FULL HONEYMOON NYC TRIP REPORT

[HBBrock]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 11:34am

I wrote this for my friends, but since I come to this site so often, I wanted to post it here in case anyone was interested in some places to go in NYC :) Enjoy!



Day 1: Monday

The start of the honeymoon!! We flew Jet Blue which is our favorite airline and a must if you are flying from Florida to New York. Comfortable seats. Lots of legroom. Great snacks. TV’s at each seat. All around excellent airline. We got to New York at about 11am and arrived at the hotel at noon. Luckily they let us check in 3 hours early! The hotel we stayed at was the Courtyard Marriott Midtown East on 3rd Avenue and 52nd. We stayed here once before on our trip last year with Paige and Justin and we loved it! This hotel is all around an amazing value! Great price. Great location. Clean. Very good sized rooms. Friendly staff. Next to a subway. 1 block from Ess-A-Bagel. Free internet and computers to use on the 12th floor. We were on the 22nd floor and they upgraded us to a corner room! Next – we got our metrocards (7 days unlimited subway rides for $24 each…great deal!) and were off to see the city!

· Sarita's Mac 'n' Cheese – The first stop on the trip was in the village at a place we heard about from the Oprah show. They are literally a small restaurant that serves only mac ‘n’ cheese! We ordered 3 “nosh size” kinds to share: 4 Cheese Mac n Cheese, Cheeseburger Mac n Cheese, and Spicy Cajun Mac n Cheese. Let me just say that this place was phenomenal. Homemade and really cheesy comfort food and they bring the skillets to the table! My fave was the 4 Cheese. Jenn’s fave was the Cheeseburger. http://www.smacnyc.com/ Check out the video on the front page of this website!

At this point we had intended to go to the Ground Zero, but we forgot that subway station has been closed for some time. We got off at the next stop and decided to just walk around and see some different places. Here we saw Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, the bronze bull statue (really cool!). We then made our way to Battery Park where we saw a statue called The Sphere which was an art scupture that was in front of the World Trade Center before Sept 11th and then got completely damaged. It was pieced back together as much as possible and it now resides here right next to an eternal flame as a memorial. In Battery Park, you can also get a view of the Statue of Liberty which was cool. We bought a 3D picture from a street vendor of Times Square which is awesome and I can’t wait to frame it and put it up when we move in a few months. The last thing we did here was watch a short “show” by some cool street dancers that we happened to walk by right before they started. The best thing they did was a running jump over about 5 people. Neat stuff.

We then headed back to the hotel to rest up before the NY See The Lights Tour that we booked for 7pm. I booked this tour through a third party site which I don’t usually do, and unfortunately my worst fears came true. At 6:50, we were standing on the corner of 50th and 7th waiting for the tour bus, but there was nothing. I called the company and they said that because of a glitch in their computer system, they had us down for Jan 7, 2007 (even though they saw that I booked it on Dec 7, 2007) and that they didn’t have any tours booked for that night and weren’t going to be able to have any drivers show up. Needless to say I was absolutely pissed on the first night because we were really looking forward to seeing the city and getting some ideas for some places to go. Lesson learned: Do not book things through third party websites!

· Dos Camino’s - Unsure of what to do at this point, we came back to the hotel where we got a recommendation to go to a Mexican place called Dos Caminos which was about 2 blocks from the hotel. We were hoping for a complete dive, but as it turned out, it ended up being the nicest Mexican restaurant I’ve ever seen in my life. It was a trendy “hipster” type place and I felt underdressed wearing sneakers. The one thing this place did have was the most amazing homemade fresh guacamole we’ve ever had in our life. Unbelievably good. The meals were good, but I found it a little outrageously priced for what you got. $5 for a side order of refried beans! http://www.brguestrestaurants.com/restaurants/dos_caminos_third_avenue/index.php


Day 2: Tuesday

· Ess-A-Bagel - There is no way to start out a morning without stopping at Ess-A-Bagel, which happens to be 1 block from the hotel. Perfect. Absolutely excellent bagels which we found out about on the last trip and this place is highly recommended to anybody who loves a good NY bagel. We went there 3 times throughout the week! http://www.ess-a-bagel.com/

After Ess-A-Bagel, we took a walk around Central Park South…nothing too exciting here…just saw some buildings we hadn’t seen before and were just killing some time before the David Letterman show.

· David Letterman Show - A few days before the wedding I got a call from the David Letterman Show and won tickets! As it turns out, time wise and location wise this fit in perfectly with the plan for the day. Being in the Ed Sullivan Theatre at the Late Show is an incredible experience. Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra came out to warm up and they played a full band version of Green Day “Basket Case” – horns and all. Amazing! They had a comedian come out for a few minutes to “prep” the crowd and then David Letterman came out and talked to the audience for a few minutes which was really cool. Our seats were 5th row center!!! The whole experience was awesome seeing how the actual show is taped and how it all goes down. The guests themselves SUCKED! Lucy Liu and 2 no names making their first television appearance. Overall, really fun time though!

· Ruby Foo's – Not knowing what time the show would end, we didn’t think we were gonna be able to do an official dinner reservation because we had tickets to Wicked at 7pm…but at 5:40, we realized that we could actually have Ruby Foo’s which we had planned on going to anyway, so that worked out perfectly. Ruby Foo’s was awesome – I think they call their food Asian Pan Fusion. Great Edamame, great Sweet & Sour Chicken Pot Stickers, and I had an excellent Stir Fry Filet Mignon with chow fun noodles. They did not lie. Those noodles were fun to eat! Jenn had a Shrimp Toast Crusted Salmon, she love it! Great restaurant. http://www.brguestrestaurants.com/restaurants/ruby_foos_times_square/index.php

· “Wicked” on Broadway – The first of what turned out to be four Broadway shows! Our seats were amazing!! We had Row N Center Orchestra - but the way the theatre was set up, Row N was perfect because of the curve upward. I was awestruck by the curtain and the set around the curtain with all the vines and the dragon and the map. By far, best curtain I’ve ever seen. We thought it was a really great show and it was cool to see the prequel to the Wizard of Oz, but it ended up getting beat out by two shows that we saw later in the week. Great music. The Woman who played Glinda the Good Witch (Annaleigh Ashford) was awesome. Some catchy songs and flying monkeys which was one of the coolest things I’ve seen done on stage. Good times! www.wickedthemusical.com

· Max Brenner's: Chocolate By The Bald Man – This is a place that must be tried by any human being who loves chocolate. Jenn and I shared two desserts. Chocolate Pizza and Churros with 3 different kinds of chocolate fondue. Chocolate Pizza has to be one of the greatest things I’ve ever had in my life. To fully see what this pizza has on it and looks like: http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/08/25/nyc-dining-max-brenner/ Look at the 2nd picture down….we had a small slice of each half of this pizza! An absolute must if you are in New York.


Day 3: Wednesday

Today we did a lot of walking around in Greenwich Village and SOHO. The village is awesome and one of the best places to visit on a trip to New York. Lots of great mom and pop stores, specialty shops, restaurants..just a really eclectic mix of things to see. We had lunch at a place that actually influenced Sarita to open up a Mac n Cheese restaurant. It was called Peanut Butter and Co.

· Peanut Butter and Co – What a cool restaurant idea! Recommended to us by two people (Justin and my brother’s old roommate Kusher), we decided to check it out. The idea is for adults to feel like a kid again and eat peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. Jenn had “The Elvis” which is toasted and has peanut butter, bananas, and honey. I had the “Sampler” which is a platter with 6 little cups on it to try all their homemade peanut butters: Creamy, Crunchy, Dark Chocolate Dreams, White Chocolate Peanut Butter, Spicy Peanut Butter, and Cinnamon Raison Peanut Butter. On the platter, you get crackers, apples, carrot sticks, and celery to dip in it. WOW! I was like a 6 year old in heaven. I’ve never eaten that much peanut butter in one sitting in my life! I must’ve looked like the chubby kid in Willy Wonka. Licking my fingers. Brilliant. They also sold their peanut butters in jars. We talked to the guy that worked there and he explained that they have been open for over 9 years now and he ended up giving us two $6 jars for free because we were on our honeymoon!! He said it was on them. AWESOME! http://www.ilovepeanutbutter.com/ Check out their website!

· Magnolia Bakery – This was another recommendation and it happened to be close by and on the path we were walking in Greenwich, so we stopped in. They have amazing red velvet cupcakes and we got some to go. Very busy in here and these are supposed to be the best cupcakes in NY.

· Bleecker Street Records – We walked in here for a few minutes and instantly it was the absolute best doo wop collection of cds I’ve ever seen for sale in one place. They had to sell at least 500 cds of just DOO WOP. Needless to say my face lit up and I bought two cds by The Elegants and The Roomates. We didn’t even walk around to see the rest of the store! http://www.bleeckerstreetrecords.com/

After walking around for a few hours and just taking in the whole neighborhood, we went back to the hotel for a little while to rest before the night’s activities.

· Gray's Papaya (Midtown location: 37th and 8th) – This is one of the single greatest places I’ve ever been to. New York or anywhere else. Anyone who is reading this and knows me knows that I absolutely LOVE a good hot dog that’s done right. I love dirty water hot dogs with all of my heart…but this place takes the cake. Picture about 50 Sabrett hot dogs (not the kind from Publix, but the kind from their factory in Jersey that has an amazing snap to it) all lined up on the grill and ALL they serve are hot dogs and cold fruity drinks (but known for their papaya drink). I had FOUR HOT DOGS and luckily Jenn was there or I probably would’ve had four more! They were that good. No exaggeration. Jenn had two and also tried the papaya drink & thought it was amazing! This location destroyed the location we were at last year and those were amazing too! I vote this as one of the best meals on the trip. http://www.hollyeats.com/Grays.htm

· “The Little Mermaid” on Broadway – What can I say, a lot of effort was put into getting tickets to see this show and we are very lucky we got to see it – FOR FREE. 8 months ago I ordered tickets for the Jan 10th show and then Broadway went on strike in November. The strike pushed the opening night back and it happened to land on Jan 10th. What that meant is that they cancelled all bought tickets because opening night shows aren’t for the public when you are talking about a big Disney show like that. After writing letters and emails, Disney called me and offered us free tickets to see this on them for the night before opening night which was the last preview. The show was magnificent. Our seats for the 2nd night in a row were incredible: Front row, front mezzanine, center seats! The music was outstanding. Sierra Boggess, who played Ariel, had the best performance of all the shows we saw. Sherie Renee Scott, who played Ursula, was also fantastic. The colors, the set design, the way they transitioned from underwater to land. It was all awesome. This ended up being our favorite show of the trip. http://disney.go.com/theatre/thelittlemermaid/index.html

· Junior's Cheesecake – Junior’s is one of the most famous diners in NYC and they are known for their cheesecake. While we thought it was very good, it was not the best cheesecake we had on the trip as we would find out later…. http://www.juniorscheesecake.com/


Day 4: Thursday
Originally, we were going to take a water taxi to Brooklyn and check out Grimaldi’s pizza….but once we found out that water taxi’s don’t go to Brooklyn in January and after sleeping in, we decided to go to the John’s Pizzeria location which is in Times Square.

· John's Pizzeria – Really cool location in an old church building! So there are stained glass windows and ceilings! This restaurant wins the award for worst service of the trip. Our waiter didn’t seem to care about anything and didn’t seem to want to be at work. We had mozzarella wedges that were really good and then shared a small pizza which was definitely good, but not as good as Goodfella’s in Orlando. http://www.johnspizzerianyc.com/index2.htm

· Central Park – Today we saw areas of Central Park that we haven’t before. We saw Strawberry Fields which was a great tribute to John Lennon, we walked around and found different statues such as the Bethesda Fountain, Alice in Wonderland Statue, and the Hans Christian Anderson Statue. Central Park is amazing. I’ve seen so many movies that had scenes filmed here. It’s so quiet and serene and it’s fun to people watch and see all the dogs. What a huge, amazing park this is. Then we went back to the hotel to rest.

Now originally, we were going to go to Larchmont, NY by train to see Will Hoge play an acoustic set at the Watercolor Café. Unfortunately this got cancelled about a week before and we had to re-arrange our plans. We decided to head back to the Village and try a place called Burrito Loco. We also bought tickets to see Mamma Mia that night after hearing a lot of great things.

· Burrito Loco – Again, homemade guacamole! I love this stuff!!!!! Not quite as good as Dos Caminos, but they made it right at the table in front of you here and it was still very good..although a pretty small portion. The meals themselves were good. Nothing to write home about, but good nonetheless. www.burritoloco.com

· “Mamma Mia” on Broadway – This was a last minute addition to our trip. We both thought it was just ok and was far and away the worst show we have seen on Broadway. Now to defend the show a bit, the five shows we have seen have besides this have all been blockbuster shows (Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins, Wicked, Little Mermaid, and Young Frankenstein)..so it’s slightly unfair to compare. But for the amount of money a Broadway show costs, I want some bang for my buck. The music was very good….but really not much else. The story was ok. The set was horrible (even worse than expected, and we didn’t expect much!). It was so bad that from where we were sitting which wasn’t even all the way on the right, we could see behind the one boring set piece that they used throughout the show. I don’t wanna see people changing costumes during a show! Overall, I had expected a really fun show and instead just got good music. http://www.mamma-mia.com/broadway/broadway.asp


Day 5: Friday

The day started off with the second of three trips to the always fantastic Ess-A-Bagel. We then made out way to the American Museum of Natural History at around 11:30am.

· American Museum of Natural History – Neither of us are much of “museum people” but we’ve been wanting to go here to see some of the exhibits and see what this place is all about. It’s HUGE! 4 floors filled with things to see. You can’t even do it in one day and we only had a few hours. Some of the things we saw were huge dinosaurs, an actual life-size whale, an IMAX movie called “Dinosaurs Alive”, a planetarium, and we walked around and saw as much as we could…different mammals, insects, and animals in general. Cool museum! Jenn was disappointed that the butterfly exhibit was temporarily closed, but still enjoyed the rest of the museum.

· Carnegie Deli – Another landmark New York City destination. One of my favorite places to visit in the city. We went here for a combined late lunch/early dinner at 4pm and I had the “Woody Allen” – which is the biggest and best deli sandwich in the world loaded with pastrami and corned beef. Jenn had the bacon grilled cheese which she loved too. I did the best I could to finish mine, but only made it a little more than halfway through. We got a slice of cheesecake to go which was free since I own the Carnegie Deli book which has a coupon in there for a free slice. We were too full so we had to eat it later. Their cheesecake is freaking amazing. Best cheesecake I’ve ever had. Makes Junior’s and Cheesecake Factory’s cheesecake very weak in comparison. www.carnegiedeli.com

· “Young Frankenstein” on Broadway – This show really set a new bar on Broadway in my opinion. Truthfully, it was top notch in every form of the phrase. Between the actors and the creative team, there are 27 Tonys won by people involved in this show alone! Everything from the actors to the absolutely massive set to the effects to the music that Mel Brooks wrote, to the choreography, to everything. It was all mind-blowing. I basically sat there with my mouth open the whole show because I couldn’t believe how good it was. It really beat Little Mermaid in almost every category, but for some reason when all was said and done, Mermaid barely edged it out because it was such a great and enjoyable show done by Disney and Disney really did a fantastic job with that show. But wow, I don’t think many musicals can touch this one. www.youngfrankensteinthemusical.com


Day 6: Saturday

The last and final day to do things in New York. We had a 12:30pm brunch reservation at the Stanton Social in the Lower East Side so we slept in and then got dressed to head down there.

· The Stanton Social – This place is A-MA-ZING! The idea behind the place is something that I would’ve loved to come up with. It’s basically a tapas (small plates) restaurant/bar where you order a bunch of plates and share them. We ordered 6 plates to share. Potato Latkes, Huevos Rancheros (breakfast tacos), a sausage and gravy biscuit slider, a small Kobe beef burger slider, French Onion Soup dumplings, and Vanilla Bean Pancakes with carmelized bananas and pecans. Jenn had a pomegranate peach bellini and I had an orange juice. All I can say is that I was so completely impressed with this place and how good the food and the atmosphere was that I put this into a “must go to” category and will be back here the next time we make it up there. www.thestantonsocial.com

After finishing brunch, we decided to walk around Chinatown, Little Italy, and Canal Street. We stopped at a place called Alleva in Little Italy that my dad has been telling me about for a few years. Fresh mozzarella cheese. Amazing cheese shop that has been around for over 100 years. Unfortunately, I forgot to get the salted mozzarella cheese and got the unsalted one instead so it was good, but not as good as it could’ve been. Next time! Had amazing cannoli’s at an Italian bakery, Jenn got some kitchen gadgets from a small shop and also got a “Coach” bag from a little Chinese lady who had us follow her into the back of her minivan full of fake bags!

· Fuerzabruta – Really awesome Off Broadway show that we read about in the NY Times a few months back. There’s really no way to describe this show so I might as well just tell you to visit www.fuerzabrutanyc.com and read about it. Basically, it’s a 450 person open room and it’s an hour long standing up show and the show happens all around you…all kinds of crazy dancing and stunts. The show is from South America. Go to the site and look at the pictures! It’s nuts.

· Mesa Grill – One of Bobby Flay’s restaurants for all of you Food Network fans. This place rules and the food there is really excellent. It was packed and at 9pm on a Saturday it’s really hard to get in there, but luckily we booked it well in advance. We started off with the fantastic “Goat Cheese Queso Fundido”…YUM! Jenn had the pork tenderloin and a sweet potato tamale with pecan butter as a side and I had the Red and Black Pepper Crusted Filet Mignon. Really great food and flavors and this place is a place I’d revisit too. This was the second time we went here. We then took a short cab ride to Greenwich Village for the famous Comedy Cellar. www.mesagrill.com

· Comedy Cellar – What can I say? This is one of the most famous comedy clubs in the world and it is literally in a basement and has a capacity of 150 people! So many famous comedians not only started their careers in this venue, but STILL come back and perform here unannounced when they are in town. There are no headliners and you never know who will show up and who will cancel. It’s just amazing to actually be in this room. We saw Keith Robinson, Godfrey (the 7-up commercial guy) , Lisa Landry, Dave Attell (YES, that Dave Attell), Sherrod Small, and John Joseph. Overall, not the best show ever, but not the worst ever. And how many times can you say you saw Dave Attell perform in a basement from the front row!!!! That was so cool. Best comedian of the night by far though was Godfrey who I’ve been wanting to see for a while now. Great material, great energy, and I’d love to see him headline a show if the Orlando Improv opens back up and he gets down here again. www.comedycellar.com

Day 7: Sunday

Our checkout was at 12:30pm so we slept in, went to Ess-A-Bagel for the third and final time…also getting some to go so we could share with Jenn’s parents. Then packed up. We took a car service from the hotel to the airport.

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In review, New York City really is the greatest city in the world. There is always stuff to do, hot dogs to eat, and places to see. It’s also the only city where you can buy 4 magnets for $41 and it doesn’t shock you. As Andrew W.K. sang on his first cd: “I LOVE NEW YORK CITY! OH YEAH! NEW YORK CITY!”

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 12:59pm

Glad to hear you had a good time.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 2:11pm

wow... I'm glad you guys have a great time... and were able to see THE LITTLE MERMAID for FREE.... yay!.... and also...



on your wedding!


J*
Updated On: 1/15/08 at 02:11 PM

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 2:12pm

Sounds like you both had a wonderful time! Thanks for posting!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 2:34pm

Your review of the food establishments you visited made me hungry.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 2:41pm

Your Fuertabruta review makes me wants to see the show! Its just dont they play kinda late? like 10 pm....

BTW- Mamma Mia has a minimal staging.... it does not have a full lavish broadway sets like some of the shows you saw like ... YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, WICKED, TLM... it supposed to be a greek isle setting......that's why its kinda minimal compared to the other shows you saw...I am seeing it in 2 weeks.. I am excited bec. I like the cast.. Dont like the music that much but I like the cast....so well see?


J*
Updated On: 1/15/08 at 02:41 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 2:44pm

Wow! Seemes like you had a really good time. I am going to have to check out the mac & Cheese place. I LOVE mac & Cheese and I stay over on that end of town when there.

Did David Letterman have any heat on?!! He is known for keeping the theater cold. When I went, I froze in there and I had a jacket! I watched the night Lucy Liu was on. (I am a big Letterman fan)

And I agree, Fuerzabruta is a very cool show! I bought the CD at the "theater" after the performance.

[HBBrock]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 2:55pm

Fuerzabruta has 2 shows on Fridays and Saturdays. Fridays it plays at 8 and 10:30. Saturdays it plays at 7 and 10.

We went to the Saturday 7pm show and it was sold out.

[HBBrock]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 2:56pm

Regarding Letterman, it was decently cold in the theater....but nothing too bad at all. We had sweaters on. I'd MUCH rather be cold than hot!
Updated On: 1/15/08 at 02:56 PM

[bluesoprano]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 3:02pm

HBBrock~

Wow, seems like you had the best honeymoon! Congratulations! You actually gave me some ideas of places to visit when I go to New York in August (that Mac n Cheese place sounds good).

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 3:04pm

Congrads on getting Married!!! sounds like you had a dream Honeymoon!!

[lildogs]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 3:14pm

Wow--I bet your Zagat guide is worn out! You somehow managed to do it all--and yes, Ess-A-Bagel is the best.

If you liked Mesa Grill, next time try Bolo--a smaller but (IMO) much better restaurant also owned by Bobby Baby--it's not the warehouse that MG is, but it's great.

[srgr8]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 3:15pm

Congratulations on the wedding! As for the recap...it sounds like you two had a complete blast. Thanks for posting the reviews of the restaurants! My dad LOVES hotdogs so I'll definitely be taking him to Gray's Papaya next time we're in the city!

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:19pm

Congrats on your wedding! I added the Mac and Cheese place to my list of possible restaurants when I visit NYC this weekend.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 5:56pm

I love Max Brenner's!

Congrats!!

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 6:05pm

Sounds like a great time!

I'll have to check out the mac and cheese place.

If you like Italian, you should check out Piccolo Angolo in the West Village when you're back in town.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 6:06pm

Sounds like a great trip. I should have conned my hubby into taking me to NYC for our honeymoon.

[HBBrock]

Posted: 6/6/08 at 4:07pm

I still can't believe we went from going here on our honeymoon to MOVING HERE in the next couple months! So excited.