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Top of the Rock & Madame Tussauds
Bit of a lie-in this morning – we all woke up after 5.30am!! Time for research on what to do today and we’ve opted to go for the New York Pass as a lot of what we wanted to do was included plus a few others that we thought would be good to do because we could.
Callum was desperate for a McDonald’s breakfast so we relented. We all went for a McGriddle – doubt they’ll be making an appearance back home as it was a sweet pancake. Sweet pancake with bacon and egg … no maple syrup! Yuck!!
Callum though was very happy. We set off to collect our NY Passes and set off walking up 5th Avenue towards the Rockefeller Center. We picked up our tickets and had a little time to kill. Jon discovered there was a Banana Republic on site so we headed there to stock Jon up on pants! Even better, there was save $50 if you spent $100 so he is now stocked up for the next couple of years!! There was also a small Lego shop on site and they had some very cool models – one of the Rockefeller Center. Just outside was the cafe (this is where the ice-rink is in winter) and the statue of Prometheus.
Time to head to the Top of the Rock and we joined the queue for the elevator after going through security (hope that didn’t pick up Jon’s new pants!!) and having our photo taken in that iconic men-sat-on-steel-girder-above-NYC pose. We would be heading up to the 67th Floor – and the elevator was pretty cool. Not quite the Great Glass Elevator, but a Glass-topped elevator. Blue lights lit the way up to the top and Radio City logos broadcast across the top of the lift.
In 43 seconds we were at the Top of the Rock. Our first view was over Central Park looking North and you appreciate just how big Central Park is. We then headed to the other side for a fantastic view of the Empire State Building and further down to the Freedom Tower.
Another two levels to climb and get a slightly higher view of these sights. You could just about glimpse the Chrysler Building and it’s iconic roof and also Intrepid – the aircraft carrier-cum-museum and concorde on the pier by the aircraft carrier.
We also had our photo taken on “the beam” – it’s an iconic photo from the 1930s taken whilst the Rockefeller Center was being built. The workers sat on the beam having their lunch, hundreds of feet above the ground.
Time to head back down and we made our way across to Times Square en route to Madame Tussards – it was heaving and people everywhere. Callum was promised a trip to M&M World and Toys R Us afterwards if he was on best behaviour.
We came across Bubba Gump Shrimp Shop in Times Square and decided to stop for a bite to eat. Kids menu was great value for money – Popcorn Shrimp and chips for $6 – and it was a very generous portion. Jon and I shared the Shrimp Feast – shrimp in coconut batter, tempura batter and plain – served with various dips and chips. Yum! One of the best meals in NYC so far. They’re also opening a branch in London in October, so we’ll have to give that a go. Callum was chuffed to bits as he got to keep his glass that flashed!! Forrest Gump features throughout so not sure which came first – Bubba Gump or the movie!
Next stop Madame Tussards – not entirely sure what to expect but we got to meet George Clooney, Patrick Stewart, Julia Roberts, Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Craig, Robin Williams (RIP), Nelson Mandela … and also found time to take over Presidential duties for President Obama! It was good fun and will have to do this in London at some stage.
We back-tracked up through Times Square up to M&M World and must admit Callum and I were a little disappointed. The London branch is so much bigger, brighter and better – more models that you can stand to pose with. This one was small and cramped … Callum was very restrained and bought a few M&Ms – about 1/2lb – others not so and bags were being filled at a rapid rate of knots!
We were going to head to Toys R Us but the rain had started so opted to head back to the hotel via the subway. We stopped in Brendan’s for a quick beer before heading back to the hotel – mainly so Jon could suss out if they’d be showing the Newcastle game bright & early in the morning! Brendan’s weren’t but the barman pointed him in the direction of Legends as they had a large Geordie fan base. Alas, F1 was not on the schedule either for the Sunday.
Decisions, decisions … with over 11,000 restaurants to choose from in NY, it’s getting kind of tricky to decide what to eat and where! We wandered around for a bit – the Irish restaurants also had bars which were very lively so not sure whether they would be the best place to take Callum. The highly-rated Korean restaurant, Kristabelli, looked empty and no where near as busy as the ones a couple of doors down from our hotel. We ended up back at Jimmy’s – Jon had a Chicken Pitta Bread, Callum the full house burger and I had the Chicken Quesadillas. The food was surprisingly tasty.
Jon picked up a half bottle of wine for us to take back to the room as Callum was shattered. It was only when he took the seal off, he realised it was a cork not a screw-cap. Rather than go back down the 31 floors to have it opened, he spent the next half hour trying to break into the bottle with a pair of scissors, pen and anything else he could grab. Mission accomplished!
