Birthday ideas

[tdp]

My wife will be celebrating a milestone Birthday whilst in New York later this year (97 days and counting....)

The trip will of course be very special - We will be in NYC for 4 nights, with three other couples & will be doing the usual 'must see' tourist stuff - but does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could make the day just that little bit extra special?

[nyc74]

what kind of music do you like - or what is the age range of the group?

maybe I can help - do you have an email address?

[ablarc]

Where are you staying?

I assume this will be in September. Are you averse to a little train trip?

What day of the week is the birthday?

[Punzie]

This is a tough one, because she's already in the best city in the world having the time of her life.:)

Which role would she prefer: 'Adventuress' or 'Princess for the Day'?

[tdp]

Okay: more info – (sorry, I couldn't work our how to tranfer multiple 'quotes' - so I've cut'n'pasted as best I can!)

[quote] what kind of music do you like - or what is the age range of the group? [quote]

Music: We’re waiting to see what’s on at the Blue Note – but anything would do (as long as it’s not too heavy).

Ages: mid – late forties (ouch!) with one already in the fifties….
Yes, the ‘Big Birthday for my lovely wife is the half-century (but you didn’t hear it from me, okay?!)

[quote] Where are you staying?
I assume this will be in September. Are you averse to a little train trip?
What day of the week is the birthday? [quote]

We’re staying at the Park Central (7th/56th)
September 22nd – 26th (Birthday is on Sunday the 23rd)
Train trip – sounds interesting, tell me more!

[quote] Which role would she prefer: 'Adventuress' or 'Princess for the Day'? [quote]
In all honesty, I think a bit of both (Princess Leia!)

[nyc74]

tdp - this is so exciting -

does she know how much planning you are doing - or are you willing to leave something as surprise for her - which ofcourse adds that princess-y element to these types of events/moments. sigh...so lovely.

send me your email address when you have a moment. or check your private messages.:)

[Punzie]

Which role would she prefer: 'Adventuress' or 'Princess for the Day'?
In all honesty, I think a bit of both (Princess Leia!)I knew you were going to say that! If you had more time, it would be fairly easy. Given your time constraints, however, you may have to choose more "adventure" or more "princess". Lean toward the direction that she would truly like.

P.S. If you put an [/quote]at the end of each quote, then they will be a highlighted in boxes. If you have a minute, you may want to edit your post and see how this works.:)

[tdp]

tdp - this is so exciting -

does she know how much planning you are doing - or are you willing to leave something as surprise for her - which ofcourse adds that princess-y element to these types of events/moments. sigh...so lovely.

send me your email address when you have a moment. or check your private messages.:)

She is aware that we are coming to NYC, but the rest is up to me.
Of course I also have six fellow travellers to consider (whichs feel like quite a responsibility!) although they seem happy to go along with whatever I come up with - with your help!

I will send you a pm for further communication - thanks.

[tdp]

I knew you were going to say that! If you had more time, it would be fairly easy. Given your time constraints, however, you may have to choose more "adventure" or more "princess". Lean toward the direction that she would truly like.

If I had to lean....
Adventure!

I think Manhattan is geared-up to deliver anything you desire (!) but with so little time, a 'whirlwind' feeling to this holiday will be better - we'll sleep on the plane on the way home (and I, for one, know that I will be dreaming of my next visit!)

[Punzie]

If I had to lean....
Adventure!
... and you're sure that's how she would lean?

You'd be surprised how many birthday people would prefer the traditional 'royalty treatment' with great seats at a Broadway show and dinner in the Rainbow Room.

[tdp]

... and you're sure that's how she would lean?

You'd be surprised how many birthday people would prefer the traditional 'royalty treatment' with great seats at a Broadway show and dinner in the Rainbow Room.

Yes, I'm certain.
Although a Broadway show will be a part of our trip.

I am also planning a bit of that 'Royalty Treatment' when we return - a weekend spa break for Jacqui & a friend during October.

[Punzie]

Well then, it's a private party with dinner and champagne in a hot air balloon over New York.:D

Links:
http://www.hot-air-ballooning.org/hot_air_ballooning_new_york.asp

[ablarc]

Music: We’re waiting to see what’s on at the Blue Note – but anything would do (as long as it’s not too heavy. Ages: mid – late forties (ouch!) with one already in the fifties. Yes, the ‘Big Birthday for my lovely wife is the half-century (but you didn’t hear it from me, okay...We’re staying at the Park Central...
Pretty good choice of hotel. Good rates, fairly nice rooms and lobby, central location, subway right downstairs.

September 22nd – 26th (Birthday is on Sunday the 23rd...Train trip – sounds interesting, tell me more...
A bit less adventurous than a balloon ride, but you do get to see a lot of nature and some of the wilds of exotic Bronx --and you have to like gardens and beautiful things, as well as not mind a little walking. You also have to adjust your mind to the fact that much of the day is not grittily urban --though you never leave New York’s city limits. If you take it nice and easy and if the weather co-operates, this can make a very pleasant day out...


SUNDAY, September 23: WAVE HILL, BRONX and THE CLOISTERS, a suggestion


9:20 a.m. Metro North train departs Grand Central for Riverdale. http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_results.cfm. Train arrives Riverdale at 9:45. A short walk to West 249th Street and Independence Avenue (front gate): http://www.wavehill.org/visit/directions.html.

WAVE HILL (closed Mondays. Greenhouses open 10am.): http://www.wavehill.org/home/. A tranquil beauty-spot and horticultural marvel, a masterpiece of landscape architecture always at its peak, a manor house, greenhouses, gorgeous flowers and splendid, sweeping Hudson River views from the vast platform. A world-class, hidden New York gem.

Here's how you got there: 8am Breakfast at hotel or grab a few takeout items to consume on train. Around 8:30, take 2 cabs to Grand Central (4 of you per cab; you’ll save time and maybe even money; subway doesn’t run too often on Sunday morning) to arrive at Station about 8:50 (plenty of time to buy tickets and catch train). One-way train tickets ($4.75) to Riverdale, the station for Wave Hill (return by bus). [Most Grand Central food joints are closed at this ungodly hour.]

When you’ve had your fill of gardens and scenery (around 11:35, I reckon ;)), walk east to Henry Hudson Parkway and take Bus Bx7 southbound towards Manhattan. A bus should happen along around 11:41 or 11:53; they run about every 12 minutes, if you’re lucky). http://www.mta.info/nyct/bus/schedule/bronx/bx007cur.pdf. After passing through Riverdale, the bus will cross the Broadway Bridge over the Harlem River into Manhattan at Columbia’s Baker Field. You’re now at the John o’ Groats end of Broadway, which can take you in 14 miles all the way to Land’s End at the Battery.

But instead you might be tempted to alight at 204th Street and visit the Dyckman House, which will just be opening when you get there at high noon. This is a wee 18th Century Dutch farmhouse incongruously marooned in the Twentieth Century. New York’s only survivor from Dutch farming days dates from 1794 --not very old by European standards, but positively ancient for New York. A glimpse of rural life in colonial America, complete with smokehouse and herb garden awaits you; ignore the surrounding tenements, they’re just here like you for a brief visit.

At about 12:30, after your brief visit, head three blocks counter-intuitively north on Broadway to the subway at 207th Street. This is so you get to take the A train just two stops to the atmospheric and barrel-vaulted 190th Street station, which will remind you of the Tube at its best and --like the Russell Square station-- takes you by rock-hewn elevator shaft (don’t go down the level passage toward the light!) to where you want to go.

Where you want to go is the top of a ridge absent-mindedly stranded by a glacier in retreat. The ridge here is called Fort Tryon Park. This welcomes bucolically with specimen trees, lush vegetation and --after a ten minute walk toward the Cloisters-- New York’s most charming outdoor eatery, the New Leaf Café http://www.nyrp.org/newleaf/, bette-midlerized from the brink of ruin. Here, in this rustic, fieldstone roadhouse (without a road) is where you should have brunch. http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/new-leaf-cafe/menus/brunch.html. You bypass the milling mob clamoring for entry, because you’ve had the good sense to make a one o-clock reservation the previous day when you arrived at the Park Central (212) 568-5323, newleaf@nyrp.org.

At about 2:30, sated with goat cheese and reeling from Bloody Marys, you’re ready for the day’s highlight, just a short walk away in the Park: THE CLOISTERS (open to 5:15)
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4260. Monastically perched on a wooded bluff far above the grand sweep of mighty Hudson, the Cloisters are a romantic distillation of all things medieval. Rockefeller-assembled from an assortment of European abbey parts, the collection features ivory devotionals, gold and jewelry, ceramics, metalwork, reliquaries, books of hours, stained glass, pollarded pear trees, sculpture, a Tudor chamber, a chapel, razor-sharp Flemish paintings, and the world’s best series of medieval tapestries in exuberant celebration of unicorn hunting (they even have a specimen horn, if you can believe that).

Sited in regal isolation above the River and looking out toward the Jersey palisades and the George Washington Bridge, this peaceful place celebrates solitude and contemplation, and when the herb gardens are in full scent, it’s a feast for the nose. Sundays resonate in Gregorian tones, and once in a while there’s ancient music live.

http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/department.asp?dep=7

After your museum visit, leave by the downstairs driveway portal, where the Number 4 bus generally waits idling to waft you back to Midtown on one of New York’s most interesting routes. Occupy window seats facing frontwards and stay on this bus all the way to its terminus as it gets crowded; you’ll be surprised where it ends. A long ride but rewarding –especially on a Sunday, when traffic’s not too heavy.

At this point, it’s getting along towards dinner, and it’s time again for y’all to pile into your two cabs. Here’s my A-list (in order) of New York’s most romantic restaurants (all of them are fairly expensive, especially the first two):

Cafe des Artistes. http://www.cafenyc.com/cafedesartistes/html/index2.htm

Danube. http://www.davidbouley.com/

Balthazar. http://www.balthazarny.com/

Bridge Cafe. http://www.eatgoodinny.com/New.York/


You have of course made reservations. 7pm seems an appropriate time.

Salud.


PS: If you’re still standing for the 10:30 show at the Blue Note and you don’t have reservations, I’ve found you can bribe the Maitre D’ with a couple of $20 bills (better still, give him a fifty).

.

[pianoman11686]

What an incredible itinerary, ablarc. I always learn something new from reading these (didn't even know Wave Hill existed). I've got to get over there at some point.

Have you ever considered publishing these guides in pocket-sized, photo-filled foldouts? I bet they'd be a hit. ;)

[Schadenfrau]

Wave Hill is absolutely lovely. I'll second that.

[ablarc]

...didn't even know Wave Hill existed...
Most people don't. That's part of its charm.

Arturo Toscanini, Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt were, however, exceptions; they all leased it to live in at various times.

(That Toscanini really got around; didn't he also reside at the Ansonia?)

[Punzie]

(Which Ansonia?:o)


I haven't been to Wave Hill since the '90s, but from what I can see on the web, it looks nicer than ever. I *third* Ablarc's itinerary.:)

[Punzie]

I just posted about "Sunset Wednesdays" (http://www.wavehill.org/events/searchby_47.html) at Wave Hill on Edward's 'Sunsets' thread:

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=170621#post170621

[ablarc]

(Which Ansonia?:o)
Broadway and 73rd.: http://www.cityrealty.com/condos/popups/popup_bigphoto.cr?bid=4139

How many are there?




Wave Hill seems to appeal to the ladies, tdp. That's a good sign.

[Punzie]

Ansonia, Connecticut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansonia,_Connecticut)

[ablarc]

^ That's "Ansonia" without the "the". ;)

[Punzie]

As a night owl, I'd find Wave Hill on a Sunday morning to be torture... but if I were a morning lark, it would be perfect for a birthday.

(Hmm... 'Sunset Wednesdays' in the summertime looks fabulous... now all I need is a lover to take me there...)

[ablarc]

...we'll sleep on the plane on the way home (and I, for one, know that I will be dreaming of my next visit!)
Don't know how you do it; for starters, you get such a short night!

Back in ancient times, some airlines --like Laker (remember Laker?)-- ran early morning flights out of JFK that deposited you in London in the evening without jet lag. I think there's one such flight left (American Airlines?); can't imagine why.

[tdp]

Don't know how you do it; for starters, you get such a short night!

Back in ancient times, some airlines --like Laker (remember Laker?)-- ran early morning flights out of JFK that deposited you in London in the evening without jet lag. I think there's one such flight left (American Airlines?); can't imagine why.

We're flying Virgin at 9.30pm - so the night will be incredibly short!

Ablarc, thank you so much for such an in-depth itinerary - I am certainly going to give that a try. It's perfect for me, a tourist on my fourth trip, looking a bit futher than Manhattan - and it will be a real shock to the rest of my group, to discover very early that NYC is not just shopping, hussle & bustle and big buildings.

Rapunzel - the baloon ride is a fantastic idea, unfortunately we have one in our group with vertigo.... (Empire State & TOTR will be interesting for her!)

[ablarc]

and it will be a real shock to the rest of my group, to discover very early that NYC is not just shopping, hussle & bustle and big buildings.
Sounds like they're first-timers, yes?

[tdp]

Sounds like they're first-timers, yes?

Jacqui and I have been three times before, one of the other couples have been once (for two or three days in the early 90's), but the two other couples are first timers.

I can't wait!

[ablarc]

Jacqui and I have been three times before, one of the other couples have been once (for two or three days in the early 90's), but the two other couples are first timers.
I'd be curious what you have planned for the other days.

[tdp]

I'd be curious what you have planned for the other days.

The rest of our oh-so-limited time will be spent leaning toward the 'touristy' stuff; World Yacht Brunch cruise (you'll find me at the pointy-end, ignoring the food but drinking in the view!), Top Of The Rock (half an hour before the sun goes down), Broadway show (Jersey Boys if we can get in), Ellis Island, Shopping (D'oh!), Central Park, Blue Note....

On one of the days, I am plannng a walk between those wonderful green areas that are dotted around (another of your ideas Ablarc!) - final route not finalised, but I will start at Madison Square Park with all of my friends and aim to get to Battery Park and back up to Hudson River Park...they can hop on the subway or cab as soon as their legs/feet have cried enough!