A Splendid Time Was Had By All

Being a tourist can be a lot of fun, can't it?  New sights, rich food, and impulse shopping all make for a fun-filled day or two.  I love to go on vacation but I'm always happy to go home.  Now that we are doing our "Grand Tour" the challenge is to make wherever we stay feel like home and still take advantage of all of the opportunities of a new place.  During our visit in New York City we've tried not to run amok and act like this is one long vacation.  Who can afford that?  Jack and I try to live like locals.  We cook at home most nights and the only shopping we've done has been for Christmas presents. 


This past week-end our friends, Pat and Denise came to New York City for a few days.  It was great to catch up with them and do some of the typical tourist things. Armed with our trusty subway map, Jack and I were able to play tour guide. (Our kids are laughing somewhere, muttering about "...the blind leading the blind.")

 We started our day with lunch overlooking the Bryant Park ice skating pond and then headed over to the Empire State Building.  It was a cloudy day but we were still able to see all over the city from the 86th floor observation area.  It was freezing cold and windy - it didn't seem that blustery when Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks met there at the end of Sleepless in Seattle!

We didn't really mind the wind or the cold but it was vaguely annoying that every step of the way cost money.  Tickets - $25/each.  Going to another level - an additional $15/each.  A map to know what you're looking at - more money. In order to leave the observation deck they route you through the gift shop to get to the elevator you just passed!  A small thing really but irritating.  How do families afford it?

Later that night we headed over to Grand Central Station which is one of the two train stations in Manhattan. 

Our kids had recommended that we have dinner at the Grand Central Oyster Bar so we took them up on their suggestion and had a terrific meal. The restaurant itself made me think of Mad Men for some reason.  It seems like the kind of place where those characters would enjoy a three martini lunch.  Since it was my birthday, I treated myself to scallops for dinner. I haven't eaten meat in several years but every once in awhile I will have fish when it seems like my body craves it.  Or maybe it's just when my willpower is low! 

The next day we all hopped on a Greyline Doubledecker bus for a tour of Manhattan.  Jack and I try and take a guided tour whenever we go to a new city and it's a great way to show visitors around town.  Since the tickets are good for 48 hours and you can hop on and hop off whenever you like, it seems like a pretty good value to me. 

Later that day, we had dinner and saw a jazz show at Dizzy's Club which is in the Time Warner building a couple of blocks from our apartment.  The view out of the floor to ceiling windows is incredible at night and the two times I've been there I've felt like I was in an episode of Sex in the City minus the amazing shoes and cool clothes, of course!  The food is good, the service is great and the prices are very reasonable.  Not New York reasonable but comparable to a nice restaurant anywhere.

Based on another recommendation from our kids, we finished off our night by heading back to Grand Central Station to have a drink at the Campbell Apartment which was closed for a private party the previous night.  Modeled after a 13th century Florentine palace, the Campbell Apartment was the private office of Joseph W. Campbell who rented the space to use as an office and to entertain guests in 1923 and maintained it for over twenty years.  The ceiling is 25 feet high and as you can see, the window behind the bar is enormous.  

Today, the Campbell Apartment is a place to enjoy "cocktails from another era".  It's the kind of spot where you would expect to see Hercule Poirot sipping a cup of tea or Howard Carter and George Herbert telling friends about their amazing discovery in the Valley of the Kings. It's a fun place to sit on a sofa in front of the fireplace and enjoy an appetizer while sipping a drink.  Jack stuck with Scotch but I had the Flapper's Delight and the Berry Royale, both of which I can highly recommend!  Stop by the next time you visit New York.  While it looks fancy, the dress code is casual.  It does say that tennis shoes are not allowed but I'm not sure how strictly the rule is enforced.  We did see someone with a baseball cap on so they probably aren't that strict about enforcing the dress code, but why risk being turned away?  The Campbell Apartment does recommend making a reservation if you plan on visiting during peak times like after work or on week-ends.  

We spent the following day visiting other New York City sites like Central Park and the 9/11 Memorial but I'll save that for another post. New York City was amazing but for Jack and me, the best part of the entire week-end was spending time with dear friends.  A splendid time was had by all.