It’s great to get back into a regular routine again. And it’s hard to fathom that we only have four weeks left before the school year starts. Time flies.
This is Part 2 of a 2 part series on our short weekend trip to New York City. You can view Part 1 here.
Day three of our trip marked our first anniversary. If I was shooting for a romanticized version of the day, I must have utterly failed — we went to a Yankees game instead.
Our hotel was right beside Grand Central. This gave us instant access to New York’s subway system. It also gave us access to New York’s immense crowds. I’m sure the photo above isn’t bad compared to high time at the end of the work day. But this number of people in one location is too much for me.
Luckily, our trip to Yankee Stadium was far less terrifying than our journey to the Bronx Zoo. It was pretty easy to spot who was going to the game as well — everyone on the subway was wearing some sort of Yankee memorabilia.
The Yankees played the Cincinnati Reds this past Sunday and were gunning for a three game sweep. The game started with an incredible parachute display of an American military parachute team. No less than 10 jumpers jumped from 15,000 to 20,000 feet and landed gracefully in the Yankee outfield.
Equally incredible was the attendance at a fairly meaningless game in the middle of July. 43,000 people packed into Yankee Stadium. I was blown away by the support for the team.
That support kind of makes sense though. Yankee history is packed with more monstrous names than any other team in baseball history — maybe in professional sports history.
The biggest of those great names for someone my age is Derek Jeter. I grew up emulating Jeter as a shortstop. He plays with a deep respect for the game and the people involved. It was such a treat to watch the greatest shortstop in Yankee history.
And that doesn't mention the opportunity to watch Ichiro, Mark Teixeira, Jacoby Ellsbury, Johnny Cueto, Todd Frazier and the now famous Aroldis Chapman.1 I was blown away by the stardom on the field.
I haven’t even touched on how beautiful and how breathtaking the new Yankee Stadium is. We walked around the field before the game and I couldn’t stop taking photos. We visited Citi Field last year (whose Ebbets Field resemblance is nostalgically gorgeous), but it can’t shake a stick at Yankee Stadium. Absolutely spectacular.
After the Yankee game, we took the subway back to Grand Central and looked for a dinner spot. We had eaten at a couple Zagat-rated restaurants prior, so we were happy to try the well-known Applebee’s around Times Square.
We were definitely not happy after we left. What a joke. Our waiter had a horrendous attitude and we were herded like cattle through the restaurant. If you’re in the neighbourhood and are looking for a nation-wide restaurant you recognize, don’t consider the Times Square Applebee’s. You can thank me later.
After calming our anger, we jumped on the Big Bus Night Tour and rode around town. Although a very touristy thing to do, bus tours provide awesome photo opportunities and a chance to see the city from 20 feet higher than street level. You can see so much more of the city by getting out of the crowds.
Access to a tour guide also makes a bus tour worth the money. Learning about the Chrysler Building/40 Wall Street battle was superbly interesting. My wife felt the bus tour was the best thing we did on our trip — and that’s after seeing most of the city prior to the bus tour.
If you hop on a bus tour, I recommend getting there early and trying to get a front or back seat. Sitting in the middle of the bus quickly eliminates the best photo opportunities.
Despite all our walking, my wife and I hadn’t had the chance to walk past the Flatiron Building. There are countless beautiful buildings in New York City, but something about the Flatiron Building left me starstruck.
As famous as New York’s monumental skyscrapers are, the great Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges are historically spectacular. I personally feel the Manhattan Bridge has a more elegant look, but my opinion doesn’t count.
The bus tour marked our first chance to see Brooklyn. After taking the bus tour, my wife and I quickly understood why Brooklyn is growing immensely. Brooklyn appeared to be more quiet, more spacious and more clean than Manhattan. Too bad it’s quickly becoming a mini-Manhattan.
Even still, if we could move to NYC, we would move to Brooklyn.
Our bus tour opened our eyes to the beauty of Brooklyn, so we woke up bright and early on our last day to take a walk down the waterfront. We checked out of the hotel, hopped on the subway and had breakfast at a coffee shop in the neighbourhood before making the breathtaking walk.
I couldn’t believe we were the only two people on the boardwalk that morning. Crazy beautiful if you’re a city lover.
Capitalism at its finest.
I just had to.
The tour guide on our bus tour said that Juliana’s — home of the original Grimaldi’s coal oven — had some of the best pizza in the city. We walked right by Juliana’s the next morning, so we stuck around until 11:30 and had a small pie for lunch.
If you end up in Dumbo,2 you have to stop by Juliana's for a small margherita pizza. They make the best pizza I've had in my life. Hands down.
Our walk back to the subway was the hardest walk my wife and I made during the trip. Our trip to Brooklyn was the cherry on top of the cake and left a fabulous taste in our mouth as we left the city. Had we not visited Brooklyn and Dumbo, we probably would be looking at our weekend as the last time we set foot in New York City.
Instead, our trip was part of a “To Be Concluded” saga. On our two short trips to the city, we have yet to truly explore Central Park and we have yet to visit the MoMA.
You can literally do or buy anything you want at any time of day in New York City. This strikes a contrasting chord with our prairie blood, but it’s a chord we’re going to strum for the rest of our lives.
New York City is our guilty pleasure. If it wasn’t so damn expensive, we would permanently partake in the Concrete Jungle.
Maybe one day.
For those who aren't baseball-literate, Chapman holds the record for the hardest pitch thrown in Major League history (105 mph). He threw 10 straight fastballs to Jacoby Ellsbury, none of which fell below 100 mph. The crowd was blown away. Apparently Ellsbury wasn't, because he singled to left before scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. ↩
“Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass”. This knowledge was a direct product of the tour guide and not Wikipedia. He also correctly pointed out that “Overpass” had to be added to the name, otherwise the neighbourhood would just be known as “Dumb”. ↩
This is Part 1 of a 2 part series on our short weekend trip to New York City. You can view Part 2 here.
Despite my recent obsession with pens and paper, I didn’t create The Newsprint for the sake of writing about stationery. I initially intended for The Newsprint to be a personal journal and, most recently, The Newsprint has converted into a place to showcase some photography as well. I imagine The Newsprint as a magazine full of photographic essays of great products and great experiences. This post will be part of the latter.
My wife and I visited New York City this past weekend to celebrate our first anniversary and to take a needed weekend off. Relaxation isn’t one of New York’s strong points however.
We flew Air Canada this time around and, like always, we were extremely happy. Some Canadians swear Air Canada is the worst airline in existence. I, on the other hand, have never had a poor experience.
I struggled in deciding which pens and paper to bring along on such a rampant trip. In the end, I chose my Raydori because it’s a perfect sized cover to carry multiple Field Notes books and my passport. Can’t say I could have made a better decision, either — the Raydori seems to be made for traveling. Which kind of makes sense, considering its inspiration.
My wife made one request during our trip — she asked to buy something small from the Armani store on 5th Avenue. It’s a pretty good thing she bought “something small” — our trip may have had to end that day.
No New York City trip is complete without a pilgrimmage to Apple’s flagship store on 5th Avenue. It stands more beautiful than ever before.
I’ve never been able to tell if Times Square is a giant advertising war or if it’s just a giant pissing contest. Come to think of it, those are probably one in the same.
My wife and I did some research on unique trips in New York City and the Bronx Zoo reigned high on the list. We ventured into the Bronx on a slightly scary subway ride to see what the fuss was about.
We were extremely disappointed.
On a Saturday morning in the middle of July,[1] I would wager 20% of the exhibits were empty. For $35 a person, we expected much more. At the very least the gorillas and tigers were wandering around for some half decent photo opportunities.
The 5 train up to the Bronx Zoo was under repair this past Saturday and this caused some friction for my wife and I. We got caught on a tourist’s goose chase, heading north on the 6 train before heading south on the 4 train.
Luckily, we weren’t the only tourists who found ourselves at one of the scarier Bronx subway stops. We met Brian and his partner from Providence and chatted the entire two-hour subway ride back to Grand Central. Absolutely incredible people. I recommend you head over to Facebook and check out Brian’s cool band.
Despite the 5th Avenue Apple Store’s iconic beauty, the Grand Central Apple Store gives its 5th Avenue brother a run for its money. This is the view from corner of the store — stunning.
On “recommendation” of Andrew Kim, we stopped at Luke’s Lobster in the Upper East Side. First, I’d love to live in the Upper East Side.[2] It’s quiet, clean(er) and beautiful. But let’s get real.
Second, Luke’s Lobster was as good as advertised. The lemon juice squeezed over the surprisingly cold lobster made for an intriguing taste. I would undoubtedly go back to Luke’s Lobster for a light supper on my next trip.
Is it possible to visit NYC and not see an award-winning Broadway show? We watched The Lion King at the Minskoff Theatre on our last trip, so Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre seemed like the next best option.
If you’re going to visit New York City and take in a Broadway show for the first time, I recommend The Lion King. Cliché perhaps, but Wicked’s set and effects fall just a hair short of The Lion King. The Wicked storyline is unmatched however, and meant for an older audience. We were delighted with Wicked and look forward to Annie or Phantom of the Opera on our next trip.
Manhattan at night doesn’t feel like Manhattan at night, but it’s beautiful none the less. In fact, Times Square seems brighter at night than during the day.
As a person born and raised on the Canadian prairies, New York City stands as the perfect contrast to prairie life. Life moves twice as fast when you step out of Laguardia’s front doors and every person has a unique story. New York City stands as a glistening monument of human achievement.
Whether that monument is admirable is not up to me to decide.
Either way, NYC is a pile of fun to visit when you feel like you have some money burning a hole in your pocket.
This covers the first two days of our four-day trip. I didn’t want to pack another 30 photos into this post, so stay tuned for Part 2.
I mean, when else do parents take their kids to the zoo? This seems like any zoo’s high season, yet we grew tired of having to look for the sacred animal in each exhibit. ↩
