New York, 2014

With a 6am flight, we were up at 3am – a very early start for another travel day. Our first flight was to Dallas-Fort Worth airport with a final flight connecting from DFW to La Guardia. The first flight had an empty first class section and we were able to score two free upgrades. This was the first time in many years that we were able to use our free upgrade passes on American Airlines. Typically, our upgrade priority falls below most other travelers. Being served breakfast on board and access to more comfortable seating was a nice way to start our day.

We weren’t so lucky with snagging first class seats on the second leg of our air travel. There were 26 flyers on the upgrade waiting list but all 16 first class seats were assigned. As we were 16^th and 23^rd on the waiting list, we really had no chance of getting an upgrade.This last flight took about 3.5 hours and we passed the time reading and listening to podcasts and audio books. 

Our luggage was among the first off the plane and we called Carmel Limo for our pick-up. We tend to use limo service in New York as the fares are fixed and we don't worry about watching traffic and the ever increasing fare meter. Unfortunately, I had Carmel picking us up from JFK instead of La Guardia airport. It took about 30 minutes to straighten up the resulting confusion. Interestingly, the limo cost for La Guardia to Times Square is about fifteen dollars less expensive than JFK to Times Square – so we actually saved some car fare (total cost was $45, including fare, toll and tip).

As we were waiting for the car service, we felt a cold wind during the early evening. Apparently, the temperatures were dropping and rain was expected later in the week. 

Returning to the DoubleTree Suites at Times Square made check-in easy. Plus, as we are frequent Hilton hotel visitors, we also were able to receive free in-room wireless and breakfast at the hotel. The Doubletree has floors extending over 40 floors. If you can get a room above the floor 30, street noise is not too bothersome. The rooms are spacious and clean and have some amenities, such as a microwave and refrigerator. The location is great for theater and there are many reasonable priced restaurants within a three to four block range. 

With check-in complete, we soon were on our way to dinner. The hotel receptionist suggested Amarone Restorante for a good Italian dinner. Home-made pasta from a family owned restaurant sounded great. Amarone was about a three block walk from our hotel, away from the busy traffic of Times Square. 

The dinner was very good and reasonably priced. We shared a pear salad with watercress and pecorino cheese with lemon dressing salad and ordered plates of Fettuccine "Portofino" with tomato, shrimp, scallops and fresh herbs and Rigatoni Siciliana with tomato, eggplant and mozzarella.. We shared a dessert of vanilla ice cream in Espresso (Affogato al Caffè). As it was after 9am, we slowly walked back to our hotel and were ready to wind down from a long day.