Last time we went we stayed at the Comfort Inn at Manhattan which was very good value for money and the room was much larger and better decorated than this one, but that was fully booked when we tried to book. Had we known the RNC was on we would probably have realised why.
We still had a great time though, went to see Mamma Mia on Broadway , storyline was pathetic but music good. Did the Circle Line cruise again, as we had an extra 2 days we did the bus tours and hopped off at Battery Park, went to Pier 17.
It was really strange at Ground Zero as we went past on the bus but none of the 3 of us felt we wanted to go and see it, in some strange way I think that because we had been before to the Twin Towers (we went up on our daughters 13th birthday just over 5 years before), to get too close to the void that was now there would have somehow made it even worse than it seemed at the time, and we felt it was almost instead of paying our respects we would be viewing as another tourist attraction and somehow not right. It was difficult to decide but we all came to the same decision without even discussing it really but when we did we found we all felt the same.
We didnt go to the Intrepid, Air, sea , space museum this time but took pictures of Concorde on her platform beside the Aircraft carrier.
Still only got half way round Central Park, only when we got to Orlando and they were talking about weather on tv did we find out there is a castle called Belvedere in the middle of Central Park which is a weather station, we havent seen it on our 2 trips there.
Like Fiona we were near the Garment district time both visits so many hours were spent browsing in shops and boutiques looking for a dress for Freshers ball when we returned home. Found an absolute bargain in Macys in the end, by Jones of New York, a versatile black number which was originally $169 marked down to $59, thrifty daughter had found a 15% off spend coupon in book. Dress actually rang up as $30 with 15% off so came to $25 ish (it was also tax free week).
Its definitely worth a stopover if you get the chance though but is one of those places you'll get more out of if you do a bit of research before you go as you'll find you miss things in a short trip if you dont know what you are looking for.