Manhattan in March trip tips?

[Shug]

LD and I will be visiting Manhattan in March, taking our 12 year old guitar player to see The Allmans at the Beacon.  We'll be there three days, neither of us have ever been there and we want to at least sample a quintessential NYC experience.  Its kinda daunting, at least in my mind, probably because it seems like there are so many choices of where to eat and stuff to see and do.

If anyone has any tips for us, that would be great.  I like to eat, so the first things I think about are where to get great food and drink.  We'll also want to see some sights, and won't rule out the touristy stuff, but I'm interested in insider/local tips on cool stuff that may be under the radar of most tourists.  We like rock 'n' roll, so cool record stores, or NYC historical rock sites and stuff like that would be fun for us.

So, obviously, we need to find places that our son can get into, so bars that we could hit must also be restaurants.  Fine dining is probably out for the most part.  So I guess we are thinking about killer pizza, NYC deli food, or whatever is done extremely well in New York and/or is hard to find on the West Coast.

I like Kimpton hotels and after doing some research I'm thinking we'll stay either in Hell's Kitchen at ink48 or in Chelsea at Eventi but I really don't know much about Manahattan neighborhoods and where to stay.  Any suggestions? 

[pawpaw]

Hey Shug. 

I started a thread on your behalf on phantasytour, which gets A LOT more traffic than this forum. It's home to possibly the largest concentration of smart asses on the internet, but there are a lot of good people there too. There's a link to another pt thread in the thread that I started, which should give you some good info. I'll keep bumping your thread too, if you'd like.

PT loves NYC, and loves proving they know more than each other about it.

Have a great trip!

http://phantasytour.com/bands/1/topics/3331054/posts

[Shug]

Thanks, bbill, I appreciate it!  My New Year's resolution is to cut back on my own smart-assery, but its a struggle    I'll check over there and see what your fishing has brought up.  Thanks again.

sidenote: have you seen the Mother Hips lately?  None for me since the last show in Arizona last year.  I heard New Year's Eve in Chico was very good, Danny Eisenberg sat in.

[ericm]

Some good suggestions in that thread, and have to agree on all of these:



1. Stay at Milburn Hotel, it's right scross the street from the Beacon.
2. Good places to eat nearby, Amsterdam Ale House, Shake Shack, City Pie
3. Places to visit nearby: Strawberry Fields, Central Park, the Dakota
4. Museums close by: Museum of Natural History, NY Historical Society,

I've never stayed at the Milburn, but have heard it's a great place for the Allman run. I have done all the others, and not a bad suggestion in the bunch.

It is a bit touristy, but if it's not too cold, the Circle Line is a good way to see all of Manhattan Island, and appreciate all it's majesty.

[Shug]

Thanks, eric.  What do you think about staying in Hell's Kitchen vs. staying near Penn Station/MSG?  It seems that ink48 has killer views of the river and the city, but is kinda far away from stuff and the subway.  Eventi on 6th Ave and 30th St. seems to be more in the center of things, but then some folks said there is no good food in that area?

I'm not needing to be real close to the Beacon, and the Milburn is not really my style, too traditional.  For a few nights in NYC I'd rather pay more and be in a sleek modern 4 star in a fun neighborhood.  That's why we are looking at Kimpton hotels.

[ericm]

No problem Shug.

I'm more of an upper East/West side or down in the village/lower Manhattan guy myself. I'm not big on staying around MSG/Penn St. It really depends on my trip,and who I'm there with.

Much more to do in those areas, with a lot more choices, than around MSG,imo. The MSG area is great for a preshow or Macy's, Empire State bldg, etc, but that can be done without staying in the area. I like being around Central Park and the museums so I do prefer uptown more. You can't go wrong in the Village either. There are so many great eats, that if you're down in lower Manhattan,you have to get a meal in Chinatown, and also on Mulberry St.in Little Italy

The area around the Beacon for the Allman run is a ton of fun, and if I was doing some of those, I'd be staying up there.  Maybe a night at the Plaza by the Park would work, but that too may be a bit traditional. I kinda like that old school stuff, so probably not the best guy to get hotel advice from.

Keep us posted on your plans, and enjoy your time in NYC.