Mark & Lyndon's NYC travel log

Friday, April 14^th 2006

We arrived mid-afternoon at Newark Liberty International Airport and took the AirTran (monorail) to the Newark Liberty International Airport Train Station.  Here we bought a train ticket from a vending machine for the trip into Penn Station in Manhattan on a NJ Transit train. The train made two brief stops along the way:  one at Newark Penn Station and one at Secaucus Junction.  We arrived at our Bed & Breakfast, Chelsea Pines Inn, about 1.5 hours after picking up our luggage out the airport.  We highly recommend staying here.  Our room was the Rock Hudson room on the 5^th floor (no elevator), and was very roomy.  The staff was very nice and Charlie the resident cat visited us a few times.  Chelsea Pines Inn is located on 14^th St just west of 8^th avenue and is very convenient to the subway as well as Chelsea and the West Village .  After quickly unpacking we took the subway (we bought a ”7-Day Unlimited  Ride”  MTA Metro Card for $24 each) to Grand Central to meet Lyndon’s niece Melissa and her boyfriend Matt at Charlie Palmer’s Métrazur restaurant where we were perched atop the East Balcony overlooking the main concourse.  For dinner Mark had Trout (Stuffed prosciutto wrapped brook trout, shrimp mousse, grain mustard vinaigrette) and Lyndon had the Scallops (Morel dusted sea scallops, sweet pea fricassee, bacon, pea shoots) with an Orange Crème Brule for dessert) After dinner we took the subway to Union Square for beer at Heartland Brewery where we had good beer and great conversation.  We took the subway back to our B&B and before going to our room to retire for the evening; we stopped at a Deli to pick up ‘comfort’ food, egg rolls chips and other junk food.  Hey, we were on vacation. It was lights off around 1 am.

Central Park Weather Today – Temp 54° - 67°   Rain 0.21”   Humidity 42% – 93%.
Austin Weather Today           – Temp 61° - 88°   Rain 0.00”   Humidity 91% – 33%.

Saturday, April 15^th 2006
We left our B&B around 10 am and strolled over to nearby Chelsea Market.  We had some wonderful pastries & baked goods here as we wandered around.  This complex takes up a whole block and you can pick up flowers, fruit, meats, cheeses, fish, bakery goods, wine and produce in this 800 foot long concourse.  This is another place we highly recommend visiting.  We then walked around for about 2 hours covering part of Chelsea and the West Village .  We walked up to about 8^th Ave and 22^nd St all the way down to Barrow where we spotted a Belgium Café (Petite Abeille) that we will go back on another day for waffles.  We then walked down Barrow to the Hudson River and out on the Christopher Street Pier.  Lots of people we are jogging and enjoying the nice spring like day. Next we walked over to Washington Square Park before taking the subway back to the B&B for a very brief stop. We got back on the subway to meet Melissa and her roommate at Union Square where we hopped back on the subway and went to Brooklyn to view Manhattan from the promenade.   Now our appetite was up so we waited in line at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria to dive into some good New York pizza. Since there was a long line, we got some ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory while we were waiting. Took subway back to our B&B and had a few hours down time.  Melissa took a cab over and visited us and Charlie the B&B’s resident cat.  We walked over to SBNY aka Splash Bar  to meet her friends Anderson & Eric who were going to show us the town.   The bartender gave us dye and boiled eggs so that we could dye Easter eggs while nursing our drinks. After a few drinks and few dyed eggs, we walked over to Spice on 8^th Avenue to have a late Thai dinner.  We figured we could consume more to fill our bellies, so it was off for some more drinks at The Duplex, a cabaret and piano bar on Christopher Street in the heart of Greenwich Village .  We were tired, so we left Melissa and her friends to go back to our B&B which we arrived at around 12:30 am.

Central Park Weather Today – Temp 52° - 80°   Rain 0.00”   Humidity 100% – 17%.
Austin Weather Today           – Temp 68° - 89°   Rain 0.00”   Humidity 85% – 36%.

Sunday, April 16^th 2006
We walked down to the West Village to eat at the Belgium café that we spotted on Saturday, Petite Abeille, 466 Hudson St & Barrow St.  Our brunch was good (waffles), but it was kind of chilly outside for us.  After eating, we took the subway to the American Museum of Natural History where we spent almost 3 hours there.  The museum was wonderful.  We hit the highlights and moved through pretty fast, but it was definitely worth it.  We took the train to Columbus Circle to find a place to eat.  We walked on the south edge of Central Park and down 6^th Ave and popped into a drug store to ask a clerk where somewhere was to eat some good food and get some good beer.  She suggested the area around Times Square .  So we got on the subway again and went to Times Square .  We looked down a side street and saw another Heartland Brewery – Heartland Brewery & Chophouse ( 127 W 43^rd St at Broadway), so we popped in there to eat and have some beers.  The bartender was from El Salvador and very friendly and had some good conversation with us.  We closed out our tab but when we tried to leave (several times) he poured us another 1/2 pint to 'try'. We stayed about an hour longer but it was nice chatting it up with him. It was Easter Sunday and there were hardly any people in there at all. Now it was time for dessert, so we took the subway to Grand Central to have some cheesecake at Junior’s -yummy, yummy!  To walk off the cheesecake we took the subway up to E 86^th street and walked around the Great Lawn in Central Park . After all this activity, we went back to the B&B to rest up and then went back to the Upper East Side to meet Melissa for dinner at Saigon Grill (2^nd Ave @ E 88^th St).  We took the subway back to Grand Central and walked down to the NY Public Library and then over to Times Square to see how it looked a night.  The scene there was very chaotic.  As we were very tired puppies we went back to the B&B where we arrived around midnight.

Central Park Weather Today – Temp 51° - 67°   Rain 0.00”   Humidity 59% – 24%.
Austin Weather Today           – Temp 67° - 95°   Rain 0.00”   Humidity 88% – 36%.

Monday, April 17^th 2006
We had breakfast at our B&B – bagels, coffee and juice and then took the subway to Melissa’s to see her apartment and her kitties (Checkers & Oliver).  Walked over to Gracie Mansion and Carl Shurz Park and took in the view over the East River .  Then took subway to Midtown for Bagel sandwiches at Ess-a-Bagel ( 831 3^rd Ave ) and for dessert took a spin through Dylan’s Candy Bar.  Ok, since our bellies are almost full the only think missing was beer!  So, once again we hop on the subway and make our way down to McSorley’s Old Ale House ( 15 E. 7^th St ). “Established in 1854 – McSorley’s is New York City ’s oldest continuously operated saloon.”  Our bellies were so full that we went back to the B&B for a little rest & relaxation.  Minor shopping was in order, so we walked over to a very neat store, Details ( 142 8^th Ave ) where everything was 50% off.  Took subway over to Astor Place station and took a nice long walk to dba ( 41 1^st Ave ) to meet a friend Shannon that used to work at Dog & Duck here in Austin .  We had a few beers here and ordered pizza to be delivered (which was bad).  The bar did have complimentary cheese and apple slices.  Mel said her goodbyes and caught the bus home.  We stayed a while longer and caught up on things going on with ourselves and Shannon.  For the first time we took a cab back to the B&B instead of going it on foot and by subway.  We then walked the View Bar ( 232 Eighth Ave ) and sat at a table next to the sidewalk and did a lot of ‘people’ watching.  It was getting a late and we were hungry so we made a repeat visit to Spice on 8^th Ave for some Thai food.

Central Park Weather Today – Temp 47° - 63°   Rain 0.00”   Humidity 54% – 36%.
Austin Weather Today           – Temp 71° - 98°   Rain 0.00”   Humidity 88% – 27%.

Tuesday, April 18^th 2006
Rise and shine time was around 7:30am. We didn't feel like hasseling with cabs and public transportation so we decided to book a car to take us back to Newark International Airport . It was a very quick and easy trip back to the airport, probably only 30 minutes for about $40 + $8 toll.  We arrived back at the house around 5:30 pm.

Central Park Weather Today – Temp 47° - 72°   Rain 0.00”   Humidity 66% – 25%.
Austin Weather Today           – Temp 68° - 97°   Rain 0.00”   Humidity 94% – 31%.