JVPhoto

Booked a quick trip to New York to catch up and see friends. At the time I was booking I let the immediately confirmable R inventory space dictate more or less the date and times.

United SFO-ORD-LGA

In my head I thought: "Oh great, I can fly into LGA and knock off for a bit on the plane."

The flight at 12:15am meant I could spend the whole day in Monterey and not have to drive up to the airport until later that night.



If it's more than 3 days I usually park at Anza Parking as it's the most southern point so the closest for in and out coming on 101 North.



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Even getting into the airport around 10:30 I was surprised nearly everything was closed for any real food or drink. I wanted to have a glass of wine and "relaxing mint" so that I would be able to easily zone out and sleep a tad. Instead I was able to get a Tito's on board.



Sadly the mint didn't kick around the time that it should have which resulted in me being a total space cake for 2h on my layover at ORD.



I went ahead and used one of my United Club passes that I get (2 of them) each year for having the MileagePlus Explorer card. People on the UA board love to gripe that it's the UC pass people who are clogging up all the space in the UCs. I literally have 1-2 flights a year that I don't already have lounge access to and just blow them on stuff like this so I like to think their ideas are a bit skewed.



I was leaving from the E gates, arrived at C so did the time walking and went to a club in the B gates long the way.



Aside from fruit and oatmeal there wasn't much until about an hour or so being in the UC they had a scrambled eggs & peppers dish put out.

Thankfully found my favorite en-route to E.





The plus to this leg was being on an E175 which meant my duffle bag would go in the OH bin and I could sit in one of the single F seats. The downside was that the catering was cold and horrible.

The bread I think was trying to be French toast but it just seemed like a really cold cinnamon roll. Inside was about 4 slices of ham with cream cheese (??) on the top bun and a sort of chutney type jam on the bottom. I took one bite, regretted it and then just picked out the ham and ate the fruit. Normally, I wouldn't eat the Chobani because of the added sugar but I was pretty hungry.





Fairfield Marriott Chelsea W 28th St

Another one where I let price and location dictate. I was just staying by myself, I wasn't needing any luxe space to shoot in so I took the cheapest option to get points at. Not bad for $170/night. I "checked-in" (aka gave my arrival time) on the app so the great part was getting the text saying the room was ready just as I was getting in a cab at LGA. This meant I could nap for a few hours before meeting friends.





While it wasn't that fresh or bright it was clean. The bed was actually INCREDIBLY comfortable. Putting it just a little below a Westin Heavenly bed.
I didn't bother to look at the "gym" in the basement as I just buy day passes from Complete Body or do a Barry's or Soul Cycle class. Breakfast was included but I also didn't bother to check that.


New York

All I did was shop and eat. I lived in NY for 10 years, I know what I like.

Rocking Horse Cafe: Yes I traveled from California to have Mexican food the first night.


Roasting Plant Coffee: Sure there are cozier places but I find this is the best spot walking down 7th or through the WV to grab something to get in and out.


Village Taverna: On University easy to meet friends, mid-range that's above Dancing Zorba's style but not the same money you spend at Milos.



Izakaya Mew: Fair amount of friends work in the Fashion District so they still like to pop over past Macy's on W 35th to have lunch here.


Saffron: I went to the UWS to get some cookies at Levain for friends back in Monterey. In doing so I walked by Saffron which was where I always ordered from when I lived on W 71st for 2 years. $14.99 lunch buffet.


Indochine: For 7 years I had my birthday here every year. In addition that I would once a month at least grab a drink here if not eat.


The Waverly Inn: New addition to the menus being that Donald Trump thinks it's the worst food in NYC. In any event still a great place to spend a cold Friday.




Aside from the food and catching up it was mostly just shopping at Barneys and Bergdorf.



United p.s. EWR-SFO

Leaving on a weekend I flirt with danger and usually get picked up 2.5h before my departure time compared to the 3h for a mid-week.
This time at the UC for being the morning there was the fruit and cream of wheat (no longer oatmeal) like ORD. However, I didn't see anything hot at all...compare to the full English breakfast you can get at the LHR UC.






I actually like these new kits. The INTL ones are twice the size but I think they work well for external hard drives or other things like that for use during travel.

I've read the series once before. I was sad that the movie bombed because I would have loved to see them make Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass. I saw online that Pullman is coming out with a new book(s?) that run "parallel" to some of the stuff in His Dark Materials so I decided I would give the 3 a re-read to freshen up.







Contrary to the description it was pretty bland. Also the portion was a little small, luckily I had protein bars and nuts.

Back to the car and on the road making it home in 1:45.

Not the most exciting TR but I guess I can make up for it next month with SFO-HND-BKK-CNX-BKK-HKG-SFO on UA (new 773 Polaris seats) and TG F x2.

757

Thanks for sharing this report! By the looks of the P.S. menu he food sounds pretty good, but the presentation in your photos below does not make it look very impressive ... Nice to be able to get a lie-flat seat for the long flight though!

Best,

757

gaobest

Great TR - glad you had a fun weekend! Is your car a mini?
The nyc foods looked yummy. As usual you did a lot during a short period of time!

JVPhoto

I have a BMW X6. I was driving in "Eco-Pro" mode which makes the dash at night blue, in "Comfort" it's an orange/red dial and in "Sport" the gauge display changes and becomes red alert red.

With something like NY living there for 10 years helps me make the most of it. Other travels when I go for the first time I'm usually alone and don't have to answer to anyone.

miamiflyer8

Thanks for sharing!

I love the E175 as it doesn't have middle seats in coach yet it doesn't feel like a cramped RJ.