NY State of Mind
In the classic Billy Joel song the writer uses these poignant words “But I’m taking a greyhound on the Hudson river line, I’m in a New York state of mind. Everytime I hear those words, I am reminded of the wonderful visits I have had and usually around now, I clearly want to be in a “New York State of Mind.” I have to admit that visiting NYC is always a treat and in 2019, I was especially lucky to visit three different times. The energy you feel as you land and leave the airport is both startling and breathtaking. This is truly a city that doesn’t seem to sleep with so many activities, things to see and places to visit. So what does your idea; 48 hours look like? Well, it really depends on when you go, and what you like to do? If theatre is what interests you then you have the best of the best with all of the top, new shows being available on Broadway.
You will also continue to find long running standards like the The Phantom of the Opera still playing. The hottest shows generally come with a higher price tag and you need to plan well ahead to score some seats. Almost a year ago, I was there with Ms. Sarah and after a long day of walking she had wanted to take a rest and since we were staying around 8th Avenue and 48th, I decided to venture over to a theatre nearby to see if I could acquire a Broadway show poster for the hit play, To Kill A Mockingbird, starring Jeff Daniels.
It was probably around 4 pm and as I entered the theatre, there was a well dressed woman in front of me who I overheard the theatre ticket representative say to her “yes, we still have tickets for tonight.” As my original intent was to simply buy a show poster, I thought it might make sense to find out how many millions it would cost for a pair of tickets and remember this was a Saturday night! To my surprise it wasn’t that bad and I made a last minute decision to buy a pair of tickets and when I went back to the hotel, I announced to Ms. Sarah that plans were changing and she was about to see the hottest show on Broadway. It's suffice to say that the show was outstanding and to see what is considered a classic piece of literature brought to the stage with some amazing talent was one of the best experiences we’ve had.
Given the last minute change of plans we still had to have dinner and one of the more popular places for late night dinner (especially in the Broadway area) is John’s of Time Square on West 44th Street. It’s location is quite unique as it’s built inside a former cathedral with huge stained glass windows and cathedral windows.
The ultimate in carbo-loading took place and the little one hung in there although by this time it was pretty close to 11 pm.
No trip would be over unless you visit two important areas - the World Trade Centre Memorial is a sobering reminder of the terrible tragedy that hit the city and the country not so long ago.
Thousands of lives were lost the morning of September 11, 2001. Two planes crashed into the North and South Tower of the WTC and within an hour and 42 minutes both 110 stories collapsed. As you walk through the sobering memorial there is a silence throughout and all you can hear is gentle whispering. Both young and old are touched by the experience and many of the visitors were not even born yet. It’s definitely a worthwhile trip to see.
The kid (aka Ms. Sarah) had on her list of places was the streets of Soho. NYC is truly a city of neighbourhoods and in nice weather the best way to see what NYC has to offer is by walking. The differences from the East Side to Westside to Midtown, the Village and Soho are vast.
The area of Soho (South of Houston street) boasts the greatest collection of cast-iron buildings in the world. The cobblestoned streets provide a contrast to the hustle, bustle of midtown NYC and when gentrification began around 2005, the neighbourhood began to go up scale with the addition of unique boutiques along with trendy chain stores. The buildings themselves offer housing to many of NYC’s wealthy who want to live “downtown” in these special loft buildings. The streets are especially busy with young teenagers looking for the latest in fashion. We spent a few hours in this area and you can feel the energy when you walk around. The Queen West area of Toronto attempts to have the same vibe but can’t quite pull it off.
So, if you want to eat well there is no shortage of great restaurants. A particular favorite is L'entrecote, which is situated on the east side of Manhattan. It is a copy of a famous chain in Paris that serves only one thing - steak/frites. They began with a small salad with only one type of dressing, followed by a healthy serving of steak and frites with their unique sauce on the steak. The picture below is not exact (from another version) but the NYC location does an admirable job replicating the food and the experience.
If you're looking for something then you have to make a visit to one of the original “burger” joints called Shake Shack. There are multiple locations throughout the city and although it doesn’t have quite the same charm as it did when it first opened, the food is still good and worth a visit. Of note, is the location north of the village in Madison Square Park. We managed to grab a few seats on an unusually warm day in the winter and wolfed down the burgers, waffle fries and milkshakes.
So, I end there - on a high note. It was a great weekend with Ms. Sarah and I think she had a great time. I’ll update the blog with more stores of NYC at another time.
