New York or Orlando?? Heck, let`s do both.....12 nights NYC & Sapphire Falls...July 18 Trip Report

[keishashadow]

Caught up! When i saw the large church out your window was hoping it was St Patrick’s! If you have any others to share, please do.

Love how you toured at your own pace, doing exactly what you felt vs what the guidebooks scream is essential. You surely make NYC look far nicer than I recall during my few brief (business) visits.

Do think you really need to grow a few more fingers before you visit Tiffany’s again JK, A girl can never have enough bling, or purses, or shoes (I could go on), but the love of a good spouse is the rarest of all treasures.

 

[Bethany10]

You guys are killing me with the selfies. I love how you're both looking in different directions but you're also both really happy and smiling.

 

[Lstar311]

I think your selfies are great!!

 

[schumigirl]

Whew! Finally caught up. The photos from your room are stunning. I love the night-time shots the best. Something about NYC at night with all of the twinkling lights. *sigh* Can't wait to read more.

Back!!!


Yes, I think we decided we liked the night time view best........night time in the City is an amazing experience.....yes, those twinkling lights are spectacular!

Glad to have you along and hope you enjoy it.........

 

[schumigirl]

Wow - for a "relaxing day" I can't believe how much you did!

I'm sorry that the champagne bar was a disappointment but both the sushi and the pizza look great (although I'd have had to have gone for a less spicy version of each - no jalapeños for me thank you!).

Lol......yes, looking back we certainly walked more than I remembered!!! No wonder I was tired........

Yes, the champagne bar was a disappointment.......staff were very different from last time and not as friendly......but the sushi and pizza were amazing!!! Especially the pizza..........

Yes, we are huge jalapeño fans! Have them on almost everything.......but, yes, not for everyone........

 

[schumigirl]

Nice update!
Food looks amazing!!

Thanks!!

Yes, food always plays a big part of our trips........

The pizza especially was gorgeous!

 

[schumigirl]

Great update...love the food porn!

A little off topic but what is your favorite sushi at Orchids? We plan to check it out next month and any drink suggestions are also welcome

Ain’t it the best!!!

Well, we haven’t tried anything we didn’t like at Orchids........that may say more about us though........

Our favourites we decided are..........Mexican Roll.....it has more jalapeño in it and is quite spicy........Dynamite a Roll and Volcano are next in line.

Drinks........all of them!!! The Waikiki berry mojito (minus the mint yuk) is lovely........Sunset is another good one.........and the Mai Tai is fabulous! Never met one I haven’t liked either.........although unlike StrongWater where I have actually tried all the cocktails........there is a couple there I haven’t sampled..........

You can also have them make a cocktail from Jakes if you like any of them.......

I’m sure you’ll love it there Vicki........

 

[schumigirl]

I keep looking at the pictures of Carole and Tom and each one of them has them smiling.
And all of them are such nice natural pose pics.

Aww thanks!!!

We really do smile all the time!! Except when I accidentally put the light on in the middle of the night!!! Lol.........didn’t see a smile there!!!

Glad you’re still reading along.........

 

[schumigirl]

You guys are killing me with the selfies. I love how you're both looking in different directions but you're also both really happy and smiling.

We are rubbish at smilies!!!

Guess we’re just not used to them.......some folks seem to have them down to a fine art!!

We were having an amazing time! And maybe it shows..........but thank you......I’m glad you are still reading along.......

 

[schumigirl]

I think your selfies are great!!

Lol.......I will take all the compliments I can get!!!

We did try......and more than a few more were taken......most not flattering as I said my face was a bright red beetroot for a lot of this trip

 

[schumigirl]

Caught up! When i saw the large church out your window was hoping it was St Patrick’s! If you have any others to share, please do.

Love how you toured at your own pace, doing exactly what you felt vs what the guidebooks scream is essential. You surely make NYC look far nicer than I recall during my few brief (business) visits.

Do think you really need to grow a few more fingers before you visit Tiffany’s again JK, A girl can never have enough bling, or purses, or shoes (I could go on), but the love of a good spouse is the rarest of all treasures.

I’m sure I do.......it is beautiful!!! I do have more from inside, I can certainly post them........

I guess we were lucky having done the touristy stuff many times, it really wasn’t necessary to be included in this trip........although I did wish we had explored more of the Upper West side and went back to Harlem. My niece and I spent time in Harlem on our first trip and we loved it.......amazing chicken and waffle place........not Sylvia’s......a police officer told us of another place and it blew me away!!! But, I think it may have been too much of an effort if I’m honest in the heat of the day........

Yep, there are streets that could be doing with a good scrubbing.......but basically it is so much cleaner than we ever expected it to be.........considering the amount of people there!!!

Lol......yes, maybe sprout an extra wrist or two as well..........lol........I love the jewellery I’ve had from Tiffany and I’m sure at some point there will be more...........but I agree with your lovely sentiment .........and we both struck gold there with husbands!!! I wouldn’t trade mine for the world..........

Glad you’re all caught up......

 

[schumigirl]

Special post for Keisha...……………..ask and ye shall receive...….or something like that......

View from last years lower 41st floor

 

[jocelyn6]

A new trip report!! Following along!! YAY - looking forward to your many adventures!

 

[erinch]

Late to th party! Waiting to see if the Tavern on the Green shows up this year.

 

[klo1335]

We walked around Times Square and headed to John`s Pizzeria. It`s on W44th street so wouldn't take long to walk there at all...

One of my favorite places to eat. Do you know the history of the building? It used to be a church.

http://www.johnspizzerianyc.com/More-Info/Our-History

It is so pretty when you go at Christmas time as the decorate it so pretty!

Next time you go, I recommend McHale's Pub. It is so nice and great food!

http://mchalespub.com/

 

[schumigirl]

A new trip report!! Following along!! YAY - looking forward to your many adventures!

Jocelyn...…….hoped you`d be along soon!!!

Not a lot of adventures in this one.....but fun for us all the same...…..but, hope you enjoy it anyway...….

 

[schumigirl]

Late to th party! Waiting to see if the Tavern on the Green shows up this year.

erinch……...doesn't matter you`re late......I haven't got too far in yet...……

We didn't go to Tavern on the Green...…..we did plan to, but you know...….we did take a picture of it from the outside though in passing...….

 

[schumigirl]

One of my favorite places to eat. Do you know the history of the building? It used to be a church.

http://www.johnspizzerianyc.com/More-Info/Our-History

It is so pretty when you go at Christmas time as the decorate it so pretty!

Next time you go, I recommend McHale's Pub. It is so nice and great food!

http://mchalespub.com/

Yes, we did. I had googled it when someone mentioned how huge it was...….I couldn't imagine....

I love the history of places, all those places around what Times Square used to be, before it was all cleaned up. Beautiful building though.

Christmas would be gorgeous in there......I would hope they had a massive tree!!!!!

 

[schumigirl]

SUNDAY JULY 15TH...……………………..


We again, slept so well...…..I did get up for a bathroom visit, and took care not to put the room lights on, just the bathroom one......although there was a lovely little glow in there with the electrics that really, you didn't need the full light...….saved your eyes adjusting to a bright light too coming from a room in total darkness...….I remember getting back into bed and wondering if I would get back to sleep...…..I did.

We awoke this morning to rain......not heavy downpouring rain, but looked a little miserable...….I had actually heard it pattering against the windows during the night at some point, but hoped it would be off by morning. It wasn't.

So, once we quickly showered and dressed all while watching yet another Potter movie in the background......I missed the Weather Channel...….for some reason we couldn't get ourselves moving this morning nor get out of one another`s way lol......wherever Tom was sat or standing I seemed to want to be...….so I said I`m going to stand by the window till you`re ready...…..well, close to the window...…..

And as I`m close to the window, I have to hold on to something...…….

Today ended up being one of those nothing days you thought.....what the heck have we done today...….we honestly and truthfully couldn't remember this day when we got to Orlando...…...but, we were heading to breakfast at another diner I had wanted to try. It was only a few blocks down on 44th street. I had seen it when we had looked at staying at the Sofitel on the same street, but then we found the New York Palace and chose to stay there instead.......but this place had looked good.

My email pinged just before we went out and it was our friend in Orlando, always love hearing from him, so I replied immediately before we set off.....we don't carry phones, so if I miss an email when we`re out we have to wait till we get back...…..some folks don`t understand how we can manage without a phone......very easily is the answer. Although I know some folks have to carry phones in case of family emergencies and such, but for us it was lovely to be without one for a while........but once I had answered the very welcome email, we headed out in now light rain for our short walk.

I had brought my sun hat along, as I was convinced as always it would brighten up, I also forget their was a conveniently placed brolly in our closet to be used......it stayed nice and dry ..….but for now it was keeping my newly straightened hair dry...….it wasn't too bad now, and only took 5 minutes or so to get there...…..we also conveniently found Best Buy as we walked...….for some reason I hadn't seen this place before......we were looking to buy an extra battery for the newest camera so would pop in at some time or other.....….

We didn't take a picture of the outside as we just wanted to get inside, and it was a lovely little place......few workmen, families and always good to see a few of NYC finest Police Officers......always a sign the food is good. We were seated and water and coffee sat down to us and we did smile at our waitress as she wasn't exactly friendly, but thoroughly efficient...….as long as we got the correct food we`d be happy...…..

I just noticed how wet Tom`s tee shirt was...….didn't notice in the diner at all.

We both ordered pancakes this morning...….mine with bacon and Tom`s with sausages and we shared the meat between us...….they were delicious and the bacon was not too solid, but those little sausages were nice...…...not lush, I keep that for amazing food!!!! But they were a lot nicer than the ones we had from the Brooklyn Diner the day before...….

Once we had finished and had our fill of never ending coffee, we paid the check at the door and headed out in to the very quiet Sunday morning...……and I`m glad to say the rain is off. And it is now warm but very dull.

We had no real idea of where we were going today ...…...we did think we could go to the NYPL, but although they do open on Sundays, not during the time we were here......of course. So we thought we`d wander down to Flatiron Building and Madison Sq Park for a little bit and then wander and see where we ended up...….that was as big of a plan as we could muster. We did think of heading down to Washington Sq Park as we liked it there......we would see where we ended up. Although I have to say even I was surprised where we would spend 2 hours shortly.

Of course we pass the library on our walk, it is such a beautiful building and I planned to spend a bit more time in it this time when we went back, as I`m sure we would as I hoped the gift shop still carried a book with a certain design on the cover. But, for today we kept on walking.....and it was incredibly pleasant as it was so quiet......even the traffic was slightly less manic today...……...looking in store windows was a treat as we could saunter and not get in anyone`s way......something I am incredibly aware of......in fact I definitely became slightly less touristy and did get irritated by folks who just stop in the middle of the path or stop to look at a map.....by all means but move in to the side...…..I only got grumpy with tourists once or twice though...….honest


I love the ESB. One of my favourite tall buildings in the world. I did think for a minute we should go up again...….but, honestly, I had been up 4 times already so would leave it a few years before we would come back again. But, it`s an impressive building.

Washington Square Park is tiny. It really is......there`s nothing much of interest to see or do here...….but, we buy a bottle of water each and just sit and watch the squirrels...….who get amazingly close...…

It is pretty though and I adore how a place as brash and loud as Manhattan have these havens of tranquility scattered around for everyone to enjoy some greenery in their day...….lovely...….it`s another one of these places you can sit and watch the whole world pass you by without a care in the world...….and it is tranquil....apart from the occasional emergency siren, you don't really notice the traffic in them.

This little guy slowly got closer and closer, although cautiously, but they know where to get food that's for sure...…...they are so cute. Sadly we had nothing to give him this morning......he didn't move away for quite a while though...…..when his little squirrel friends appeared in front of us, he very quickly and still guardedly joined them in the grass.

There was a little café and it looked pleasant enough......we didn't feel like a coffee yet as we had just finished a bottle of water each...….but may were enjoying pastries for a late breakfast or early lunch...……

This was our main reason for being down this way today...…..one of Tom`s favourite feats of engineering...….The Flat iron Building...….or Fuller Building as it was originally named. It opened in 1902 in the area around Madison Square which at the time was home to quite an elite neighborhood, and the fashionable shopping district called Ladies’ Mile, and known for entertainment at the time. This was to be an expensive purchase and you can imagine it would be quite the challenge to Engineers for what would be built on it...…….I love the history of so many buildings and areas of NYC......how it came about from not much and evolved in to the bustling and vibrant City it is today...…...but, I won`t ramble on ...….suffice to say they did a good job!!!!

Obligatory picture outside famous landmark.

Back in a bit...……….

 

[iona]

Wow - I'd not seen the flat iron building before. That is indeed quite a special piece of architecture!