New York City

Michael and I just got back from our summer trip to see his mother’s family. I took lots of pictures, so I’ll split it up over several posts. First up: NYC!

We left Beaumont super-early Wednesday morning to catch a 9:00 am flight to Newark. Now, as you may recall from my previous post, I had been in a pretty serious accident on Saturday. Although I initially resisted going to the doctor, Michael (at my mother’s insistence) convinced me to go Monday. He did some probing, took some x-rays and, as I predicted, told me there was nothing wrong except whiplash. He prescribed a painkiller and a muscle relaxant. I decided to take both right before I got on the plane, figuring I’d need both during the four-hour flight. And let me tell you, muscle relaxants are amazing things! Within 20 minutes, I was flying . . . and not just because I was on a plane! Man, oh, man, it was surreal! Suffice to say, those have been confined to night-time use since!

Other than my loopiness, the flight was uneventful and we landed in Newark around 1:00 pm. We took Amtrak into NYC, got off at Penn Station and muddled our way to the subway to catch a transfer to 42nd Street (check this Slate post out about how terrible the signage is there. I can vouch for its truthfulness!).  It was so cool to walk out of the station and be right in the middle of the action. We wandered over to the TKTS booth, thinking we could score cheap tickets for an evening show, but upon determining the line was over 2 hours long, we quickly reconsidered. We ended up visiting the individual theatres to buy our tickets and were still able to get some deals. More like 30% off versus 50%, but worth it to not be standing out in the heat, carting our luggage around.

Hey, here's a helpful sign!

It might be hard to see, but that's Phantom!

Obligatory Times Square picture. Note the backpack Michael is carrying. We packed for our entire week-long trip in that and the regular backpack I was carrying. Go us! ;-P

 After figuring out our theatre plans, we headed for lunch at Carengie Deli, which is, apparently, a super-famous deli. Michael was excited to eat there but I have to admit, I was un-impressed. Plus it was expensive! Maybe I’m a curmudgeon, but I can just as easily plop a pound of ham on two pieces of white bread with no extra condiments or sides for far less than $15. Fortunately, our other food experiences were far better!

Yeah, we were pretty tired by this point

After lunch, we finally made our way to our hotel, stopping at Columbus Circle on the way. We
stayed at a Days Inn in the Upper West Side (feel free to break out in song at any moment). Michael had mistakenly booked us there instead of at a place in Midtown, and was a bit upset with himself, but it ended up being fine. The hotel was clean and comfortable and less than a block from a subway station. Unlike some horror stories you hear about the New York Subway, we never had a problem and never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a train.

Columbus Circle is the point where all NYC distances are measured

That evening, since lunch was so late, we decided to go to the show first and dinner afterward. We went to How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) starred and did an excellent job. The whole cast was outstanding and we were laughing the whole time. I had seen the show before when my high school produced it, but I remembered only the very basic details, so it was new for both of us.

Near the theatre . . . wish we'd brought our balls!

The Al Hirschfield Theatre

Does poor lighting make the picture artsy?

Michael, looking successful without really trying

I think this is a life-size portrait of Daniel Radcliffe . . . he's really short!

Dinner was at a French restaurant Michael’s father had recommended: Saju Bistro. Very tasty! The best part was that instead of free bread, they brought out free assorted olives. Oh man, was I in high heaven! To be honest, I could have survived on those alone, but the mussels were delicious too!

Thursday was spent seeing the sites of NYC. We wandered through Central Park, went to the top of the Empire State Building, and spent some time in the main branch of the New York City Public Library (of course!). We also visited some of the more commercial sites, like the large Toys ‘R’ Us in Times Square (to pick up gifts for Aidan’s 5^th birthday) and The Lego Store across from the Rockefeller Center. Lunch was had at this amazing Cuban place –Havana Central. So tasty! And far more reasonably priced than Carnegie Deli!

Why I like cruises: no cell phone reception!

I made his be in the picture . . . he was not happy!

Fossils at the Natural History Museum subway station

It was a pretty foggy day - hard to see much

I took several cruddy pictures like this. Be glad I'm posting only two!

Outside the library

Michael told me to "look interesting"

Keeping watch

Massive bronze doors

Look familiar?

Safety first!

Pretty ceiling and . . .

. . . pretty wall!

At Toys 'R' Us

Yummy yummy lunch! And Michael's phone!

Colorado's flag at the Rockefeller. Why no picture of VA's? 'Cause I was holding the camera, bwahaha!

"Wisdom" at 30 Rock

"Industries of the British Empire" at the British Empire Building

I'm going to guess this is titled "Creativity" at The Lego Store

I had to smile when I saw these . . . see them all the time on the ships/railroads around SETX! Of course, they are the largest container shipper in the world, so I guess that shouldn't be too surprising!

The detail on this little Lego Rockefeller Plaza was amazing!

My pocketbook is happy I hate shopping!

We also decided to check out some of the local churches, starting with St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Very pretty, with some gorgeous statuary. Next up was St. Bart's, a long-standing Episcopal church, home to the Vanderbilts. While the outside was beautiful (and reminded me of buildings in Istanbul) the inside was dark and depressing. Michael gives me some grief about this, but I could tell that the Spirit of God did not inhabit that place and we quickly left. Instead, we made our way to St. Thomas, home of the Astors and an amazing reredos. We decide to attend evening prayers there. Much to our surprise, the presiding priest launched into a 20 minute sermon at the end of the prayers, which threw off our timing a bit . . . and led to my worst moment on the trip.

St. Patrick's

St. Bart's

Reminds me of Istanbul

St. Thomas

Pretty fountain on the way to St. Thomas from St. Bart's

Reredos at St. Thomas

Hard to see in this picture, but the detail is amazing!

 All day, we had been planning on visiting a tapas bar for dinner. I was super-pumped about getting tapas AND sangria. Michael and I have always enjoyed tapas (see: our engagement story) and have felt bereft since Easy’s in Beaumont shut down. Unfortunately, the additional time spent at St. Thomas meant we didn’t hav e time to book it over to the restaurant, eat, and get back to the theatre for our evening show. I about had a meltdown on the street and practically refused to move. I have decided to blame it on hunger, tiredness and overall bodily weariness from dealing with the car accident aftermath. No way am I blaming myself! ;-P Fortunately, Michael was gracious in recognizing my state, quickly steered me into the nearest Japanese restaurant and stuffed some sushi down my gullet. All better!

That evening’s show was Mary Poppins, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I think Michael was less enthralled with it compared to HTSIBWRT, but he liked it too. While it was a Disney production and therefore shared many scenes and songs with the movie, about 50% of the material was new, drawn from the many books P.L. Travers wrote. After the show we headed back to Saju Bistro for dessert . . . and more olives!

The New Amsterdam Theatre

I can fly, I can fly! . . . Oh wait, that's Peter Pan. ;-P

Friday was our last morning in NYC. Katie and the boys were driving up from DC and planned to meet us in midtown for lunch before heading up to western Mass. I insisted on getting bagels for breakfast, as we have no bagel shops in Beaumont and I miss them. I had looked up famous bagel shops in a 2011 NYC guidebook while we were at the library on Thursday and there was one (of two they mentioned) about 10 blocks (just under 1 mile) from our hotel. We decided to walk there after checking out of our hotel, meaning we were once again packing our luggage (all backpacks, but still) in the stifling heat/humidity that is NYC in late July. No biggie, though, it would all be worth it for an authentic NY bagel. We passed another bagel store on the way, but it wasn’t the one listed in the guidebook, so we pressed on . . . only to get to the intersection and find no bagel shop. Had I misremembered the location? Michael checked on his Blackberry (Yay for smartphones. Guess I have to take back all my snide comments about him using his during our vacation!) and discovered that shop had shut down only a few weeks previously . Grr! I was a bit put out, again! So we hiked back to the bagel shop we had passed, had some very lovely bagels there and I discovered later that it is consistently rated one of the top three shops in the city . . . along with the two listed in the guidebook. Too bad I didn’t consult another guidebook before trekking all over the city!

We hung out at the bagel shop until it was time to meet Katie in Midtown for lunch at Brasserie 8 1/2. It was participating in Restaurant Week, an event where restaurants throughout NYC offer prix-fixe menus for lunch and dinner, allowing you to taste their cuisine at a significant discount to the normal cost. While the food was excellent and the price quite reasonable, I must admit, I felt a bit out of place, considering everyone else there was dressed in business attire and Michael and I were in shorts and tennis shoes! Oh well, we were about to leave NYC and those well-heeled workers behind for country living in NW Mass!