My husband retired last year, marking a new transition for us. As we considered how to commemorate this milestone, our thoughts turned back to the early years of our careers, when we had each spent a considerable amount of time with assignments in New York City (he with Colgate-Palmolive and me with Brown & Williamson). It had been love at first sight (with the city!), and so we were inspired to take ourselves back to New York to celebrate.
We booked a stay in a hotel we like near Times Square, and we decided to revisit a few old haunts but mostly explore new-to-us places, relying on the subway and walking to get around. Take a look at where our feet led us, and draw some inspiration for your own next trip!
Day 1
What’s New York without a deli sandwich? We fueled up on our first day with a stop at Katz’s Delicatessen, where we shared — what else? — a corned beef sandwich, mounded inches high with delicious, slow-brined corned beef.
From Katz’s, we set off on foot to explore Central Park. Although we’d been in Central Park, we had definitely not explored all its 843 acres. Opened in 1858 as the first public park built in America, Central Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Yes, that Olmsted, who was also busy in 1891 designing Louisville’s own Cherokee Park, along with over 20 of our other parks and parkways! Central Park is considered a masterpiece of landscape architecture with its expansive lawns, woodlands, streams, lakes, walking and biking paths, recreational facilities, and playgrounds.
As we strolled through the park, we saw pickup basketball games, active movie sets with filming in progress, horse-drawn carriages, and many structures for which the park is famous, such as the iconic Bethesda Terrace and Fountain. The sights and sounds of the Central Park Carousel caught our attention, and like kids at the county fair, we stood in line and bought our tickets. The very first Central Park carousel was installed in 1871 and powered by a horse-and-mule-team, and the present-day carousel is the fourth iteration. Designed and carved in Brooklyn in 1908, the current carousel was first placed in Coney Island until the 1940s. After several years of abandonment, it was restored and moved to its current home in Central Park in 1951. The carousel pays tribute to American folk art with 57 hand-carved horses and two chariots.
We rounded out our day with another first for us. My husband, through reconnection with old friends, has become an inspired baseball fan, and the New York Mets had a home game. We headed by subway from Manhattan to Citi Field Stadium in Queens. Surfaced with Kentucky Bluegrass, Citi Field opened in 2009, replacing Shea Stadium, the Mets’ home field since 1964. Not only were we able to see the Mets take on the Baltimore Orioles, but prior to the game and within walking distance, we explored the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which was hosting Fan Week leading up to the US Open Tennis Championships. It was an exciting homage to the wide world of sports!
Day 2
After a breakfast of fruit and classic New York bagels, we got back on the subway to head to the southernmost tip of Brooklyn and Coney Island. Coney Island’s amusement park, hot dogs, vibrant colors, boardwalk, and adjacent Brighton Beach lived up to everything I’d imagined!
Fun fact: turns out the “original world famous” Nathan’s Hot Dogs truly did originate in Coney Island. In 1916, Nathan Handwerker, a Polish Jewish immigrant and early entrepreneur, sold nickel hot dogs at his stand that was started with a $300 loan from friends and his wife’s secret spice recipe. Today, Nathan’s is the most famous hot dog in the world, found in restaurants and supermarkets across the globe.
The live music scene in New York is, of course, thriving, but for us it was a special thrill to see our son’s band play their Brooklyn show, a stop on their tour of the northeast. The excited crowd sang along and danced as Miki Fiki played at the stylish venue The Sultan Room. Prior to the show, we explored the charming neighborhood, found a beautiful outdoor garden pub, and were lucky to catch the band for dinner together prior to their sound check.
Days 3 and 4
We filled in the next couple days by seeing The Notebook on Broadway and sightseeing on land and water: a walk on the Chelsea High Line, a ‘Best of NYC’ boat tour with Circle Line, and even a stop at the best photography store, usually only accessible to us out-of-towners online — hello, B & H! There are so many sites to see and things to do in NYC that you will never run out no matter how many visits you make, as we proved to ourselves on this mini-vacation.
Story and photos by Patti Hartog
P.S. Looking for a good day trip idea? Check out where Patti went a few years ago here.
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