<p>Ok I am picking my D up from school in the Allentown PA area. We want to go into NYC to see King Tut in Times Square.</p>
<p>I am trying to figure this out and am having quite a time. What is the best way to get to NYC from Allentown. We’ve been thinking that we should drive to New Jersey and take the train in from there. The bus from Allentown doesn’t seem to run very often and would limit us, where the trains runs all the time. </p>
<p>Someone said to park in Jersey City and take the PATH. That sounds ok but there is limited availability for hotels within walking distance to the PATH. Any other ideas?</p>
<p>I don’t think that we will stay overnight in the city. I really don’t know what to do with my car. </p>
<p>Any ideas of good places to eat in the Times Square Area? I would also like to visit the Met. It looks like an easy subway ride. I’ve been once and would love to visit again. I would like to see the new exhibit at the Costume Institute.</p>
<p>We only have one day She has to get her stuff out of the dorm and we need to get home. Thanks.</p>
<p>I agree with the Jersey City plan. It’s far and away the most convenient. </p>
<p>Lots of places to eat in Times Square, depending on what you like. I like Schnippers for things like Mac and Cheese and comforty-type fast food.</p>
<p>Tony’s di Napoli has good Italian for a reasonable price, Virgil’s BBQ is always good, the Brooklyn Diner is right there, as are some chain restaurants.</p>
<p>The Met is a very easy subway ride from Times Square, and you might think of eating in that area.</p>
<p>FWIW I prefer Carmine’s over Tony’s di Napoli. I went to the Tut exhibit and Tony’s a couple of days ago. Tut has timed admissions and Carmine’s won’t take a reservation for fewer than 7 people but it is practically next door to Tut. Junior’s is a good choice for NY deli and cheesecake and occasional celebrity sightings. </p>
<p>You could drive from Allentown on Route 78 but I don’t know the best way to JC from where 78 comes into Newark. Maybe park at the airport and take a cab to the Newark PATH station. You could stay at the Airport Marriott or the Hilton at Newark PATH/Penn Station. There are parking lots around both PATH stations. The
Met costume exhibit sounds wonderful…it’s on my list.</p>
<p>I think there are a lot of new upscale chain hotels in downtown Jersey City walking distance to the light rail, which should connect you to the PATh stations either at Pavonia or Exchange Place Jersey City or at the NJ Transit at Hoboken Terminal. (There is little if any NT Transit service form Hoboken on weekends but there is PATH service.)</p>
<p>We are driving up in 2 weeks to move S2 out of NYC (after 6 years! He’s sad to leave.) OUr plan is to park at the Newark airport for the two nights we will be staying in Manhattan, then retrieve the car to load it.</p>
<p>When I google Newark airport parking, I get lots of hits. If anyone has specific recommendations as to what parking is best / most reliable / worth the money, I’d love to hear them.</p>
<p>It looks like most of the parking lots have transportation to the terminals, then we take the airport transportation to the train station, and take the train to Penn Station. Does that sound right?</p>
<p>Binx, I think yours is the best plan. I have stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Exchange Place (Jersey City), right next to the path station, but parking there is about $30 a day. I heard airport parking is the cheapest option. From Newark terminals, take the airtrain to Penn Newark and train to Penn NY.</p>
<p>You can take the Bieber bus from Hellertown (Free Park & Ride) for about $40RT. Drops you off/picks you up at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. H & I do this frequently and it sure beats driving to the city or worrying about a train or parking the car.</p>
<p>If you’re going to be in Times Square, splurge a little and have lunch or dinner at Sardi’s, a real “theater” landmark. The cuisine is Italian, a dish of pasta isn’t TOO expensive, and on the walls are their famous caricatures of famous theater and movie people. You walk around between courses and look around. It’s really fun and unique. The Met has a Picasso exhibit now. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s supposed to be amazing. Easy to get there from midtown. Enjoy!</p>
<p>Bieber Tourways [Under</a> Construction](<a href=“http://www.biebertourways.com%5DUnder”>http://www.biebertourways.com) run virtually hourly from Allentown (Wescosville, Hamilton Blvd, about 2 miles from Muhlenberg) - hundreds of commuters use this for their daily commute to NYC from Allentown.</p>
<p>More upscale restaurants near Times Square or Hell’s Kitchen: Blue Fin, Toloache. West Bank Cafe, Taboon, Becco, Lattanzi, Marseille, Thalia, Orso, La Masseria. Have fun.</p>
<p>deb,
I hope you really want to see King Tut and that you are good in crowds in case this is like my Chicago experience. I took my grown kids to see the King Tut exhibit in Chicago a few years back at the Field Museum. Our tickets were time stamped and I thought that would give some control over the size of the crowd. We were jam packed into the exhibit and there was not that much to see, IMO. Not at all worth the admission price as far as any of us were concerned, even though both kids grew up loving Egyptology in their GTC classes, books, etc. Try to determine the slow time for the exhibit if you can.</p>
<p>On the subject of restaurants, D and I ate at Blue Fin last summer as part of restaurant week - very good!</p>
<p>Just wanted to thank everyone for their great advice. King Tut was great. We got there about 10:30 and they told us that school groups were at the exhibit and if we wanted to come back around 2:30 things would calm down. But we didn’t listen and went right in. There were school groups but it wasn’t that bad. The groups honestly were not that interested in King Tut and other than one or two of the rooms not that crowded. The Times Square location is great, nice and big and roomy.</p>
<p>D wanted to eat at Junior’s so we ate there and it was very nice. The service was really good and not too expensive. We tried to get to the Met but by the time we got there it was really too late to go in. Oh well, maybe next time. We just walked through Central Park and down 5th Avenue and window shopped. What we should have done is tried to figure out the TKTS booth earlier. Tuesday seems to be a good day to see a play. Tons of plays for half price and lots of performers trying to get people to see their show. We got there a little too late, next time we will plan things better.</p>
<p>We ate dinner at Carmine’s. The food was good, the portions huge. They sat us right by the front window so it was fun to look at at all of the theater goers.</p>
<p>I stayed out by the Newark airport. It was ok but the parking at the hotel was free and secure which was nice because we had all of my D’s stuff from school. It was easy to get to the city but I would probably stay somewhere else if we didn’t have a car full of stuff.</p>
<p>Can’t wait to go back and see what we didn’t get to see this time and definitely we will see a show.</p>
<p>I have to agree with 2VU on the King Tut exhibit. My husband and I went to see the exhibit in Philadelphia a couple of years ago when it was passing through there. The exhibit was overpriced, it was crowded, despite the time stamped tickets, and worst of all, there really just wasn’t very much to see relating to King Tut. They weren’t even displaying King Tut’s Death Mask, even though it was shown on all of the advertisements. We were incredibly disappointed.</p>
<p>Most of the exhibits you will see relate not to King Tut, but instead to his predecesors.</p>
<p>Now we’re thinking of parking at the Secaucus Station lot (rather than the Newark airport). They have 24 hour parking for $16, and it’s only a 20 minute ride to NY Penn Station.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if we need to check in and out every day, or can we leave the car for 2 nights? (We will call them; just wondered if anyone here had experience.)</p>
<p>Is the station parking secure?</p>
<p>Is the station easy enough to get to? Or will we get hopelessly lost?</p>
<p>In general, is this a viable plan? My H will need to retrieve the car early Saturday morning and drive into Manhattan to move S2 out of his apt. So he really doesn’t want to have to travel for an hour or more to get to the car.</p>
<p>An alternative would be a place right within Manhattan (upper west side) that is safe, and won’t break the bank, but I couldn’t find any place that seemed to be 24 hours.</p>
<p>I have not used Secaucus parking myself but I don’t think it is as easy as it sounds to park “at” the station and then take a train–the whole point of Secaucus (Frank Launtenberg Transfer Center or whatever its formal name is) is that it was built as a rail transfer point between various NJ Transit lines and parking until recently was not available for people wanting to catch a train. Not sure how much of the parking is accessible in person and how much is valet and not sure how the Lautenberg Station would feel early on a weekend morning. It always looks pretty dark and creepy when my train goes through. (You also need to be sure there are early morning trains out of Penn Station to Secaucus on Saturday, though there should be.) I think you are wise to try to get in touch directly with the parking facility to see if your plan is feasible at all especially for an early a.m. pickup. (Though whether anyone will be able to convey accurate info to you is another question.)</p>
She has to get her stuff out of the dorm and we need to get home. Thanks.</p>