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Welcome to my travel pages for a trip I took to
New York City in June of 2007. I arrived on June 27, 2007 but
did not pull out my camera until the next day. To see
where I went, select one of days in the menu on the left.
This particular trip was a side trip for me which is why I
was only here for two full days. I had originally
flown into Washington DC a week before and then took a train
north to New York City. I had decided to take a train
because the distance between the two cities was not that
great and frankly, I am getting tired of the hassles of
flying. |
Looking down from the Empire
State Building |
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The
Train Experience
It was the first time I had ever taken a train and boy
was it a lot easier than flying. The Union Station in
Washington DC was clean, there were no TSA agents inspecting my
shampoo bottles, there were far fewer people, the train was not
crowded, the seats in the train are larger with more foot room,
and I actually saw scenery full-scale. The Penn Station in New
York City was not as clean and had a lot more people. Penn
Station was also larger so we had to figure out how to get out
of there.
I booked our hotel before I knew that there were two major train
stations. Our hotel was nearer to Grand Central Station
but I discovered later, that the Amtrak trains that come into
here travel to cities north of New York City while Penn Station
handles the cities south of New York City. I purchased the
tickets online about 2 months in advance and picked them up at
the train station near my home in Texas. Amtrak offers
several options for picking up your tickets.
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The particular train we took did not check luggage, which means
you have to carry your own luggage on board with you.
There are size constraints but they allow a slightly larger bag
than the airlines allow on an airplane.
To sum up my whole train experience, I would definitely do it
again. The return trip to Washington DC was equally more
relaxing.
Visit the Amtrak
website.......... |
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Hotel
The hotel that we stayed at was the
Library Hotel
located at 299 Madison Avenue near 41st Street in Midtown
Manhattan. The entrance was on 41st when we visited.
It is just one l-o-n-g block away from the New York Public
Library and a block away from Grand Central Station.
It is considered a boutique hotel that is a little on the
pricey side. The mini suite we stayed in was $500 a night
but we were splitting the cost 3 ways. The hotel is
called the Library Hotel because of the library theme
throughout the hotel. Rooms are arranged by Dewey
numbers and if you don't know what that means, you need to
visit your public library more.
The rooms were clean and tastefully furnished. The
maid checked in with us twice a day to make sure there were
fresh linens. Evening turndown service included with
chocolates, ooolala. |
Satellite image of the
Library Hotel. Note the roof's
glassed in area. (Photo of patio below) |
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Patio on the roof of the
Library Hotel |
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complimentary self-serve breakfast every morning in the
hotel library consisting of an assortment of cereals,
fruit, and beverages. And being a library, you
have shelves of reading materials to browse through
while you sip on your coffee. |
Library Hotel library |
On the roof there is a bar that is only open in the
evenings. We went up there during the day to check
it out and enjoyed the private outdoor patio. |
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Just a
short way from the New York Public Library, this
section of 41st Street is called Library Way. This
photo of the Library Hotel was taken while standing on 41st
Street (Library Way) facing Madison Ave. |
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October 3, 2013 |
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