We decided to return to New York City for Memorial Day weekend after a year off (last year, we went to South Beach, which was quite the cultural experience since it was Hip Hop Weekend in SoBe). While previous Memorial Day weekends were with the Raleigh gang, this one was just the two of us.
Accommodation:
Tragedy! We had run out of Hyatt points, so we actually had to PAY for a place to stay! We selected the W Hotel on Lexington Avenue, which is a great location in mid-town.
Activities:
As in previous trips to NYC, the itinerary for Saturday and Sunday were duplicates: breakfast from Starbucks, relax in the room, a run around the full Central Park loop (6 miles), back to the hotel to shower, lunch at Just Salad in Rockefeller Center, a show in the afternoon, and dinner in the evening. The two shows that we saw during this trip were Rain on Saturday and the Book of Mormon on Sunday. Rain, which is a tribute to the Beatles, was OK, but the Book of Mormon, which is a musical comedy about two young Mormon missionaries in Uganda, was just incredible. We were really lucky to get tickets - we went before it won all the Tony awards so who knows if we could ever get in again. It was incredibly irreverent, inappropriate, and just hysterically funny.
On Monday, we caught up with Mark, Alicia, and the kids for lunch at their place, then we headed out to the airport to return home.
Restaurants:
Park Avenue Spring
This is an interesting concept - the restaurant changes not only the menu but the entire decor each season. We were there for the Spring season with lots of light colors and spring flowers decorating the dining room. The food was very flavorful.
Ouest
Located on the Upper West side, the restaurant is nice but casual, serving French style cuisine. For starters we had the Smoked Duck Breast and the Mozzarella Carpaccio - both were very tasty. For dinner, we shared the Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Braised Pork Rib - which was also very tasty. While we enjoyed the meal, the ambiance was not that memorable.
Devi
We were thrilled to find a nice Indian restaurant that did not have christmas lights for its decoration. Located on the East side near Union Square, the interior is nicely decorated with Indian artifacts. The food is outstanding - the starters all sounded so yummy that we opted to share several appetizers, including Bombay Bhel-Puri, Salmon and Crab Croquettes, Trio of Samosas, Shrimp and Calamari Masala Fritto Misto, Grilled Scallops and the Lamb Stuffed Tandoori Chicken. This is definitely worth going to if you like Indian food!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Chicago, IL - May 2011
In order to keep in the will, Shawna and Keith met Keith's parents in Chicago for Mother's Day weekend. While we have now been to Chi-town a few times for long weekends, this was the first time that Keith's parents had been to Chicago other than transferring through O'Hare on the way somewhere else.
Accommodation:
We only know of two places to stay in Chicago as we use our points at either the Hyatt Regency or the Park Hyatt. Since this was a serious sucking up weekend, we got 2 rooms at the Park Hyatt on Watertower Square. The only bummer was that the restaurant, gym, and rooftop bar were all closed for renovation - but at least next time we'll be able to see the place fixed up.
Activities:
Both Saturday and Sunday were almost carbon copies of each other: wake up, breakfast in the hotel lobby, relax in the room, work out in the temporary gym, lunch at the food hall in Watertower mall, show in the afternoon, followed by a nice dinner. The two shows we saw were Peter Pan and Cirque Eloise. Peter Pan was pretty cool - it was the traditional play but done in the round with the characters flying overhead during certain scenes. The Cirque show that we saw is not of the Soleil family but was still very interesting with amazing acrobatic stunts. On Sunday, we also saw the "Our Body - The Universe Within" exhibit at the IMSS Museum - quite interesting and disturbing to see what our bodies are made of and how they can be destroyed by poor eating and diseases.
Restaurants:
The Girl and The Goat
This was our second trip to GATG - our new favorite restaurant in Chicago. The food was just as terrific as before: the only drawback was that it is incredibly loud - hard to even hear the people speaking across the table. We shared several small plates among the four of us - each of them quite flavorful!
Bistro Campagne
This restaurant was selected by Keith's dad, who has never met a french bistro he did not like. Bistro Campagne is a quaint little place north of the city, and the food exceeded our expectations.
Veerasway
Veerasway was recommended by Christine, one of Keith's colleagues at work. It is located on 'restaurant row' as the cab driver called it as if there is only one street with a concentration of restaurants in Chicago! The food is fantastic, fresh Indian food - we shared several delicious entrees along with naan, rice, raita and of course mango chutney for Keith's dad!
Accommodation:
We only know of two places to stay in Chicago as we use our points at either the Hyatt Regency or the Park Hyatt. Since this was a serious sucking up weekend, we got 2 rooms at the Park Hyatt on Watertower Square. The only bummer was that the restaurant, gym, and rooftop bar were all closed for renovation - but at least next time we'll be able to see the place fixed up.
Activities:
Both Saturday and Sunday were almost carbon copies of each other: wake up, breakfast in the hotel lobby, relax in the room, work out in the temporary gym, lunch at the food hall in Watertower mall, show in the afternoon, followed by a nice dinner. The two shows we saw were Peter Pan and Cirque Eloise. Peter Pan was pretty cool - it was the traditional play but done in the round with the characters flying overhead during certain scenes. The Cirque show that we saw is not of the Soleil family but was still very interesting with amazing acrobatic stunts. On Sunday, we also saw the "Our Body - The Universe Within" exhibit at the IMSS Museum - quite interesting and disturbing to see what our bodies are made of and how they can be destroyed by poor eating and diseases.
Restaurants:
The Girl and The Goat
This was our second trip to GATG - our new favorite restaurant in Chicago. The food was just as terrific as before: the only drawback was that it is incredibly loud - hard to even hear the people speaking across the table. We shared several small plates among the four of us - each of them quite flavorful!
Bistro Campagne
This restaurant was selected by Keith's dad, who has never met a french bistro he did not like. Bistro Campagne is a quaint little place north of the city, and the food exceeded our expectations.
Veerasway
Veerasway was recommended by Christine, one of Keith's colleagues at work. It is located on 'restaurant row' as the cab driver called it as if there is only one street with a concentration of restaurants in Chicago! The food is fantastic, fresh Indian food - we shared several delicious entrees along with naan, rice, raita and of course mango chutney for Keith's dad!
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