NYC Trip Plan

The race is on a Sunday (3/19).  I am going regardless of my running status.  If I have to walk part or even most of it, so what?  The course begins on the upper East side and makes a loop around Central Park before turning south through Times Square for a finish near Wall Street downtown.  I spent a night in Queens once because a flight home was cancelled but have never been to any other boroughs.  Manhattan in particular ought to be on any American's bucket list.  

Here is the plan:

  I'll get in on a Friday morning around 10 AM.  It's a direct flight into LaGuardia (Queens).  It's only about 10 miles into Manhattan but figure with the traffic, it will take almost an hour to get to my hotel.  Word on the street is that if you're thinking about renting a car and driving in NYC: DON'T!  I'll take a cab into town and I've heard you can buy a weekly pass for unlimited subway rides too.  If my destination is less than say 20-25 blocks away, I'll walk.  Hopefully, the weather will be decent though it can be a crap shoot that time of year.  Normal high is in the low 50s and snow is rare but not unheard of in mid-late March.  

Here's a list of some of things that I would like to see:

-Rockefeller Center

-Freedom Tower (new WTC)

-Empire State Building

-Trump Tower

-9/11 memorial

-Wall Street/ NYSE

-Brooklyn Bridge into downtown Brooklyn

-Times Square

-5th, 7th and Madison Ave. shops

-Broadway area

-Yankee Stadium tours (Bronx)

-Grand Central Station

-Riverside Dr.

-Battery Park

-Central Park

Food:

-One of the famous delis

- A Pizza joint

-Seinfeld cafe (yes, it's a real restaurant)

-Rooftop bar

-Overpriced steak.

  

I'd say that's plenty to do.  The plan is to stay an extra day and get back to B'ham on Monday the 20th.