Thanksgiving in the USA

[NSun]

After my last major trip to Europe in August, it wasn't too long between trips before heading off again. I spent just over a week in the USA for Thanksgiving to catch up with people I know over in New York (both expats and locals). I booked an itinerary SYD-ORD in Y+ for $4k return back in the late March sale and then booked award seats to and from the East Coast. I went via DFW on the way out and LAX on the way back, booking a 24 hour layover in Los Angeles. And I managed to get an upgrade to J on the way over and I managed to snag 1A so that was a bonus.

It all began in the Sydney F lounge with the salt & pepper squid and a 'Spring in your Spritz' - a coughtail that had vodka, aperol, strawberry syrup, soda and sparkling wine.






We took off on time and then took an unusual takeoff route, flew all the way to Parramatta, did a loop then headed out over Manly.





The menu was still the same it had been in August going to London and in January over to LA. For something different, I tried the lamb sandwich and Maggie Beer ice cream although it is a shame the menu doesn't get updated as often as it used to. Food was good nevertheless.





Afterwards slept for about 6.5 hours - I probably could have for more but wanted to adjust into the US time zone. Had my usual choices for breakfast: apple juice, a croissant, yogurt and muesli.

 

[NSun]

After 14 hours and 25 minutes, we made it to Dallas. No prizes for guessing who's home port this is.



Our aircraft was VH-ZNK - Gangarru.




This was my first time transiting at Dallas rather than LA. I had a 20 minute wait in line before being let through - my passport wasn't stamped. I went outside for a few minutes fresh air then I went back landslide to catch a connecting flight to Chicago. Oddly at the TSA checkpoint we didn't have to take off our shoes, we could leave all our liquids and laptops in our bag and we all went through the simpler metal detector. This was not the case anywhere else I encountered in America.

In case you had any doubts I was in Dallas...



I went up to the Flagship Lounge at Councourse D. I liked the tarmac views and how easy it was to get a seat despite a lot of people being there. Missed out on a shower though because they had to be booked at the reception and I was told they were all booked out.



After 2 and a half hours it was onwards to ORD in an American 787. Was a standard 2 hour flight except that there were screens with a reasonably impressive selection compared to Qantas.



Downtown Chicago...



And landed. This is apparently the Councourse where all the flags of nations with non-stop flights to Chicago are although these had been taken down in favour of Christmas decorations.



Caught the Airport train Downtown. It was a standard subway service - certainly no Hong Kong Airport Express - but got me there in the end.

 

[NSun]

I picked the Voco hotel having had good experiences at the Gold Coast one in the past. It was more than adequate for one night.





Extra brownie points for a proper shower.



I spent a couple of days in Chicago adjusting to US time and planning for the rest of the trip. Was 2 degrees first thing in the morning but warmed up to 7-8 during the day.

 

[NSun]

Then it was time to fly to New York, it was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Caught the train back to O'Hare and got to the airport 3 hours in advance anticipating huge queues, but it wasn't that bad. I hung out in the American Flagship Lounge and made myself a nice lunch.







Then it was on board an American 737 for a 1.5 hour flight to New York LaGuardia. As an award seat I couldn't select a seat but I was given a Main Cabin Extra seat. The legroom was good, it was a Boeing Sky Interior aircraft and I could stream entertainment to my laptop without having to download an app.



How does American 'try' to stop us plebs going to the First Class toilets? A basic curtain, but one that you can still see through. Didn't stop the person sitting next to me going up there and getting away with it.



Made it to the Big Apple - it was 4.30pm at this point.





The terminal was new, but a bit unusual in that to exit we had to actually go up one big escalator and then down a couple of very long ones.

 

[NSun]

My hotel was the Holiday Inn Financial District near Wall Street. I caught the Q70 bus to Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue and the plan was to slowly make my way there catching the subway.

I got out at 57th Street in Manhattan, right near Central Park then walked all the way to Times Square.



The Plaza Hotel. Most people know this hotel because of Home Alone 2 (where Donald Trump made a cameo) but I knew it first from the Eloise books which I loved as a kid.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This was a QF or AA award? You can pick seats using either.

 

[NSun]

This was a QF or AA award? You can pick seats using either.

I wasn't able to do so on the QF website whereas I could part of my main itinerary. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place (I went into the booking and tried to select seats) but at least it worked out in the end in getting Main Cabin Extra for all but one flight and an aisle seat for the one exemption.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I wasn't able to do so on the QF website whereas I could part of my main itinerary. Maybe I wasn't looking in the right place (I went into the booking and tried to select seats) but at least it worked out in the end in getting Main Cabin Extra for all but one flight and an aisle seat for the one exemption.

I always go to the site of the operating carrier to select seats. Use their manage booking function. MCE worked out well… but you also don’t want to be stuck in a middle at the back!

 

[NSun]

My evening walk continued. I got on the subway eventually and went to the World Trade Centre which was two blocks from my hotel.











Made it to my hotel. It was more than adequate but my check-in experience was soured by credit card issues - it had been blocked, not because it was overseas, but they claimed the pin had been entered incorrectly once. So I had to transfer money from my savings account to my regular bank card and pay with that. I ended up paying nearly A$400 per night, not counting another nearly A$200 in pre-authorisation but then again it was downtown Manhattan and the AUD is weak right now. I was on a very high floor but with only three elevators it did mean for some long waits.

 

[NSun]

I woke up the next morning about 6am and the plan was to go see the Brooklyn Bridge first. It took me about 20 minutes to find the start of the bridge but it wasn't a complete waste of time as I saw quite a few sights along the way including the NYSE. And it was a beautiful sunrise once I reached the bridge.

 

[NSun]

I was having two separate catch ups today. The first was a coffee at a place we'd settle on 27th St and 9th Avenue and the second was a Thanksgiving dinner in New Jersey. I had settled on 9am for the first meeting so checking the time was 7am, I thought I'd go and check out Central Park. I went all the way to 87th St East first because my parents lived there for a few years back in the 1990s and wanted to check it out. I entered the park at that point and walked all the way down to the southern end. The temperature was about 5 degrees Celcius.









Unfortunately I hadn't accounted for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade which blocked off essentially all the exits on the Western side. Thankfully found one on the Eastern side in the end then caught the subway near 27th St and made it with 5 minutes to spare.

I love squirrels and took lots of photos but this is the one with the most in it.




We arranged to meet up at an Aussie coffee shop called Citizens of Chelsea but it was closed. Ended up settling on a nearby diner and had a turkey burger. In retrospect, a mistake considering the hour and I'd be having turkey later, but it was good.

 

[RB]

Some great photos & enjoying reading your adventures

 

[NSun]

Then myself and the group of people I was meeting up with went to look at the festivities and ultimately see the Thanksgiving Parade. Ultimately we only got to see the very last float and it was from some distance away.







Then it was back to the hotel to get changed into more smart casual clothing & get ready to head to NJ. Had to head up to Penn Station then catch the train for 40 minutes into Orange. It was annoying that you had to buy a separate ticket compared to the subway system and you could only do it by physically queueing up. The train ride itself was OK but for the festivities, it was all worth it.














I ended up catching the train back at 8pm and got back to my hotel at 9.30pm. It was straight to bed for me for another busy day was to come.

 

[ellen10]

I’m enjoying your travels.

 

[NSun]

Slept in until 7am the next morning - Black Friday. To get back to Chicago to meet up with the rest of my trip I spent several weeks looking for an award seat back there from New York (or nearby). Eventually I found space on a 9pm flight from Philadelphia to New York. Obviously I'd have to go to Philly to meet up with that flight. But with a whole day, I thought I'd visit Washington too. So caught the 8am Amtrack down to DC.

My first sight of Philly - but I'd be back later that afternoon.





Baltimore - maybe next time I'll have a look around there.





Got to Washington at 11am and had 3 hours to look around until I had to catch a train back up to Philly. So walked down the National Mall to the National Monument and back again - via the US Capitol.

 

[NSun]

On the way back to the station, I got as close to a squirrel as I would get all week.




Got to the station 30 minutes early so decided to get a taste of Philly early by having a cheesesteak. Was OK, but next time I'll go to a sit down restaurant rather than get take away fast food.



Back on the train and up to Philly we go.

 

[NSun]

I had about 3 hours to spare in Philadelphia and my main mission was to see the Liberty Bell. I went there via some Christmas Markets which I enjoyed having not been to Northern Hemisphere Christmas markets in over 4 years. Temperature was about 14 degrees.





To check I was going the right way, I went through Macys and connected to the Wifi. I was impressed by this installation they had at the atrium.









It was 5pm by now, I'd seen Philadelphia and then headed to the airport via the airport train. Philadelphia doesn't yet have a Flagship Lounge, just an Admirals Club. The tarmac view reminded me of the Melbourne QF J lounge.




I got an A321 for this flight. AA put me in 'Main Cabin Extra' so there was good legroom but there wasn't much to see on the right hand side.



However, the flight attendant who sat there ended up striking a conversation with the people behind me. He had only started flying a few days ago and spoke about how he found the training program and his first few days on the job.

Otherwise, a standard 2 hour domestic flight.

 

[NSun]

I booked an overnight at the Four Points O'Hare which seemed a decent enough option given it was late. I had to go to a dedicated shuttle area which is outside the terminals, past the station, then you go up in a lift - these ones.





I had no status with Starwood but got a room on the top floor.









Woke up about 6.30pm as the sun was rising. Then I realised I could faintly see the Chicago skyline - was a long way away and the window didn't look like it had been washed for some time.



This was the coldest morning of the trip - 1 degree celcius. I went outside with gloves but no beanie, lasted 2 minutes before turning around and getting my beanie. I walked for about an hour near the major road. .





I went back to the hotel and had a well-earned dip in the pool. I'm not one who needs a hot tub but I do hate it when pools are ice cold. This one was 'lukewarm' and was just what I needed after the cold.



I spent the morning watching College Football then took the shuttle back to ORD. Rather than spend 2 hours in the AA Flagship Lounge, I walked all the way from T3 to T1 and back again. I got a glimpse of the famous tunnel.

 

[NSun]

Then it was a 4 and a half hour flight from ORD to LAX. This time I didn't get Main Cabin Extra and was down in the 8th last row but was given an aisle. The wifi was good enough to watch some more football the whole flight long. I got into LAX about 5pm and after waiting an hour for the shuttle bus for the Holiday Inn, I gave up and free-rode the Hilton shuttle bus 80% of the way then walked the rest of the way.



Another 'shub' (combined shower tub) and similar to my last North American trip, the worst was left until last - in that the whole floor got flooded.




Woke up at 6.30am the next morning, my last in the USA. I went on my morning walk to Sofi Stadium and back, getting far closer than I was able to last time. Here's the view from my room, first.








I booked this trip before the NFL schedule came out and hoped my stop in LA co-incided with a game there. Nope, the Rams were at Kansas City and the Chargers were away too (in Arizona). Hopefully next time.

 

[NSun]

Packed my bag for the final time then walked from the hotel to the Airport station (Aviation-LAX). By the Olympics there is supposed to be one that's right there but not for now. After last night's experience with the shuttle I couldn't be bothered going back to LAX and waiting for the shuttle to the station so I walked down La Cienega Boulevard which runs right down the Eastern side of LAX. Had to catch 2 trains into the city - changing at Rosa Parks station - then a third to get to Hollywood. Here was my first sight of Downtown skyline.



I got out at Hollywood-Western and just walked down Hollywood Boulevarde. Here was my first sight of the Hollywood sign.





I spent a while wondering if I was in the right place but eventually I realised I was.








I stopped for a lunch at a pizza outlet called Sinful Pizza. Huge pizza slices. But for that & a drink, I paid A$30 including the tip after being lured in seeing a billboard seeing that it was US$15 for 2 slices. Yes, I decided to throw in the drink but even so - that USD/AUD is certainly more brutal since I last visited.