As the family dozed, I mapped out our day. Hoping to walk to Times Square, hop the subway to Grand Central, walk over to the UN building and find a spot for lunch. After lunch, a brief siesta, temps forecast in the upper 80's today and humid ( just like home). This afternoon Stella and I will take the subway down to Delancey and Essex and head to the Tenement Museum.
Stella wants to find three places in Central Park, the bench where Dr. Who sat, the bridge where Dr. Who scenes were filmed and the fountain where they filmed Enchanted. It took some research, it is the Bow Bridge, the Bethesda Fountain and the bench is in front of the half dome stage. Funny, again, this trip is so like State Fair...we are hunting for benches! Since they were still sleeping...I had time to map that out too.
It is 9:30.... They are just getting up... C'mon people, times a wastin'
**I updated the blog as we got to the Museum early... but lost it all in the Starbucks**
This is blog update 2.0. Not as funny. But I did learn how to make the photos smaller
This is blog update 2.0. Not as funny. But I did learn how to make the photos smaller
We got moving around 10:00am and went to the deli across the street (where the $1 coffee is), and found egg sandwiches, yogurt, fruit and muffins! The whole family ate for under $10. Breakfast on the go as we walked down to Times Square. It was about 85 degrees and humid and sunny! Randy & I found hats. Stella is not impressed by my hat. She was however impressed with the smell of Times Square. She told me is reminded her of the State Fair...day twelve!
This is me on the JumboTron, in my ridiculous hat. Stella was mortified and left me hangin'.
We got to Grand Central Station and I asked if there was a place to sit. I guess in an effort to keep people from loitering in the station they removed all the benches! I was directed to the Station Masters office. It had benches, nice biffies, and free wifi, we all win! I got some blogging done (in vain) and Randy decided he had walked far enough, on cold medication, with bad ankles and in 90 degree heat. He caught a cab back to the hotel and Stella and I journeyed on.
And conveniently, there was an Apple store, on the balcony! Sticker shock drove us out, and back on our way to the UN Building. Walking along 42nd Street, we looked up and realized we were standing at the base of the Chrysler Building! Watching all the people entering the building Stella said it is as if there is a dress code for the place...a blue dress shirt! We did not comply. The details on the building are so cool!
Randy said if we see people wearing sashes, take pictures, they are probably important. We did not see anyone wearing a sash, but lots of guys in suits and fancy cars. We found ourselves on a terrace with a tall staircase leading down to the UN . The view was pretty cool!
Climbing down we got a close up of all the flags, but could not go into the visitor center due a recent policy change where pre-purchased tickets are required. Stella hopes to return again someday....as an employee!
Stella's unspoken goal to attempt to eat a cheeseburger in every restaurant we visit in New York would not go unchallenged as she found our lunch spot, back up the stairway into Tudor Park. *
"Goodburger". It really was a good burger with crispy fries that we shared. It only would have been better if they had not run out of every malt flavor but strawberry.
The tour was fascinating, a climb up to a fourth floor tenement time capsule, sealed in the 1930's and reopened in the 90's and they treat it as an urban archaeological site. Some of it has been restored, but much is as they found it, with layers peeled back and revealing it's history. One room has the name, of a little girl who lived there in the 1920's, scrawled on the wallpaper in pencil! Stella found a souvenir book. A funny, sad, ironic tale.
The smells here in the heat were a bit overwhelming to my poor kiddo. Knowing the reward for this journey was ice cream she persevered.
Krystl recommended the Lychee and the black sesame flavors, we got to taste them both, but settled on Oreo!
I wanted melon, and Stella wanted mint, but he put it in the same cup, so I tried to eat the top fast before it melted, but dropped most of it on the sidewalk and down my shirt. Typical!
Sweaty and smelly from the fish markets, we thought we'd pop into Sardi's (Haha!) but we were saved the embarrassment of being turned away at the door since they are closed Monday's!
Almost to our hotel Stella saw the NYC parking 'ramp' and was impressed and curious how they worked! I told her it was like an elevator storage system.
I gave a lady my iPad to take a picture of us all...she did ...and gave it back! #faithinhumanity
This great bus was driving past and I snapped this pic. Love!
We didn't do any shopping in Times Square, but we did duck into stores every now and then to partake of the refrigerator like air quality! We found the Subway station...it is not so hard with blinking neon lights. At first I thought it was a Subway sandwich shop NYC style, then I saw the train markers. We descended for our first solo subway trip on the shuttle to Grand Central. We learned unless we can move faster as a group, we should just wait for the next train. I wanted to make sure were catching the correct train and as I delayed us, the train left. We moved to another track and just as that train was leaving, we moved back, only to miss another one. I am sure the transit cops, sweating, in full riot gear, got a laugh at our expense,
We actually returned to the station since I wanted to get a look from the balcony down at the vastness of it all.
And conveniently, there was an Apple store, on the balcony! Sticker shock drove us out, and back on our way to the UN Building. Walking along 42nd Street, we looked up and realized we were standing at the base of the Chrysler Building! Watching all the people entering the building Stella said it is as if there is a dress code for the place...a blue dress shirt! We did not comply. The details on the building are so cool!
Our detour around the Chrysler Building took us across 43rd street. Stella popped into the Staples to go old school with a notebook and pens for writing, since she is unplugged. The $50 hotel wifi connection is only for ONE device and I connected the iPad, so she is in Tumblr withdrawal, but like a Marine, she can adapt and improvise! Our detour took us up to Tudor Park and Diplomat Row!
Randy said if we see people wearing sashes, take pictures, they are probably important. We did not see anyone wearing a sash, but lots of guys in suits and fancy cars. We found ourselves on a terrace with a tall staircase leading down to the UN . The view was pretty cool! Climbing down we got a close up of all the flags, but could not go into the visitor center due a recent policy change where pre-purchased tickets are required. Stella hopes to return again someday....as an employee! Stella's unspoken goal to attempt to eat a cheeseburger in every restaurant we visit in New York would not go unchallenged as she found our lunch spot, back up the stairway into Tudor Park. * "Goodburger". It really was a good burger with crispy fries that we shared. It only would have been better if they had not run out of every malt flavor but strawberry.
* Stella told me it is NOT a goal, and she ate Chicken Alfredo last night. Point taken. We will see if her streak continues or if she will branch out!
It was almost 100 degrees (I guess I exaggerated, it was only 93 today) and I was not looking forward to the walk back to the subway, so I asked New York's Finest if there was a bus that would take us to Delancey Street. He was kind, but with a laugh in his voice he pointed right across the street to the #15 bus stop and told us it would take us all the way there! We got off a bit sooner than we needed to, and had to walk a few blocks extra. Stella told me she was having State Fair flashbacks again, but this time she was reminded of the horse barns. A hundred degree heat with trash on the curbs is not a good combination. We found the Tenement Museum without delay, but since we caught that zippy bus, we were an hour and a half early. There was a Starbucks across the street with free WiFi, A/C and a place to sit down, so we hung out for a while. Stella reconnected on Tumblr, I blogged and narrated the whole day and then as I was doing an upload, I lost the connection and lost all the blogging I had done. ...at least it was cool and we could sit.
Our time came for our tour so we headed across the street and who should we run into, but Mary & Roy. We knew they were here in NYC, we are going to the Yankees game with them Wednesday night, but Mary read the blog and knew we were heading to the museum today! They had a tour before ours. Nice surprise!
The tour was fascinating, a climb up to a fourth floor tenement time capsule, sealed in the 1930's and reopened in the 90's and they treat it as an urban archaeological site. Some of it has been restored, but much is as they found it, with layers peeled back and revealing it's history. One room has the name, of a little girl who lived there in the 1920's, scrawled on the wallpaper in pencil! Stella found a souvenir book. A funny, sad, ironic tale.
I texted my cousin Krystl for some suggestions on this end of town and she said we needed to go to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. She gave us step by step walking directions and we found our way into Chinatown, past fish marts, herbal marts and lots of Chinese produce stands.
The smells here in the heat were a bit overwhelming to my poor kiddo. Knowing the reward for this journey was ice cream she persevered. Krystl recommended the Lychee and the black sesame flavors, we got to taste them both, but settled on Oreo!
Before leaving for NYC I downloaded an app for imaps+ that you can bookmark when you are connected and then is available offline. It has proved a valuable tool! I was able to find our way back out of Chinatown with a quick stop in Little Italy for some gelato!
I wanted melon, and Stella wanted mint, but he put it in the same cup, so I tried to eat the top fast before it melted, but dropped most of it on the sidewalk and down my shirt. Typical!
Feeling like old pros on the Subway now, we made our way to the 6 train, back to Grand Central, hopped on the shuttle and walked home from Times Square. On the way we found the theater with the show we will see Thursday night!
Sweaty and smelly from the fish markets, we thought we'd pop into Sardi's (Haha!) but we were saved the embarrassment of being turned away at the door since they are closed Monday's! Almost to our hotel Stella saw the NYC parking 'ramp' and was impressed and curious how they worked! I told her it was like an elevator storage system.
We finished up the last few blocks walking down restaurant row, not far from home, looking for ideas for dinner and picking up take out menus. We found one we hoped Randy would like and ended up having pretty good BBQ for dinner (Stella had a burger....) at Harley's.
Randy is still not feeling well, at all. He and Stella went back to the hotel and I ran (in the dark, down a construction riddled quiet street, in the dark, alone, in the dark) to the drug store, to try a third cold remedy to see if we can get him well. I don't want him to miss anything else. I know we are under budget for food, cabs, entertainment and museums, which is good since we did not budget for WiFi, coffee and medications!
Tomorrow we pray Randy is better and we will all head to Central Park.
Crossed off 'the list' today; UN, Grand Central, Times Square, Tenement Museum, Chinatown and Little Italy. There are only about 20 things left. If we can keep up with 6/day, we will have time to spare!
OMG. The picture of the 3 of you trying to board the Subway is PRICELESS. You really should have practiced that one at home.
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