New York - Aug 2021

Keith had a board meeting in New York so we decided to take advantage of that to catch up with friends.  Shawna went on her own to have a girls weekend with Chris and then Keith arrived on the Sunday.  We worked from there during the week and then met up the following weekend with Kim, Tom, Mark and Alicia.

Accommodation:

Renaissance Chelsea - Trendy hotel in Chelsea with a rooftop bar that attracted a much younger crowd.  Room was the typical small size for NY but was cute.

Activities:

Shawna flew in on Thursday night, arriving at the hotel close to 10pm.  She worked from the hotel on Friday and then Chris joined her around 7pm.   After dropping off her bags, we then went out for a really fun night - going to a few bars and eating at a cute restaurant.  On our way back to the hotel, Chris helped a guy who was stumbling drunk in the street - he could barely stand so after some sleuthing to get his passcode for his phone, she called the last number dialed and got his friend Chloe to come.  When Chloe arrived, she was complaining about her boyfriend and asked us if she should break up with him - we thought it interesting that this is what she chose to focus on when her friend was passed out on the sidewalk.  Chloe then called her boyfriend who came within a few minutes but he was quite drunk himself so they really could not get the friend off the ground to walk him home.  Shawna wanted to call 911 but they pleaded with us to not do that, worried that he would get in trouble.  So, we left them to take care of him and went to our hotel to have one (or two) last drinks.  After that, we decided we had enough excitement for the evening so we went to bed, sometime after 1am!

Chris and Shawna out on the town

On Saturday, Chris ran out to get us Starbucks for breakfast and then we headed out to do two tours.  The first was a tour of St Patrick's Church (the one downtown) and the Catacombs.  The tour guide was really good and we learned that the church was a cathedral where the bishop worked until the larger St Patrick's was built in midtown.  We also learned that the phrase 'stinking rich' came from the smell of rotting dead bodies of the rich who were buried in the catacombs but the doors were not sealed so the smell escaped outside!  We grabbed a quick slice of pizza for lunch and then did our second tour which was of Grand Central.  This tour was also quite interesting and we learned about some of the secret places in Grand Central such as a tennis club on the fourth floor!  

St Patrick's Church

Tour of Grand Central

After the tour, we walked back to the hotel, stopping at Eataly on the way home for a gelato and some cheese and crackers which we ate back in the room along with an Aperol spritz.  We then took a short nap and then got ready for our second fun evening of yummy food (Gramercy Tavern), drinks, pool, and people watching.  When we got back to the hotel, we hung out outside to watch the young kids trying to get into the rooftop bar - we had the terrible idea of drinking a bottle of wine while doing this which we definitely felt the next day!!  We finally got to bed around 2:30pm.

All decked out for our fancy meal

On Sunday, we slept in until 10am and then had a quick brunch at a place very close to the hotel.  We then said our goodbyes and agreed that we could not do another night like the last two!!  What fun times though! That afternoon, Shawna relaxed, and then Keith arrived at the hotel around 5:30pm.  We ordered in sushi and just relaxed in the hotel.  

Yummy cocktails at Gramercy Tavern

That week Shawna worked from the hotel and Keith had meetings at the property. Keith also had work dinner plans Mon-Wed nights so Shawna just ate at the hotel restaurant one night (salad) and ordered in ramen the other two nights.  

On Thursday night, Keith had planned a surprise belated birthday evening for Shawna - he not only wouldn't tell her what the plans were but also would not tell her what she had to wear until that afternoon.  Turns out jeans and a nice top were the requested attire which Shawna was glad was not something weird!  Our first stop for the evening was dinner at Indian Accent, a restaurant that Shawna had found when she was planning dinner for the weekend with our friends.  We sat outside because inside required us to have the tasting menu. The meal was delicious.  Our next stop was to see Springsteen On Broadway which was awesome.  It was a 2.5-hour show with no intermission of just him on stage with a guitar and a piano, telling stories of his childhood and singing some of his songs.  His wife joined him on stage to sing two duets with him.  Shawna had not guessed that this was the event so it truly was a surprise!

Springsteen On Broadway

On Friday evening, we met up with Kim and Tom at Eleven Madison Park for the all-vegetarian tasting menu.  It was our first time seeing them since Covid and we celebrated both Kim and Shawna's 50th birthdays!  Three of us got the wine pairing (the cheaper - Off the Beaten Path - option) while Kim got her own bottle of wine as she does not like red wine.  As you can imagine each dish had a beautiful presentation and the food was really fresh and wonderful.  Our favorite was the eggplant which was the last dish right before dessert - mainly because it was the most flavorful.  After dinner, we walked over to another place and sat outside to have a beer, and then Kim and Tom caught a train back to NJ.

Eleven Madison Park

On Saturday, we slept in until 8am which is nearly unheard of for us these days but that's what happens when our old bodies stay up until midnight.  We did some work in the morning and then went to Central Park where we walked the entire big loop plus one lap around the reservoir.  Right when we were finishing our walk, we got a text from Tom that they were coming into the city early to do a walk with us so we went back to the hotel, grabbed a salad at a deli nearby, and then showered before they arrived.  After they dropped off their bags in our room, we went back to the park to do another lap around the reservoir - we ended up doing over 12 miles between the two trips.  There was a large concert in the park that evening so the crowds were started to gather and it was a bit challenging navigating around.  

Central Park Reservoir

We went back to the hotel, taking turns getting ready in the room while others sat in the hotel lobby bar drinking a few beers.  That evening, we met up with Mark and Alicia (along with Kim and Tom) for dinner.  We all had a great time catching up.

Dinner at Hearth

On Sunday, we relaxed in the room and then took a train down to Philly, a cab to the airport, and a flight home from there.  We had found out the day prior that our flight was canceled out of NYC due to a Tropical Storm that was supposed to hit on Sunday so instead of getting stuck in NY for a few days, we took trains, planes, and automobiles (literally) to get home!  Aside from this diversion, the trip was really great - nice to be back in NY and to see friends!

Restaurants:

Eataly - Shawna grabbed lunch here and we also stopped here for gelato.  The store is amazing with several smaller restaurants inside.

Jake's Saloon - We went here for a few beers and had the spinach artichoke dip for an appetizer.  It's what you would expect from a pub.

Loulou - We had dinner and drinks at this very cute restaurant.  We sat at the bar and shared a salad, shishito peppers, and baked brie.  Food was tasty and the drinks were quite good.

Gramercy Tavern - We treated ourselves at Shawna's favorite restaurant in Manhattan.  We had a five-course tasting menu with wine pairings.  Everything was super tasty - fluke, poached lobster, arctic char, duck breast, and berry cheesecake - yummy!!  We also sat in the bar after dinner and had a couple more drinks.

Society Billiards - We played a few rounds of pool and were reminded that we are not very good!  The place was great - clean, large with lots of tables.

Smithfield Hall - We had burgers for brunch - quite tasty.

Indian Accent - We had dinner here for the surprise date night.  We shared a potato and chickpea appetizer, lamb for an entree along with a mushroom side dish and garlic naan.  Since we knew we would have quite a bit of wine the next two nights, we just had a couple of beers with dinner.  Everything was very tasty!

Eleven Madison Park - The treat of the trip! We had dinner here with Kim and Tom and enjoyed the all-vegetarian tasting menu with wine pairings.  Needless to say, it was all very good!

Hearth - We had dinner here with Kim, Tom, Mark, and Alicia.  It's a cute Italian restaurant in the East Village.  We shared a few appetizers for the table - garlic bread, heirloom tomatoes, and a cucumber dish.  Keith and Shawna then shared the striped bass for an entree along with butter beans and polenta.  We all shared a few desserts as well.  The food was pretty good (the fish was a bit bland but the other dishes were tasty) - the service was a bit slow.