Mrs. ATX and I both had to be in Manhattan for the week for work. While this wasn’t a true vacation, we still tried to make the most of our time and explore the city each night we were in town.
Sunday
We arrived Sunday afternoon on our respective flights to Newark, me from Baton Rouge (via Houston) and Mrs. ATX from Austin. Due to some ATC related weather delays, it was after 7:00p by the time we arrived at the Renaissance New York Chelsea and got checked-in.
After getting our room keys and dropping our bags in we headed out for dinner at our favorite New York restaurant, Red Farm. Unfortunately the one in West Village was temporarily closed so we headed up to the Upper West Side via the Red Line train for a delicious dinner on a cold and rainy night.
Full from dinner we made the walk to the 72nd Street Subway Station at and headed back to the Renaissance for the night.
Monday
After a full day of work at my offices in Midtown, I headed towards Grand Central Station to catch the Shuttle to Times Square. We wanted to see a show that evening so I needed to get some last minute tickets.
After hopping off the train I made my way through the crowds, who were out even in the rain, to the TKTS Time Square kiosk to see what they had available.
The big play that everyone wanted to see, and that the folks at the kiosk were pushing, was Six. While Mrs. ATX also wanted to see it, we bought tickets to the off broadway production in Austin a few weeks after our trip to NYC. It would have been better to see it on Broadway but we got our tickets prior to booking this trip. Ultimately, we decided on something light and I bought us tickets to Drunk Shakespeare. Tickets in hand I headed back to the Subway and met Mrs. ATX at the hotel to drop my bag.
The show started at 7:00p and it was just before 6:00p when I arrived at the hotel. That meant we needed to find something fast for dinner. Thankfully, Mrs. ATX found a burger place with good beers on offer a block from the theatre.
We made it to The Ruby Theatre about 15 minutes before the show was set to start. Out tickets were checked and we went through a small bar area where you could order drinks before proceeding into the small theatre space. The stage was just the floor of the room with chairs surrounding it, making it an intimate venue.
We were taken to our seats which were right on the floor, giving us an up close view of the performance. For those of you that haven’t heard, Drunk Shakespeare takes a famous Shakespeare play (ours was MacBeth) and one of the actors downs 5 shots of whiskey at the start of the show. From there, hilarity ensues. The show ran for 90 minutes and, while there was no intermission, servers took drink orders throughout the show in case the audience felt like the actors were having all of the fun.
After the show, the rain had turned into more of a mist. While it wasn’t totally dry, we decide to walk the 14 blocks back to the hotel.
On our walk back, we decided that we weren’t quite ready for bed and stopped in at the Flatiron Room near our hotel for a nightcap. A live band was playing and we were able to find a couple of seats at the bar.
While we were just looking for a bar, I later learned that the Flatiron Room is known for their wide selection of spirits (Over 1000) and especially their large selection of whiskey. As a bourbon fan I was like a kid in a candy store perusing all of the options.
We finished our drinks a little after 10:00p and headed to the hotel to get some sleep.
Tuesday
We woke up to a strange, bright light shining into the room which turned out to be the sun. The rain had finally pushed through the area and it was a beautiful Fall day in the city. Instead of taking the Red Line and transferring to the Shuttle to get to my office near GCT, I decided to walk over and catch the Green Line train. I passed by the Flatiron Building on my walk which was covered in scaffolding as part of a rennovation.
After work, Mrs. ATX had a company event so I was left alone for the first part of the evening. Having flashbacks to our Switzerland and Germany trip earlier in the month, I decided to head over to the Hofbräu Bierhaus on 3rd Avenue for a quick dinner. The place was packed full but I was able to squeeze into a single open seat at the bar. The beer was good and the schnitzel fingers were surprisingly delicious, though it didn’t compare to the real thing.
After Mrs. ATX’s work event ended and we decided to meet up at The Ivory Peacock, which was located across the street from the Flatiron Room we visited the night before. The exterior caught our eye and we decided it was worth checking out.
Mrs. ATX was already seated at the bar when I arrived. The place was bustling on a Tuesday night and a large corporate event was taking up the rear of the bar.
We were both more exhausted than either one of us realized so, after one drink, we headed to the hotel and called it a night.
Wednesday
It was another full day of work for both of us and we each had work related events afterwards. It was close to 9:00p by the time we both finished with our respective events and we decided to meet somewhere close to the hotel. Ultimately, we decided on 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar which, ironically, is located on Broadway. The clear skies from the day before were turning cloudy again and made for an interesting backdrop on my walk from the Subway to the bar.
The rooftop bar was packed and was standing room only when we arrived. Heaters were going and some people were sitting under blankets as there was a noticeable chill in the air. We ordered drinks from the walk-up bar and found a place to stand on the open air part of the deck. From here, we had great views of the Empire State Building all lit up. I had to Google the meaning of the colors and it was apparently promoting Harry Potter.
After standing for a few minutes, a couple of Adirondak chairs opened up and we were able to sit and enjoy the remainder of our beverage. The blankets that were available made it a cozy spot to enjoy the view of the city.
We finished our drinks and decided to head back to the Renaissance, but we weren’t heading to bed. On the top floor of the hotel is a bar/nightclub that we’ve seen during prior stays at the hotel but never had a chance to visit. So, instead of heading into the lobby, we made a left one door early and headed up to Somewhere Nowhere.
We had no clue what to expect at the top of the elevator and I was pleasantly surprised to find a lively club that was in the middle of jazz night. A full brass band was playing and the crowd was cancing and having a great time. I was honestly a little surprised that the average age seemed higher than I would have expected.
In addition to the lively dance floor, there was a long bar along the rear wall that had floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the city.
We ordered a couple of drinks and did some dancing before deciding to turn in for the night, we still had to work the next day after all.
Thursday
At the end of our final, full day in NYC, we headed to meet some of our DFW based travel buddies at Nowon in East VIllage. Our friends were raving about their burgers and I was excited to check it out.
The burgers came out and were delicious. A burger doesn’t necessarily photograph well so you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.
After dinner, we decided to walk down to our reservation at Double Chicken Please for a nightcap. The weather was a mist when we started but we ended up sprinting the last block as the skies opened up once again. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much rain in one week in New York.
Even though we made a reservation in advance, we had to wait 15-20 minutes for our table to open up. This wouldn’t have been a problem if we weren’t hanging out under some scaffolding outside. Finally, our table was ready in the back room and we ordered a round of drinks as well as some sort of chicken bites that were quite good before calling an Uber back to our hotel to pack.
Friday
Friday was departure day but we were able to sleep in a bit thanks to our afternoon departure. This day happened to be the worst weather day of our trip and it rained so hard that parts of the city started to flood, including LaGuardia Airport.
Fortunately, we were flying out of Newark and left the hotel just after 11:00a to head across the river into New Jersey.
Summary
This trip wasn’t your typical New York City tourist experience as work took up the bulk of our time. Hopefully someone found this interesting and considers visiting one of the bars/restaurants that we were able to during our week in the city!
