know I might try to cobble something together.

Will have a look at your restaurants online. Seen a few of them mentioned before,

Enjoy your trip.
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Old 22 Jan 19, 02:43 PM  
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Originally Posted by Smilesonfaces View Post
Will look forward to reading along. We go the day after you are home ! Never been before and am panicking about the whole thing at the minute. Especially the weather and not being able to plan for the unknown. ! Never done a cold holiday before. Son and daughter know we are going away but not where so having to get their stuff together too.

I promise a trip report every time we go away but never come up with the goods. Never know I might try to cobble something together.

Will have a look at your restaurants online. Seen a few of them mentioned before,

Enjoy your trip.
Thank you, Smilesonfaces. I think the best idea, weather wise is big coat then a big jumper/hoodie rather than layers. Reason being it's freezing usually in Feb but all the shops etc have the heating blasting out. So rather than taking off lots of layers I prefer to just take off the coat and if still hot the jumper too. NY is so well equipped for snow/bad weather. They put us to shame I first went to NY in 2003 and they had feet of snow, yes feet, something like 3ft, the day before we left. Flight was on time, airport fully operational, roads open, public transport running etc. The only thing was the snow piled high on the sidewalks where it had been shoveled out of the way for pedestrians.
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Old 22 Jan 19, 03:46 PM  
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Wow, what a great price! Sounds like a great trip. Junior's is really good.
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Old 22 Jan 19, 06:21 PM  
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Originally Posted by MrsBC View Post
Wow, what a great price! Sounds like a great trip. Junior's is really good.
I know, I couldn't resist at that price! Good to know about Junior's, thank you.
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Old 22 Jan 19, 08:48 PM  
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Woohoo, Ziggy has just confirmed our tour of Hell's Kitchen on 11th Feb! I'm going to keep it a surprise from Rich. Let the planning commence
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Old 22 Jan 19, 10:20 PM  
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I stayed at the Yotel in February a few years ago! It was very very cold!

Have a fun trip!
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Old 23 Jan 19, 07:38 AM  
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Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
I stayed at the Yotel in February a few years ago! It was very very cold!

Have a fun trip!
Thank you Melbatb. I think I shall dig out my thermal leggings and wear them under my jeans.
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Old 23 Jan 19, 08:28 AM  
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What a bargain trip! I’m not sure I could cope with the cold at that time of year, although I would like to see New York with some snow.

I’ve heard about Ziggy’s tours, from when I used to read the TA forum before I discovered the Dibb. I’m sure that will be a great experience.

I didn’t know that you could book a Heathrow lounge using some flying club miles. Off to read up on that now.

Looking forward to reading all about your trip. Have a great time.
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Old 23 Jan 19, 09:11 AM  
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Hi
Reading along with interest. We’re off on our first trip the week after you. Fly from Heathrow with BA on the 17th. I am also worried about how cold it will be. Bought some thermal vests lol. Interested to see where you’re eating as it’s all new to me. So many to choose from.
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