Last Morning in NYC

My final morning in NYC started out with breakfast at Essa Bagel again. I ordered the same thing - the Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with the Raisin Walnut Tofu spread. This time I had it toasted. It was still terrific! Donna was meeting clients in Essa Bagel, so I sat at the other side of the restaurant and tried to stay out of her view so that I wouldn't distract her. We all ended about the same time. Donna went off to another meeting. I went shopping.

I found the Opera House at the Lincoln Center (shown above).

Afterward, I went back to the Pod and waited in the lobby for my airport shuttle. This is the lobby. You can see the outdoor courtyard. We never sat out there. If we go back sometime, we ought to try it out.

Then it was back to LaGuardia Airport and the long afternoon waiting for an airplane. My flight was scheduled to leave at 3:25pm. I arrived at the airport about 12:45pm, because the had said the crowds were going to be bad due to this being the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday rush. Even the Bellman at the airport suggested that I get there very early. So I arrived nearly 3 hours early. Donna's flight was scheduled to leave at 5:10pm. I was waitlisted on her flight. Once I found that my flight was getting delayed I started checking into getting onto Donna's flight. At the very least, it looked like I was going to be able to see her before my flight left. I tried calling United to get myself put on her flight, but didn't have much luck on the 3 phone calls. I ended up standing at the gate's agent booth for close to 2 hours until an extremely nice guy, Salvatore, took care of me and got me switched to her flight. He even managed to get me in the seat next to her! So happy! Unfortunately, Donna's flight was delayed too. Everything around us was delayed. Bad weather, I guess. We took off at 8pm - about 3 hours late. The flight was pretty empty so we moved to another row and got to sit together, by ourselves. I even got to lay down for a while.

Now we're home, exhausted, and already talking about the next trip!

For dinner Thursday night, Donna took me to a nice Indian restaurant in her old neighborhood in the Village. We had some Samosas for appetizer. I ordered the Vegetable Curry. Deelish! Donna ordered some kind of lamb dish, I think.

After dinner, we went to see Stomp! Oh. My. Gosh. IT was great! I had some idea of the rhythmic nature of it, but I had no idea how much more it was to just see it in person. The expressions and body gestures made the performance even greater! Donna's feet caught the bug and was doing some stomping on our way home.

My feet were so sore this night. Donna got us a cab and we rode back to the hotel that way. This is the outside of Grand Central Station, which we passed on the way.

The hotel that night was a nice surprise from Donna. She managed to score us a deluxe room at The Pod. This one had a double bed with a private shower and bathroom. Our first two nights in NYC we stayed at the Pod in a bunk bed room with share showers and bathrooms down the hall. Our third night we had to switch hotels because the Pod was booked up. We stayed at Hotel 31, which was quite old and a bit scary. Donna was having great troubles dealing with the mis-matched wallpaper on the walls, and the burgundy window blinds. The bathroom was also down the hall, but rather than sparkly mod fixtures like the Pod, this one had an old tub, scary stained toilet, and those same burgundy blinds. We were happy to check out at 7am that morning and move our bags back to the Pod for our final night in NYC.

Applejack Diner

The worst meal ever, followed by the BEST meal ever. This was the Veggie Burger at Applejack Diner on Broadway and 55th. The patty was made of edamame, carrots, looked like some zuccini or squash diced, and some kind of grain. It was absolutely delicious. I was willing to settle for a simple soy burger patty. This was so much better than that! The only improvement it could have possibly had was maybe a slice of onion. Otherwise, it was perfect! It came with fries, lettuce, tomato, pickle spear, and a small dish of coleslaw. I also ordered a Corona.

I was in heaven!

Empire State Building - 86th Floor

It was cold, windy, and raining, but I was brave and got out there to see the view from the 86th floor. It was UNBELIEVABLE! I mean, I had imagined what it would look like from up there, but I really had no idea! Stupendous! Magnificent! Awesome! I got a little vertigo, but I even ventured a look straight down the side of the building and saw all the yellow taxi cabs on the streets. It was cool.

The trip to the top was different that what you see in the movies. I walked in, and instead of going directly into an elevator, they lead you to an escalator. You go up one floor, go thru a maze of red ribbons strung up on posts, buy your tickets, then wind thru some more mazes of ribbons to get to the first elevator. You ride up to the 80th floor, get out, go thru some more mazes, stop and get your picture taken, more mazes, then the second elevator to the 86th floor. Lucky for me that it was bad weather and was in the middle of the week. There was no line at all. I breezed thru all the mazes and even found myself on an elevator alone.

Empire State Building

The first elevator on my climb of the Empire State Building. We go to the 80th floor, then switch to another elevator and go up to the 86th floor. It cost me $12 to get this high. If I had wanted to go to the 102nd floor, it would have cost me another $15 or so. I chose to stop at the 86th floor. It was a foggy, rainy day anyways, so I wasn't going to be able to see any better at the higher floor. As it was, I was pretty impressed with how far I really could see.

Macy's

Macy's is getting ready for the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Thursday Morning

Thursday morning started out with such high hopes. But soon after I left the hotel it started to rain. A "real soaker" they called it. Rain and wind, and I was off on a mission to find a restaurant that I had read about before making the trip. The review had said they had a terrific vegan brunch. I was so looking forward to it. I took the subway to the Bleecker stop, but found out that I was really quite far away from it. I wandered around and around, kept checking my map, struggled with the wind trying to destroy my umbrella, and then finally came upon it. It was closed. SHEESH! BUT....being forever optimistic, I recalled that I had passed a Whole Foods store on the way. I backtracked until I found it, went upstairs where I found a bit of a food court, and ordered their vegan breakfast. This is that breakfast. It was scrambled tofu, some potatoes and yams, tempeh bacon, and toast. It was the ....WORST... breakfast ... I have ever eaten! The WORST! The scrambled tofu was bland and barely warmed. The potatoes were .... okay... but again they needed to add some kind of spice. The bacon wasn't even cooked from what I could tell. And the toast was so thick that I couldn't get my mouth around it. Plus, it was burnt and hard as a rock. I ended up choking down about a third of the tofu, most of the potatoes, some bacon, and tore out the middle of the toast. Even the coffee was bad - bitter. The only thing that tasted good was the orange juice I got with it. To their credit, the staff was extremely pleasant. Afterwards I went downstairs and bought myself some chocolate to make up for it.

Grand Central Terminal - Ceiling

Here is a shot of the ceiling. It is a celestial painting, and from what I've read, it is a mirror image of a celestial view at some important time in history. At the moment I can't remember what date it was supposed to represent. It's hard to tell from this photo, but it's a lovely dark shade of blue.

Grand Central Terminal

I'll see if I have a better picture of this on my digital camera, but in the meantime here is a quick photo of Grand Central. It was mammoth! Since it was so late, and during the middle of the week, it wasn't so crowded. Donna says it is swarming with people during its busy periods.

Empire State Building

Not sure why, but the Empire State Building was all lit up in blue light while I was there.

Spiderman

We came across Spiderman in Times Square.

Dinner and Times Square

After meeting Donna we went for dinner at a nice Indian Chinese place in Greenwich Village, I believe. The food was fairly good. I ended up chomping on a very hot pepper again, quite possibly a jalapeno this time, but other than that the meal went well. Prior to that, we walked around Chinatown. Afterwards, we took in some more sightseeing together. Back to Times Square. We wandered around, bathed in bright neon, taking in all the noise and traffic and throngs of people.

World Financial Center

This is the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center - Two. Donna was having a meeting in this building, so I was doing a bit of sightseeing while waiting for her. I ended up in building Three, where I found a nice little restaurant bar to hang out having guacamole, salsa, chips, and margaritas while I waited. YUM!

Ground Zero

It might be hard to tell from this photo, but this is Ground Zero.

Ellis Island

Ellis Island was quite interesting. They had a short video describing what that immigrant would experience when they arrived. We were allowed to wander this huge building and view various exhibits. I especially enjoyed the artifacts donated by families and former arrivals.

Statue of Liberty

In Battery Park I boarded the ferry to Ellis Island. It made a stop at the Statue of Liberty, but I only had time to visit one island. I chose Ellis Island and its free museum. The statue would have cost another $20.

Battery Park

Then I went to the southern end of the island, to Battery Park. Battery Park from the excavated dirt when the World Trade Center. It extended the island several blocks and for a couple miles. Placed there now is this globe that used to set at the base of the towers and you can see massive damage from the collapse of the towers on 9/11.

NYC S

I boupht myself a $20 Metro Card, which gave me 12 rides on the subways or buses. People move fast down there. You have to be on your toes. The entrance turnstiles are often the same ones used for exit. One time I was trying to go in, people were coming out, and in the confusion I turned it without me in it and wasted that fare.

Camels

Walking her . . . camels

Leaving the Today Show lool what I spotted out for a walk.

I'm a star!

Eventually, I got on camera. I was just about to give up. I was getting bored from being there more than 2 hours. Just then this cameraman came over to me and said "Ok we're starting with you right after the break. Get ready to wave." Then he started countimg down with his fingers - 4, 3, 2, 1 . . . "Keep waving." Afterward, I called everyone I could think of that could possibly tape it. Mom and Grandma at least got to see me.

Al Roker

Al Roker being whisked away.

Today Show

Wednesday started out at NBC Studios. I got behind Martha Stewart while she was taping a segment with Matt Laeur. I got within about 5 feet of Robin Williams as he was leaving the building. Unfortunately my camera was turned off and by the time I got it back on and was able to take a picture, I got his back as he was walking away.

I just have to say. . .

Central Park is beautiful.

Belvedere Castle

This is the view from Belvedere Castle. It is a castle structure used frequently by the many bird enthusiasts that enjoy the wide range of birds that pass thru. It is like a small 3 story castle complete with narrow spiral staircases. It was on the may down that my left gave a shout out about all the walking I had put it thru. I crippled my way to the bottom and took time to do some stretching before proceeding.

Central Park

Isn't it beautiful? This is just one of the lakes in the park.

Imagine

This is a tiled mosaic circular memorial that reads "Imagine" in the center. People come and lay flowers on it. I didnt have any flowers, but I imagined the song "Imagine" in my head as I sat and rested my feet for a bit.

Strawberry Fields

Back into Central Park. I went into the area sponsored by Yoko Ono.

Dakota

Near the west edge of the park is the former home of John Lennon. This is the Dakota. It is also where he was shot and killed as he exited. Its a beautiful building.

Bush Brains?

What the heck are these? I wandered onto a bridle path in the park, where I kept getting confronted by 3 horses and their riders. One rider was not so good at controlling her horse, which kept walking straight at me. I happened to kick a mud covered version and had thought at first that it was something much more unpleasant and related to something a horse might drop. What are they anyways? Donna called it a bush something.

Central Park

Central Park

Next stop - Central Park

M&M Store

After Times Square I came upon the M&M's store. They had lots of shirts, hats, toys, keychainr, but - believe it or not - no M&M's!

Times Square

This is just a brief look at Times Spuare. Donna and I plan to go here together during one of the evenings. BUT . . .since I happened by on my way to the Time Warner Building now . . .

Soup Man

While circling Rockefeller Plaza I ran across the Soup Man. The sign says he is the original soup man. He does have scary sign inside with rules regarding ordering your soup and move to the left and keep moving. They kept staring at me when I tried to get a picture of that sign with my digital camera. I hope the picture turns out. I ws too frightened to stick around long.

Rockefeller Plaza

I found Rockefeller Plaza. It turns out I had been circling it. I got there in time to see them set the 500lb crystal star on top.

Radio City Music Hall

The doors were open. So I got to sneak a peak in Radio City Music Hall. I am trying to find Rockefeller Plaza.

Line of Police Cars

I don't know what the commotion is about, but a line of 11 police cars just went by in Times Square.

Essa Bagel

Breakfast today was a cinnamon raisin bagel with raisin walnut spread and oj. This was at Essa Bagel. It was delicious, although I had to scrape some of the spread off. It was good. Don't get me wrong. It was just a bit overwhelming towards the end.

Cafe Metro

So far it's raining. I am walking around the neighborhood and stopped for some coffee. People walk very fast here. I had a little difficulty rounding one corner. The doorway I was in was too close and I had trouble getting across the traffic. Donna is meeting me shortly and we're going to grab a quick breakfast.

The Pod

The Pod. This is the hotel we are staying in.

Arrival

We arrived finally around 1:30 EST. Then I made my way to the cab stand. This is a bad picture, but it was taken from the cab on my way to the hotel.

Back to the gate.

We taxied out and then had to go back to the gate. we were already 30 minutes late taking off. Who knows when we will finally get there. Something about a plaque that was not put on the cargo area.

Off to NYC

I am waiting to board. I'm anxious to get going. I am on my way to NYC via La Guardia airport. I think Donna should be arriving from Atlanta about the time I am taking off.