Three Days in New York

2019 was the year we decided to start exploring America a bit. I have flown (and stayed) in 37 states, but the rest of the family has not been as fortunate. On Kyla’s bucket list was New York City and Elsa wanted to see our timeshare in Vermont. My role was to put it together among a busy academic schedule and work challenges.

We loaded up in typical fashion: one carry-on suitcase and a backpack/handbag, parked at ‘Fly-and-Relax’, (an undercover parking lot offsite at Orlando International Airport that is highly recommended), and boarded our flight on JetBlue. Non-stop and a soft touchdown, our Uber ride cost as much as a one-way ticket to New York!

Then it was off to the races! Broadway, Times Square, Manhattan, Central Park, Staten Island, bookstores, museums, and even the Rockefeller Building. As everyone knows, New York city blocks are not small. We covered many of them in three days. Staying off of Broadway in the Hell’s Kitchen District in Central Manhattan, we were close to both bus and subway transportation.

Three highlights stood out: The 9/11 Memorial, Central Park and the American Museum of Natural History. You cannot help to be moved by all three. The sobering, eye-opening 9/11 Memorial made us humble and thankful. Sad for the loss and proud of the American spirit. Central Park is a fairy land in the middle of a morass of humanity. A place to gather your molecules after the overload of sights and scenes in the city. The museum welcomed you with a real life T-Rex skeleton and the jaw-dropping continued from there on. The entrance fee is whatever value you place on a ticket. What a novel idea!

New York is New York. We stayed at the Staybridge Suites Hotel on 40th Street. It was not a suite at all but a regular hotel room. Service in the lobby was good and in the bar, not so good. Breakfast was excellent. We ate at an Indian curry place, a farm-to-table restaurant, Two Bros Pizza (a must) and from street vendors. We shopped at Penn Station (of all places), met up with Kyla’s cousin, and explored little holes in the walls. New York is New York.