3 Days in NYC for just $500
Life is about celebrations- we should mark special occasions.
Vinny retired from 35 years as a music administrator and professional musician. To mark this auspicious occasion, we decided to launch Our Greener Pasture officially, by travelling to New York City. Sure, it's near our neck of the woods, but the three day adventure we planned sounds spendy, right? Well…sort of…
We went to see Hamilton during this patriotic week and it continues to inspire! A friend scored some discounted group tickets ($70 each) which allowed us to enjoy the show again! We then went to Brass at the Evelyn Hotel & enjoyed their pretheater dinner special (which was posttheater for us, but I digress). This was a Chase Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Table restaurant for which we received a $150.00 Chase statement credit. Adding 2 outstanding desserts left us out of pocket $25 for an outstanding three-course meal. Check out Chase Shapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables Credit for more on this credit. Day one done and dusted.
In deciding where to stay, we saw that IHG was opening a new hotel in midtown. We used our IHG Free Anniversary Night Certificate for the first night at The Kimpton Era Hotel. Now I’m not gonna lie, the rooms can generously be called compact, but the location can’t be beat. Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Today Show and Tonight Show studios as well as Radio City Music Hall all around the corner. We used our Diamond Status welcome amenity at Bar Rocco, one of the hotel’s four restaurants, for our free breakfast on Day Two.
After an absolutely delicious breakfast, we headed for Battery Park and had booked cheap tickets at City Experiences to sail to the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island. I know…keepin the patriotic theme goin’…Vinny had never been to the Statue of Liberty. Tickets for the crown were long gone so rather than postpone, we boarded an early ferry & headed for the pedestal museum. As we disembarked on Liberty Island and looked all the way up…She is as impressive as you might imagine she is…her museums fill you with pride as you read the story of the inspiration to build her, the grit to get her done and the sheer force of will to ship her to our shores. The French people paid for the Statue and the US funded the pedestal. Some gave a fortune and others gave the pennies they had until she was standing proudly in NY Harbor. If you haven’t been, she should rise to the top of your To Do list!
After a well deserved ice cream break in the shade chatting with some nice folks from California, we boarded the ferry which took us to Ellis Island. Now most would think the Statue would be the big deal of the day…she was…but…My great great grandmother came from Europe and entered through NY to become a US Citizen. We lucked out having a private free tour with a park ranger who explained what the immigrants experienced going through Ellis Island. I was a woman on a mission. I had my great great grandmother’s date of arrival, ship, and birth date. We were able to use the computers in the research center to find her in the archives. What.A.Moment…can I just say? WOW! The ranger did tell us that 12 million people came through Ellis Island and forty percent of Americans today can trace their heritage back through Ellis Island. We went on to wander the halls and read all the beautiful messages of people whose family had passed through those doors and how grateful they were to those who made the incredibly long and arduous journey. It reminds us of all that is good when we found that ninety eight percent of those who came through Ellis Island were eventually cleared to enter the US. Truly a nation of immigrants….
We eventually made our way back to the Kimpton Era…hot and tired…to find a free glass of wine & soda waiting at the Kimpton’s Social Hour waiting for us. Lovely! Now we have been staying for a while at IHG’s & had earned two meal credits which was a cash value of $40.00. OK We added coffee & dessert so the total out of pocket for dinner on the second day wasn’t much at Bar Rocco There are four restaurants at the Kimpton Era but this one was so good at breakfast and reasonably priced for dinner that we were happy to dine there.
Our final day…we checked out of the hotel and the bill was $32.00 after all the credits applied. I love it when a plan comes together. The A Team? Anyone? Moving on…We stored our bags at the hotel and were off again on our final adventure of the day. We wandered past Rockefeller Center, St. Pat’s and Radio City…old friends that we have been to many times…and hopped a downtown subway for another City Experiences cruise. This time, we were taking a mid day cruise to see the Tall Ships arrive in NY to mark America 250. This was THE big splurge at $125.00 per person but sometimes it's worth it, you know? We had a lovely buffet lunch and held our position at South St. Seaport at the Brooklyn Bridge. A beautiful location any day of the week but then…there they were…the first one sailed around the bend and up the river straight past us…sails fluttering in the wind…what a moment…she was only the first of many Class B ships that took on NY to join us for our celebration. We will never forget that moment and it is why we travel. Everyone waved and cheered as the ships glided past us and it was just magical…
There you have it…a three day extravaganza in NYC for under 500.00. Would I do it again? In a New York minute! We hope we have inspired you to get out on the road for some of your own unique adventures!
