Friday, June 03, 2016

Mini Travel Log: New York, USA (2)

Well, if you have done a basic day tour of the Statue Liberty, Wall Street, Freedom Tower, Times Square, Empire State and Rockefeller, then perhaps you can refer to this alternative one day itinerary for your extra days in New York.

You can start off the morning by heading to Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. This is the decommissioned USS Intrepid aircraft carrier that served in World War 2 and Vietnam War. It opens at 10am. The visit can include the submarine USS Growler. The aircraft carrier itself is huge with open deck, control tower and hangar. You can find all kinds of exhibits and aircraft on display. Notable ones are the SR71 Blackbird, F15 Tomcat, Concorde and even the Enterprise Space Shuttle. Your visit should be done by noon time just in time for a good lunch.

After lunch, you can head off to Central Park. You should start from Columbus Circle. Walk east direction along the edge of the park to warm up until you reach the Gapstow Bridge for a beautiful view of the lake and city buildings reflection. From here, walk north direction along The Mall pathway. This pathway is lined with trees on both sides and it should be a wonderful sight during autumn. You will reach Bethesda Terrace, fountain and another lake. Another famous spot in various films and games. On a good day, you can rent a boat to row in the lake. From here, you can continue to walk north across another beautiful bridge called the Bow Bridge and then reach Belvedere Castle. This is almost halfway point of Central Park. Time check: it should be around 4-5pm now. Walking either east or west from here will bring you to the museums on both sides of the park. The east side is Metropolitan Museum of Arts and the west side is American Museum of Natural History. You may save this visit for your next day or trip.

By 5pm, it is the perfect time to exit the park on the east side and hop onto subway 4 or 6 along Lexington St by 77th St. Take the southward bound train to Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall. From the station exit, you should be able to see the bridge and start your walk across this iconic bridge. The city skyscrapers and sunset will be behind you as you walk across. Once you're over the Brooklyn side, look for pedestrian exit on the left side. The staircase should lead you into Washington St. Walk back up north to the riverside park and a little distance to the left. You should reach Jane's Carousel. If you bring along kids, they will surely love the merry go round ride. Else, find a bench and enjoy the sunset here and watch the Manhattan skyscrapers light up once the sun is down. During summer, you may need to stay until 8-9pm here to see the golden view. So it is best done during spring or autumn when the sun sets earlier and you don't have to wait too long.

After a long day walk, you may now hop onto either trains from High St or York St which is not far from the park to take you back to Manhattan. If you have energy left and keen on supper, you may also walk back via Brooklyn Bridge and head to Chinatown for a good meal before calling it a day.

Click on the image for picture gallery





Related link: Mini Travel Log: New York, USA (1)

No comments: