Stop 1
Secaucus Junction train station. New very
attractive station. Hub for many different branches of New Jersey
Transit. Not too many people exit the line here. Hotel has a free
shuttle service.
Stop 2
Penn Station (the magnificent original was
demolished and this replaced by this hole in the ground).
Behind Penn Station is Madison Square Garden.
Vaughn played there as part of a big band nostalgia show in the late
60's or early 70's. I was there, but don't remember exactly when.
(Vaughn also played at the rodeo in the old Garden on 8th
Avenue in 1951).
Across the Street, the Hotel Pennsylvania. Vaughn
played there with the band at the Cafe Rouge in the 1940's. He also
played there in the 1950's as a single when it was known as the Hotel
Statler. I saw him both ways.
Stop 3
Mounted police and horse. Very often seen in Times
Square and other areas with high pedestrian density.
Group seated in Times Square. Part of Broadway was
closed to auto traffic and open to foot traffic only and chairs provided
by merchants until end of year. If it proves successful will be
extended.
On west side of Broadway is the Paramount Theater
site. The marquee has been restored in an electronic version, but there
is a restaurant inside now, I believe. Vaughn played there in the 1940's
with the band.
MTV has a studio on the second floor of the
building on 44-45th street. This is the site of the old Hotel
Astor, where Vaughn played as a single in1955.
On 47th Street is the site of the Strand
Theater (later Warner Theater) which is now gone. I remember seeing
Vaughn and the band there.
On the east side of Broadway at 44th is
the Toys R Us store with a four-story-high Ferris wheel inside. Lots of
things to see inside.
Stop 4
W Hotel, Times Square. Ground floor reception room
is made to give the feeling of being underwater. Lobby, on an upper
floor is very elegant in a modern way.
Stop 5
Rockefeller Center with 30 Rockefeller Plaza which
houses the Rainbow Grill ( I saw Vaughn perform there in 1967). Building
housed the NBC radio studios at that time. Also St. Patrick's, built in
the mid 19th century.
Statue of Atlas carrying the world in Rockefeller
Center on 5th Avenue.
Lunch at Metro Cafe on 52nd Street and
onto the Museum of Radio and Television across the street to watch some
of Vaughn's TV shows.
Stop 6
Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Beautiful lobby and very
first class hotel. Then upstairs on the elevator to the starlight roof
where Vaughn played.
We did not have time stop at the St. Regis, one of
the top hotels in New York. I regret to this day I did not get to see
him. I believe this early 1970's appearance was his last in New York.
(He played some very classy places as a single).
We also did not have time to visit 1185 Park
Avenue, a quite impressive apartment building which was Vaughn's New
York residence for some years.
Stop 7
We walked over to Grand Central Terminal and caught
the shuttle train to the west side. Next door was the Grand Hyatt, site
of the Commodore, Vaughn's home hotel in New York. We then went back to
a great dinner and even greater entertainment at the hotel. If you
weren't there you missed a great evening.
