New York for the Adrenaline Junkie

For the fun loving thrill seeker New York City is one giant playground. Whether you are into extreme sports, extreme movies, or simply watching others go to extremes you should get a healthy dose of it all in this great city. From reading to gaming and extreme sports and every extremity in between you have come to the right city to fill all of your extreme needs in entertainment and art.

Web2Zone Cyber Center has all of your extreme gaming and computing needs. They offer regular tournaments for the serious games while also offering simple Internet access for those who'd like to socialize while they spend time in cyber space. They are not your typical Internet Café. Not only do they offer a place to log in, they also offer one of the fastest Internet connections around. They do not offer wireless service but will be glad to loan you an Ethernet card or port for your laptop with proper collateral. For the gamers, events and tournaments are hosted regularly and plenty of opportunities abound to flex your gaming muscles.

For those of you looking for cooler extreme entertainment, how about checking out the Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers? This is a great way to keep things cool any time of the year while getting the great kind of workout you won't find in a traditional gym. This is definitely worth checking out and while you are here you can check out all of the other great things that Chelsea Piers has to offer its visitors. Among those neat things are bowling, the golf club, the field house, and the Spa. This is definitely a great place to spend the day in order to work out any excess energy you may have or to get your blood pumping and your day off to a fabulous start.

If you like the feeling of wind in your hair then perhaps a trip by ferry will fill that need. Really you don't need a specific destination in order to take a ride on the Ferry and enjoy the scenery. You can also elect to take specific tours on your ferry ride; check to see what's available during you stay and you might even find that you can combine two great activities with one trip. There are many different cruises available some last ninety minutes and take place during the day and others offer a view of the city at night as your spend two hours enjoying mixed drinks and city lights.

If the ferry ride doesn't fill your need for the wind in your hair, then perhaps you should stroll on over to Coney Island (strolling might not be the best option but get there somehow) and check out Astroland Amusements Park's The Cyclone. This ride is super intense and often replicated but never quite duplicated. This ride is famous around the world and should satisfy even the biggest roller coaster geek and/or adrenaline junkie out there. Skeptical? The only way you'll ever know is to see for yourself. Of course there are other things that this park has to offer those who seek smaller, less intense thrills as well.

It really doesn't matter what specific thrills you seek, being in New York City, enjoying the smells, the sights, and the sounds are enough for many adrenaline junkies and many find that being in this city is like being nowhere else on earth. Take the time to see what activities you might find interesting and go for it. Seize the moments you have in this city and enjoy every activity you try during your visit. The purpose of a vacation is both to have fun and to relax. Be sure you don't spend the entire time seeking one adrenaline high after another or you'll find yourself needing a vacation in order to recover from your vacation. Seriously, with all the fun there is to be had most people forget the importance of scheduling some down time during their vacations, don't let this happen to you.

New York Dining on a Dime

Dining on the cheap in New York City isn't nearly as hard as you may thing it is. New York is a city of many nations in that there are probably more nations represented in the dining options of New York than any other city in the world. You can find wonderful food options that represent these many nations and won't break your wallet. What a wonderful way to literally enjoy the flavors of the world while on vacation!

Rainbow Falafel is the first place I recommend. This may very well be the best falafel shop (if you can call it that) in New York City. If you've never tried falafel you are definitely in for a tasty treat. Falafel is essentially a ball of veggies and spices (chick peas, onions, garlic, and other goodies) that has been fried and placed into a pita along with tomato, hummus, lettuce, and yogurt. Getting hungry? We've only just begun.

Gray's Papaya offers the best hot dogs in the city, particularly when you consider the fact that it is hard to mess up hot dogs, especially when that's all you do for the price. The price in fact is what keeps packing the clientele in by the droves. Where else in New York can you get two hot dogs and a drink for two dollars? Be warned however that the décor and atmosphere are about what you'd expect in a restaurant that charged two bucks for the average meal and don't expect a Jimmy Buffet type of atmosphere with umbrella drinks and neon colors.

For hoagies of heroic or would that be epic proportions you really must try Tony Luke's. The décor is simple and the service is quick. You won't find a huge menu or massive variety of specialty breads or carb friendly diet options here (there are some items but not a massive selection). What you will get are mammoth sandwiches with lots of meat and perhaps a side of cheese fries and a soda to wash it down with. The food is good and the price is right making this one of the best cheap places to eat in the city.

Whether you refer to it as southern fare or soul food, the Soul Spot has it going on. They offer many of the traditional Sunday dinner types of foods such as fried catfish, fried chicken, and vegetables dripping in 'drippings' for those willing to risk the impending heart attack. This food is certainly and fabulous example of the culinary delights one would experience in the south while also being offered at a price that is comparable to what you would pay on a Mississippi Sunday afternoon. They do offer a lunch menu that is a little bit less expensive than the dinner menu and either offers a great value for the money.

Schnack is another institution of inexpensive dining excellence in the great big city of New York. If you have a Krystal's or a White Castle in your area then you'll get the concept of "Schnackies" which are very much like the burgers you'll find in the joints I've mentioned above. Be assured however that you also have other choices if the cheap little burgers aren't really your thing. If you make it in before 5 PM you can have eggs almost anyway you can think of having them and if you have the time and the room you really should try Harry's Famous Warm Chocolate and Banana Bread Pudding. My mouth is watering from just thinking about it.

The point to all of this, other than getting you good and hungry was to let you know that despite its reputation for being an expensive place to visit, if you know where to look you can not only find cheap entertainment but also cheap food. You can enjoy the best that New York City has to offer without breaking your budget. And cheap isn't necessarily a bad thing.

New York City on a Budget It Can be Done

Despite common misconceptions, it is quite possible to enjoy many of the great things that New York City has to offer even on a rather modest vacation budget. It is important to remember when planning your vacation that your budget is often the most important deciding factor as far as which activities should or should not be included in your families plans.

The beauty is that you can still present many fun and wonderful options to your family while following a rather strictest of budgets. First of all, if you pay for your lodging ahead of time that is one worry you won't have during your stay. Finding a hotel room that has microwaves and refrigerators can go a long way towards limiting expenses. You can also save money by filling your bottles with waters at your hotel rather than purchasing new water bottles, bringing snacks from home for the kiddies, and eating at nice restaurants that offer lunch menus at lunchtime and hitting less expensive or fast food restaurants in the evening.

Another thing to remember is that you do not need to purchase every photograph that is taken of your children while in New York. Consider carefully which photograph will be the most meaningful to your child years from now and let that be the photograph you purchase. Use your camera to record other memories of your time in New York for a fraction of the cost. Be sure to bring plenty of extra film (if you're still using a camera that requires film) and batteries with you from home, as these are likely to be more expensive to replace in New York.

Other great money saving ideas for your time in New York would be to purchase The New York Pass. It may seem rather expensive but you can purchase a 3 or 7-day pass that will actually grant you free admission to many area attractions. You will easily make up your investment if you were planning to visit the attractions that this provides free admission to. You will find wide selections of museums and zoos are offered as well as discounts in some of the gift stores.

New York is a great city in which to shop. It's not such a great city in which to shop on a budget. If shopping presents too great of a temptation for you avoid it. While there are some wonderful and interesting shops to see and experience if you can't go in and out without spending money, then it would be in the best interest of your vacation budget to skip them all together. If you can resist the temptation there are many malls and stores that offer not only delightful merchandise but are also a sight to behold in and of themselves.

If you have children there are many activities for children that are available for free in and around the city. Search the Internet while in the planning phases and I'm sure you'll find many activities that you can all enjoy as a family that fit into the fabulous freebie category. Many of the museums in the city also offer free admission on certain days of the week or at certain times. Other museums offer a pay what you will type of admission so that no one is actually turned away from the wonderful experience that awaits them inside.

New York City also has many national parks, some of which have profound historical significance. The admission to these national parks, including the Statue of Liberty is absolutely free and the family can enjoy their time there as well as gaining a profound sense of history in the process.

No matter what your budget, you can afford to have a good time in New York City if you take the time to carefully plan the events you will and will not participate in based on your budget. Keep in mind to allow for a few really nice events and reward yourself for being so budget conscious throughout your trip. It is a vacation after all, even if you are limited to expenses.

New York City of Diversity

If you've never been to New York City, you may be surprised to know that there is so much more to this great city than skyscrapers, lots of people, and really fantastic parades. While it is in fact the wonderful people of this city that make it the exciting place to visit that it has become, there is so much more to this city than what you'll see on the television shows and in the news.

New York City is a city full of exciting people from all kinds of backgrounds with all kinds of hopes and dreams of the future and experiences of the past. You will find artwork here like few other places in the world, you will see more nature here than in most big cities around the world, and you will enjoy seeing more cultures and nationalities represented in the space of an hour in this city than most people who live elsewhere experience in their entire lives. New York City is the true melting pot of the world and the rest of America is simply trying to catch up.

You will find music and art that is representative of the many cultures that call this grand city home. You will experience the sights, sounds, and scents of worlds that are exotic and foreign simply by walking down neighborhood streets where people are cooking dinner at night. You will hear more languages in one day than you probably ever dreamed imagine and while you may stand around with sensory overload thinking anyone would be crazy to live like this, most of them are looking at you thinking you'd be crazy to live anywhere else.

This is perhaps the greatest thing about visiting New York City. You get to experience for a moment the excitement that comes from living in this fascinating city. You get to understand what it is like for those living there. And you get to understand first hand what it is like to be alone in a city of millions and yet by being there, being one of them, belonging somehow to this giant community of strangers from different cultures, different pasts, and different futures.

Most people visit New York with certain preconceived ideas and certain goals for their visits. Hopefully the preconceived ideas will all be challenged and the plans that you have made are flexible. There is so much to do and see that you could go one block each way from your hotel and probably notice something new each and every single time you went by. My point in this is that you need to leave time to experience the wonderful things you won't discover in the guidebooks. There is only so much of this city that any one person could possibly find to write about. I can imagine that there are New Yorkers that could eat in a different restaurant each and every day without eating in the same one twice in five or ten years. I find it hard to believe that a guide book is going to be able to hold everything you might find interesting in this city and if you spend your entire visit with your head in the book you might miss something truly worthwhile.

That being said, it is a good idea to make plans according to your budget and the things you wish to see, I'm just urging you to leave room in that schedule for change. The Statue of Liberty is great, but it takes a while to get there and back. Could it be that you take some photos, buy some post cards and do two or three other activities that you could have enjoyed in the space of time it takes to get there and back? Plans are made to change whenever possible-especially while on vacation. I seriously recommend that you reserve two hours minimum each day to do something that you discovered rather than something you planned.

New York City is a Shopper's Paradise

New York is a treasure trove of so many things that it is quite difficult to select one thing to mention when discussing this wonderful city. If you are a natural born shopper and bargain hunter though you would be remiss not to head out to New York with the idea of finding some fabulous bargains in mind.

I can't imagine many places in the world that have quite the number of shopping options that are available to New Yorkers on a daily basis. It's hard to imagine that there are people who actually have never felt the thrill of getting that little extra percent off or finding a perfectly good second hand piece for less than a quarter of what that item would have cost new. At the same time, there are very few things that I can mentally justify paying full price for.

Perhaps this is why New York represents shopper's heaven to me. There are so many consignment stores, used clothes stores, vintage clothes stores, and the bargains don't end at clothing. There is consignment furniture, house wares, even tools can be found at bargain prices in very specialized consignment and second hand stores. Electronics and appliances can be found in these types of stores as well. It's truly amazing all the wonderful things that can be found at bargain basement prices by those who are truly willing to look for them.

In addition to the many consignment, second hand, and goodwill type stores that you can find in New York City, there are also plenty of outlet stores that offer lower prices for last years overstock or slightly flawed patterns. It's amazing the bargains you can find when these stores have sales. Of course shopping your regular shopping malls just after Christmas or a couple of weeks after school has started can also net some very similar values. The real beauty lies in the fact that you can actually go to these stores while these sales are going on and have wardrobes for your kids for the next school year (provided some unholy sort of abnormal growth spurt doesn't occur in the meantime).

If shopping for you is more like a calling than an adventure then you should have a great time just wandering around the many malls and shopping centers of New York trying to get into your head the close proximity of so many wonderful bargains and how everyone in that city isn't either filing for bankruptcy or in serious hoc due to credit cards that are spent well beyond their limits.

Of course my kryptonite is shoes. I have a very difficult time walking by a sale on shoes even when I know the price isn't as good as it could or should be. I love shoes, particularly Birkenstock's. You simply cannot buy Birkenstock's second hand and even the sales prices on these shoes are more than you'd pay for many at full retail. I once thought they were the ugliest shoes on the planet and while I'll agree they aren't the cutest they are quite arguably the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn. If you ever notice a really good sale on shoes and a brunette whirlwind rushing by, it's probably me chanting 'see no evil, speak no evil, do no evil' and trying to convince myself that there really is nothing to see here.