Day 12 - The Big Apple!

Our day in New York City was fabulous!  Due to the jet lag, we only got a little over 4 hours sleep and awoke pretty early so I worked on the prior days blog and then went for a workout at the hotel fitness center while Carol contacted the tour people and we purchased tickets and we hopped on a double- decker open air bus tour about 8:30AM. The tour covered so many famous sites and landmarks and the tour guide provided so much interesting information as we drove along. The city was bustling and traffic was notoriously very bad so we were able to take many photos along the way. Our tour went through the many ethnic areas like Greenwich Village, Chinatown, Little Italy, and sections such as Mid-town, Uptown, Financial District, Fashion District, Madison Avenue, Wall Street, Theatre District, East Side, West Side, Lower East Side, etc. The tour guide gave the names of all the celebrities that have lived and do live at each building and in hotels like the Waldorf Astoria, Ritz Carlton, etc. Landmarks along the way  included the Flatiron Building, Empire State Building, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Carnegie Hall, Trump Tower, the United Nations buildings, Radio City Music Hall, Woolworth Building, Grand Central Station, Madison Square Garden, and on and on. The only thing we didn't have time to do was take the Staten Island Ferry or go out to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty. It was still under repair from hurricane Sandy and won't open until July 4th. Oh well, another reason to plan a trip back to NYC some time.

One of the things that struck us both was the price of living in Manhattan. Even in the rent control and subsidized rent area, a renewed lease today for a one bedroom 500 sq. ft. apartment would be $3,200 per month. One comparison given is that if one lived in Houston, TX making $70K annually you would need $180K annually to maintain the same standard of living. Likewise, the cost of a couple thousand square foot dwelling to purchase is in the $2.2 million range, and that's in addition to $2,400 in monthly homeowners association and maintenance fees, etc.  

The tour lasted three and one-half hours and we were then ready for lunch. We went to a place named Juniors that was right next to our hotel. Carol ordered a pastrami and I ordered a combo pastrami and corned beef sandwich on onion rolls. The meal came with coleslaw and pickled beets. We were pretty full but couldn't resist ordering some famous New York Cheesecake. We agreed to split a slice of Red Velvet Cheesecake. Wow, it was incredible, and more that the two of us could eat.

After lunch we collected our bags at the hotel and then walked a short distance to the nearest metro subway and rode the subway to the airport, connecting to the AirTrain at the Jamaica station and then on to JFK. 

After a just over three hour flight we were back in Dallas and it was in the upper 80's and very warm. Our son Bruce was there to pick us up at the airport.  We have a lifetime of memories and pictures from this trip and can't wait to plan and go on the next one!