Day 4 NYC

Day 4 our last day in NYC started somewhat lazily. I am not ashamed to say that we were tired. We had covered miles and miles of asphalt, but it was a good tired because we were having the time of our life.

Our first stop of course involved food. We ate a good breakfast at the little cafe we found a couple of days before then we went down to time square to stand in line to get discounted tickets to a Broadway show,"Jersey Boys". More about that later.

After buying the tickets, we caught the subway down to Canal (aka China Town). We spent a couple of hours bargain hunting. It was fun "Jewing" down the prices on some items that we brought back.

This is a real NYC Chinese fish market

Then on to "Little Italy". Italian resturants on both sides of the street for about 3 blocks. These were real Italian eateries. Linen table cloths, the works. Then up to Spring street where we could get a real Italian pizza. They were right. Lombardy's was a quite the place. A small was more than enough for Shirley and I to have plenty to eat.

Back on the subway to Time Square then on the the show, Jersey Boys. This is the story of the Frankie Vallli and the Four Seasons. The music was outstanding. If you closed your eyes you would swear the real thing was there on stage. The language left a lot to be desired, but the music.... man!

After the show we went Grand Central Station then a leisurely walk to see Time Square one last time. On the way we stopped by Bryant Park and people watched in some quite laid back place.

What a trip! It was all we could dream of and all we had hoped it would be.

Day 3 NYC

Our day started with sleeping late. We headed out to the NBC studios to do the tour only to find out they were sold out until 6:00pm. On the way we ran into our grandson Cayden's favorite characters.

We headed down to 42nd and 7th avenue to catch the buss tour to Brooklyn. The line was so long we opted to walk the 5 blocks down to pier 83 to take the 3 hour tour. I know, I thought of the theme song for Gilligan's Island. It was relaxing trip around the entire island. Our tour guide was great! He later told us that he was once a professor of speech and acting at one of the universities there. While working the ship for a summer job, the company learned what he did and hired him as a tour guide. 

After the tour we made it back up to Hotel (10 blocks) on foot. While crossing broad way we ran into a street vendors festival.

Then we made it to our tour of the NBC studios and saw the sets of Jimmy Fallon, which is the same set as Johnny Carson when he was in NY. We also saw the set of Saturday Night Live. Sorry no pics of this adventure they wouldn't allow them.

Finally back to the line for the bus night and Brooklyn tour. Lots of new things to see and rode over the Manhattan bridge into Brooklyn.

Then back into Manhattan off the bus in a very crowded Time Square. Walked the 10 blocks back to the Hotel where I am now. 

Day 2 New York

Day two started with a thunderstorm about 5:00am so we slept in. When we  finally ventured out we started with a good breakfast in a very busy café. But they were hustling and kept the turnover going. They weren’t rushing folks but as folks left they had the table cleared in seconds and the next one sat down. Once again our waitress was from Poland. Go figure that we would eat at two different cafés and our waitresses would be from Poland. Of course no sweet tea!! Iced tea but not sweet! There was a lady sitting behind Shirley and she heard her ask for sweet tea and when leaving she told us she had committed the same offense. She was from Alabama.

We left there and walked another two blocks to Central Park, an oasis in the midst of chaos. We too found it very peaceful. We took the horse and buggy ride and learned a lot about the park. There were rock outcroppings throughout and we learned that Manhattan is on bedrock. The tall buildings here can be built because they dig down until they get to the bedrock then start building. In Central Park, the rock pops up above the surface and looks like the foothills of a mountain range in the middle of all the asphalt and steel.

Shirley texting a friend telling how much the buggy ride was.

Our carriage driver. He is from Ireland. Doesn't he remind you Dana Carvey?

After the ride.

Rock cropping and if you look close you will see two people asleep on top!

After that we took our first subway ride. Crowded and hot are two adjectives I would use to describe it. Shirley had an experience that only she can tell you about. Not bad but really weird.

Down underground

Next out to Liberty Island. All I can say about that is “emotional”. I cannot remember a time in my life that I have not wanted to see “Lady Liberty”. It was all that I had ever imagined. A bonus was there. A high school band from Springdale Arkansas was there playing. They played “America the Beautiful”. Need I say more. 

Isn't she just beautiful?

Bet you are wondering how I took this photo. Let's just say a really good lens on the camera. I was on the ground at the base.

One the way back a thunderstorm blew up and we all got wet. By the time we reached the dock it had stopped for us long enough to get back to the subway station.

We rode the subway to uptown and then got on the bus tour again and went up to Columbia University and Harlem.

The Apollo taken while getting completely wet!

 Guess what? Another thunderstorm!! We were on top of double-decker bus with no cover. Wet again! The guide then handed out ponchos, which helped. But we just laughed and made the best of the situation.

We made it back to the hotel, wet! Changed clothes and went to the “Top of the Rock”. Beautiful! We waited until dark and it was well worth it.

The top of the Empire State Building at the left. I think my lens might be a little dirty for a night shot.

We have found out that we need to know Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, German, Spanish and a host of other languages. You know how you want a pic of the two of you in front of something neat and you just grab a passerby and ask them. Nope, ain't going to happen!

Topped the night off with desert.

Day 1 New York

We ran all over town today. We started the day by going to see the Today Show. The whole crew came out for a cooking segment on was outside on the plaza. I took pictures of Matt, Ann, and the rest. 

Shirley got to shake hands with Ann Currie, twice. Ann even called her “sweetie”. 

That is the top of Shirley's Head

We walked down to “Time Square” where we found a little out of the way café for breakfast. Our waitress is from Poland and has been in the US for about 4 ½ years. She had a great personality and was very good at her job. It was a really nice way to start off the day. By the way, you can get iced tea in New York just not sweet. 

What an awesome view from atop the Empire State Building.

 I was real nervous about the elevator ride but it was a non-event, except for the fact it took less than a minute to go 80 floors. I mean really fast but you didn’t get that feel of loosing your stomach. Our ears popped, but more going down than up. It was worth it. You could see for miles. While there we did the New York Sky Ride.(a virtual simulator ride) Not worth the money. In fact, we thought it was a dud. It was expensive and not very good, except to make you very sick. Nearly lost my breakfast there.

Hopped back on the bus and headed further out on Broadway. Got off at the World Trade Center sight. 104 floors are up and they are still climbing on the rebuild. Just outside about 100 yards away is the church that survived the collapse. St. Paul’s I think. Can’t remember. Anyway, there was much inside on the days following the recovery efforts.

Then we went down another block to the little temporary museum for 911. A real nice one is being built to house these exhibits and more.

I rounded a corner into a room with pictures of many if not all of the persons that lost their lives on that day. To say that I became emotional would be a gross understatement. Many emotions from that day, just a few short 10 years ago, came to the top as I once again was reminded of the human toll extracted by those madmen.  I am not sure how anyone could go to that site and not think of this area as hallowed ground.

After walking another mile we made to battery park and the next bus stop to get on the bus to ride back as close as we could to our hotel.

After a little rest we headed out again aiming for the “Top of the Rock”. Unfortunately they were sold out tonight but we have our tickets for tomorrow night and are looking forward to looking out over New York at night.

We had a great day and really can’t believe we are here. It has been a desire for many, many years, but we never thought we would do this.

It has been a wonderful gift and we are enjoying it more than we could say Thank You enough. If you get the chance do it.