The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.
photo by Valerie Royer
I was six years old when the 1964 New York World's Fair opened, and I desperately wanted to go. My mother and father said no, so I packed several Cokes, a couple of candy bars, a change of clothes, and headed to NYC from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It didn't happen. I made it as far as the entrance to our subdivision.
Fast forward 40 years…I finally made it to New York City. It was a little late for the World's Fair, but Christmas-time in New York was a wonderful substitute. It was a dream Christmas present to me from my husband, Larry.
Larry and I try to take vacations for $1,000 or less. It is possible to go to New York City on $1,000, but you must be flexible on entertainment choices, and search for hotel deals. We didn't stay on the budget this time because of the popular time of year, and our choices.
The plane landed at LaGuardia at 8:15 A.M. and we were in a cab headed for our hotel soon after. We checked in, but our room wasn't ready, so the hotel stored our luggage until we returned that evening. (The hotel also stored our luggage when we checked out and our flight didn't leave until 8:30 P.M.) The fast paced vacation began and we headed to Times Square for breakfast.
Getting Around
There are three major methods of transportation in New York City: the subway, busses, and taxis. We favored the subway because it was always moving and got you to your destination efficiently. Taxis and busses stayed trapped in traffic. Larry and I traveled all over on the subway day and night. We studied the maps, knew our destination and only rode on cars with other people in them. If you are afraid, you can sit in the first car where the motorman is located. I was never afraid on the subway. My only recommendation would be to arrive in New York on the weekend and practice riding the subway when mostly tourists are riding. It is very busy during the week and easier to make mistakes if unfamiliar with the system. The subway is ugly, but efficient. The new cars are easier to ride on because each car features a map with each stop lit with a red light. The new cars also have a sign in each car that flash the station name at each stop. We did get on an express train by mistake, and it roared past our stop and didn't stop until about five stops later. The moral of that story is stay off of express trains and only take locals. The subway, or "train" is fun, fast and safe if you are on your guard. We were told not to mention the word "hotel" and call it "home" instead by a local New Yorker from the Bronx. Larry and I looked very much like tourists with our camera, bags and subway map, and nobody bothered us. http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/submap.htm
Entertainment
The discount TKTS Booth is located in the center of Times Square. The booth discounts Broadway play tickets 50% or 25% off the full ticket price. There is a second location at the Resnick-Prudential Building at 199 Water Street. Basic information about the TKTS booth.http://gonyc.about.com/library/bl_tktsbooth.htm
We waited in the TKTS line trying to decide what Broadway shows to see and decided on "Momma Mia." We soon discovered that those tickets were not available at the booth, and only at the Winter Garden Theatre Box Office. Most other plays were available at the booth though. We paid regular prices for matinee tickets that day, but the "well traveled" ladies standing in line behind us bought "Standing Room Only" tickets for $22 each for the same performance. It is possible to find great deals for even the most popular plays. A Broadway play is fun. The Winter Garden Theatre was very intimate and much smaller than Chattanooga's Tivoli, but almost as ornately beautiful. Dress is very casual for the matinees.
A special treat was seeing the Radio City Christmas Spectacular on our last day. I ordered the tickets from Radio City Music Hall: http://www.radiocity.com/eventcalendar/home
I didn't pay attention to the location of the seats that I ordered the tickets online, and we ended up on the Third Mezzanine on the very back row. But, we did learn that Radio City doesn't have a bad seat in the house. The performance included high tech 3-D graphics that were fun and the traditional Rockettes kicking away. The end of the show was my favorite. A living Nativity complete with animals was presented, with the extraordinary story, "One Solitary Life" projected over the scene. I cried because it was so wonderful to be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas.
TV Shows
I tried to get tickets for the David Letterman Show taping before we left Chattanooga, but was not successful. We didn't try for any other shows because of the time involved in arriving early at the studio and then the actual taping. We did hang around the Fox News Studio at 1211 Avenue of the Americas watching the "Fox Report with Shepard Smith," "Hannity and Colmes," and "Fox and Friends." Our daughter saw us on "Fox and Friends" waving behind E.D. Hill.
Museums
I planned only one day for museums. We visited the Guggenheim and The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA Queens because MOMA is closed until 2005 for renovations). We also went to the Museum of Natural History, but never made it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). Missing the Metropolitan Museum of Art was my biggest regret. It was accidentally left off of my museum list and I didn't realize it until the flight home. I was very upset to miss this wonderful museum. Don't miss the MET, place it FIRST on your list. It is hard to visit a lot of museums in one day because they all blur together after a while. The following are a small sampling of the museums available in NYC.
http://www.guggenheim.org/
http://www.metmuseum.org/
http://www.moma.org/
http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/department.asp?dep=7
http://www.frick.org/
www.whitney.org
Sightseeing
Contact http://www.bigapplegreeter.org/ when planning your trip for a free "local" guide to give you an insider's view of NYC. We didn't, but will on our next trip. A website with great sightseeing information is http://www.mustseenewyork.com
Times Square
Located on W. 43rd & Broadway Our hotel was just off of Times Square and we walked through Times Square every night. I wish there was a viewing platform just to watch all of the billboards. Pedestrians would run us over while we gazed above in awe. Times Square should be viewed both at night and daytime.
Central Park
It snowed on Sunday and we were treated to the most excellent sight of Central Park all white like a Christmas card. We took a carriage ride through the park. There is no organized line for the carriage rides, but the carriages lined up across from The Plaza Hotel. You had to be aggressive and grab one when someone exited. The cost was a very reasonable $34 plus tip. http://www.centralparknyc.org/
Rockefeller Center
A fun, busy place to visit and a close walk from Times Square. I loved watching the ice skaters. There are restaurants and shopping available. This is where the NBC Studios are located and in the morning, you can watch the Today Show being televised. http://www.rockefellercenter.com/
St. Patrick's Cathedral
A nice place to take a few minutes to rest and regroup while sightseeing. It is located across from Rockefeller Center and Saks Fifth Avenue. Photos cannot capture the beauty of this building. http://www.ny-archdiocese.org/pastoral/cathedral_about.html
The Empire State Building
We saw the view from the top at night after a two hour wait in a very long line, but the view was worth it. The night we visited was clear and visibility was 25 miles. Even locals were waiting in line to see the sight that night.
http://www.esbnyc.com
The Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central is a major transportation hub for New Yorkers and a very busy building. There are very few places to sit and absorb the architecture. It features restaurants, shopping and access to most of New York. I loved Grand Central and visited twice on our short trip. There is a little known lounge right outside the terminal called the Campbell Apartment that was once the private office and salon of 1920's tycoon, John W. Campbell. It is now a cigar bar. I couldn't take breathing the smoke long enough to enjoy a glass of white wine. I'm not complaining because New Yorkers don't have many spots left that allow smoking. http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/
Financial Center
A visit to the Southern tip of Manhattan is worth the trip. There is tight security here and you can no longer visit the New York Stock Exchange. The financial center was a sharp contrast between the shiny glass skyscrapers and the historical stone buildings.
Popular sites we missed:
Ellis Island http://www.nps.gov/stli/serv02.htm
The Statue of Liberty was closed, and it was so cold, we didn't go to the Liberty Island to walk around the island park. Hint: Plan to sit on the left side of the plane when flying intto LaGuardia Airport for a beautiful view of Lady Liberty. http://www.nps.gov/stli/
Chrysler Building
405 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Brooklyn Bridge
http://nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/bridges.html#brooklyn
Shopping
The Christmas windows of the famous New York stores were beautiful. Lord and Taylor's windows were my favorite because they were old fashioned. The stores were fun. The inside of Saks was a winter wonderland. The eighth floor has a nice restaurant where you can enjoy a meal and recharge your batteries. It was fun to shop at the famous stores. Everyone in NYC seems to shop at Macy's. The Herald Square store was so crowded we couldn't move. Some of the windows can be viewed on this website. http://gonyc.about.com/cs/christmasinnyc/p/holidaywindows.htm
We were told to visit Canal Street in Chinatown for the best shopping for "knock-off" items. It was crowded but fun. It was fun to bargain at the tiny shops for copycat designer merchandise. My daughter requested a Kate Spade purse that sells for $250 at Saks. She will get a $15 knock off under the tree this year. Sorry Kate, your purses are beautiful, but just too expensive for a middle class family to afford.
Small shops were located everywhere. Union Square, Grand Central, Bryan Park all featured booths with wonderful creative merchandise that was reasonably priced. Larry reached his shopping limit early in the trip, but he continued on because I was having a great time. Thanks Larry!
What to Wear?
That is an easy question to answer…Black.
Everyone in NYC wears black, or dark colors. Black coats, black pants and dresses/skirts, black shoes. Mufflers and hats might be a different color, but most clothes are dark. It is a good tip too because tourists are so busy, it is hard to get back to the hotel to change clothes and dark clothes and dark comfy shoes will get you into most places.
Church
The Sunday service was wonderful at Times Square Church. David Wilkerson, author of "Cross and the Switchblade," is pastor. I love reading David Wilkerson's newsletters and wanted to see if he was "for real," or a "sham" preacher. He was very real. I cried through much of the service. The children sang three songs, and then they passed the microphone to each other saying what they were asking Jesus for Christmas. I thought it would be a little hokey, but these kids cried out from their hearts..."I want my family saved.... I wish Jesus would give me a daddy to pick me up from school like the other kids...Please heal my mommy's back..." There were so many kids praying for a daddy. It broke my heart.
Ground Zero
We walked around the outside of ground zero to remember the thousands of people who lost their lives on 9/11. I didn't want to cheapen the experience by including it in the sightseeing section. It was a very sacred and reflective moment for us. All of our lives were forever changed that day, but mostly the families who lost their loved ones.
The Budget
I blew the $1,000 budget badly this trip. I could have stayed in the budget if we had visited NYC at any other time. Christmas in NYC was special and worth the extra expense.
Basics
Airfare: $358.90 2 @ $159 (Roundtrip on the wonderful nonstop USAir Chattanooga to NYC flight)
Hotel: $715 3 nights @ $203 (Westin Times Square) Hotel taxes are high
Food: $300 We chose not to include expensive restaurants this trip and ate mostly sandwiches and pizza.
Cab fare: $50 Roundtrip from the airport to hotel.
Total: $1,423.90 for basics
Extras
City Pass Coupon Book $90 2 @ $45 • American Museum of Natural History • Guggenheim Museum • The Museum of Modern Art • Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum • Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises • Empire State Building Observatory & NY SkyRide http://citypass.net Order in advance on the internet.
Subway pass $34 2 @ $17 with City Pass coupon for 7 days of unlimited bus and subway travel.
Mamma Mia Broadway Tickets $200 2 @ $100 for matinee. These tickets were hot and not available at the Times Square TKTS Booth.
Radio City Christmas Spectacular $76 2 @ $38 matinee tickets ordered from the internet before we left home.
Carriage Ride through Central Park $34
Total: $434 for extras
Priceline.com can help keep the travel budget inline. Go to www.biddingfortravel.com to learn how to use the Priceline system to your benefit. We stay at some of the best hotels for very little money thanks to Priceline and the Biddingfortravel website for figuring out the system. I didn't get a great deal on this trip because NYC is very busy at Christmas and the hotel supply was limited. At other times, four star New York hotel rooms average about $100 from Priceline.
My Christmas Present
NYC blew my mind. IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING CITY. I loved it so much. Christmas has to be the most perfect time to visit NYC. I found New Yorkers to be very friendly and helpful. New York was much better than I could have ever dreamed. I was surprised at how safe I felt. Police were everywhere and helped with directions and questions. Thank you, Larry, for my Christmas present. I will remember it always.
Rockefeller Center at entrance on 5th Avenue. Saks 5th Avenue is in the background.
photo by Valerie Royer