Back-2-Back Saturdays in Manhattan (Dec. 5th & 12th)

We took advantage of two different local community bus trips to Manhattan the first two Saturdays of December. The first Saturday ended up being an interesting weather day with rain, freezing rain and finally snow. The second Saturday was a sunny but very cold day. The weather didn't stop us from enjoying one of our most favorite cities we have visited. This was about our 40th trip into Manhattan together. Our usual mode of transportation while in the City is the subway. We buy an all-day Fun Pass for $8.25 and ride the subways as much as we need to!

The Sightseeing:

The first thing we wanted to check out was the "Tree" at Rockefeller Center before the crowds got too bad.

The 76-foot high, 40-foot wide Norway Spruce came from Easton, Connecticut this year. Weighing in at 10 tons, it's decorated with 30,000 multicolored lights and topped with a Swarovski crystal star twinkling with 700 energy-efficient bulbs. It will be lit until January 7th.

We had a great view of the skating rink at Rockefeller Center.

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The "cash only" fees are about $15 for adults, $10 for children and skate rental fee is $7. Maybe next year we will join them!

But for now, I'll just watch from here!

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If you need a tree of your own to celebrate the holidays, you will see these vendors on almost every street corner of the City.

One of the many holiday decorations found in Midtown.

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There is an annual event in which a red-suited pub crawl takes over NYC! This event, known as the "SantaCon" descends on New York City (also Kalamazoo, Nashville, and Vienna, Austria among other cities). It is a global phenomenon. What is SantaCon? According to organizers, it is “a not-for-profit, non-political, non-religious and non-logical Santa Claus convention, attended for absolutely no reason.”

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So on our way to breakfast in the East Village, we were lucky enough to play paparazzi and follow the Santas for a few blocks!

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There were Santas everywhere!!

A rainy day view of the globe at Trump Tower International Hotel -
North side of Columbus Circle.

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A sunny day view of the globe at the Trump Tower International Hotel.

The Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle.

We enjoy visiting Chinatown on Canal Street to check out the crowds. Most often we don't buy anything, but it is fun looking at all the stuff they have!


You can always count on there being huge crowds in Chinatown
no matter what time of year it is!

Cartier's decorated store on 5th Ave.

Some interesting shoes in the Salvatore Ferragamo store on 5th Ave. Not so sure they would be good for the office!

Daytime views of Times Square.

An evening view of Times Square.

If you need to use a "facility," there is even a spot in Times Square.
The line looks pretty long though!

The Shopping:

An item on my "must do" list was to find some buttons to add to a dress that I have. We had heard of the interesting store on National Public Radio a while back and decided that Tender Buttons was the place to visit.



After visiting the "Tree", we took the subway to the Upper East Side. Tender Buttons is located at 143 E. 62nd St. crossing at Lexington. We got there just as they were opening. Tender Buttons is one of those special little places that is nearly extinct these days--including the vast selection of fantastic buttons to the ambiance in the shop. It is very museum-like. This is just not the kind of place you go to ask for someone to hold your hand and help you decide what you want. The buttons are very well-organized by type (leather, wood, metal, plastic, etc.), and it's neat to see and touch them all. Their inventory seems to go on and on. I noticed one set of buttons in a frame on the wall was selling for $175. Yikes...that exceeded my budget for buttons for a lifetime! I did find one pair that I liked and at a very reasonable price, unfortunately, they did not have the size I wanted.

I think that Tender Buttons is definitely a place we will return!

Next stop was Macy's on 34th Street to take advantage of the great sales.

At Macy's on 34th St., there is a whole floor dedicated to women's shoes! It is heaven!!

After visiting Chinatown, we went over to Little Italy to buy some homemade ravioli at Piemonte Ravioli Co. at 190 Grand St. I got 50 gorgonzola ravioli and 1 lb of tortellini with prosciutto (ham) and cheese for $8.30. When I buy this pasta in the wintertime, it usually stays frozen until we get it home!





Chris outside one of our favorite markets, Citarella, on the Upper West Side (Broadway & 75th St.). A bit on the pricey side, but we enjoy looking! - http://www.citarella.com/




Another of our favorite markets, The Fairway, at 2127 Broadway. We got some store-made potato latkes (potato pancakes) for breakfast at home! http://www.fairwaymarket.com/shop/


The Eating:

Saturday #1 - Lunch - Hakata Ramen (ultra thin ramen noodles in a rich broth topped with simmered pork slices, black mushrooms, red ginger, & scallions) at Menchanko Tei (45 West 55th Street - Midtown). This is one of our favorites.

We have even learned to eat soup with chopsticks!

Saturday #1 - Dinner - Chicken Fried Rice (top) and Chicken with Red Curry (bottom) at Charm Thai - 722 Amsterdam Ave (Upper West Side) - This is a fairly new restaurant that we enjoyed trying out. They offered a two-course lunch for $8.

Saturday #2 - Late Breakfast - Early Lunch. Wanting just a little bit of warm food, we headed over to the Neptune Diner at 194 1st Ave. at 12th St (East Village). The Neptune is a small non-touristy Polish diner, with simple good food.




We each had a cup of soup. Chris had a cup of white borscht, cabbage, and kielbasa soup, and I had a cup of matzoh ball soup.



We also shared an order of potato pierogi (bottom) with sour cream. I still cannot get Chris to find the greatness of a pierogi, but he is a good sport. With my Russian heritage, I was born to love them! Our snack came to $12.30.




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Saturday #2 - Dinner - We wanted a beverage and a light snack before meeting up with the bus to return home. We found the Bull Moose Saloon at 354 W. 44th St between 8th & 9th Aves.

We decided to try the chicken fingers. They were nice crispy pieces of white meat served with great french fries and some honey mustard. Pretty good portion size for $7.95.


We enjoyed both days in Manhattan and look forward to many more! There is always something new to see and something new to eat!!