Priceline Hotel: NYC 4th of July

[Keoni]

Ok, here is where I am with this mini vacation. The night of 2 July is still open and I am hoping to get somewhere near Newark N.J. as I will be driving up from D.C.

Nights of 3, 4 July won Intercontinental The Barclay (4 *) in MTE for $103

per night, subtotal of $206 plus $37.66 taxes and fees.

Final night of trip (thank you Thereyouare)!!! at the room with a view in

beautiful Jersey City Hyatt on the Hudson for $37 per night plus $11.36

tax and fees. Now if I can just lock in my overnight stay at a place that will

let me leave my car with fairly cheap parking, I think I have done this with

an A+ for a grade. Keoni

[thereuare]

Take a look at this NJ TRANSIT train site....

Click on the map, then any station on the map, then click on NY Penn Station.... you'll now be brought back to the original page but the stations will be filled in. Under the first station (line #2) there will be a button for STATION INFORMATION. Click on that and you'll get parking information... you can then call to find out rates.

I would look at the Red Line on the map as i think that is closest along your route up from DC. Trenton, New Brunswick, and MetroPark may all be good options.

Since using Priceline/Hotwire we can't pick/guarantee a specific hotel, getting a reservation near the train station would enable you to not worry about the specific parking policy of the hotel you receive.

PS- if you determine the "RED LINE" is correct for your route, it's called the "NorthEast Corrider Line" so you can just pick that from the drop-down list in line#1 and then use the drop-down list in line#2 in order to see all the station information.

[Keoni]

Anyone...

I would like to take the noon time tour of Yankee Stadium on 5 July,

find a place to hang out nearby until game time and then attend the

7:05pm game that evening. Since the 5th is a holiday should I expect

huge crowds? Can anyone recommend a place to shop/relax/get a bite

to eat nearby? We'll have an unlimited Metro/Ubann/Subway/whatever

you call it pass so moving a few stops is not important.

There is a ferry called the Yankee Clipper and since I am staying in

Jersey City that night at the Hyatt, is this a good option or should I stick

with subway/PATH to get there after the game? Thanks again for all

the help. Keoni :)

[thereuare]

I would take the subway... doesn't put you on a 'fixed' schedule and you can arrive/depart whatever time you like.

If you're looking for a bar to hang out beforehand there is one (i can find out the name) but other than that there's not much in the area that i know of (nor is 'killing time in the Bronx' something i recommend... although i could be 'out of the loop' on this if somebody knows of some 'hidden gem' that i'm not aware of).

Look at the subway lines and spend time in Manhattan before the game at a place nearby enough that you can just hop on the train and get there in a direct route (without a transfer... although a transfer during rush hour isn't bad at all). What sort of things would you like to see/do and maybe we can make a suggestion.

Also, you may want to eat beforehand (or bring some sandwiches... there are some great places in nearby Hoboken :) )... food at the Stadium is very expensive.

[Keoni]

I reserved the Yankee Stadium tour for 1200 noon which takes

about 1 hour. Total cost for two people going through Ticket

Master for the least expensive "classic tour" was $35.00 as

folllows: 2 x $14.00 for tickets, $5.00 convenience charge,

(this cracks me up because there is no other way to buy these

tickets if you are from out of town), and a $2.00 order processing

charge.

Anyway, tour will be over approximately 1pm and the gates

for the game won't open until 5 or 5:30 and I would like to have

a place to go for about 4 hours. We are open to just about anything

and particularly like to do things most tourists don't ever even

find out about! Hoboken sounds interesting and I am more

adventuresome than is probably good for my own health and safety

but like the old Budweiser commercial used to say, "You only go round

once in life, this Bud's for you!" So if any of your subscribers can recommend items that will fit between 1 - 5 pm I am up for it!

Again, thanks for all your patience and help.

Regards, Keoni

[Thespian]

If it were me, I'd hop on the downtown D train, get off at Columbus Circle and walk in Central Park...or better yet, get off at West 4th Street and walk around Greenwich Village. Both are vibrant areas and great for people-watching. Central Park has a serene feel to it, even on a crowded day (we did it on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend). There are wooded paths, a carousel, a small zoo with a pretty good cafe, a lake with rental boats, a model sailboat pond, etc., etc. The Village has lots of small shops, cafes, and pubs as well as lovely tree-lined residential streets. Either way, your only problem will be keeping an eye on the time.

[thereuare]

TheSpian gives some good ideas above but i think it confirms my suspicion... you should get 'out of da Bronx' for those 4 hours... not really much to do and not a place i would feel comfortable 'wandering' about.

So it boils down to what you want to do... you essentially have the whole island of Manhattan available to you. I'm a big fan of the Village (and Washington Square Park where you could just hang and listen to some acoustic music, watch some fairly competitive chess games (i don't recommend playing... no matter how good you might be), as well as catch some decent street performers)... but it may be a little far south to travel depending upon what time you want to get back up to the ballpark as well as if you'll have other time during this trip to visit the Village and/or Central Park.

Even though it's more south than the Village, walking the Brooklyn Bridge may be a good idea if the weather is nice and fit well within your schedule... leave the ballpark at 1pm, take train directly to Patsy's (pizza for lunch) at about 2pm (which is good as the line may be dwindling down at this point), finish lunch by 3pm, grab some Ice Cream at the Ice Cream Factory, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan by 4-4:30, grab the train back to the ballpark. (see more details on this at LOCAL THINGS TO DO IN NYC as well as for some other ideas)

After re-reading your above comment that you like the non-touristy things, i second my recommendation on walking the Brooklyn Bridge (but being a holiday call ahead to make sure Grimaldi's in Brooklyn will be open, and not as important but also call the Ice Cream Factory to check as well). The Village is also a great idea for blending in with the locals as is Washington Square Park (which is located in the Village).