Back in the New York groove and back again

(This post was a draft for a long time. Apparently I had issues with blogger I was unaware of.  This trip occurred prior to the holidays).

CC and I are currently in JFK on our way back from another fabulous vacation in NYC.  He definitely indulges me because I know the last place he wants to go for vacation is somewhere cold.  Actually, the weather hasn't been that bad this time around and we definitely got our "sweater weather" fix.  CC has been jonesing for his flip flops for over  a day now.  :)

We arrived on Sunday pretty early in the day, around 10a.m.  We got our luggage, the Air Train, the A train and the R just as we should.  We stayed in Brooklyn this time around.  As it is so close to Christmas, Manhattan is PACKED!  Chad booked us at a hotel called The Union Hotel.  We arrived early, expecting to just have our bags checked into the luggage room until we could check in.  We walked into the lobby/foyer/closet (I have had walk-in closets bigger than this space) and informed the girl and the podium we had reservations.  Her eyes got really big as she said, "eet is too eerly."  CC said we realized and just thought we could put our luggage in the luggage room.  Again she says, "but eet is too eerrly."  She handed us the equivalent of a room key and told us the luggage room was downstairs and we could leave it there and bring the key back.  oooookay.  So we go downstairs, there is a closet with a lock.  we open it and there is luggage for 3-4 other travelers already in there.  There is no one over this area, basically put your luggage in the closet and leave.  I was a bit distressed.  I had a laptop etc. and they let just anyone off the street ask for the key.  We didn't show ID and she didn't take our name or anything.  Oh well...

So, we head back out into the rain and went to a nearby restaurant called Sheep Station.  They were just opening. (We kept forgetting it was Sunday).  They opening early for a party so we were able to get in at 11 and they had brunch.

Brunch is typically the same wherever you go.  This place had the usual and then they had a dish composed of french fries, cheese curds and gravy!!  Oh my!  it was delicious!  After we filled up we decided to jump the train over to Manhattan and go to the Natural History Museum.  Lots of stuffed critters but it was very interesting.

Elephants are very big!!

Not fond of the camera but I got him anyway!

Dum Dum, got gum gum?

This sperm whale was hanging two stories over the room

This museum has been around for a long time.  Many of the exhibits were donated/created in the late 19th / early 20th century.  The building and all of the decor reflects that era.  I would hate to think what it would cost to replace the wood work in this museum.



























Museums are definitely a great place to spend a rainy day.  Especially if you find yourself without boots.


Dinner was spent at Ocean Grill over on Columbus Ave.  We had a really nice butternut squash soup to warm us up.  At that point we decided we best head back over to Brooklyn in order to get checked in and up to our room.

We catch the train without a hitch and get back over to the Union Hotel to check in and get some rest for a big day the following day.  If you clicked on the link above for the hotel, I think you will find the pictures I'm about to show you does not resemble much of what is on the website.  I'll let you be the judge.

View from standing in bathroom entryway

From the entry to the room

The closet is against the foot of the bed

From the picture to the left, the door brushes against the bed when you open it. You must be on the left side if you are wanting to exit or you need to climb over the bed.


Looking at the picture below, it's hard to tell but the heating/cooling unit actually hangs over the bed a bit.  CC kept thumping it in the night.  The room was frigid by anyone's standards and colder than it was outside.  Naturally we had the heat cranked.  That unit was extremely noisy.  I would wake every time it kicked on in the night.                                                                                        

Now, you may ask why say anything, no one spends a lot of time in the room anyway and grant it, we did not.  I suppose the issue is there wasn't any room to turn around.  It was a good thing we had duffle bags.  I had mine against the wall behind the door to the room and CC had his in the bathroom that was probably bigger than the actual room.  the bathroom was the only thing that resembled the pictures on the hotel website.  It had the same everything except our shower wasn't a corner one.  The building itself was only 4 stories tall and we were on the 4th floor.  In order to get warm water to the sink, we had to turn on the shower or we would be an hour trying to get the warm water up to our floor.  We worked around that though and persevered.    The worse thing I suppose was every time we would leave, the cleaning crew turned our thermostat back down.  We would leave it up and keep the bathroom door open to try to heat it and they would come in and drop it back down.

My only stipulation with the hotel was that there wasn't any bugs and I didn't see a one so for that I am thankful.  The hotel did have free wifi which was nice and we were also provided with a free breakfast daily.  That was a definite bonus.  Again, I don't know where the pictures came from on the hotel website, but they sent us down two blocks to a diner called The Station.  It was owned by a very nice Greek family.  Very hospitable, took the time to talk to you and make you feel welcome.  The breakfast was delicious and was an wonderful start to a busy day seeing the sights.

So much to choose from!

After our wonderful breakfast Monday we  took a train over to the TKTS booth to stand in line to get tickets to a show.  We got tickets to Avenue Q.  It is a musical by the creators of SouthPark.  It's characters are people and puppets.  After we got tickets, we headed down to DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass).  This is a developing "hip and chic" neighborhood.  Granted, it was another rainy foggy day but on a clear day you can have fantastic views of the city.  We walked down to the river, checked out Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park.  We also took some pictures of the bridge and the area.  We


found Jacques Torres Chocolate in DUMBO.  It smelled amazing just walking through the door.  Of course we had to sample the goods!  Fabulous hot chocolate on a cold, wet day.  Couldn't beat it!

Tuesday we really did a lot of walking around and seeing the sights.  We Lunch was at an Irish restaurant and we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  We were able to see the Andy Warhol exhibit before they closed.  Afterwards we went to dinner at a restaurant close by on Fifth Ave.  For the life of me I cannot remember the name.  :(

The following day we returned to the museum to see what we could of the rest of it.  We still needed another full day.  There was so much to see!!  Definitely a great place to go when you are in town.  We will definitely return.

It was sad to have to return home. We always have such a great time when we are on vacation.  Yet another successful trip to the Big Apple.  CC says next time we are definitely going somewhere warm.  I can't wait!