The first time I came to New York City was with my Mom when I was in my early teens. I’ve been back countless times.  I Love New York!

My most memorable experience was in May of 2003.  My brother, Dave, and I did the 26th Annual, Bike New York Five Boro Tour (every year, third Sunday of May).  This is a 42 mile bicycle ride through the cities five boroughs.  The streets are closed to traffic and it’s a bicyclists paradise.  We started out in front of Ground Zero and finished at Battery Park. The biggest challenge was biking the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.   What a ride!

My brother, Dave is the reason I love coming to New York so much.  He is the best New York trip planner, tour guide and companion ever!

This trip formulated when the Divine Miss M (Bette Midler) announced her Divine Intervention Tour.  All I had to do was say “Yes” when Dave asked if I wanted to go.  Ticket purchasing, hotel reservations, research and the hardest part of all,  planning the navigating were all up to him. Our concert plans evolved into a two night “Barb and Dave Getaway”.

Dave drove us to the Stamford, CT Train Station where a new overnight parking garage, Harbor Point Gateway Garage, recently opened ($10 per 24 hours).  We caught the Metro North Express Train (50 minutes) to Grand Central Station ($22 round trip).

He had booked us a room at The Wolcott Hotel ($200 a night).  The Wolcott opened in 1904.  It is very old, but well maintained.  The architecture, design and decorating is very ornate and quite interesting.  The lobby is awesome!  Best of all is the location.  It is on W 31st Street, midway between 5th Ave and Broadway, just a few blocks from Madison Square Garden.  Our room was tiny, with two twin beds that were more the size of large cots.  They were comfortable enough and the room was neat and clean.  The Hotel serves coffee, tea and muffins every morning. The muffins are fresh bakery, not frozen minis, delicious!

Dinner the first night was at The Pita Grill (291 7th Ave).  We both had Falafel Pitas and Sweet Potato Fries ($10.07).  Dave is a Vegan and I am Vegetarian.

The concert was FABULOUS!  Or I guess I should say “SIMPLY DIVINE!  Bette Midler is the epitome of a great performer.  At 69 years old she ROCKED the Garden and received three standing ovations!  Her voice, although a few octaves lower,  was superb.  She was on stage for over two hours and her stamina never waned.  She made us laugh with her jokes,  sang songs that brought smiles to our faces and sometimes tears to our eyes.  The concert was a past to the present, 40 years of the Best of Bette!

The next day, we were at the Brooks Atkinson Theater box office when it opened at 10:00 a.m..  We wanted to see the play  “It Shoulda Been You”.   There are many places to buy discounted tickets,  but Dave has found that going to the box office you can often do better. We got lucky!  There were day of the show “Rush” tickets available.  Ticket prices for this show range from $57 – $142.  We got first mezzanine box seat tickets for $35.  Have you ever been at a theater and seen these cute little balconies on either side of the stage and wondered “Are those seats only for special people?”.  Yes, they are! Those are the seats that Dave and I were in 🙂  The show, a musical romantic comedy,  was FANTASTIC!   Tyne Daly (Cagney from the TV show Cagney and Lacey) was one of the stars.  She was great!  The storyline was totally unpredictable.  Dave and I were both very pleasantly surprised!  We are having a ball!

Our days were filled walking around Manhattan.  The High Line, an elevated rail yard park, that runs from 11th Ave to W 34th, has beautiful gardens and gorgeous sky line views.  This was my first time walking on the High Line and I was very impressed.  From there we headed toward the water to The Hudson River Walkway and down to Battery Park.  We had great views of The Freedom Building the 9/11 Tribute and Lady Liberty.  We headed back to the hotel through Greenwich Village and stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at one of Dave’s favorite restaurants, Red Bamboo (140 W 4th Street).  It’s menu is vegan/vegetarian soul food.  Entrees range from $10 – $16.  Our meals were excellent (two for $27).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.