The Travel Oracle

The Travel Oracle
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  • Who is the Travel Oracle?
    • Contact us!
    • The places we’ve been
    • The Oracle Recommends…
    • Our City Guides
    • Travel Booking Services
  • Our World Famous Kidney Donor Athlete
    • Running Stories
  • Subscribe
  • The Golden Pelican Awards of Excellence
  • Newsletter
  • Fun and Free in NYC

    If you know anything about traveling to Manhattan, you KNOW it’s expensive. It’s like $35 just to walk in and look at a menu. But did you know that there are some amazing, fun and free things to do on NYC? Sure, a coffee may cost you $8 but you’ll enjoy drinking it in one of these fantastic places! 1. The NY Public Library This library feels more like a museum than a place to check out books but you’ll still have to keep your voice down! 2. The Staten Island Ferry If you want some great views of Lady Liberty, Liberty Island ISN’T the way to do it. Instead…

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  • Medal for the NYC Marathon in the foreground with the Statue of Liberty in the background

    Make Your First NYC Marathon a Smashing Success

    Just before the world hit the “pause” button, Stephen ran his first New York City Marathon. Though we had been to the Big Apple many times previously, this was his first time there for the running of the race. If you’ve never been to Manhattan OR if this is your first NYC marathon, let us share some things we’ve learned along the way to make your first NYC Marathon a smashing success. Don’t even THINK about driving a car Unless you’re a big fan of stress, near misses, horn honking and altercations just forget the idea that driving a car would be “better” in any way. Instead, get yourself a…

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  • Group of people in winter clothes, smiling and hugging on an ice skating rink. Behind them are trees lit in white lights and a row of flags

    Skating Under the Stars and Other Shenanigans

    For those of you have been following along, you’ll recall our last article ended with a delicious breakfast after braving the elements and the crowds to watch The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. After the short walk back to our VRBO, we were happy to see the kids had survived the night before and were up and watching the parade on TV. Feast #1 We had a pretty relaxing afternoon planned and continued to watch the parade as Jill began to prepare our Thanksgiving feast. She did an excellent job with the limited cookware that we had on hand. Everything from the honey baked ham to the stuffing and mashed potatoes were…

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    Crazy Big Balloons and Throwing Down with the Locals

    Hello Friends. While we have certainly enjoyed our little break over the holidays we are happy to be back at it. We have lots of exciting adventures planned for the New Year but before we get to that, we have to finish up our big NYC Thanksgiving trip that included crazy big balloons and throwing down with the locals! Off to the Parade In NYC on Thanksgiving Day. How does one not go to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?! After a late night at the Billy Joel concert the night before we figured that the kids would rather sleep in than brave the cold and we were right. That certainly…

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    A Last Minute Stroll at the Zoo

    It was our last day in NYC and the weather had turned a bit cooler, which was far more in line with November than it had been. We had some hours to spend before heading to the airport. And we had time for just one more adventure before saying goodbye. We landed on a last minute stroll at the Central Park Zoo. Is it a Secret? If you’re like us, you may not have known there is an entire zoo in Central Park. And we’ve been through multiple times – running, walking and even once on an unfortunate bicycle built for two. We never saw it or even a sign…

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  • Group of 5 people, wearing winter clothing and standing in front of the Stardust Diner

    Who Do You See in NYC?

    You may have heard that New York City can be a little…hectic. But have you ever asked yourself…who do you see in NYC over Thanksgiving? As we found out, the answer is EVERYBODY. So it would be CRAZY to go then, right? Well, you may be right, I may be crazy but we loved every minute of it. Although this is the most people we’ve ever encountered in NYC, we would do it again in a heartbeat. Why we did it The girls were celebrating birthday number 23 and we wanted to do something special for them. Since we missed Billy Joel in Detroit during the pandemic, we picked seeing…

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    You Won’t Need a Crystal Ball

    Our latest recommendations for travel to Boston, Chicago, London, New Orleans, New York City and Tokyo. Find out where to stay, where to eat, where to drink and the best thing to do.

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    The Best of The Big Apple

    Find out the best thing to do, the best places to eat and drink and get our insider travel tips from our 2022 trip to New York.

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    The Best of 2022

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  • Neon sign that reads "Don't Grow Up It's a Trap"

    The Best of 2022

    As a couple of people who value experiences, we’ve learned fun ways to remember everything we’ve done over the year. One of our favorites is our corkboard. We tack up things there like theater tickets, paper wrist bands, and bar coasters. On New Years Eve, we take down these mementos to place them in an envelope and write about where we’ve been. We also, of course, take lots of pictures to share with you all. So as we wind down the year, let us share with you the best of 2022! The Dinner of the Year Adventura Not only was their restaurant beautiful inside and out, they had olives. They…

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    A Rare November Day in NYC

    What do you do when it’s 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky? Before you answer, let me also add in that we were in NYC AND we had the day off. Did that change your answer? Did it conjure images of Mary Tyler Moore twirling in the street? (Actually, that image would probably only appear if you’re over 55.) Well regardless of your mental image, let me share with you what we did on a rare November Day in NYC! Catching You Up ICYMI…we were already in NYC for 3 days by this time. We were ready to start day 4. The race was over and I…

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