May Long Weekend in New York City!
The best way to tell that a trip was successful is if you’re planning to do it again the next year, almost exactly the same way. That was our experience on our latest trip to New York, this time with dear friends who wanted to see “our New York”. For those of you who know me well, you will know that means they received an itinerary spreadsheet the same day they raised the idea!
So last September, we started planning to go to New York on the following May long weekend. Both couples flew the Thursday before, to different airports on different airlines, and all arrived on time with no issues. First off, we drove to Buffalo on the Wednesday and stayed at the Homewood Suites Buffalo Airport on points – we had a 1-bedroom suite and there was a Wednesday night social, hosted by the fabulous Cynthia. They served gumbo soup, fresh bread, Caesar salad, pita chips and hummus, churros for dessert with ice cream, free wine and beer. It was really great and lots of fun. Cynthia is now one of my new travel clients.
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/bufaphw-homewood-suites-buffalo-airport/
The next day, we drove 3 minutes to the long-term parking at Buffalo Airport ($73 USD for 5 days) and the free shuttle picks you up and drops you off at the terminal. We flew JetBlue to JFK, and it was perfect, on time, lots of snacks and free beverage. I upgraded us to the EvenMore section in the first 4 rows with free internet that actually worked. Pricing for the flights was $1000 less than if we had flown Air Canada from Toronto to La Guardia. The other reason we love to fly from Buffalo is that once you drive there, you’re already across the border.
The Port Authority is spending $19 B in the next few years to improve JFK Airport, so there was lots of construction upon our arrival at the JetBlue terminal. For now, after baggage claim, it’s a long walk to the parking garage to get a taxi to Manhattan. However, I’m sure the result will be similar to the improvements they’ve made at LGA, so this is a relatively short-term problem.
We stayed again at the Hilton Garden Inn on West 54th Street at Broadway, within walking distance of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Theater District. I was so relaxed upon arrival that I made 2 key mistakes. First, I left my credit card in the machine in the taxi! Fortunately, the driver noticed and came into the hotel lobby, found us, and gave it to me. Next, I should have noticed that the front desk clerk asked me the wrong first question upon check in. Usually, they ask for your last name. This lady asked for my I.D. – which would be fine, if she had read it properly. She noticed “Robert” in the last name, and by mistake, gave us the room meant for someone named Robert Spencer. When I got the key cards, I mentioned that we were expecting a room on a high floor as requested, (instead of the 3rd floor), she mumbled something, and I just carried on instead of asking her to repeat herself. We got to the room, and it had 2 beds, but was otherwise fine. No biggie, so we proceeded to unpack. About an hour later, someone came to the door and opened it with a key card, not once, but twice, saw us, and left. At that point, I really knew something was up, so Steve called downstairs and we finally got it figured out. Night one comped by the hotel. As the stay proceeded, the weather got warmer and warmer, and the AC in the room continued to work less and less. After 5 visits from “Engineering”, another room night was comped, and we had a very good fan delivered to the room for the last night. Lesson learned, when traveling, make sure everything is in order in the room before you unpack. (we were offered another room many times, but I won’t unpack multiple times)
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/nycwfgi-hilton-garden-inn-new-york-central-park-south-midtown-west/
Other than these adventures, the stay in NYC was even better with good friends who want to experience the things we love, and other things new to us. The first was dinner at the Empire Steak House at the hotel the first night. We’re quite familiar with their bar and bartenders, who were quite happy to see us again this year. We had never dined there, and it was fabulous. Incredible steak, seafood, veggies, and wine.
https://www.empiresteakhousenyc.com/midtown-west
The next day we walked to Grand Central Station to look around and then have lunch at the Campbell Bar. Dinner that night was at Trattoria Del Arte, across the street from Carnegie Hall. This restaurant had been kind of hit and miss for us lately, but this time it was awesome! Service was much better than before, and the pasta and pizza were great. Then we were off to Carnegie Hall for a Chamber Music concert – details below. Beautiful as usual.
After the concert, we were so excited to go to Flute Midtown for champagne (and possibly snacks). Such a shame that the service was bad (never a fan of being ignored) and the champagne portions had been reduced by about 2/3 for the same price. So, the jury’s out on Flute for a while.
On Saturday, we walked to Lincoln Center and had brunch at Café Fiorello, across the street. This is another restaurant (linked to Trattoria del Arte, and part of the Fireman Hospitality Group) that we had been only occasionally loving the last couple of visits. However, (and I have no idea if this had anything to do with it)……… this was our first brunch there, and our first time eating there indoors. The food and service were great.
https://www.thefiremangroup.com/
Off to the matinee of La Traviata at the Met Opera, and our friends’ first time at Lincoln Center. SO fun. The story was really interesting (Pretty Woman was loosely based on it) and the music and performances were lovely.
After that, we went back to the hotel, got changed, and headed to Birdland for dinner and the early set. Birdland might not be everyone’s cup of tea, as it looks a touch sketchy, but the food is fabulous, the portions are embarrassingly large, and the show was just beyond. The group was the Michael Wolff Quartet – he was the former Music Director of the Arsenio Hall show back in the day. He plays piano, had a bassist and drummer, and a wonderful woman named Camille Thurman who plays tenor sax, flute, and sings so well. They did an arrangement of Alfie that blew my mind and brought me to tears. Can’t imagine going to NYC and not going to Birdland; this was our 3rd time and each time the music is even better. They are experts at booking fabulous talent.
https://www.birdlandjazz.com/tm-event/michael-wolff-quartet-2/
Our last day was a little gentler, brunch at the Glass House Tavern in the Theater District – we hadn’t been there before and would definitely go back. Then we saw the Musical of Death Becomes Her at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Steve loves the movie and chose this musical for us – and it was a riot. One of the key roles was played by Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child. The whole cast was great and the show was so funny. After that, we went to a Mexican restaurant called Dos Caminos (new to us) and the food was good but the service was crummy. Ah well, it can’t all be fabulous.
The last morning, we booked a car to take us to JFK and arrived in record time and had a lovely flight to Buffalo and the trip home was enjoyable. As you can tell, we love New York, and have the itinerary booked for next year’s trip already.
Speaking of future trips, we’re now in the time of year where it’s so beautiful to be home in Ontario, so we don’t travel until later in the Summer. So, this blog is going on vacation, but I’m still booking travel!
Where do you plan to go in 2026 and 2027? (I’m looking at 2028-2029 bookings too!)
May I help you?
Happy Travels! See you in September!