My sister and I are spending ten days in New York City. We have "done" NYC before but it was back in 2010. We were younger, fitter and more agile regarding our daily schedules 15 years ago. We had a blast on that trip together. We walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty; waited in line to take the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building; walked through Central Park; saw two Broadway shows; ate good food; and stayed in Chelsea in a very small room with one bed in which we had to a climb rickety stairs to get to our door. Our one bed touched three walls so that Gayle had to climb over me at night to go to the bathroom.
This time we are staying in the Pearl Hotel, just a half block from Times Square. We have a large room with two beds and a huge walk-in shower. We have tickets to eight shows and reservations at restaurants that will provide a wide variety of tastes. As you can see we have more money than we had 15 years ago.
We planned our flights to NYC so that we each had a layover at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. That way we could meet in Dallas and arrive in New York on the same flight. It is always chancy to assume that both of our flights will arrive in time but it worked. We only had time to say hello before it was time to board our flight to La Guardia.
We arrived at the Pearl Hotel last night around 6:30 p.m. with empty stomachs. Attached to the hotel is the Empire Steakhouse so we headed there for dinner. Neither one of us opted for the Waygu Tomahawk steak wrapped in 24 karat gold for only $495. Gayle ordered the one crab cake appetizer ($30) and I went for the lobster ravioli ($43). I think the gold wrapped Waygu Steak is on the menu so when you spend $30 for an appetizer you feel like you got a deal. The food was excellent, the service impeccable, the bread not so good. If you need a cocktail, don't come here. They only serve beer and wine. I would rate my experience (on a scale of 1-100) at 85.
I have to explain my decision to rate my experience of restaurants and shows on this trip. If you have ever traveled to NYC with plans to see Broadway shows you know they are often rated on a scale of 1-100. My friend Linda and I traveled here in 2022 and we rated each show we saw to see if it matched the Broadway review ratings that added in our decisions about which shows to see. It was a fun exercise.
Our hotel offers a free continental breakfast and a free one hour wine happy hour every day. We missed our free wine last night and will probably miss it every night as we head out to see shows. We woke up too late this morning to make it to our free continental breakfast. Being so close to Times Square we decided to have breakfast at the iconic Juniors Restaurant & Bakery on Broadway. We were informed that we were too late for breakfast and ushered to our seats without a wait. We each ordered soup and shared a salad. It was okay...not outstanding. We may try it for breakfast another day. I would rate it at 65.
We walked down to the epicenter of Times Square to enjoy the madness. We saw King Kong...
and got saved.
We headed back to our room so Gayle could rest her back. I went in search of kouign amann. When we were talking about where we wanted to dine during these ten days in New York Gayle had two requests. She wanted to have kouign amann and eat at John's Pizzeria because of it's stained-glass window. I had researched and found that Bibble & Sip (just two blocks from our hotel) sells kouign amann. So I headed out to get a couple. I love exploring New York and I wanted to see what places were around our hotel as I wandered towards Bibble and Sip.
Right next to our hotel is St. Malachy's -- The Actor's Chapel. It is a Catholic parish that has a long history of relationship to the theater district. Gregory Peck and Bob Hope were parishioners. Rudolph Valentino's funeral was held here. The church was playing "There's No Business Like Show Business" as people lined up to see the Book of Mormon across the street. I love NYC.
Next to the church was a lovely building called Lillie's -- A Victorian Establishment. I thought it was store so I poked my head in only to discover that it was an exquisite looking restaurant. I told Gayle about it when I got back to the room and we decided to cancel our reservation tonight for IRIS and make one for Lillie's.
I headed on to Bibble and Sip. The place was packed. I could see why. They not only offer incredible pastries but some very interesting drinks. I may have to return just to have the matcha float. I got four kouignamman. I mean, who knows when I will come here again! I made it back to our hotel just as it began to rain.
We spent a restful afternoon in our room. Gayle and I each had a kouign amann as a late afternoon snack because any time of day is the right time of day for kouign amann. Gayle declared that the kouign amann in France are better. Duh!
At 4:30 p.m. we headed out to the Lyceum Theater to see "Oh, Mary!" When we bought these tickets we really didn't know anything about it. We just knew it had great success on Broadway and it's last show would be on January 18 -- which is today. We scooped up the tickets. By the way, the show has been extended until September so we didn't see the last show.
The play is written and performed by Cole Escola (they/them). Wikipedia describes this show about Mary Todd Lincoln and her husband as a comedic spoof. Mary, a former cabaret performer longs to get back to the stage. Abraham Lincoln is portrayed as a gay man who uses Mary as a beard to hide his sexuality. I find it hard to describe this play. Cole Escola describes their own play as "the stupidest play." They aren't wrong. It is a campy slapstick play...and it had the audience laughing throughout. Twice I tore my eyes away from the play just to enjoy watching the audience laughing in unison. The timing of the five actors was impeccable. The set was nothing to write home about. It had only four set changes -- the Oval Office, a saloon, the Ford Theater where Lincoln is assassinated and a cabaret stage. The sets are simple and forgettable but the acting (and overacting) is what attracts your attention. I would give the show a 92.
We had dinner at Lillies -- A Victorian Establishment.
The decor is Victorian Christmas all day, every day.
We shared a burrata salad and a waygu cheeseburger. The food was delicious, as was my sangria. The service was excellent. My favorite part of the meal was when a a dozen women, wearing tiaras and dresses that made them look like they were all trying to be Jasmine from Aladdin, were seated at the table next to us. Gayle couldn't stop giggling and gawking at them. She assured me that no one notices older women and we could stare as much as we wanted. Plus, they obviously wanted people to gawk at them. They made there way all over the restaurant taking each other's pictures in front of every fireplace, stained-glass window and Santa Claus. We watched them as we giggled our way out of the restaurant. I would give the restaurant a 90.
On the way to our room we stopped in the hotel's free "cafe", a tiny closet with tea bags, half and half packets and mini candy bars. We stuffed our pockets and headed to our room to call it a night.
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