3 full days in NCY - what to do?

[swimmermom3]

Sailordude is graduating in May. We will spend 3 full days in Washington D.C. and the best part is that commencement is on Mother's Day!

On Monday we will take the train with the boy up to NYC. We have three full days there. What would you all recommend we do in that period of time. Also, where would be the best area to stay that is both affordable and central to cut down on commute times? Ds recommended Roosevelt Island, but Airbnb was fairly high.

Thanks for your help. It's been a lousy year and half and I can't wait for this trip.

[Pen]

Is it first trip there? And what sorts of things do you like?  

You could spend 3 days on mostly museums, or theater, or seeing NYC sites, or mix it up... There’s food from vendor carts to ethnic eateries to fancy restaurants...  You could get on a tour bus, or walk it end to end...  

[swimmermom3]

9 minutes ago, Pen said:

Is it first trip there? And what sorts of things do you like?  

You could spend 3 days on mostly museums, or theater, or seeing NYC sites, or mix it up... There’s food from vendor carts to ethnic eateries to fancy restaurants...  You could get on a tour bus, or walk it end to end...  

 

Pen, it's my first trip there. Dh has been there for business which means he's seen little outside of the airport and restaurants. Sailordude has been there 3 times and has done a lot.

The Metropolitan Museum is on the top of the list. I'd like to see the Tenement Museum. We like a mix of activities when possible. I am assuming we'll do Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Maybe a jazz club in Harlem one night. Vendor carts and ethnic eateries are must-haves. We've thought about a bus tour to get an overview and history and then to do our own thing the next two days. I am really open to suggestions. If you think a particular spot is overrated, I'd like to hear that too.

[Kidlit]

My family went in December 2017, and one of my favorite stops was at the NYPL. The children's room has the original Winnie the Pooh and friends.  I'm a librarian by training and a booklover, so visiting here (and shopping at the fabulous giftshop) was a must-do for me.

Other than that, my top sites were Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Met, and seeing the Rockettes at RCMH.

[Pen]

Sounds good ideas to me.  You could have your tour day one, plus food and evening entertainment.  Day 2 maybe Southern downtown end activities- Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Tenement Museum...  other things as time and energy permits... evening entertainment (by graduation time there could also be things happening in Central Park, or other events).  Day 3 maybe Met museum, and other uptown activities.  Maybe the jazz club.  

Grouping by location to some degree could help make an easier experience.  

There’s also sort of a theme that way with immigration arrival experience on day 2, and more arts on day 3.

[Bootsie]

Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty will take a full day.  If you want to experience a show, but don't have your heart set on a particular show, you can go to the TKTS booth and see what they have 1/2 price, same-day tickets available for.  We did a boat tour around Manhattan once that gives you a lot of history and overview of the city's layout without sitting in the traffic of a bus tour.  You may want to check out free museum entry days and times (I think the Museum of Modern Art has some free hours on Friday afternoons/evening); 

I have found lodging prices in NYC to differ greatly from week to week, depending on what is happening in the city, and in what part off the city.  If you can lock in a rate with free cancellation, you can continue to shop around for a better deal  Even if it may be a bit more costly, we have usually found that staying in Manhattan runs cheaper in the long run compared to getting several people in and out of the city several times.

When I have visited in mid-May, we have had great weather.  

[moonflower]

I liked the Met; Ellis Island was, I dunno, kind of field-trip-touristy.  I went with my SIL and she was very into Doing the Tourist Things (although, thank God, a lot of them were closed as we had just declared war on Iraq) so I spent a lot of the time walking to the UN, waiting at the bottom of the Empire State building, taking a ferry, Ellis Island, walking in Central Park, old tenements from back in the day, etc.

Not really my favorite way to do travel.

the best parts for me were the eating.  I love to eat, and the food in NYC is divine.  We ate at fancy places and cheap ethnic places in the middle of Chinatown with no other Caucasians (and a menu we just guessed from as it was all in Chinese!) and food carts and pizza places and just everything.  That was all really great.  The bagels were the best bagels I've ever had, the pierogis were wonderful, the egg cream was wonderful, everything was good.

So I guess if I were you I'd just walk around a lot (the Met is good for this, too) and eat often. 

[moonflower]

Oh, we did go see a musical.  It was spectacular. I hadn't realized how good a musical could be (surprise, I'd only seen high school ones!).  That was worth the time and money. 

[Tanaqui]

Ellis Island and Liberty Island are one full day. The Met can easily be a full day - certainly I always spend several hours there when I go. That leaves one more day. Since you are interested in the Tenement Museum, can I recommend that you (also) go on a Big Onion walking tour? Historic Harlem or the Eating Tour seem right up your alley: https://www.bigonion.com/

[Corraleno]

5 hours ago, swimmermom3 said:

Sailordude is graduating in May.

I don't have any recommendations (because the last time I was there DS was about 10 and we spent virtually the whole time in the Natural History Museum, lol), but... how is this possible? Weren't we just discussing middle school curriculum like ... a few weeks ago? <cries>

Edited March 3, 2019 by Corraleno

[Pen]

 

Met could take up all 3 days... but doesn’t have to be very long if wanting variety.  

If it’s a top choice, though, maybe have it day one.  You’ll have energy, presumably, and can decide how long to give it. 

Others have said Ellis + Liberty  = a day.  If  you climb Statue of Liberty, it will be all day, or even if not I would not want to do a lot of museum walking after that.  

But my recollection is it was possible to spend an hour or two at Ellis Island and then visit Liberty Island without the climb, for an hour or so (possibly taking picnic lunch to eat at Liberty ) and have that less than a day if you start early so as not to have huge lines.

 

[KungFuPanda]

@Bootsie scooped my answer.  Boat tour, musical, dining, museum.  That's three days right there. It's nice to have an unplanned day so you can meander and see what you find.

[swimmermom3]

2 hours ago, Corraleno said:

I don't have any recommendations (because the last time I was there DS was about 10 and we spent virtually the whole time in the Natural History Museum, lol), but... how is this possible? Weren't we just discussing middle school curriculum like ... a few weeks ago? <cries>

 

J - 😥 I can't really believe the time is almost here.

Commencement Day is on Mother's Day. We will be in D.C. a few days earlier and will get to celebrate DH's birthday there as well. The timing is so perfect.

Homeschooling allowed the boy to get into the school of his dreams and he has never been disappointed.

I cannot think of this milestone without thinking of all of the amazing boardies that guided us along the way: you, Nan, Jane, Kareni, Eight, Nicole M., Lucky Mom (need to catch up with her), regentrude, Sebastian, and so many more that pushed us so much further along the educational path than I could have thought possible. You all helped open doors I didn't even know existed academically.

Thanks to the board and our gracious hostess, SWB, the boy is living the dream. Oh, I can't forget Barbara H. who was our guidance counselor and helped Sailordude get accepted to eight great schools with scholarships.  The suggestions for PHS's AP programs and the amazing Ray Leven, eventually allowed Sailor Dude to graduate in 3 years thanks to AP credits and to survive a semester abroad in Chile with a 4.0 in 4 all-Spanish university classes and an internship. 

I am just eternally grateful to this board and of course, who would I turn to for help for planning the graduation trip?😀

J, I hope you and the kids are doing well and I am sure you have wonderful adventures to tell of as well.

[Mom0012]

I was just there with my two and their favorite thing that we did was the NBC Studios tour.  We also have done two tenement museum tours on two different trips, the shopkeeper’s home and a two-hour walking tour, and both of them were pretty meh for us.  

We have also really enjoyed going to Grand Central Terminal, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, seeing a Broadway musical, skating at Rockefeller Center and just walking all day through the city.  The High Line looks neat and is on my list for next time.