NYC Adventure Continued!

 NYC Adventure Continues!

Our NYC trip was a three night stay...on Saturday morning we visited the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.  I just loved that all over the city there were signs for Summer Reading.  In my years as a librarian I worked on so many Summer Reading programs and always enjoyed the fun.  

Even the library lions ( Patience and Fortitude) got into the spirit!

The walk from our hotel to the library is called "Library Way" and the sidewalk is full of great brass inserts with quotes about books and reading - 

So inspiring and so wonderful for everyone to see.

We always make time to visit the library when in the city...there is always a great display or exhibition  - and it is free.  This time we saw an exhibition called "Treasures' and it was a great display of all the artifacts that have been donated to the library over the years. Here is a link to the library and information about the free, timed tickets.

Treasures

 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is my favorite book...

so I was thrilled to see the handwritten manuscript!

And loved seeing the "real" Winnie The Pooh and friends !

There was so much more to see...as well as a small area where you could sit for bit and watch film clips from the library's collection - like a film of Isadora Duncan dancing, or Bob Fosse as a teenager dancing with his parents on the roof of his apartment.

We spent the rest of the day walking around and then got ready for a night out.  We tried to eat outside as much as possible as the television news was urging people to wear masks indoors and outdoors in crowded areas as the variant of Covid was spreading fast.  Our last night we ate at The Hourglass Bistro and we ate inside as the outside seating was in the sun and just too hot.  It was a great meal...first time we ate there but it is now on our list of favorites.  You can read about it here Hourglass Bistro

For our theater adventure that night we chose a non-musical and saw American Buffalo by David Mamet starring Laurence Fishburne and Sam Rockwell. 

I would say it was a comedy/drama...and we really enjoyed it.

Walking back to The Library Hotel we enjoyed the city lights...the Chrysler Building and St. Bart's on Park Avenue looked beautiful.

The next morning we walked back to St. Bart's for Sunday Mass.   I loved that the steps were painted rainbow colors to make sure people knew EVERYONE was welcome.

We loved this welcome to the church and brought it home to share with our church committee.

Amazing mosaics and beautiful building.

St. Bart's has been featured in many movies...it's always fun to recognize it when watching a film.

After church we walked back to The Library Hotel and had brunch at the restaurant there, 

 Madison and Vine

Yummy French Toast with lots of berries...

mimosas, and a wonderful husband of 45.5 years to share it all with!

And then, it was time to say goodbye to one of my favorite places on earth, 

Library Hotel

Then it was time for a ride back through the Lincoln Tunnel and home to Lancaster, PA.  What a wonderful weekend - we can't wait to return.  

What getaways and adventures are you planning or have you done?  Any plans for the fall season? Please leave a comment and let me know - I love hearing from you !

Thanks so much for stopping by Our New Vista!

NYC Adventure

 

New York City Getaway

We finally made it to New York City!  A trip scheduled for a birthday treat in March 2020 was canceled because of my husband's heart attack.  That was right before Covid began - and our hotel reservations at my favorite place - The Library Hotel  - were nonrefundable.  But, when I explained the situation they were very kind and said we can give you credit to use within a year.   Then Covid hit and still, we thought that it would run it's course and we would be able to visit in March 2021.  We all know that things did not improve, so we were given another year of credit.  We planned to go for our 45th Wedding Anniversary in January 2022.  Then the Omicron variant started up and plays and restaurants were closing...so we postponed our trip to July and our 45 and 1/2 celebration!  And we made it !

The hotel is located on "Library Row", just a block away from the big New York Public Library.

As a retired school librarian I just LOVE staying here!  The desk clerks are called librarians, the check in desk looks like a card catalog.   We have stayed here before and always are surprised by what room we land in.  Each of the 10 floors is dedicated to a category of the Dewey Decimal System...and each room is designated with a Dewey classification number.  The books and art in the room reflect that subject.

This time we were on the 8th floor - 800 being the Dewey Classification for Literature...

and there it was, projected on the wall, as we got off of the elevator.

Our room was 800.002, The Classics !

We found a lovely surprise of wine and chocolates from our dear friends who knew we would be celebrating in the city.

This was a deluxe Queen room...there are smaller rooms and some suites.  In general the rooms are small...but very well appointed.

Lots of books - all classics.  Here John is reading me the first line from a book he picked off of the shelf to see if I knew the title....I did!  Dr. Zhivago!

The bathrooms are smallish, but very nice.

Lots of nice toiletries...

And a little vanity area, too.

We arrived late in the afternoon and after getting into our room we made our way to the Reading Room...where there are always snacks and this wonderful coffee machine that makes a cappuccino at the press of a button!

After a quick break we were off to explore the city!

We enjoyed some great NYC pizza, 

Loved the big billboards promoting summer reading,

then headed to the theater to see The Book Of Mormon.  Very funny, very irreverent, and fun. Masks were encouraged, but not required - we wore ours inside every theater and in crowded out door places.

Next morning we enjoyed some fruit, an energy bar, and of course, a cappuccino...then headed out for a long walk to the High Line and Little Island.

Little Island is a park set on these white tulips in the Hudson....walking trails, interactive music and art, and just a beautiful spot!

Then a long, meandering walk back to the hotel through many great streets and sights.

Then dinner ( outside seating ) at a La Rivage on Restaurant Row...

Seafood bisque

A great cocktail

A toast to 45 and 1/2 years...

Salmon dinner

and a FABULOUS show.

End of our first full day in NYC...we were exhausted but it was wonderful.  More adventures in NYC in the next blog post.

Have you been to New York City ?  What is your favorite thing to do/eat/see in the city?  Please leave a comment below - I love hearing from you!