OK, one more New York post

What I did before the SuperShuttle carried me to the Newark airport roughly 6 hours early: Toys R Us in Times Square and souvenir shopping.

The Lego Empire State Building and my old friend King Kong

Home for the week. See the Harry Potter ad?

And the final adventure: I rode on the subway, y'all

After a very serious Thursday and Friday morning, I skipped out of workshops early for the true test of my New York cred: the subway.

I took the R train down to SoHo. Yeah, I'm cool like that. I had a bad moment or 6 because the R trains were running late because of an "earlier incident" but as I didn't know how to work the other trains (because I relied exclusively on my iPhone maps and its mass transit directions) I just waited and hoped for an incident-free ride. I'd made the mistake of reading the safety tips before I got on so I had a fairly extensive idea of what an incident might constitute. Other than performers asking for donations, every ride was incident free.

Why was I going to SoHo? Two reasons: 1. Purl Soho and 2. Wooster Street Social Club. I guess you could add a third: I am odd.

After a wrong turn and a few extra blocks, I was happy and relieved to make it to Purl. It was crowded and beautiful. I bought fabric. I'll take a picture of my purchases for tomorrow's post.

And after I did this, I almost convinced myself to head back to "home" in Times Square. But I still wasn't sure about the R train and looking on the map, I was so close...

 So I walked right on down the street and around the corner. Broome street was all honking horns and gridlock. Wooster street was quiet and calming, so I leaned and did my best to look inconspicuous as I watched the windows and all the people going in and out of the tattoo parlor. No, I didn't get one. I require a painless method first. So, if you've ever watched Miami Ink (and I have), you know Ami James. Now he's got New York Ink here at the Wooster Street Social Club. And as long as nobody's watching me, I'm happy to be curious across the street. Fearing attention, I moved on quickly...to the 1 train back up to 23rd street, the closest stop to the City Quilter (according to my handy iPhone).

 And I loved this store. Fabrics! Wool! Quilters working on projects and shopping for projects and other out-of-towners like me! Quilt art gallery! And LEISURE ARTS BOOKS y'all!

I bought fabric and wool. I have all the books I can handle.

Rejuvenated, I walked back to the subway to take the 1 train back to Times Square. If it had ended there, all would be well. And it was well, but I walked back to Rockefeller Center to the NBC experience store and re-enraged my feet. It was closed by the time I made it back down from Top of the Rock the first night, but I could see good stuff. So I went back and bought: a Chuck magnet, an Office shirt, a House tote (as an add-on, good deal, you know), a Burton Guster shirt from Psych and I am currently wearing Michael Westen. Someone should take my credit card from me when it gets dark apparently. I stopped at a Five Guys for a hamburger and trundled back to home. A ride on the subway, shopping bags, well-fed...such an urban girl I am (even without a tattoo).

Day 3: a Daniel Radcliffe kinda day

 I can't remember if I have confessed here my love for musicals but I do know I've admitted my deep and profound love for Howard Keel so I think I must.

On Day 3, I started out at Harry Potter: the Exhibition (click for photos), just right around the corner (44th street) from the hotel. Hagrid's hut, the great hall, the Gryffindor boys dorm room, costumes, props, screaming mandrakes, and a sorting ceremony...everything the Potter geek needs to just wriggle with excitement. Believe me, I know. Fun like the theme park but without the threat of imminent heat stroke. And seriously, it was all I could do not to touch...I have no idea where this is traveling, but if you love the Potter, go.


Then I went to some workshops in the afternoon which was the reason I was in New York after all.




 And then I walked around the corner and down an avenue or two to the Al Hirschfield Theater to see How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. I cannot put into words how much I loved it. This was another "no photos" situation, so I have the theater backdrop and a light. But check out the video below. It's long, a selection of bits and pieces but it does show the knitting, a lovely funny highlight.

While I was waiting I took this amazing picture of me leaning against the sign outside. It's the closest I'll make it to Daniel Radcliffe.

Uptown Tour

      

Columbus Circle and a Trump Tower

In the attempt to keep the party rolling along without moaning audibly from the pains in my feet, I hopped on the uptown bus tour that went up through Harlem, Morningside Heights to see Grant's Tomb, back around the west side of Central Park, and then down Museum Row. It was a lovely, lovely way to see parts of the city I would have missed otherwise.

Each bus tour took over 2 hours, but it was all sitting so it was all good. The tour guides are great. Uptown includes the Dakota for all Beatles fans.

So this was Tuesday: the museum, the tour. And a literacy signing with more people than  should be allowed in a ballroom for safety codes. Since I don't do well with that, I headed for dinner across the street at Junior's where I had a Cobb salad bigger than my head and slice of really good cheesecake. All in all, this is what you call a wonderful end to a wonderful day.

One of the original subway buildings

Central Park

Harlem

Guggenheim Museum

Metropolitan Museum

Day 2, Museum of Natural History

So after a night of "ow, ow, owie, ow" with every pitiful step I took, I got up early the next day to head to the American Museum of Natural History via the "hop on, hop off" uptown bus tour. Since we were there about an hour before it opened I tiptoed down a path or two in Central Park before I thought better of using any remaining energy I might have. Then I went and camped out on the steps to wait. And I started a conversation with the closest neighbors I could find, identified by a University of Kentucky hat. No, that's nowhere near home. And under other circumstances, like anytime the Razorbacks are playing basketball, voluntarily beginning such a conversation could be considered grounds for treason. Still, it was nice to find someone who was as interested in finding the Easter Island head from the movie, The Night at the Museum. I found it first and considered it the jewel in the crown. I did manage to walk the whole place, but might be able to do better with either a day of rest or a motorized conveyance of some sort. I did enjoy myself thoroughly and that's what really matters. And as I trailed a tour for a bit: that movie was actually set built using ideas and items from different museums so nothing looked really like it should (from the movie). Still, it was a great time.


 

Day 1, Rockefeller Center

So at this point I'm back on the ground from the top of the world at the Empire State Building. And I have to make it back to Times Square. Looking at the map, I decide...I have to walk back anyway. I might as well try to get in a few more sights. If I walk down Fifth Avenue, then I pass the New York Public Library, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and then turn up past Rockefeller Center. Sure. I can do that. I just looked up how far that was...nearly a mile. So on Monday, on top of airports and such: a mile to the pier, a mile back, a mile from the Empire State Building, and another half mile back to the hotel. I think what I'm saying here is that I nearly walked my feet completely off on Monday. If I could have managed a total foot transplant, I could have kept going. The spirit was willing but the feets were weak. There was a lot of hobbling going on overnight...

The New York Public Library

As close as I made it to St. Patrick's Cathedral

NYC at night

Rockefeller Center

Day 1, Empire State Building..

So, after finishing the Liberty Cruise two hours earlier than I thought I would, I walked back to Times Square to hop on the hop on, hop off bus. I think this purchase was an excellent decision, not because of the ability to use it for transportation. These buses only work with the hopping if you have all the time in the world. I didn't feel like I did. But I decideed to take the downtown tour which featured the Empire State Building.

I had no idea that this would be like a theme park ride with this line followed by that line and then the next and then an elevator ride and then another line and then another elevator ride. But it was. And I was hot. There was air conditioning but there was also half of the entire world in line with me. And a King Kong to keep the line entertained.

And if I hadn't been a hot, sweaty mess, I would have made his handler take a picture of us when he proposed to me. First he snuck up behind me (hated it) but then he kissed and proposed, so I have warm feelings in my heart for King Kong. But no picture.

I do have these. You can tell it's late afternoon. Afterwards, I ate next door at the Chipotle because I am less food brave than walking around New York brave. And then I went to my hotel room.

No, I didn't. I looked at a map and plotted a route that would keep the party going. I mean, it was past my bedtime before I made it back to the hotel, people! What can I say, so wild I am.

The view from the Empire State Building. Picture these views, me, and literally half the population of the world on the outside observation deck. It was just like Sleepless in Seattle except late afternoon and so packed with people that there would have been no way for Tom and Meg to find each other.

Macy's and the Empire State Building

Bus tours require constant vigilance...lights, signs, and tree branches!

The 24 hour post office

Empire State Building views

Day 1, NYC: Statue of Liberty

New York was a blast. In every way, it lived up to my expectations. It started with a bang and moved at a fast clip for 6 days.

Monday, 4:00 a.m.--back out of the driveway, running through all the things I can't forget to make sure I didn't.

4:30 a.m.--race to Continental desk, mildly stressed but willing to believe the best.

5:45 a.m.--finally make it through security. That problem that Contiental had when I flew in May? Yeah, they still have it. Still, made it just fine and the trip was just like it should be. SuperShuttle was there within minutes. And this was a good thing...the longer I sat, the more certain I was that I'd made a mistake. If I'd been there much longer, I'd have been looking for the next flight back home.


11:30 a.m.--ordered a hamburger from roomservice. They had me at Diet Coke. And it calmed my nerves even though I could hear the clock ticking...

And then I hit the ground running.

First stop: Planet Hollywood. What? Just had to pick up my "hop on, hop off" bus ticket. And then I headed for the river. Google maps said a mile to the river. And I walked it. I mean, a mile? And it was 84 degrees...a piece of cake. Not so much. But I made it! Yeah! I was aiming for the 3 p.m. Liberty Cruise but was hustled on the 1 p.m. instead. This was a good decsion. I made lots of progress because of this decision. After the 75 minute cruise out to see the Statue of Liberty and back, I refueled with a soft pretzel and a beloved Diet Coke before making the mile-long trek back. I got hot. And sweaty and tired. But I saw the Statue of Liberty too. And all by 3 p.m...so then I went back to the hotel room and collapsed. NO, no I didn't! Because I'm cool like that.


Seriously, I'm posting about my trip to see the Statue of Liberty on July 4th. Does it get any better than that? I really don't know. How lucky I am to have been able to take this trip. How glad I am that I ignored my first inclination to sit under the covers in my hotel room, ordering room service for 6 days. My feet and legs will never be the same but I'm so happy I started out my first trip to New York on a happy boat sailing around the Statue of Liberty. This is a cool site with some info on the statue: HowTallIsTheStatueOfLiberty.com.

View of the Intrepid and Pier 83 from the boat





A bridge...Brooklyn, Washington...I should have taken notes. Sorry.




Downtown.I think the black-ish one with the cranes on top is the new Liberty Tower being rebuilt near the site of the Twin Towers. If I remember my tour correctly, it's only half built now and will be the tallest building in the city...




Vents for the tunnel...Lincoln? There are identical ones on the other side of the river.




Lots of traffic out to the statue



New Colossus by Emma Lazarus


Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Ahhh, home

Have you missed me? Did you know I was gone? After a week in New York without an Internet connection, I'm finally home. And I'm so glad. Pictures coming...

10 Things I Learned:

View from my hotel room. The other direction had a glimmer of the Hudson River.

1. If I lived in New York, I would be thin and very, very mean. Even as a tourist, I had a hard time not pushing people off the curb and yanking phones out of people who were trying to read and walk at the same time. Right in front of me. And honestly, the lady who was meandering through a Times Square cross walk while doing a SUDOKU PUZZLE...yes, right there in the middle of the street, you know, with traffic...nearly provoked me to a "Are you KIDDING ME?" moment. And I am a TOURIST.
2. June in New York really isn't bad. Five more degrees warmer would have been catastrophic.
3. I don't think I like Times Square. Too many tourists. Even one more person would have been catastrophic.
4. It's good to be as oblivious as I am...there were incidents and sirens but nothing stopped the action in Times Square. Rerouted traffic maybe, but not much else.
5. A Marriott is a Marriott is a Marriott. This hotel could have been in any city. The elevators were complicated and probably did the best they could.
6. I have a list of jobs I know I can't do. Number 1 is still roofer. Somewhere on the list is going to go NYC taxi driver. The road rage that would kick in my first day on the job would be detrimental to my health or someone else's.
7. New Yorkers have a bad reputation. Some of it's deserved. Even in the tourist hot spots, getting any help wasn't easy.
8. I'm not sure the rude people were New Yorkers at most of these places. It was the tourists that caused the most trouble, particularly with lines. Is it because I'm from the South? I wait my turn. I'd get over that pretty quickly if I had to live in New York.
9. I don't love the mass transit although there's no better way to get around the city. I like driving my car. I think it's really the "mass" I don't care for. It's good to be home. Sliding behind the wheel in my car last night brought a sigh of relief.
10. I think I can do anything if I want to do it enough. I was not sure when I got to NYC on Monday, but now that I'm home safe and sound, I'm pretty sure. And I'm putting it right here in writing. Somebody remind me the next time something like this comes up. Then stand back. Refer to Number 1. I can be mean if I'm provoked (probably not really).