The Travel Thread

[TDub]

Ive always wanted to go to Gettysburg.

[Deleted User 141]

And for travel arrangements, don’t forget BWI as an airport choice. SW can have crazy cheap flights in and out (I have a $98 RT from Denver end of this month), and there is a $5 shuttle bus that will get ya into city.

If it’s you and wife, I’d pay $25 or so extra for Uber from airport after long travel day, to save time and mental exhaustion.

[Deleted User 141]

National Cathedral, Zoo also a good day well spent. Cathedral at night is spectacular from outside, especially if there is any fog at all.

[pdub]

If I was a tour guide ( i'd buy a lot of these tickets in advance online if possible ) and you had 4 days in NYC:

Day 1 ( take it easy, you're gonna be walking a lot tomorrow - Times Square ) - get in that afternoon, don't plan anything, don't buy any tickets to anything. Get to your hotel, just start walking around where your hotel is. Go North, go South, go wherever. Get a touch lost. Stop at a place NOT between 50th and 30th for dinner that seems appealing ( don't go overboard on your phone looking on Yelp for spots ). Go underground that night and buy a Metropass ( put 40 - 60 bucks on it or consider just buying 2 7 Day unlimiteds for 66 bucks ). Take a train to Times Square and knock that off the list - see it at night, circle around the masses, snap a pic or two, go home and get some rest.

Day 2 - ( knocking off the tourist spots ) Get up early. Get a coffee and NY bagel. Take the train down to Lower Manhattan around City Hall Station. Walk down to see St. Paul's Chapel. If you woke up early enough, you can't get into the 9/11 Memorial yet so walk down to Wall Street and see the Bull. Keep walking down to Battery Park. Take the Staten Island Ferry ( UNLESS you're planning on going to a Staten Island Yankees game ) back and forth. It's free - you'll see the Statue of Liberty in passing. When you get back, do the 9/11 Memorial. It'll be around lunch but please don't go into a Cosi and buy some cheap sandwich -- find a bodega with Boars Head if you want a sandwich -- or hop on a train and get away from Wall Street/downtown -- up to Union Square. Go North a few blocks or South a few blocks and find lunch in that area ( not right off Union Square ). If you're in the mood for BBQ - Hill Country is close by - or you could instead take the train up a little bit more and do burgers in Madison Square Park at Shake Shack. Or head inside Eately -- just a huge Italian market -- good sandwiches/salads/pastas. Make your way to the Empire State Building. Get in line for that sucker. You could do this in the evening for glamour shots but for me, evening is best walking on the streets. It'll probably be mid afternoon when you're out of there. Head up 5th avenue. You've put yourself in a good spot to walk past the NYC Library ( Ghostbusters, big lions, woooo ). Bryant Park might have some sort of event going on. ALSO SHOPPING GALORE! APPLE STORE! Hit up the Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. See where pdub used to work across the street at the UBS building. Awe at the line to a Halal truck ( it's good but it'll crush your stomach - don't do it on a 4 day trip ). You can make a quick trip to the edge of Central Park if you still have the feet but you'll cover this Day 3. It's dinner time. GET OUTTA the area. You can go to Koreatown and get Korean. Make a reservation at an Indian spot like Junoon. Get noodles at Ippudo. You can take a train or a cab just don't eat dinner where you've been touring. Go back to your hotel, take a chill pill, then head to a Broadway play ( you are with your wife, JFish will skip big Kentucky basketball games for Wicked ). You've seen Times Square already so you aren't missing out. If you still have it in you, grab a brew around your hotel.

Day 3 - ( art and culture ) Treat yo self to a good NY breakfast/brunch. Balthazar in SoHo. My personal favorite in the city is Cafe Mogrador - holy shit the mediterranean breakfast. Take a train up to the Natural History Museum. Spend a couple hours in there. You could spend longer. If you're in there long enough, DON'T eat right off of Columbus/Central Park - do yourself a favor and walk one more block to Amsterdam Avenue and head up or down and find a spot for lunch there ( Luke's Lobster/The Gin Mill ). If you want to see the Met, take a cab here ( don't take a train ) and ask if the cab is cutting through Central Park ( it'll be scenic and if they aren't cutting through, they are just trying to make money off you b/c they know you're a tourist ). You won't see everything here - there's too much - so you can zoom through and not read or you can pick a particular section you are most interested in. Then wander some in Central Park. If you didn't do the Met, then you can plan for more wandering -- maybe even rent a canoe at the Loeb boathouse and do some paddling. It's late afternoon/early evening. Let's cross off both villages. East Village 1st for dinner. If you didn't do Ippudo, maybe do it now. Momofoku. Caracas for some Venezualan arepas. There's some good sushi spots around here. There's an entire block of Indian food called Indian row by St. Mark's. If you want to go fancy, get a cocktail after dinner at a speakeasy like Please Don't Tell or Death and Company ( might need reservations ). Then go grab a drink in West Village - you can go historic to White Horse Tavern - you can grab a big selection of beers at The Blind Tiger - you can go to Fat Cat and play scrabble or ping pong and listen to jazz - you can hang out with some NYU'ers at the Peculier Pub - you could chill at pdubs favorite bar Kettle Of Fish. Grab a late nice slice at the best Pizza joint in NYC - Joe's on Bleeker. If you still have it in you, go to a late night comedy show at Comedy Cellar. Or try Karaoke at Karaoke Boho, Japas NY or on one the the places off St. Marks.

Day 4 - ( whatever ) Play by ear. If you didn't do the Met, maybe do it today. You could walk the Highline on the West side by the Hudson. You could get lost in Little Italy and Chinatown - get some thai food or soup dumplings or Pho( Joe's Shanghai is a staple ). Think about hitting up Brooklyn - you could walk the Brooklyn bridge and wait a long time for pizza at Grimaldi's ( not worth the wait imo ). Or take the L train to the usedtobehipbutnowisyuppie Bedford stop and explore Williamsburg. The food out here is legit. Egg for brunch. Williamsburg Thai for no frills thai food. Allswell. Diner. Oysters if that's your thing at Maison Premiere. Pies N Thighs. Best BBQ in NYC at Fette Sau. Maybe head to McCarren Park to see all the hipsters doing hipster things. There's a bar on the corner of the park called Turkeys Nest that is still keeping Brooklyn real. There's a big beer hall called Radaghast with german food. Just past McCarren park is Greenpoint - a polish hood. There's a good Mexican joint right on the edge of Williamsburg and Greenpoint called Calexico. Heath Ledger started a restaurant here with a killer burger called Five Leaves. Keg & Lantern used to be a KU friendly bar here. You could do also do a Yankees/Staten Island Yankees game on this day/night. Don't plan that much beyond a possible baseball game or dinner reservation. If you like live music, go to the Lower East Side and see a show at Arlene's Grocery or the Mercury Lounge or Rockwood. Could wait in line after for a 19 dollar ( but loaded ) sandwich at Katz. If you're way into meatballs, hit up the Meatball Shop. You've gotten comfortable enough with the train and walking that you should be open to feeling what a NY'er feels like.

Of course, I didn't get it all--and I don't know your scene ( mine involves a lot of alcoholic stops ) but that's what I would do.

[jfish26]

Did this last time and it was phenomenal: https://sail-nyc.com/aiany-architecture-boat-tour/

[jhawks99]

Pdub the travel agent. Helluva post.

[CrimsonNBlue]

I especially appreciated the local insider tip of Shake Shack, Eataly and Apple Store.

[pdub]

There are touristy things to do that are worth doing ( not musts but options ).
Those include Shake Shack ( it's a good burger ), Eataly ( I actually wouldn't even consider Eataly touristy, I used to go here after work to pick up dinner/fresh pasta/ingredients to cook ) and Apple Store ( though I kinda said Apple Store jokingly - it's a cool looking building - just peek your head in ).

[NewtonHawk11]

Helluva post PWhitt. Thanks. And I truly mean that.

As I stated, my wife and I are really curious about NYC as we both have never been before and if we go, I think that's where we are going to go.

[jfish26]

There are touristy things to do that are worth doing ( not musts but options ).
Those include Shake Shack ( it's a good burger ), Eataly ( I actually wouldn't even consider Eataly touristy, I used to go here after work to pick up dinner/fresh pasta/ingredients to cook ) and Apple Store ( though I kinda said Apple Store jokingly - it's a cool looking building - just peek your head in ).

NYC drinking game: take a shot every time you pass a Duane Reed.

[pdub]

You'd be hammered by 10:30 AM.

Great casual drinking thing to do with a date - find a bar and sit up in the window, people watch and try to come up with their stories.
Drop Off Service ( one of the best and longest happy hours in NYC ) and 11th Street Bar in East Village great candidates.

[Deleted User 295]

After reading that, I feel like I've already been to NYC.

It's actually called "John's of Bleeker" that you're talking about right? 1 of Dave Pourtnoy's top rated spots.

[pdub]

I try to ignore you but for Newtons sake I won't.
No, Joe's pizza, on Bleeker and Carmine.
It's what a NYC slice should be.

[jfish26]

I don't know the last night I was in Manhattan that I didn't at least stop by McGee's. Great bartenders (who remember me, which is nuts), and Sculpin on tap. Not common to find anywhere, much less NYC.

[Deleted User 141]

Great post, from all accounts, pdub, but tl;dr

[CrimsonNBlue]

Sculpin on tap. Not common to find anywhere, much less NYC.

Up/Down, FTW.

[jhawks99]

My 1st ever business trip was to New York, Long Island actually. I was there for two weeks for a certification course on a phone system. I landed at La Guardia and got my rental car. Ended up overshooting my exit and going way too far. I call the hotel a couple of times to get directions. Mrs 99 hasn't heard from me and she's freakin out cuz she saw Death Wish and is certain that is going to be my fate so she's calling the hotel as well.

I finally find it and check in hours late. The lady at the front desk gives me a couple of tickets for drinks at the bar. I call the wife and tell her I'm heading to the bar and I'll call her when I get back. I'm there for an hour or so talking to these two dudes getting hammered. One if a local guy, the other from Ireland. One of them says something stupid and they start to fight. I get a couple of beers to go and head up to my room to call Mrs 99.

As I am talking to her, the hotel room starts to fill up with thick, black smoke. I yell out, "holy crap, this place is on fire. Gotta go, bye." I grab my still unpacked luggage and head out of the room, of course leaving the rental car keys there. I go to the front desk to let them know and she's already on the phone with the fire dept. Just then the sprinklers cut looose and I'm drenched.

Outside is chaos. Fire, cops, ambulances (no one was hurt), teevee trucks, and a bunch of hotel guests hanging out watching it all go down. I see a car pull up next to where I am standing, a guy gets out and we start talking. He says that the US Open golf thingie is going on and hotel rooms are scarce and we better get in his car and find a hotel with rooms before this one calls for buses and we end up probably sharing a room. I look at this guy, he's a lot older and smaller than me and I decide to go with it. We each get a room at the Holiday Inn and just as we're finishing up at the front desk the bus pulls up. It's about 2am at this point.

Next day I call the wife, the company that is holding the class, my office, and the rental car company. The phone system company says that I don't work for an authorized dealer and that I should take the next plane home. My office negotiates that I can take the class, but no certificate unless I go to work for a dealer.

I walk into class very late and have a new nickname. Sparky.

Things got interesting from there.

[zsn]

.........Sculpin on tap. Not common to find anywhere, much less NYC.

I don't think you can walk into any half-decent place in the Bay Area and NOT see Sculpin on tap! You'll also see Space Dust, Green Flash and of late I'm seeing a lot more of Pliny the Elder.

Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to go stand in line to get Pliny the Younger - released tomorrow, BTW!

[Deleted User 89]

My 1st ever business trip was to New York, Long Island actually. I was there for two weeks for a certification course on a phone system. I landed at La Guardia and got my rental car. Ended up overshooting my exit and going way too far. I call the hotel a couple of times to get directions. Mrs 99 hasn't heard from me and she's freakin out cuz she saw Death Wish and is certain that is going to be my fate so she's calling the hotel as well.

I finally find it and check in hours late. The lady at the front desk gives me a couple of tickets for drinks at the bar. I call the wife and tell her I'm heading to the bar and I'll call her when I get back. I'm there for an hour or so talking to these two dudes getting hammered. One if a local guy, the other from Ireland. One of them says something stupid and they start to fight. I get a couple of beers to go and head up to my room to call Mrs 99.

As I am talking to her, the hotel room starts to fill up with thick, black smoke. I yell out, "holy crap, this place is on fire. Gotta go, bye." I grab my still unpacked luggage and head out of the room, of course leaving the rental car keys there. I go to the front desk to let them know and she's already on the phone with the fire dept. Just then the sprinklers cut looose and I'm drenched.

Outside is chaos. Fire, cops, ambulances (no one was hurt), teevee trucks, and a bunch of hotel guests hanging out watching it all go down. I see a car pull up next to where I am standing, a guy gets out and we start talking. He says that the US Open golf thingie is going on and hotel rooms are scarce and we better get in his car and find a hotel with rooms before this one calls for buses and we end up probably sharing a room. I look at this guy, he's a lot older and smaller than me and I decide to go with it. We each get a room at the Holiday Inn and just as we're finishing up at the front desk the bus pulls up. It's about 2am at this point.

Next day I call the wife, the company that is holding the class, my office, and the rental car company. The phone system company says that I don't work for an authorized dealer and that I should take the next plane home. My office negotiates that I can take the class, but no certificate unless I go to work for a dealer.

I walk into class very late and have a new nickname. Sparky.

Things got interesting from there.

fantastic, crazy story

[jfish26]

.........Sculpin on tap. Not common to find anywhere, much less NYC.

I don't think you can walk into any half-decent place in the Bay Area and NOT see Sculpin on tap! You'll also see Space Dust, Green Flash and of late I'm seeing a lot more of Pliny the Elder.

Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to go stand in line to get Pliny the Younger - released tomorrow, BTW!

I weighed whether to say anywhere “outside California.”