The 'Rents in New York City

Saturday, May 10, 2008

I know it has been forever since I have posted. I have been reminded by many of that fact. The weeks just seem to whiz by. Two weeks ago, my mom and dad came out to New York to visit me. We had a blast, but our schedule was packed. I think they did more in the week they were here than most people do in a month. Here is my travel log: Tuesday: They arrived and dropped off bags at my apartment. We stopped in to see my office and meet my coworkers. Then we walked around Times Square. We then headed down to Grimaldi’s to eat dinner, and then walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. To finish off the night, we headed up to Grand Central Terminal, saw it and grabbed a Junior’s cheesecake. Wednesday: We wake up and go see Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, Trinity Church, Federal Hall (where the Bill of Rights was signed), Stone Street, the big bull (as seen in Hitch), and arrive at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. They took us on a tour of the bank and actually took us down into the vault where they hold $315 billion worth of gold bars for foreign governments. It was pretty cool. Then we walked around South Street Seaport, headed to Shake Shack for lunch (waited in line for an hour and a half). We walked from Grand Central to the UN building, seeing the Chrysler Building on the way. Unfortunately, the tour tickets to the UN were sold out, so we took a cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Toured around there for a few hours, and then headed to Little Brazil to eat a Brazilian meal (my dad served his mission in Brazil). After a tasty meal, we headed to Wicked. As always, it was amazing. Thursday: We woke up and went down to the Today show and got on TV, then we headed over to Times Square to check on Broadway tickets before we headed back over to the UN. We spent several hours touring the UN (which was neat because they took us in all of the rooms including the Security Council room and the General Assembly Room). Then we ate lunch at Grand Central before we headed to the New York Public Library and Bryant Park. We stood in line to get tickets to another Broadway show, and then finished touring Rockefeller Center and 5th Avenue, including Trump Tower, Saks, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Tiffany & Co., the NBA store and Carnegie Hall. We then headed down to Union Square for dinner with my cousin, Cory, at Max Brenner (a delicious chocolate restaurant). After dinner, we headed back up to Times Square to see Curtains with David Hyde Pierce. Friday: We slept in a little longer and then headed to the Statue of Liberty, went up inside the base of the monument, and then went to Ellis Island. Both were firsts for me since I came to the city. After we got off the boat, we walked around Battery Park City and saw Ground Zero. Then we headed up to have lunch/dinner at Serendipity (with frozen hot chocolate for dessert). We then made the trek out to Shea stadium to see the Mets play. Saturday: We slept in again and then went down to Macy’s (the largest store in the world: 9 stores spanning an entire block. It’s huge) and then saw the Empire State Bldg, but didn’t go up it. We then toured the lower part of Central Park and went on a carriage ride through the park. While we were there, we went into FAO Schwartz, got some gifts for the grandkids and saw the piano show (the giant piano from Big). We then had lunch at Grey’s Papaya, toured Columbia University, St. John the Divine Cathedral (the largest cathedral in the world), and Grant’s Tomb. We then made it back in time for a session at the Manhattan temple. Then we had a relaxing evening over a nice dinner at Ruth’s Chris, and then went to the top of Rockefeller center to see the city lights.

Sunday: We took it easy and just walked around the park in the morning. Then we went to Church and cooked a nice dinner and relaxed the rest of the evening (letting our bodies catch up). Monday: We woke up, saw Lincoln Center, headed up to Harlem and saw the Apollo theater, then went to the Museum of Natural History (the museum fictionalized in Night at the Museum). We then headed down to the Burger Joint (a secret restaurant inside a swanky hotel). We then ventured down to Chinatown for some shopping (even though we didn’t buy anything) and finished the trip with some banana pudding from Magnolia’s bakery. The only things on our list we didn’t do (because we didn’t manage to fit it in our schedule): a meal in Little Italy, the Museum of Modern Art, Coney Island, and a performance at Carnegie Hall. All I can say is that I would not want to be a tour guide for a living! Thanks Mom and Dad for coming out, it was fun.