It's Pints Kim, But Not As We Know It! NY - 14/02/18

[Leyfy]

Day 04- Watson Hotel NY/Bus Tour/Bubba Gumps/HOME

Index
Day 03

So today marked our final day in New York as we were flying home tonight on the 10.15pm United flight. However, we had most of the day to play with, so we packed the case up and headed down to reception. We left our luggage with bell services and also arranged a cab to the airport at 5.30pm.

It was about 8.30am, so we went across to a restaurant I'd seen with good reviews for breakfast called 'Morning Star'. It was quite popular but we were soon seated and browsing the menu. Coffees arrived and we ordered a full Irish breakfast with black pudding for Phil and eggs benedict for me.

As we waited we discussed our plans on what to do today. Frankly, we were both shattered with the amount of walking we'd done the past couple of days so I voted for something we could sit down and do! We thought for a while and then I suggested the ultimate in 'touristy' things - an open topped bus ride!

As this was a last minute plan we didn't have any tickets, but we'd seen plenty of tickets sellers in Times Square, so our plan was to head there. Breakfast soon arrived. This was mine:

It was huge! The eggs were perfectly cooked - fab breakfast! Phil enjoyed his too. Breakfast finished, we paid up and made our way to Times Square. One thing I love about wandering around New York is that you forget it's a tourist destination in a way? People are just going about their daily lives, taking the kids to school, working etc. Completely different to the Disney 'bubble'

When we got to Times Square we found the first bus tour ticket seller and, having not really done and research and not really realising there were different tours, we just picked one. The bus ticket person took us to the stop and got on the double decker and picked up some headphones for the guided tour. The bus was full up the top so we sat downstairs for the time being. We got on around stop number 2:

At the next stop a few more people got off from upstairs so we moved upstairs and found some seats and re-plugged in the headphones.

There was a guided commentary but also interspersed with famous tunes based around New York - eg: Empire State of Mine, New York, New York etc! We drove past several different landmarks such as Madison Square Gardens and the first ever skyscraper - The Flat Iron. As it was so cold I couldn't take many pictures as they'd put a screen up over the bus and mostly the pictures were coming out like this:

However, I did get the odd decent one:

After about 50 minutes we got to the Battery Park stop and pretty much all of the bus got off except us. We decided to stay on and go back up to the start point:

The entire guided tour took us just under two hours and it was nice to just drive about and take everything in. It was quite expensive buying tickets on the day (I think it was about $40 each) so I'd definitely get these in advance though, as you can get them cheaper that way.

We got back off near to Times Square and by now it was just gone 1pm. We looked in a few 'touristy' shops as I wanted to get a fridge magnet and Phil got a t-shirt. He wanted to go to O'Donoghues for one last drink in there:

Drinks finished, it was now nearly 2pm so we went across to Bubba Gumps for our final meal of the trip.

I love seafood so I always really enjoy it in here.

I ordered a mango margarita - hic!

This was so good!

Phil ordered a beer (of course )

For appetiser we went for 'Bubba’s Far Out Dip'. This looks a bit gross but it tasted fantastic:

We tried not to fill up on the hundreds of tortilla chips that came with it as we knew we had a big meal coming! I'd managed to finish my mango margarita as it was so delicious, so ordered a cheeky second! For our mains I had the 'Shrimper’s Heaven'

'Love Shrimp? This one’s for you! Hand
breaded Coconut Shrimp, Grilled Shrimp,
Crispy Golden Shrimp and Tempura
Shrimp. Served with our homemade
Dippin’ Sauces, Tangy Asian, Cajun
Marmalade and Zesty Cocktail'

My favourite was the tangy Asian dip - tasted lovely

I love shrimp so much, on our first visit to Orlando a few years ago I literally ate nothing but coconut shrimp for three days!

I managed most of the shrimp but left quite a few of the fries, which were buried in the cones.

Phil went for 'Net Catch Entrée'

'Our twist on a Bubba’s Classic! Beer steamed Peel ‘n’ Eat
Shrimp, along with Carrots, Celery, Corn, Potatoes and
Andouille Sausage all steamed and tossed with Garlic Spice:
970 cals or our Secret Cajun Spice'

Phil enjoyed this but he said there was a LOT of shrimp and he couldn't finish it!

Not to be beaten, we ordered a rare dessert- 'Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae'!

'Fresh baked Chocolate Chip Cookie served warm with
Vanilla Ice Cream, topped with Chocolate and Caramel
Sauce, Peanuts and Whipped Cream.'

The server asked us if we wanted to share as, in his words, it's 'quite big'. This was an understatement!

It was huge!

We managed to make quite a dent it in though:

The meal was easily the most expensive of our trip, being $130 with 20% tip (which worked out about £90 using Halifax Clarity) but we'd both had two drinks, two courses and a dessert. Plus being a chain in the middle of Times Square, we didn't think that was too bad! Bill paid, we picked up a souvenir glass in the shop. I had a quick look round and picked up a sweatshirt, which was reduced to $10, so total bargain! I don't have a picture, but it says 'Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co' on the front and 'New York: Times Square' down the left sleeve. It was now about 3.30pm and we were so full! We made our way slowly back to the hotel, knowing we'd be quite early for the taxi. We retrieved our luggage and sat on the sofas in reception for a while. I went to get changed into my travel clothes of leggings, a long sleeved top and a hoodie, and changed into my trainers from my boots as well. I also put my coat in the suitcase as it's quite bulky and I didn't want to have to try and stuff it in a locker!

We sat around for a while until one of the concierge people came over and said our taxi was early, if we wanted to leave for the airport now? It was now about 5pm and, knowing what the traffic was like, we decided to better be safe than sorry and went out to the taxi. If you've ever got a town car from one of the Universal Studios hotels it was exactly like that - blacked out windows, leather seats, driver wearing a suit! We were told it was a flat $85 to the airport, about the same as what we paid when we arrived. The traffic was absolutely horrific trying to get out of Manhattan and the driver's satnav was saying it was going to take us an hour and a half to airport! We got stuck in a huge queue approaching the tunnel to take us off the island and the driver said 'Let's hope the police don't see us', bypassed the left hand land all queuing to get into the tunnel by going in the straight ahead lane, got to the other side, did the illegal U turn and then we were suddenly in a much shorter queue approaching from the other side!

We arrived at the airport at just before 5.45pm and went to check in. We used the automated machines and I changed our seats from sitting right at the back in economy in the pairs to near the front of economy but in the middle seats. We got our tickets and went to bag drop. In 7-odd visits to the US in the past 5-6 years, we encountered the most grumpy/disinterested bag check lady ever! She didn't even look at us once as she asked us two questions and then we headed for the queue up to security.

And what a queue that was ...


There was a queue before we even made it up the stairs to get to the main part of security and they were letting people up in small groups!

A shouty American guy was complaining that he was going to miss his flight and we let a couple of people in front of us who were at risk of missing their flights. He started talking to a member of United staff who couldn't be more interested if she tried and actually walked away from him mid-conversation! Granted, he wasn't being particularly polite but she was also a bit antagonistic and also not helping the situation!

When we finally got up the stairs to security, the line went on and on! You know when you are queing for a ride in Orlando and you think you are nearly there and then you go round a corner only to encounter another huge queue? That was like Newark airport, only less fun at the end of it

In reality, it probably took about 40 minutes to get through security, but it was definitely the busiest we'd ever encountered!

Security cleared, we made our way into the terminal and found some seats. At most places to sit there was an iPad attached to the table and you could order food and drink direct to where you were sitting. I ordered a glass of wine for myself and a beer for Phil and we sat and waited for our flight:

There was free wifi so we amused ourselves for a while - me on my iPad and Phil on the free iPad that was supplied.

We sat there for an hour or so and then made our way to the gate at about 8.30pm, with boarding commencing at 9.45pm. When we got the gate we very much doubted that as there was a flight to India in at the same gate that was just boarding! However, everyone boarded quickly and then another plane appeared quite quickly.

About a half hour before boarding was to commence it still looked pretty empty... Until literally a whole plane full of 6th form students appeared!

I was a bit cross as I need to get some sleep but equally, I know how frustrating it is when people assume kids on your school trip will be badly behaved/noisy etc (I am a secondary school teacher). Fair play to United, we boarded on time and Phil and I were one of the last to get on as the school group took up most of economy!

It turned out it was actually two groups, a group from a school and a group from a college. We were sat in the middle of both groups! I was in the middle of the 2 3 2 configuration and Phil on the outside. The lady on the other side of me seemed to be a single traveller who was from the US.

We settled down to take off and there were lots of excited voices around us. We took off pretty much on time and were soon on our way, with an estimated time of arrival at Heathrow for 9.30am. Phil settled down to watch some films and I had to drive at the other end so I settled down to sleep. I have a pretty water-tight way of sleeping on planes - I use a j-pillow, noise cancelling headphones an audiobook and my jumper and just try to switch off. It's worked quite well on the past few trips as I've slept through most of the flight. The meal service came round and I didn't take my meal, although Phil got me a glass of wine. I didn't drink most of it and I was soon asleep.

I managed to sleep for most of the flight, waking up just before we got over Ireland and the breakfast meal service was brought round. This was a croissant and coffee, which was fine but I needed the coffee more than the croissant!

Finally it was time to land and we arrived back about 9.45am. We were off the plane quickly and Phil and I managed to beat the two huge school groups to immigration! We used the booths and were through quite quickly, ready to pick up our case. Knowing the faff we'd had before about having to get a train to terminal 2 and then a bus hopper thing, I suggested we got a taxi back to the Holiday Inn. There were taxis waiting and this was an eye-watering £25 for a 15 minute journey! Got to love the UK!

We got back to the Holiday Inn and Phil popped in to use the bathroom, before finding the car and making our way back round the M25 to home. The traffic wasn't too bad and we were home by 1pm.

So, another American Adventure was over! We were pleasantly surprised by United and would happily fly with them again. We love New York but it is somewhere we'd only want to visit every couple of years as we feel we've 'seen' it all now in a couple of visits.

So, onwards and upwards to our next holiday which starts on the 30th July this year! This is Florida but not Orlando and a cruise as well. I will be starting the pre-trip report any day now...

Thanks for reading

Phil and Kim x

(Also - hurrah, as promised, I'd finished my NY trip report!)

[MinnieMrsA]

Loved reading! New York is definitely on the hit list for us soon x

[pinktraceb]

Great trip report, thanks for sharing

[Cutiepie]

Great report, thanks for sharing Looking forward to the next one.

[jools1302]

Thanks for taking the time... and reaching the end! Getting very excited for my own trip in the summer 😎

[i love jack]

Great report
The food tour looks great, I loved walking round Greenwich but would be interested in that for any future visit

[mick]

Great last day we had breakfast at Morning Star when we were there and found it very nice too.
Thanks for doing the trippie, as usual I have enjoyed reading along


Joan

[yellowrose78]

Really enjoyed your report, thanks for sharing

[Goldia]

It sounds like you had a fab trip in NYC lots of tasty food and drink and some good sight seeing too.

[Buzz242]

I've really enjoyed reading you trippie, thanks for sharing. We're heading to NY in July for our first time and then on to Cape Cod and Boston.