MareLuce

Current Itinerary for an August trip to NYC (work) - CT (play) - NYC (work):

Fly into JFK, land at noon.

Drive Hertz rental car from JFK to White Plains where I'll work during the week.

Saturday - Tuesday
Vacation along the coast of Connecticut.
See the Charles P Morgan which recently returned to Mystic Seaport.
Enjoy a couple lobster rolls.
Anything else you'd recommend? (things to see, places to go, eats)

Back to NYC on Tuesday for work Wed-Friday.


Problem from last trip I want to avoid:
- Turning in my rental car at a Hertz in NYC with 2 pieces of luggage and then back to my NYC hotel turned into a 5 hour ordeal.
Problem #1 - Traffic in the city (1.5 hrs)
Problem #2 - Catching a cab from the Hertz location (impossible - tried for 1.5 hours, Dial7 was booked, etc...)
Problem #3 - I left my luggage at Hertz and then went to hail a cab from a hotel 1 hour, but cabbie wouldn't wait while I went to get luggage, back to square 1....


So... plan is - drop off the rental car at a Hertz before I get to the city, then take train in.

Where to drop off the rental car before I get into the city?

Right now I have booked via Hertz to drop off the car at Hertz Stamford metro north train station.

From there, I'll take a Metro North train Stamford to Grand Central.
Then I'll take taxi from from Grand Central to my hotel, the Hotel on Rivington on Lower East Side.

Odds are I'll have 2 suitcases in tow.

Between Stamford train station to Grand Central to Taxi, are there any places where elevators are not available?

Any other options I should consider?

vw08

Looks like a great plan!

I'm from the CT shoreline, so I'd suggest for at least part of your trip to Mystic, taking Route 1 instead of I-95. They run parallel and Route 1 is a much more scenic but slower drive. At least from Guilford to Old Saybrook, get off the highway and onto the secondary road. You will see a lot of historic buildings and small town Main Streets. Especially if you are driving on the weekends, you will run into lots of little town events/fairs that are always fun to stop at.

There are tons of roadside seafood spots on Route 1. Lenny and Joe's in Madison near Hammonasset State Park is one of my favorites.

Your transportation plan sounds fine and it looks like all the elevators at the Stamford train station are running normally right now, but that could definitely change between now and your trip. Grand Central might be a little tricky with two suitcases depending on which track your Metro North train arrives at. Once you are off the platform and into the Grand Central, there should not be too many problems.

MareLuce

Noted.

Thanks vw08!

I just added
Lenny and Joe's Fish tale
1301 Boston Post Rd
Madison, CT 06443

to my Google Maps "custom map" feature that replaced "My Maps" which I used and miss. At least with another app, the Maps Engine, I can see my saved POI place markers, with edited info, not just the gold stars.

Lenny and Joe's looks very close to where I'll be staying in CT - at the Madison Beach hotel.

I've heard the beach adjacent to the hotel is walkable is very small. I'm bringing my Keens anyway.

Is Putnam worth a drive for shopping?

Efrem

That depends very much on what you want to shop for. Can you share that information with us, or is it a secret? (Personally, I'd say "probably not," given how much time you'll have and the distance from where you'll be, but that's me and not you.)

MareLuce

re: Shopping preferences

Really, 1) non-chain and 2) interesting are the 2 key preferences.

Something unique to the region would be a component of 2) interesting...

It's been years since I've been to a mall for anything but Sears tires.

vw08

There are a whole bunch of cool little shops near the Mystic Aquarium and there should be others near the Seaport. They might be a bit touristy, but I know they offer local and handmade products.

If you are looking for more mainstream shopping, there are two outlet malls on the Shoreline. There is a slightly upscale one in Clinton and a bit more average one in Westbrook. You said you are not a big mall shopper, but depending on when are you going this could be worth your while. Connecticut tax free shopping weekend is August 17-23, so no tax on any clothes or shoes up to $300.

mrsjon01

Also you might want to check out Old Sturbridge Village, it's in the same general area as Mystic Seaport IIRC. The village itself is done as a living museum, with folks dressed in clothing of the era and acting as though it is the 1800s (I think). It's an interesting place.

lo2e

You must be thinking of something else, because Old Sturbridge Village is right near the Massachusetts/Connecticut border, just off I-84 in Massachusetts.

Letitride3c

Summertime along the I-95 corridor between NYC & coast CT, there's tons of vacationing traffic + ongoing road work/construction (around exit 40's) and rubbernecking spots around exit 12-15's - all of them in both directions. Leave very early on Saturday morning from NY to head north to avoid them, or, use the Hutchinson River Pkwy which become I-15/Merritt Pkwy in CT, get back on I-95 by using parkway's Exit 54. Your return to NY on Tuesday should be fine after the morning rush, perhaps with a scenic lunch stop off I-95 on good old Boston Post Road (Rt. 1) Traffic generally move along well above the posted speed limit, stay with the flow of traffic & keep right to stay out of SP's instant-on laser & they do hide behind the on-ramps but generally highly "visible" with the goal of simply "slowing" down traffic.

Driving a rental into Manhattan is mad crazy but have you considered dropping off the Hertz at its LGA airport location just off the Grand Central Parkway (extra dropoff fees at Stamford, CT with a JFK pickup location, no ??) and have Carmel or Dial7 car service take you directly to the Rivington Hotel for a flat rate with 2 suitcases, fares should run you about $45 or less with tips via BQE to the Williamsburgh Bridge (no toll) for the Lower East Side.

Out of my Element

Lobster Landing in Clinton, CT is a great stop. Right on the water, very casual.

KenCT

Madison Beach Hotel is a great choice, but they should be embarassed to call that little patch of sand in front of it a "beach." Hammonasset State Beach, on the other hand, is very close by, and will give you ample opportunity to utilize your Keens.

Some other random notes. If you're looking for something a little less casual than a beach shack, Bar Bouchee is a very nice place right in the center of Madison. You can have a drink at the bar and chat with locals, maybe me.

Even a rainy day in Madison would be fun. Two places come to mind, R J Julia, one of the country's best independent bookstores is there, as is Walker Loden, where you can find all sorts of things you didn't know you needed.

MareLuce

Thanks! My family / friends wouldn't believe that I'm even enquiring about shopping since I do so little of it except for grocery shopping.

Still, when on vacation, why not try something different? I might find a perfect something for a buddy OR something I just can't live without :-).

Thank you!

Marker added go my Google custom map, along with these edits from Yelp:

152 Commerce St, Clinton 06413
(860) 669-2005 closed Mon-Tues, Wed-Sun 11am - 6 pm outdoor


I actually visited there eons ago. Enjoyed it and the role playing.


Now that's an intriguing changeup on the plan...@:-)@:-)@:-)

Driving time difference with current conditions via Google Maps right now = + 30min more to get to LGA

It eliminates the hassle of one changeover in mode of transport
From: Driving 1 hour --> Trains 1 hour --> Cab 15 min Grande Central --> Hotel on Rivington as of right now
To: Driving 1.5 hours --> Cab LGA --> Hotel on Rivington 0.5 hours, as of right now

So probably not a big time difference, but definitely a hassle difference.

What would be the ideal time window to arrive at LGA?
Or, "definitely by time X" ?

MareLuce

Thank you KenCT, I'll add it. I'm used to Florida east coast beaches so it will be fun to check out the differences.


Thanks much for those recs! I think I saw Bar Bouchee mentioned on Chowhound; I'll definitely add it if not already.

The CT state tourist website also mentioned RJ Julia I believe (80% sure that's why I pinned it already!)

Have not heard of Walker Loden, but I'll check it out.

Why isn't it August already.

Letitride3c

Unless there's an evening Mets baseball in Queens, the ideal time to drive southbound across the Whitestone Bridge is no later than 4 PM (construction & lane closure is northbound only, for now) Typical drive time, without incident, from Stamford, CT to LGA is 30 minutes, 45 minutes in heavier traffic closer to PM rush hour.

After checking out of your CT hotel in the morning, you can leisurely head south toward NY, make some scenic stops, do a seafood lunch & I say plan to leave Stamford, CT by 3 PM and you will definitely to get to LGA by 4 PM to drop off the Hertz rental. Have Dial7 or Carmel pick you up just outside's Hertz's Marine Terminal Road's entrance/gate - and you should reached the Lower East Side via the Williamsburgh Bridge by 4:45 or 5 PM even if there's heavy traffic (summer is usually better & lighter inbound toward Manhattan for the PM rush hour.)

My other thought is on leaving Friday after work for CT, if you do - enjoy a nice dinner in White Plains first before driving off after 7 or 7:30 PM - the Merritt Parkway is sometimes better as long as they aren't doing nighttime construction work & road closure. There's also long-term road work on I-95, around Exit 40's and lately, it's pretty bad going both directions around Exit 70 to Exit 75 (there's no easy way around it) DOT's work crew starts setting up their cones & shutting down the lane around 8 PM for night work, an hour before they actually do anything - typically 2 miles out !!

MareLuce

Do taxis go by that Hertz location too? Last time all the Dial 7's were already reserved when I called them from the Hertz place in mid town.

Is the LGA Hertz off-airport via shuttle or on-airport?
If at the airport I could easily go to the taxi area.

I do realize I could always just reserve a Dial7 in advance. But... then that means I'm 'on the clock' with how I plan the day. Being less structured with vacation days is more fun. Work days are always planned out to the minute.

However, I really don't want to repeat being stranded with 2 pieces of luggage for hours...

For that "last mile" of the trip, I s'pose the odds of taxis being available as a backup plan to Dial 7 at LGA are greater than at Grand Central Terminal.