28 May 2023: Minneapolis to New York City

I’m currently sitting on an American Airlines flight on our way to NYC. Very exciting times. I’m also going to be spending my time, looking back over the past few days as I’ve been very slack with blogging, while Mark continues to watch the latest season of ‘The Mandalorian’.

So, it’s the day after the wedding. Woke up feeling fine but pretty hungry. After the fiasco of a breakfast yesterday, we decided to head to Jimmy’s the attached (but unaffiliated as we were informed) bar next to the hotel. Our hostess was Jodie and she was the best hostess we’ve had so far. She was funny and informative and taught me all about the different ways to order fried eggs in the US. She asked us if the bugs in Australia really were as big as the internet said they were. We kind of confirmed they weren’t quite as big, but close, and I told her that it was the drop bears that you needed to look out for. She obviously wasn’t in on that joke. 

We ended up with bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and fruit. And it was a great brekkie. Still can’t say much about the coffee though. I didn’t bother with tea either. There were grapes in the fruit salad, and they aren’t anything like our grapes. They tasted like they had orange mixed in with them and they were delicious. I asked Jodie what type of grapes they were and she said red grapes, even though they were green with a slight pink tinge. So nice.

Back to the hotel, pack the bags, all the regular stuff, but then we realised we needed a snooze. So snooze we did. As we were leaving we got a bonus goodbye with Shea as she was picked up her bridesmaids to take them to the airport. So that was nice.

Arriving in NYC was very exciting. We had a window seat but as luck would have it, we were on the wrong side of the plane to do the city flyover. La Guardia is big, but well signed so easy to get around. We waited for about 45 mins for our bags to arrive though - and then they put them on a different luggage carriage to what was advertised. Urgh.

Bags in hand, I used the Revel voucher that I had. $20 off the first ride was worth it! Revel are a new rideshare company that uses Teslas exclusively. So not only was it a good deal, but we were offsetting some of the carbon emissions we saw back in Toronto. Bonus: the tesla had a clear glass sunroof - so we got a good look at the city as we drove through. I should add, the airport is set up well to find taxis and rideshare. They have lanes for each company, and when you order the rideshare, it tells you which lane to go to. Plus, the staff at the airport were really helpful as well.

Our Revel driver was great. Brooklyn born and bred, he told us about bits and pieces as we went along. The first sight of the buildings was so exciting (as we came out of the tunnel). That’s a big skyline! The traffic wasn’t as bad as we’d expected and we made it to the hotel in no time. The Hotel Chelsea that is. Let me just say that again: the HOTEL CHELSEA. If you don’t know about this famous old place, find out about it here. I can’t believe we’re staying at the Hotel Chelsea.

Walking through the front door and into the plush lobby set the scene for what was to come. The girls on the desk were lovely, all in black vests and white shirts looking very professional. Even better though - they upgraded us! Thanks here to our fabulous friend and bestest travel agent Kylie who I’m pretty sure made a deal with the hotel and we got the benefits of it. The staircase alone was a sight to behold. All ornate cast iron, with marble steps. We made our way to the old fashioned lift and up to level 5 (room 5c - I want to record that for posterity). We opened the big, heavy door to the room and we were blown away. You need to watch the video in our album link to see what we saw.

A junior balcony suite is what we landed in. A narrow hallway with gorgeous parquet wood and stunning curtained cupboards led past the bathroom into the main area. The first thing I really saw were the curtains. They had little holes in them so that light came through, making it look like it was made of stars. There was a big heavy curtain on either side of those and when we opened it up, we were looking over 23rd street. The main area of the suite had a king size bed and the thickest old fashioned rug I’ve ever stood on. There were ornate carved bedside tables and then a small dining table for two, a 2.5 seater lounge, two single velvet chairs and a big old fireplace and marble topped mantelpiece with a lovely white orchid on it. It felt like a suite in an old hotel (which, I guess, it really was)! 

The bathroom was just as luxurious. Black and white marble everywhere, with brass fittings. The shower itself had two shower heads, one was a waterfall and the other was a handheld that pointed almost horizontally across the shower stall. I discovered this was fabulous for a sore back and I want one in our shower now! A huge bath, and fluffy hotel branded bathrobes topped it all off. The lights in the bathroom were also dim-able which made for a nice bath experience. 

We were totally beside ourselves and felt very posh indeed. 

We went downstairs to check out a bit of the hotel and find some dinner. There was a lobby bar, a private dining room, a function room and the attached restaurant, El Quijote. We decided that the tapas bar was for us. They had a crazy cocktail menu and I ended up with one  called Sherry Martinez which was gin, amontillado sherry, almond, and lobster oil. It was strange but also delicious. We ate potato tortilla, sardines & anchovies, jamon croquettes, and yummy chicken skewers - admittedly, all our favourite tapas dishes. 

We went for a little wander after dinner just to check out what was on our block - lots of lights, lots of little cafes and pizza places, lots of weed shops and lots of people out and about. Appropriate photos of the Hotel were taken from the outside, and then we went up to our (ahem) suite to settle in for the night.

NYC arrival pics (or really, a million photos of the Hotel Chelsea) can be found here.