I love New York! I had been there 3 times and each time felt that I needed to come back again as I didn’t take in enough. So, when I saw that the Hilton Club had opened up a few days in June 2019 through RCI (our time share exchange company) I felt like I needed to grab it!
The Hilton Club is an elite hotel with specific rooms on the upper level of the Hilton Midtown Hotel in Manhattan. RCI rarely has any availability and it just happened that I ran across three days in June. Doug reminded me that he had a conference in Pittsburgh also in June, so a quick check of the dates and I figured out a way to make it work. So, that is how this latest adventure began.
We flew into JFK airport on Saturday, June 22nd, then took a shuttle to the Hilton Midtown which is located on 53rdand the Avenues of the Americas (6th). This is a great location as it is close to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, museums, Central Park, subways and many restaurants. We got to the hotel around 6pm and settled for a few minutes then went down to the street level, crossed the street and at dinner at the Halal Guys food truck. It was a great meal for both of us under $20. I had a small chicken/beef combo platter which included a small salad, rice and pita bread along with perfectly seasoned chicken and beef. They had creamy tzatziki sauce as well as a red hot sauce. Doug had a beef gyro. Both were excellent and filling.
Sunday morning we got up a little late as we were both exhausted from the travel day Saturday. We walked toward Times Square and along the way found the Cosmic Diner on 8thAvenue, which turned out to be a good choice for breakfast. We sat at the counter and got quick and efficient service and the food was good too. Doug had the corned beef hash and I had poached eggs.
We walked from Battery Park to the Freedom Tower and bought tickets for the museum. We chose not to go to the top. I have seen Ground Zero three times before, and each time was different as they took several years to reconstruct the site. The Freedom Tower is a beautiful building. The base plaza area has the reflecting pools with the individual names etched of all the people who lost their lives on 9/11. It was very moving to be standing on the hallowed ground.
After visiting the memorial, we took the subway from the closest station to Times Square. After a hot, long day we were hoping to go back to the hotel, freshen up and then get a bite to eat for dinner. Once we got to Times Square we saw a TGI Fridays and decided to give it a try. It should have been a clue when we walked in and although it wasn’t busy we did not get waited on for at least 10 minutes. Once we finally got our food it was terrible, and not prepared at all as the menu described. Our waiter tried to help us but didn’t seem to get that what we received wasn’t correct to begin with.
Our dinner took much longer than expected so we didn’t go to our room after all. I had planned to stay in Times Square and watch the live performance of Nik Wallenda and his sister walking across a high wire strung between 2 buildings 5 blocks apart. There were a lot of people and it was fun and exciting to witness this once in a lifetime event. Doug was tired and wasn’t interested in watching so he waited for me (1 ½ hrs!) a few blocks north. Afterward I met up with him and we walked back to the hotel together.
On Monday we walked over to Starbucks which was across the street. We planned to go to Coney Island, but we had agreed to attend a Hilton presentation which included lunch and an award of 60,000 honors points. After spending an hour and confirming that we were NOT going to upgrade we had a bite and left the hotel for the subway ride to Coney Island. The ride was about 50 minutes and Coney Island was the last stop. We got off the subway and walked about a block and the first stop was Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs lunch, which was the plan all along. We each got a hot dog and lemonade. Although they were good, we both agreed that they were not as good as Matt’s Hotdogs in Seattle, or even Costco’s hotdogs.
We walked around Luna Park, and the boardwalk. It was hot and there were a lot of people on the beach and on the rides. Some of the rollercoasters went upside down and I was thinking how much the grandkids, especially Tyler and Skyler (both 11), would enjoy riding them. We didn’t ride any of the rides, but it was fun to be there. We took the subway back and had time to relax before dinner.
That evening we went to the Tang Pavillion for Chinese food. It was highly rated and only a couple blocks from our hotel. The service was excellent, and the food was very good. It more than made up for the meal we had the night before!
Tuesday morning we got coffee then took a taxi to Penn Station to take the train to Philadelphia for the next leg of our journey. Our train ride was about 1.5 hours and was comfortable and a great way to see parts of the country we may not have seen otherwise.
We got to Philly about 2:30 pm and took Uber to the DoubleTree Centre City location. We were both hungry so walked over to the Good Dog Bar, which was an excellent choice. The food was amazing and we had great service. Additionally, it was Happy Hour so the price was right! There were dog pictures all over the walls and it was an overall fun and comfortable place for a quick bite to eat. After, we walked back to the hotel and didn’t do much until we went to the Hotel Restaurant (Standing O) for a bite to eat (crab cakes) and a drink.
Wednesday morning, we took an Uber over to Independence Square where we took a tour of some of the historical buildings, then saw the Liberty Bell. I bought Hop On / Hop Off tickets so we took a tour of several historical locations. It was 90 plus degrees, and no chance for shade on the double decker bus so we opted to get off at the stop closest to our hotel. We took time to rest up in our air-conditioned room before dinner.
We had planned to get a Philly Cheesesteak so we were on the lookout for the best place to get one. Our Uber driver had given us a sheet of paper with tips on things to see and it included his top-rated Cheesesteak restaurants. We chose Ishkabibble’s on South Street. Definitely a dive but we had the best meal! Their signature drink was the Gremlin which was grape juice and lemonade which was also very good.
Our room was comfortable, and all was well until 3 am after using the toilet, it started to overflow. By the time we realized it and got the water to the tank turned off, it had flooded the bathroom and into the carpeting outside the bathroom. We called maintenance right away and they came up and cleaned everything up, including vacuuming the water in the carport. Major inconvenience in the middle of the night. Hilton made it up to us by giving us 30,000 additional honors points.
Thursday morning, we took an Uber to the 30th Street Station for our train ride to Pittsburgh which was the last leg of our journey. Our 7 ½ hour trip turned into 8 ½ hours, however the train was comfortable, and we again got to see some beautiful countryside. We passed the famous Horseshoe Curve, which is a historic landmark, and amazing to see from inside the train.
We finally got to Pittsburgh about 9pm and took a cab to the Hampton Inn Greentree. We were only spending our first night there, as the conference Doug was attending was actually at the DoubleTree Greentree. When we booked our room they did not have any rooms for the first night, so we planned to move to the DoubleTree the next day. We didn’t have a car and the hotel did not have a restaurant so we ordered a pizza, salad and bread which we ate in our room.
Friday morning, I was picked up by Enterprise so I could have a car for the day. Doug checked us out of the Hampton and took their shuttle over to the DoubleTree Inn. I had my own adventure planned for the day.
My grandmother, Rena Roe Smith, was raised in Ellwood City which was about 45 minutes from Pittsburgh. I had done some homework and planned to go to Ellwood City for the day. One of the things I really wanted to see was related to a story that our family had been told a few years earlier. Our grandfather, Frank B Smith, had designed and dedicated a memorial plaque that was still hanging in the First Presbyterian Church (now Calvary Presbyterian) in Ellwood City. The plaque honored several parishioners of that church who had served in WW1, and 3 who had been killed in France in 1919. Among those killed was Norman Roe, the younger brother of my grandmother Rena. We do not know how it came about that grandpa Frank designed the plaque, but I’m sure it had something to do with his relationship to our grandmother. At the time of the dedication (May 1920) he had been married to our grandmother for about 2 ½ years.
My cousin Lori, my mother’s only sibling’s daughter, had seen a picture of our grandfather standing next the plague but didn’t know the story. As she zoomed in on the plaque she was able to see what it was about, however still didn’t know the significance of grandpa Frank standing next to it. As she was doing more genealogy research she ran across an article from Ogden, Utah where grandpa Frank had been raised, which told about him designing and dedicating the plague to the church. Until then we didn’t know where he was when the picture was taken. Right away I wrote to Calvary Presbyterian and asked if they were originally the United First Presbyterian Church, and if they happen to still have the plaque. I received word back that yes, they were, and they still had it hanging in their vestibule. This happened about 3 years earlier and I vowed that given the opportunity I would someday like to see the plague for myself.
So, first on my list was visiting the church. I had made arrangements earlier to stop by about 10 am. I then went to the see the two houses that I knew the family had lived in which were both still standing and were close to the church. My final stop was Locust Grove Cemetery where our great grandmother Ella Shremp Roe was buried. Although I had the section that she was buried in, I was not able to find her grave. There were many headstones that were overgrown and I suspect that with no family in the area to tend to her grave, that it was probably overgrown also.
After seeing the things I planned to see, I stopped at Christy’s for a bite to eat before heading out of town. I had another Philly Cheesesteak, which was also very good. Since I only had the car for one day I headed back to downtown Pittsburgh and went to the Andy Warhol museum.
By the time I got to the hotel Doug was at his conference, so I got a key and took my things to the room. After resting for a while, I went back out to see a little more of the area. Pittsburgh is a beautiful city surrounded by hills. I took one of the two “inclines”, the Duquesne Incline, which is a funicular that climbs up the side of Mount Washington. As a senior, the ride was free. Within a couple minutes of getting to the top there was a lightning and thunderstorm. The view of the city was spectacular, even more so with the clouds, until it started pouring! Because of the storm we had to wait about 15 minutes to go back down. When I finally did get down, I went to Olive Garden which was close to the hotel, and one of my favorites. It is Doug’s least favorite so a treat when I get to go. Their special “buy one, take one home” was an extra special deal which gave me a meal for the next day while Doug was busy with the conference.
Saturday morning Doug went to his conference and I took the car back. It was still very hot out so I hung out at the hotel most of the day. I had my leftovers from Olive Garden, several shows I had downloaded to my iPad, email to catch up on, and a book I was reading. Doug was done for the day about 5pm, so the hotel shuttle took us to Station Square. There are several restaurants and bars at Station Square so we selected Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner. Doug had the fish and chips and I had coconut shrimp, both were just okay. It had started raining when we got there so after dinner we just called for an Uber and headed back to the hotel. We topped the night off with a drink and a piece of cheesecake at the hotel bar.
Sunday Doug’s conference was over about 2pm. We checked out about 11:30 am, took our luggage to the bell stand and Doug went to his final session. I heated up the last of my Olive Garden food for lunch in the Bistro and spent the next couple hours reading in the hotel lobby. We took the hotel shuttle to the airport to catch our 4:15 pm flight.
Another adventure done and gone! Pennsylvania is a pretty state and one I would love to come back to visit, and of course I’m willing to go back to NYC anytime the opportunity presents itself!
