Travel Day

Don't you just hate the airline industry? Even free travel just doesn't seem to be worth the money. Anyway, we decided to take advantage of the nuptials location of our dear nephew Michael and his lovely bride Kristen to tack on an extended east coast vacation. Since the wedding was in Burlingame, we lodged ourselves at the Holiday Inn Express, which had a "park and fly" rate and a shuttle bus to SFO. We awoke bleary-eyed at 5am, downed a forgettable free breakfast, and caught the 5:40am shuttle to the airport.

Upon arrival, we made our way to the American Airlines terminal, checked our luggage (94 pounds, 2 bags, $40) and received our boarding passes to La Guardia via Dallas/Fort Worth. Let me stop here to mention why we are flying American, a practically bankrupt airline with service to match. A long time ago (1985, maybe?), we got a notice in the mail from Bank of America that the Bonus Breakthrough program was sending. Huh? We didn't even know it had started! Anyway, on checking further, it became apparent that we were within 200 points of winning a free trip to Paris, 6 days, including airfare, hotel, and even a free deluxe meal. One cash advance later to garner the needed points, and hours on the phone to get them to actually give us the free trip, and we were off. They put us on TWA, and this was the year the airlines went nuts and offered triple miles. We shouldn't have got any miles for this trip, because it was already free. Anyway, we did. 54,000 miles each. When AA bought the remnants of TWA, these miles became AA miles, and we went to Italy a few years later on my miles, and Margie's miles (she only flew this one time on TWA) have stayed in her account since. So we used them 26 years later to go to New York. And that is why we took American Airlines.

The first leg of the flight was blissfully uneventful. But when we arrived Dallas and got to the outgoing LGA gate, there was a problem with the airplane. An hour and a half and a gate walk later, we were on our way to New York, and again, no problems enroute. Our bags appeared surprisingly quickly at baggage claim, and we had a smooth cab ride to the Hilton Garden Inn on W35th St, currently #20 of 413 New York hotels on tripadvisor.com.

We've stayed all around mid-town, and lately we have preferred staying in the southern part near Herald Square in the "Fashion District" (formerly the garment district, when garments were still actually made in the USA). Staying in Times Square, while convenient, is just a crush, and we don't like it. We don't mind staying north nearer the park, but 34th street is just a wonderful location, steps from the subway station which serves 2 major lines, half a block to the huge Macys and Broadway, 2 blocks to the Empire State Building, etc.

Anyway, we checked in, got our free bottles of water (only for the first of 11 nights, they said), and checked out our room on the 30th floors (of 31). Spectacular views from our smallish windows greeted us. Decent bathroom, but no tub. Margie wasn't too bummed. Free Wifi, microwave oven and refrigerator in the room ensures big $ savings. Mostly the reason I booked this particular hotel was the low cost, nice free amenities, and age. The hotel was built in Feb 2009, and in NYC, newness counts for a lot in terms of quality. We banished the stock pillows and had housekeeping bring us foam ones, and an extra blanket for those of the Portuguese persuasion. It is hard to believe they once conquered the world on cold and drafty ships!

Next on the agenda, food! We strolled up Broadway in the light rain and found ourselves at Abigaels, a kosher, Asian-inspired eatery with a semi-famous chef who once took on Bobby Flay for the matzo ball throwdown. We eschewed the soup, and instead went with our Spanish speaking waiters recommendation and got the light salad with mayonnaise and tomato jam, to share, followed by pecan crusted sea bass, stir fry vegetables, and jasmine rice for Margie, and Argentinean BBQed short ribs with herbed mashed potatoes and veggies for me. Both were delish. East coast fish is so much better than west coast fish. I don't know about the cows, but my short ribs were awesome. We dined upstairs so the sushi chef wouldn't feel lonely, while most everyone else (mostly Puerto Ricans and Orthodox Jews) ate downstairs. While a good meal, the incongruity of all of the nationalities struck us for sure.

Tomorrow, the Broadway show adventure begins...