My husband and I just spent a wonderful 5 days in the city September 14-18. We were there for our second wedding anniversary. NYC has always been a special city to us 鈥?during our visit in December 2004 my husband (then boyfriend) surprised me with a romantic proposal!!! This year we decided to come back to this special city for our anniversary. We did so much and we had an amazing time. We鈥檝e been to NYC a few times and have already gotten a lot of the touristy things out of the way. The weather was wonderful 鈥?not too hot, not too cold and beautiful blue skies every day. Here鈥檚 just a highlight of some of our trip:
Hotel 鈥?We used Priceline and ended up with a suite at the Shelburne Murray Hill. This hotel has mixed reviews on tripadvisor, so I was a little worried but it turned out okay. Because I was concerned, I had emailed the Manager鈥檚 assistant back in August (thanks to the NYC experts for giving me the idea) and asked for a renovated room. She replied that they didn鈥檛 have a renovated room yet but that she鈥檇 give us one of their nicer suites since it was our anniversary. We walked in and there was a bottle of wine and a small box of chocolates with an anniversary card from the Shelburne staff. We thought that was a very nice touch. The suite was huge with a huge balcony that had a perfect view of the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building off to the right. The bedroom living room and dining room area was huge. The kitchen was tiny, but we didn鈥檛 care about that-we never used it. The bathroom was tiny and really could have used some updating. This hotel is definitely in need of some renovating, but our room was clean except for one issue with the sheets, which the hotel staff immediately took care of. However, now that I鈥檓 back I looked at the reviews and there are a couple of reviews that were written a month or so before our trip (that I hadn鈥檛 read before our trip) that stated they had mice in their room!!!!!! IF I had read those reviews before our trip I would have NEVER stayed at that place. Luckily we didn鈥檛 have any mice issues, but I am sick just thinking about it. Staff was very friendly and helpful and the service was really good. However, this hotel is in need of updating and I鈥檓 not sure if I would go back 鈥?any thought of mice is enough to scare me away.
We arrived at our hotel on Friday around 12:30pm. Our room wasn鈥檛 ready so they stored our bags for us and we were off to explore a bit. We walked around 34th street and Bryant Park (already my feet were killing me) and then went back to our hotel around 4:00 to see if the room was ready. We had dinner plans with some friends who live in the area at 7pm. We went to Sushi Samba and it was excellent. Great atmosphere, service, food and great drinks!! After dinner we spent the rest of the evening at The Garage for drinks. It was a fun evening.
Saturday was really our only day that wasn鈥檛 crammed full of things to do, so we took it easy (kind of). We explored some of the different areas (SOHO, the Village, downtown, Ground zero, etc.). The weather was great 鈥?we did a lot of walking, a bit of shopping. Can鈥檛 even remember where we ate this day but it wasn鈥檛 anything memorable or extravagant. Most times we just grabbed something on the way鈥?
Sunday 鈥?we had tickets to the gospel brunch at BB Kings. My husband loves to hear Gospel Choirs, so this was a treat for him. We both aren鈥檛 into buffet style meals, so we didn鈥檛 expect much. However, there were definitely things we could eat and the music was amazing. The Harlem Gospel Choir is truly amazing. If you like this type of music, it鈥檚 definitely worth it to check this out. After the brunch, we did more exploring, walking, shopping. Again - beautiful weather. Sunday evening we had tickets to go see Mamma Mia. This is a great show 鈥?so fun, so much talent. I absolutely loved it - would see it again in a heartbeat. It is SO amazing to me how talented these people are. After the show, we ended up at Serafina for dinner. We just happened to come across it as we were walking around looking for a quick bite to eat after the show. It looked nice and didn鈥檛 look too busy, so we stopped in and were seated right away. The food was really good. My husband and I both really enjoyed what we ordered.
Monday 鈥?This was our anniversary day and we had it jammed packed with things to do. It was a very early morning for us because we had tickets to Live with Regis %26amp; Kelly. I was very excited for this! We took the subway up to Columbus Circle, stopped at Starbucks across the street from the studio and then stood in line outside for a while until we got inside. After some more waiting, we were finally seated. Morgan Freeman %26amp; Ashanti were on the show!! It was fun to be there and experience the live taping. Kelly and Regis are so nice during the commercial breaks 鈥?they are always coming up to the crowd 鈥?talking, signing autographs, taking pictures, etc. I love this sort of thing, so I really enjoyed this.
After the show we went over to Central Park for a while. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning and it was so nice and quiet in the park. We enjoyed walking around a bit and also sitting and relaxing for a bit.
In the afternoon, we ate lunch at John鈥檚 Pizzeria on Bleeker. Very good Pizza, service was very fast and friendly. We did a lot more walking 鈥?Washington Square, Union Square, NYU, etc. We used the subway a lot but also did a lot of walking. One thing you should know -- I don鈥檛 own anything without heels except my running shoes (and a few pair of flip flops) - which up to this point I refused to wear out and about in NYC (don鈥檛 ask me why). At this point in the trip, my feet were killing me though. After 3 days of walking all over the city in my stylish shoes, I finally broke down and bought some Skechers. Let me tell you 鈥?if felt like heaven when I put those things on and I vowed to wear them for the rest of the trip (except of course for our anniversary dinner).
Monday evening 鈥?we stopped back out our hotel, got dressed and ready for our anniversary dinner (unfortunately had to put on a pair of uncomfortable shoes one more time 鈥?the Skechers didn鈥檛 go with the dinner outfit!) Our first stop was Rockefeller Center to see the views at the top of the rock. We went in the early evening while it was still daylight and watched the sunset. Amazing, amazing views. We have seen the views from the Empire State Building and I鈥檝e got to say I think the Top of the Rock is better since you also get the view of the Empire State Building. It was beautiful to see the colors of the sky as the sun set. Absolutely breathtaking. I was so glad it was such a clear day so we really got to enjoy this so much. Unfortunately, our camera battery died while the sun was setting and we were so smart to leave our camera bag at the hotel with our extra battery! We were disappointed about this, but we did get some beautiful pictures before it died. We were really bummed that we didn鈥檛 get to take all we wanted. Oh well, next time.
Anniversary dinner 鈥?For our anniversary dinner, I had done a lot of research and wanted something really quaint and romantic. Bettina had suggested Erminia on the Upper East Side and it did not disappoint!! It is so small, quaint and romantic 鈥?exactly what I was looking for. The service was great, food was delicious, good wine 鈥?what more could I ask for? Thanks Bettina 鈥?my husband and I both loved this quaint little restaurant. The intimate setting is perfect for a romantic dinner. I had the Salmon stuffed with lobster which was delicious. My husband had one of the veal dishes and he loved it. If you鈥檙e looking for a charming little restaurant for a special meal 鈥?this is the place!
Tuesday 鈥?we had to leave for the airport by 2pm to catch our flight, so in the morning we checked out of our hotel room, stored our bags and had some time to run around the city and get in some last minute shopping, exploring, etc. We managed to wear ourselves out running all over the place looking for last minute deals and got back at the hotel just in time to grab our bags, hail and cab and head toward the airport.
It was another great trip to the Big Apple. As always when I鈥檓 in New York, I was sad when it was time to go home. We always love visiting NYC and are already planning the places that we鈥檙e going to hit 鈥榥ext time鈥? Thanks to everyone on trip advisor 鈥?all the postings are so informative and helpful when planning a trip. I love to read the trip reports, so that鈥檚 why I decided to write my own. Hopefully some one will enjoy it or find it useful.
Thanks again 鈥?I am already looking forward to my next trip to this great city!!
Sept 14-18 trip reportWhat a perfect anniversary trip. I%26#39;m pleased everything worked out as planned.
I%26#39;ve enjoyed reading all about it so thanks for posting!
Sept 14-18 trip reportSounds like you had a perfect trip! Glad you liked Erminia. I should stop recommending it though, before it becomes impossible to get a table!
Happy anniversary!
Sounds like you a great trip.
Happy Anniversary, and many more.
Thanks for posting. Sounds like a great trip.
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