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Park Terrace Hotel - NYC August 1-3, 2023
It's been a few years. Actually the impetus for the trip was because I got tickets to see the fave band and I figured porque no. The Mrs. said she would come to one of the shows, she's really not interested in the Phish, especially after her first and only show 20 years ago. It's a tough thing for her to see the allure of a non typical band even as a musician herself. When I say non typical, I mean what they do musically mostly, but also the community and sense of belonging that these particular fans have. They jam, they play on one chord sometimes and often dipsy and doodle in and out of songs that are non coherent, not many bands do it quite like this. Musician or not, it's tough to understand. I get that and I respect it all, but 20 years later she agreed to join me for the first night and delighted in her decision and hoping she would be relishing the experience. As we settled in the first day with a nice bite in Bryant Park, we talked about NYC and what we were going to do THIS time, and of course no different from any other time, eat, drink, walk and SEE. So much to see, too much to see, and maybe the reason why we also discussed that, outside of Palm Springs and maybe Athens, this is our most visited city. Always so much to do, yet we keep going back to places we love, like lunch at Balthazar for moules and steak frites! We see shows as we love the Broadway and somehow we always end up walking some part of the High Line. No different this time as we hit all of the above, but added some new experiences like the Little Island pictured above. My father loves the Broadway, he loves Hollywood, he loves talking about all the old actors and actresses who he admired, the shows he used to see in New York. One of his favorite stories to tell us and the grands, is the time he saw a young newish actress on the scene playing the part of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. "My god" he would say, " a voice like I've never heard before. A voice you will never hear like again". Well she went on to have a pretty big career and it all started with "Hello Georgous!". Babs got out of the limelight - anyone know where she is? and Funny Girl got revived last year with a pretty tremendous voice too, Lea Michele. How could we not see this? Well, after night 1 at the world's most famous arena - MSG - seeing the band, the Mrs. had so many questions. "I think they are better than I remember, I can't believe they sold out for 7 nights. Do they play like this every night?" and so on. I proceeded to answer any and all of these questions and she quickly started to realize why I have seen them a lot, not that she didn't know my love for them, but maybe didn't understand it. She told me she wanted to go back for night 2! "Seriously, I would love that", I said, "you're a funny girl". Change of gears, off to TKTS ticket booth and a matinee of Funny Girl and back to MSG for the second night. We got it ALL in - Happiness!
SET UP
Always like to stay in a different place, when I booked flights on Expedia, there was an offer to stay at some hotels for some savings. Sure Expedia. Up pops the Park Terrace Hotel on 40 between 5 and 6 right across the road from Bryant Park. Love that area. Close to all, so took the least expensive king sized bed room in all 175 sq ft. Not much room for anything else but the bed, when we checked in the 2 ladies happened to love Toronto and took a liking to the Mrs. Upgrade central! Ended up in an amazing room with a sliding door over looking the park, sitting area and beautiful washroom. Clean, spacious, and the best thing ever - call me new - the closet full of goodies located in the hallway right outside our door. Forgot your toothbrush or paste or razor or mouthwash - who travels with mouthwash? - don't matter - right there for the taking. Now, you don't want to a chazir, but a few extra shampoos for the travel bag?
MATTRESS
Simmons Beautyrest manufactured in 2018. Not bad, maybe due for a refresh in a few years. Very cozy though, made mostly through the duvet and linens as the mattress itself is a tight top plush. I have spoken about this before and will beat it to death, that you do not need a pillow top to enhance your sleep. In years past, the common thought amongst manufacturers and retailers alike, was to create an extra layer of foam to allow some softness, especially when one is a side sleeper. The problem is that these pillow tops are often filled with inexpensive foam, not the good kind of memory foam or latex foam, but traditionally a poly foam that eventually collapses and creates those divots sooner than later. I subscribe to the non pillowtop, as you can achieve the same comfort and plushness without that extra layer. There are plenty of choices that offer this, whether it be Simmons or Serta or a competitor of theirs. The thicker the mattress is not necessarily the way to go. Layering is key, but too much of it can cause a whole bunch of problems. Think of a cake - too much icing makes it at times inedible. Impressed with the full bed bug zippered encasement and overall a nice mattress choice for a hotel.
SLEEP
Comfortable and the usual 7-8 hrs of it. Again, how can one not sleep well without the distractions of the rugrats and so great to be in NYC when the wallet is being drained only on us! Room temperature was 18 C and perfect, black out shades and no door on the washroom helps a lot for those late night/early morning pees.
OVERALL
The music, the vibe, the people and community, the experience. She was fascinated too that they do a lottery system for their tickets. You put in a request and if you are lucky to get them awarded, you get what you get and you don't get upset and travel to where they are. After the late night Japanese night 1 and late night Korean night 2, she understood it. Lots of adult juice and food and always a good place to sleep in NYC. I highly recommend this place to stay with a great location and comfy rooms and beds. I hope to be back soon for any reasons that present themselves, broadway, music, comedy, food, lattes the size of toilets (pictured above), or for my fav football team. J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets!🎶🎸🏈🎤🗽🏦🥩
GREAT RELATED LINKS
In the summer of 2017, Phish held a 13 night series of concerts called "The Bakers' Dozen." During which the band played 237 unique songs, repeating none during the entire run. The Garden commemorated "The Bakers' Dozen" by adding a Phish themed banner to the rafters.[56] With their first MSG show taking place on December 30, 1994, Phish has regularly played annual multi night runs, typically around New Year's Eve.[57] As of 2023, Phish has performed 79 times at MSG.[58][59]