NYC!

I left my heart in... San F  New York City! 

We visited NYC in 2000 with our boys. They were 12 and 9 at the time and we all loved our time in NYC. The two things we didn't do that time was visit Central Park and see a Broadway show. D wasn't very excited about Broadway... at first he even nixed going into the city. But I prayed really hard that God would change his mind... =)

While visiting my friend, Kristen, and her family, her husband and son commented that they enjoyed a show when they weren't sure if they would. That began the melting... Once we started researching the shows, he found a couple that sounded interesting. 

Anyway... back to our trip. We stayed in a hotel in NJ about 2 hours from where our home was parked. Okay, it wasn't really 2 hours... Magella (our GPS) said it was 1.5 hours but she led us astray and wasn't very explicit with her "stay to the left"... so we kinda went out of the way a bit. 

Saturday morning we walked over to Dunkin for coffee and donuts, then walked a little less than a mile to the bus stop that would take us into NYC... Great bus ride of about 35 minutes that took us to the Port Authority in NYC! Ahhhhh... the vibe of that city is intoxicating! We stepped out onto the street full of yellow! We just stood there and looked around for a few minutes taking it all in! Then we got our bearings. We had a plan!

We headed first to the Tkts Discount Booth in Times Square to score some "discount" Broadway tickets for a matinee. There was already a line (it was 9:20 and the booth opened at 10am). So we waited... and waited... people watching was great there! We had a first and second choice... then one of the tkts people suggested having 3 choices so we chose our 3rd choice. Once the booth opened the line moved pretty quickly... until the family right before us in our line. Oy! I don't know what the hold up was but they were there a long time and walked away without buying anything! We nearly fainted when we heard what the discount price was for our first choice. It might have helped had we looked at the price of the shows before hand. So we asked about our second choice and it was $9 cheaper... I was ready to fly... but D stood his ground and bought the tickets... to Rock of Ages! 

From there we headed to Central Park, enjoying the sights as we walked along. Lots of delis (prospects for lunch?), lots of people (so we thought)... I see trees ahead! Walking into Central Park was just as I imagined it would be. Horse-drawn carriages, bicyclists, runners, walkers, dog-walkers... it was all there! Beautiful green grounds... unfortunately, the Fall colors haven't hit here yet. We walked for a bit, then picked out a park bench to sit and people watch. 

Making our plans, we decided to head to The Pastrami Queen  (great reviews on Yelp). It was a ways away but we "had" to walk thru Central Park to get there. More gorgeous parts of the park! And we saw the Mall! Wow!

As we were walking thru the park, I'd see someone sitting on a bench with a coffee and a book and think that I'd like to be doing that. We saw couples running and I'd like to be doing that... I could so imagine myself being there on a daily basis!

Coming out of the park we were on the Upper East Side... you could tell it was a very wealthy residential area. Hardly any people... beautiful homes... I couldn't see myself living here... I want to experience the "working people's" neighborhoods! The prices at the deli informed us we were still in NYC but also in a very wealthy neighborhood! But wow! was it good! We shared a pastrami sandwich with garlic fries. Oh my... it was so good! It was a small place and no one else came in to eat there but there were several take-outs and the delivery guy was very BUSY!

We had to be back for our matinee at 1:30 so we headed back towards Time Square walking for a while along Park Avenue, then 5th Avenue. The shops were mostly designer names I'd never heard of... but some I had (hello Project Runway!) like Michael Kors. I'm looking for thrift stores and this is not the area for that! =) We did go into a Walgreens for some gum!

We arrived at the Helen Hayes Theater a few minutes before they opened the doors and ended up being first in line! Once inside, we bought a very EXPENSIVE coke (we were both thirsty) and were able to find our seats on the Mezzanine level. What a beautiful theater! It was "old school" as D commented! No photo-taking allowed in the theater... 

Goofy (said he was losing his "man-card" by going to the theater)

And protesting showing his face...

The 2+ hour show was fantastic! Even D loved it! The cast was very talented, the music was great (we dated in the 80's) and the storyline itself was hilarious! The 2 hours went by so fast! I would go back and see it again if given the opportunity! My favorite character was Regina (a hippy City Planner from Berkley)... cause I fell in love with her costume! And the young lady that played her was the cutest thing... very animated and could belt out in a huge beautiful voice! The voices, the dancing, the humor... it was all SO GOOD! It was a great experience for this Broadway virgin! And made me hunger for more! I was so sad when it was over!

When we made our way out to the street, it was packed! Overpacked! Where did all of these people come from! On our walk towards the Port Authority where we would catch our bus back to NJ, we were in crowds. I noticed David's hand on the small of my back several times and continue to be amazed at how he watches over me! We stopped at Starbucks for a quick pick-me-up hoping there'd be a place to sit inside... there wasn't. So we kept walking... Once inside the Port Authority we finally found where we needed to  purchase our tickets thanks to the help of some stranger! We must have looked lost as he approached us and we were on guard. But evidently he just wanted to help!

I was sad to be leaving NYC... I would have loved to go back the next day... and the next... and the next. =) I even researched monthly rentals! I'm not sure how it would be living in such a busy and active place day in and day out, but I'd sure love to give it a try! I think! I always tend to see the "romantic" side of lifestyles that intrigue me. But hey, you only live once! Why not try it all!

Good-bye NYC... I will be back!