The view from TRYP Hotel, looking toward the New Yorker Hotel. Photo taken by author. (2026)
We arrived in NYC at about 10:30PM, and walked about 2 blocks to our hotel. TRYP, by Wyndham. It was an interesting hotel, that we spent very little time at. The rooms were small, but they upgraded us to 2 rooms, since we were three people, and that was fine for us. The shower was an “Interesting” experience, and the bed almost hit the wall on the bottom edge. Otherwise, it worked for us. I am not sure if I would stay there again.
Breakfast was at Jacob’s Pickles, on the Upper West Side, on Columbus Ave. We were meeting a friend of my son, who lives just north of the restaurant. We Ubered over to it, and it was not too expensive ($27), and since we had all our luggage with us, was better than taking the subway. My husband and I got French toast Challah, and it was excellent, with way too much food.
After we ate, our friend Ubered us to Jamicia Station, where we caught the Air Train to Kennedy. That got us our rental car, for the next 2 days.
Out to the Island we drove, stopping at the Cemetery where my Brother-in-law is buried, and my parents. That out of the way, I brought us to the laundromat, to wash our clothes. After that task was done, we drove to my brother’s house, and brought him to dinner. It was cool seeing his train set in person, since we normally only see it on Facebook.
After dropping him off, we set out for our hotel for the next night, Holiday Inn Express. It was less expensive than the ones near where I grew up (who knew). They gave us breakfast, which helped us with our costs on the trip, and with the leftovers from our dinner the night before, we did quite well.
We visited with my sister for several hours, and then, in the rain, we drove back to Kennedy Airport, to drop off our rental. After we did that, we rode the air train, to the TWA Hotel in Terminal 5. I had spent a night there back in November, and promised my husband I would take him there someday, and what a wonderful time we had.
After checking in, we decided to go to the sunken lounge, that had excellent drinks and inexpensive selections for dinner. We got Mister Softee ice cream for dessert, and in the morning, checked out the pool, getting some interesting photos.
On Monday morning, off we went to Penn Station, to take the Lakeshore Limited, back to Chicago.
A fast trip in NYC, but we got lots done in that time.
