I found some notes I was writing, during the vacation part of our journey last summer and I decided to post it, to have the experience all in one place. By the way, the photo is the Empire State Building reflected in the table at the bar on the roof of the hotel. I loved how it came out and decided to use it for this post.
Now, we set the wayback machine to July 19th...and away we go.
After we finished with our attendance at the wedding of the summer, we took a few days to enjoy ourselves and to then ride on the Amtrak, back home to LA.
In other words, family obligations and then fun. So how has the week been, so far?
We arrived in NYC on Sunday night. We just checked in and crashed.
Monday: We needed to do laundry and so I looked for a laundromat. Well, it seems that a traditional laundromat is no longer available in The City. Instead, you bring your clothes to a laundry service and they wash them for you. Our laundry cost $13 for 10 lbs. It took 1 day, due to the heatwave going on. We vamped until we got our laundry back on Tuesday.
We then walked to 49th St. We passed the SNL museum, which was $59 so we just shopped at the gift shop (I got some Stefon lip balm). Tastes great! :-)
Next, we passed 30 Rock (where NBC is) and again, just shopped.
Finally, we got to Donna Bell's Bakery. We bought a frosted brownie and a blueberry scone (both excellent).
Onward to lunch. We got a soda and ate our bagels at a cool park on 49th. It has a great waterscape and that made it special.
Then, we rode the 1 subway to South Ferry. Took the ferry to Staten Island and back. Great views of the Freedom Tower and the best part...totally free.
We then returned to our hotel and crashed (you see a recurring theme here).
Tuesday: We rode the LIRR to Bayside and visited our friends Shannon and Melissa. They had their 3 kids with them. Press 195 was the place where we met for lunch. Salads were OK, Tortilla Soup was fair.
The we took the train back to The City for a quick rest after picking up our laundry.
Dinner at a Korean BBQ with Tim. It was an interesting experience. I would eat there again. Our table had the small beef combo and the cost was $30 each, with tax and tip. Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, highly recommended.
Wednesday: We took a quick trip to Grand Central Station. Took photos and then subwayed back to the hotel for the final packing.
Off to Pennsylvania Station and checked in at the Acela Cafe. Very nice.
Onto the Crescent and away we went.
Thursday: Our journey ran as clockwork,until we ended up in Alabama. We hit some extreme weather and so the train waited it out, until the front had passed. That started the delays.
It ultimately ended up that we were about an hour or so late to NOLA.
We got a taxi that cost us $11. As my Hubby said, best money spent. We arrived at the La Quinta Downtown and found out that they upgraded our room to a suite. After our tiny room in NYC, this was heaven.
Friday: I woke up at 6 and watched the sun rise over the Mississippi . It was magnificent. I decided to get a head start on our only day in New Orleans, by doing the laundry. It was completed by 8:30am. Thus, we were free to sightsee for the rest of the day.
We walked down to River walk and checked out a restaurant I was interested in, The Crazy Lobster. Prices weren't too high and so we made plans to return later. In the meantime, we stepped into the mall and had beniets and iced coffee at the Cafe du Monde. Yummy beniets that remind me of zepoles.
We then walked to the streetcar and paid $3 for a day pass. We rode it all the way to the end of the line and then got off at The French Quarter. We shopped and took photos of the area. I visited St. Louis Cathedral and lit 2 candles for my parents. It is beautiful, BTW.
We walked back to the Crazy Lobster and had a bucket of fish. It was just fair.
We took a bus back to our hotel and crashed.
Around 8P we ventured out for a snack. We ultimately found this little hole in the wall called Jimmy J's. The food was excellent, though the wait for it, was long.
Back to the hotel to pack and sleep.
Saturday: We were back on the Amtrak the next morning. They have a nice waiting room (called the Magnolia Room) for the upgraded passengers and we took advantage of it. Up onto our Superliner car where much pampering took place. We mostly passed through Louisiana and then some of Texas.
Sunday: We woke up in Texas and had more pampering. Lots of people to talk to and a US/Mexican border to ride next to, just west of El Paso. Night fell just to the south of Phoenix, Arizona.
Monday: An extremely early wake up call and we were home. From what the crew told us, they figure the Pomona run to be 2 hours, when it is normally about 45 minutes. So we pulled in at least an hour early, which was fine with us.
A great trip and we both want to do another...soon.
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