Three's Company!: June 2014

4 Years, 9 & 10 Weeks.

They don’t call it The Big Apple for nothing.

It’s huge. Humongous. Massive.

Sprawling with skyscrapers and office buildings that seem to endlessly flank both sides of the streets. The continuous throng of people walking up and down the sidewalks. The incessant noise of traffic, with cars honking and emergency sirens. The constant flow of taxis taking customers to and fro, a sea of yellow flooding the streets. The sights and sounds of on-going construction; jack-hammers pounding the concrete late into the night. The heat and roar of the metro subway system rumbling beneath your feet. The mammoth sized digital billboards marketing the best and newest must haves to the masses gathered below, awestruck in the bright lights like moths drawn to a flame. The never ceasing hustle and bustle in the heart of the city is complete and utter chaos.

Beautiful chaos.

A typical sight in Times Square, NYC.

We were lucky to spend the past 4 days in New York City. And by we, I mean Tangie and myself. She was to be there for meetings for a day and a half the day after we returned back from Colorado, and since her flight was already paid for by work, it seemed like a great idea to have me join her and make a long weekend out of it. I had never been, and she had been there only once, again for work, so she didn’t really have time to go out and explore and enjoy the city. It would be a great way to celebrate both her birthday from the previous week and Father’s Day weekend.

My parents were gracious enough to take the kids for us. They had been missing the grandchildren since their vacation, so it was nice to be able to hand them off for a few days. I had already pre-packed their clothes so it was a quick and easy transition to get their things ready for Avon Park, and we met Lolo and Lala halfway to make the car exchange Wednesday afternoon. I continued to pack up for myself and clean up around the house, forcing myself to bed early since I had a 4:30 AM alarm set. But it was no use, I just couldn’t contain my excitement, and the last time I saw the clock it read 1:35 AM. Ugh, only 3 hours. Oh well!

Dropping the kiddos off to the grandparents.

I didn’t feel tired when the alarm went off; the cold shower helped the adrenaline start flowing. I checked and re-checked to make sure I had anything and everything I needed for the trip, and rolled out of the house just after 5. My drive down the turnpike towards the airport eerily reminded me of the early mornings I would take to receive shipment deliveries when I was managing the BR at the Florida Mall, and I shuddered, shaking my head and trying to erase the thought. I arrived at the off-site parking lot where I had reserved a space the night before, and took the shuttle to the terminal. I felt like I was the one on a business trip!

And I dressed the part too. I wore a long sleeved button-down and blazer with my jeans, as if I was attending a conference or something. A little more casual than say, a full pin-stripe suit, but that would’ve been too uncomfortable on the plane. I didn’t want to give away that I was a “first time tourist” and have the locals take advantage of me. No sir. Not on my watch. Anyway, I decided it would also look more “business-like” if I had a coffee in my hand while waiting for my plane, so I joined the incredibly long line at Starbucks to get a cup of joe. Surely that wouldn’t affect my plan to catch up on my sleep during the flight. Or so I thought. We ended up getting delayed for 20 minutes or so, because of a low cloud ceiling and low visibility in New York. Not the best weather to start out the weekend but hey, I was gonna take what I could get.

As we were waiting to take off I made nice with the lady next to me and started chit-chatting. She was in her 60’s and attending her 40^th high school reunion in Buffalo with a connection in La Guardia. We got to talking and hit it off really well, a little too well, as we ended up talking the entire flight! We spoke about life, work, our families, and about health. She was intrigued about my job as a health coach, and wanted more information for herself and son, so we exchanged email addresses and promised to stay in touch! And here I had planned on taking a nap! What a great opportunity to meet and potentially help someone in the future.

On my way to NY! Blue skies above the clouds, grey underneath.

My seat mate Lynne as we disembarked the plane.

We arrived at La Guardia pretty much on time as the pilot had made up some time in the air. Lynne and I said our goodbyes and I headed to baggage claim to get my check-in. It was a little intimidating watching all the people moving about at a pretty fast pace; they knew where they were going or had to be. So I followed suit, again so I wouldn’t give myself away. After retrieving my suitcase I headed outside to get myself a taxi cab ride into the city. The sky was gray and muggy, but still slightly cooler than when I had left Orlando. I followed the signs and made my way to the taxi line; there was an area specifically made for them to wait on customers, and it was entirely covered with yellow cabs. I had never seen so many in my life. And this was just at one spot. When it was my turn, I got into my cab, driven by a young Moroccan man, and told him to take me to Times Square.

Cabs lined up ready to pick up passengers at La Guardia.

Going over Manhattan Bridge.

Traffic is horrendous in this city, and what would usually take me 15 minutes to drive the 9.5 miles from the airport to the hotel took close to an hour. While in transit I “made” a couple of calls to “Tom” and “Mike” letting “them” know I had arrived in the city and making my way to the hotel and that I was going to be a little late and to go ahead and start the meeting without me. It was all a façade, to deny this local cabbie the opportunity to take advantage of me, as I watched the fare meter climb higher and higher each minute. He seemed to buy it, and sped around other cars, honking his horn and trying to squeeze himself into the tightest of spaces, just so that he could get ahead of everyone else. It’s amazing really, how there aren’t as many accidents that could happen on the streets of Manhattan, with all the cars vying to get there first and all the people on the crosswalks. It’s insane.

The meter read $43 at the hotel, and as it’s customary to tip the driver in New York, the total fare due was $47. I didn’t have any small bills on hand, so I ended up giving him $50, not asking for change, therefore not giving away my “tell”. Tipping is ridiculous here ~ everyone expects one. You ask someone a question, shake their hand, take a picture of them, and they all expect a tip. I’m not kidding! Like at a dessert shop where you purchase 2 cupcakes for $14, there’s a line for a tip on the receipt plus a jar full of singles on the counter next to the register like you’re supposed to put in some more money, and how dare you if you don’t. I don’t know if it was the look of disgust from the cashier or the glare of disapproval when I left the receipt blank that made me want to leave the store immediately, not even wanting to cower in the corner to enjoy my $7 cupcake! I just bought your stinkin’ $7 cupcake people, back off! Un-freaking-believable!!

I texted Tangie that I was at the hotel, and she replied that she was wrapping up for another 20 minutes at the Ernst & Young office, located a couple of blocks down in Times Square. Our hotel for that evening was the Marriott Marquis, this tall brown block of a building that was hollow inside to appear massive from the inside. And it really was. The center column was used to house the 12 elevators used to transport their guests to and from the 49 floors of the hotel; we were on the 17^th. I waited for her at the lobby, which was surprising located on the 8^th floor, and then we went to our room to drop off our bags before heading out into the city. She had stayed the night before for work and we used points for the 2^nd night. It was a decent room, pretty standard size for hotel rooms in New York, with a side window and a nice view of the buildings towards Times Square. You could feel the energy through the other side of the glass.

View from our room at the Marriott Marquis.

The first thing we wanted to do was eat. I wanted to experience all the food that was famously “New York.” This included pizza, a hotdog, and the original cheesecake. You know, all the bad stuff you’re not supposed to have. But I guess I was on vacation, and how many times are you in New York City anyways? I don’t know how but I ended up justifying it in my head. We would end up burning up all those calories and more just walking up and down the city. Just like the locals do.

After taking a few pictures in Times Square we wandered down to 9^th Ave. where most of the restaurants near that area were located. There was a plethora of different cuisine choices available, and we were constantly looking at the menu prices available at the door before making our selection. Exorbitant. We also wanted to make sure we wouldn’t get sick eating just anything there, and were tipped off that each eating establishment has a letter grade posted on their front door, based on what they received from an inspection from the Health Department. So we only looked into eating from places that had the letter “A’s” posted. We settled on a cute Italian eatery and opted to sit outside, in the smog and pollution, to take in the city experience.

First meal in New York City!

As I said, everything in New York is huge. Orlando is a tiny anthill in comparison. They don’t know how to do anything small here. This includes the portion sizes of the meals as well as the accompanying prices. We both ordered a hero sandwich each, that came with a salad, but one would have been plenty PLENTY enough for the both of us! Oh, and soft drink refills aren’t free, please make note of that. Because normally the servers would just replace your empty glasses with new ones, rather than you having to flag them down for a refill, and them asking, “For both of you? Or just one?” Yup. A lot more expensive in New York.

After lunch we strolled around again, back to the masses in Times Square. We were wanting to book a sightseeing bus tour of the city; people had recommended for us to do the hop on/hop off double decker busses. Problem was, there were several different companies all offering the same tour, with different promotions and prices. One would be for 24 hours while another would offer a 72 hour window. But then that one didn’t have free admission to a certain museum, and the one that did was on busses that looked like they had seen better days and could break down on you at any moment, not to mention probably contracting tetanus from all the rust on the seats. The most popular was the grey line, as we saw many more of their busses on the streets, and they had quite a few more aggressive sales agents on the street corners targeting anyone who seemed to be gawking at the many numerous digital billboards above their heads. These agents were all ethnic, and most were from, and I’m guessing from their accents when hearing their spiel, the Caribbean and surrounding islands. They would walk around with their tour posters and handheld credit card swipes to make a speedy transaction and collect their commissions. We finally settled on the green line, partly because the price for the 72 hour tour that included a night tour (which we never got to do) and partly because green is Braelyn’s favorite color and we thought she would appreciate that.

Admiring Times Square.

We're here!

The South side.

The North side.

Found a group of Brazilians and decided to photo bomb them.

We took the next hour and a half driving slowly down Broadway towards the financial district, marveling at the buildings that housed both businesses and residential, popular shops and stores like Macy’s on 5^th Avenue where the famous Thanksgiving parade begins. The architecture was amazing, and it was neat to see all the different landmarks you’ve only seen in pictures or on tv. We drove through Wall Street, past the stock exchange and turned right towards the 9/11 memorial and the Freedom Tower. The low hanging clouds covered the tops of the tallest buildings, but it provided depth to see how tall the buildings actually were. It was quite humid outside, but not muggy and hot, and with a cooler temperature made for a somewhat chilly ride on the top deck of the bus. We only did the bottom half of the tour because of how slow we were moving due to rush hour (but isn’t rush hour all the time there?) and we needed to get back to the hotel to change and make it in time for the show we were going to that evening.

Packed tour bus!

Such tourists!

Crazy how busy and crowded every street was.

Beautiful architecture. A triangle building!

The closest we'd be to Lady Liberty. We opted not to take a boat tour to see her. Maybe next time.

The Freedom Tower at the 9/11 Memorial. So tall the clouds covered the top.

Another example of the incredible architecture and modern design within the city.

Yes, a double banner marketing a movie on the side of an apartment building. Huge!

We had purchased tickets to go see the Broadway musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder while we were in Denver. And though the title of the play sounds a bit deviant, it’s actually a comedy about a man who grew up poor that finds out he’s heir to a huge fortune and earldom, but has 8 relatives in line ahead of him, so he has to (and here’s the deviant part) “take them out” so he can inherit the family riches. The crazy thing was that the characters of all 8 of those relatives were played by one actor, the amazing Jefferson Mays, who made us look forward to each relative dying off so we could see what he would come out as next! Surprisingly after we bought the tickets, the play won this year’s Tony Award for Best Broadway Musical, so we were happy we had decided on and purchased the tickets beforehand, as I’m sure prices increased exponentially due to the buzz and acclamation. We were on the first row of the mezzanine, not the most expensive of tickets but not the cheapest either, as we paid close to $300 for the two of us. But oh so worth it, it was that good!

As we weren’t supposed to take any pictures or videos of the production, I’m including a few clips from YouTube to show how amazingly entertaining this musical was.

At the Walter Kerr Theatre for our first Broadway show!

Tangie in our seats before the program began.

Probably the best performance in the show, "I've decided to marry you."

After the show we were starving. We hadn’t eaten anything since our late lunch, as we had refrained from spending a fortune at the concessions in the theatre. I mean, $5 for a small bottle of water, c’mon! We walked down to 9^th Ave., perusing the many restaurants and menus along the way, everything from burgers to Mexican to tapas, you name it. We finally settled on Thai, at a restaurant called Yum Yum Too, which apparently is the second establishment of the same name sake, as across the street was the original Yum Yum Bangkok and then we passed by Yum Yum 3 even further down.

It was a nice setting, linen table cloths and elegant lighting features. The menu was decent and the prices were pretty moderate, considering the surrounding market. We ordered our food and discussed the play, as well as plans for the following day, in between eavesdropping on the male gay couple seated at the table next to us. They were having some relationship issues, as the more flamboyant one kept complaining about the restaurant not having wi-fi and insisting they get the $10 bottled water vs. regular tap water. His partner kept pleading with him to enjoy the evening, admonishing him about texting his other “friends” while on their date and telling him to “please put your phone away. I’m right here in front of you…” It made for some interesting dinner entertainment, to say the least.

Crowds waiting for the actor James Franco to come out of the theatre across from ours.
His Broadway show was Of Mice And Men.

Tangie at Yum Yum Too.

Having some dessert and discussion at Schmackary's Bakery.

While we ate it down poured, and we watched the people scatter in the sidewalks. The weather forecast was an 80% chance of rain for the next 24 hours, so we knew it was coming. Tangie had brought along a small carry on umbrella, but the rain had slowed to a drizzle once we had paid our bill. We walked down a couple of blocks to get some dessert at a sweet shop, ordering some cupcakes and coffee and just sat inside watching the patrons come in and out, marveling at how late businesses stay open in this city vs. stuff closing at 6 PM in Winter Garden. And yes, this was the place that sold the $7 cupcakes. We traipsed back to the hotel, meandering through Times Square and swinging by a 3 story Walgreens to get some bottled water for our room. It’s much cheaper than purchasing the water from the hotel. We crashed hard that night; it had been a very long first day.

Bright lights and billboards illuminating Times Square.

Can you find the Ernst & Young building?

We saw this giant ferris wheel INSIDE the Toys 'R Us!

Friday morning greeted us with grey, misty skies and another low cloud ceiling. This was going to be a wet day. But whatever, we were in New York, so we weren’t about to complain about the weather. We awoke very early because we wanted to make it to the taping of the Today Show at the NBC studios in the Rockefeller Center, as well as to hear their free concert series every Friday, with the popular band Train being featured that day.

Oh sun, where art thou?

Walking in the drizzle.

We walked across the hotel to Jr. Bakery, to get a quick breakfast of croissant and coffee, I opting to try out an authentic NY bagel and cream cheese, which was just so yummy, and then started walking the several blocks to the Rock. We passed lots and lots of people heading to work, their heads down looking at the sidewalk, listening to their music through their earbuds. You can tell the locals apart by the way and the speed in which they walk. They also tend to smoke a lot, as you could point them out in corners, alleyways, and building entrances all puffing on their cigarettes. I guess they all smoke to alleviate the amount of stress from living in such a big, crazy environment.

I’m so glad Tangie is great with directions, I would’ve been so lost. I couldn’t get my bearings, and Streets became Avenues, and North became South, you get the picture. The buildings and the blocks started to all mesh together and looked alike, there was really no point of reference to figure out which direction you were heading, unless you really knew your way around the city. After following her zig zag around, we ended up at the Rock, and took some pictures on the famous side where they would put the Christmas tree and the skating rink. We then headed towards the sound of the crowds clamoring to get a sight of the Today Show crew, as well as to see Train.

Where they would put the famous Christmas tree we see on TV each year.

In front of the golden statue where they put the ice rink in the wintertime.

At the NBC studios entrance to the Rock.

The Rockefeller Center was one of the tallest buildings there, it seemed to go up forever!

We came in on the wrong side of the block so we started to go around when we were stopped by a gentleman wearing a lanyard and an NBC hat, who pulled us aside and shoved 2 caps in our hands. He was very friendly and asked us where we were from, and I said Orlando, and he said something about the fact that it was good to have “a couple from the 407 area code” and I was thinking, “How cool is this, we’re going to get access inside and see the Today Show up close!” In the meantime, he was interacting with us, telling jokes and talking really fast. Then, he showed us his lanyard which had his picture id on it, and explained that he worked for a New York food kitchen that helped the homeless, and that he would appreciate any donation, be it $5, $10, or $20 for the caps he had thrust into our hands. I was stuck, but appreciated his candor, so I reached in my pocket and pulled out some cash that was readily available, and came out with $11. I thought $11 for 2 “I love NY” caps was an okay deal, at least for some souvenirs. As I gave him the eleven bucks he stated that they would prefer $20 for the two hats, and I said that that was all I had, so we kept the black cap and gave back the pink one, and walked away as he went to seek his next victim. We had been duped, who knows if he truly worked for a soup kitchen, but oh well. We had our hat!

We got to the other side of the block, and they had it gated off preventing people inside the courtyard, but we noticed people walking up to the security guard and getting in. We wondered if they had special passes or were part of any tour. There was a strong police presence, especially for crowd control. We befriended this mom and her daughter from Chicago who were in town looking at universities to enroll in the fall, and they proceeded to get access inside the barriers, getting us in as well as part of their “group”. So we were inside the Today Show, amidst the hoopla of people wanting to get on TV, waving their homemade signs from wherever part of the country they were from, and those that wanted to see Train. I texted Corey to see if she could tape the show but alas, she was already on her Friday morning garage sale run. Oh well, we probably wouldn’t have been seen on the show anyway. We really couldn’t see much of anything at all; we got a glimpse of Matt Lauer’s profile for a brief second but then they were whisked away to another part of the courtyard. We stayed for a couple of songs and then the heavens opened up and it started to pour, and with the crowd quickly dissipating, we followed suit and sought some shelter.

Our view from beyond the barriers.

We're in!

Train performing.

A quick glimpse of Matt Lauer.

We tried to wait out the rain, but it was relentless. After 20 minutes of it not slowing down, we ducked into the underground of the Rock to use the bathrooms in the food court and shopping area. The place was swarming with people, but mostly kids in groups from tours or class trips, probably seeking relief from the rain outside as well. I was astonished at how big the shopping area underneath the tall building was, and spotted the 2 story Banana Republic flagship store there. It was funny thinking that when I worked for the company I would have been so excited to see that store, and now 3 years out from working there, I end up seeing it and I was like, “eh whatever.” Funny how your perspective changes.

We went back above ground and it was still raining. Not as hard but still pretty consistent. We waited at our sightseeing tour bus stop there at the Rock for another 15 minutes, and hopped on when it arrived. The inside deck was packed solid; people weren’t about to go upstairs on the open deck. There weren’t any seats below, so we seized the moment and donned a couple or three cheap plastic green ponchos provided by the tour company and braved the elements, and went upstairs and sat down. It was more funny than it was fun, and we had a good time with it, as the people in the streets below just stared and shook their heads at this goofy couple crazy enough to go on a tour and sit on the top getting soaked. Ah yes, when in Rome…

Just soggy and wet!

Underground beneath the Rock, at the NBC studios entrance.

Crazy tourists!

New York in the rain!

We did a quick loop from the Rockefeller stop back to Times Square, as we had to get back to the hotel for our noon checkout. We were a bit drenched as well and need a few minutes to change and dry out our pants. We were going to switch hotels to our second one, the New York Palace, located a block away from the Rockefeller center, so essentially we would be going back to where we had spent the morning. We checked out and took a cab to our new hotel, and proceeded to check in at the front desk, where we found out that we didn’t have a room reserved. What?!? We had purchased the room from Hotwire and had a reservation confirmation, but never confirmed the reservation with the hotel, so we never got in their system, although the final confirmation from Hotwire told us to print the reservation and present it to the hotel. This had never happened to us before, and we have used Hotwire many times before in the past. But we didn’t panic, and continued to explain to the front desk attendant of the situation, as she explained the process and continued correspondence between the Hotwire agent to try and get us a room, which we had to wait about 15 minutes for them to call her back. In the meantime, I made nice with the lady, talking about her country of origin (Jamaica) and my love for jerk chicken (okay, I like it but I don’t necessarily have to have it) and shared that we were celebrating both Tangie’s birthday and Father’s Day in New York for the weekend. Once she got confirmation from Hotwire, she gave us a room, and upgraded it to a big one with a great view. Later that afternoon upon returning from our walkabout we would find a plate of fine chocolates wishing Tangie a Happy Birthday as well. I guess staying calm, being friendly, and talking with a person about their interests really do pay off. What salesmanship!

The New York Palace, with the original hotel in the front and the new tower immediately behind it.

Our "upgraded" room...

with a view!!

The lobby and chandelier.

In the front courtyard of the hotel.

After getting into our room and oohing and ahhing over the view, we found a good Indian restaurant fairly close by for lunch. We had downloaded the Yelp app to make sure we ate at restaurants that had great reviews from previous customers. It was very good, although we were the most casually dressed people there as most were still in their work clothes having their business lunch! After finishing up we walked up towards Central Park; we were going to hop on the tour bus there and do the North loop, which included the Upper West Side, Harlem, and the Upper East Side.

Indian!

About 3 or 4 blocks before we reached Central Park, we were crossing the street, when I recognized the face of the gentleman walking towards me, amidst the throng of people crossing from the other side. He was busy talking into his iPhone earbuds, but I instantly knew who he was: actor and director Hank Azaria, from the 90’s sitcom Mad About You with Helen Hunt, as well as from movies like The Birdcage and Along Came Polly. I quickly turned around after him, grabbing Tangie to follow me so I could get a quick candid of my celebrity sighting, but he was walking at a very fast clip and she didn’t want me to annoy him, which wasn’t my intention at all. Regretfully, I wasn’t able to get any photo or video proof of seeing him, but at least I was able to recognize and pick him out from the crowds. Pretty cool.

The tour around the upper part of Manhattan was nice, but the sun had come out and it was starting to get really steamy and hot. I peeled off my cardigan as we sat on the top deck, listening to our tour guide explain which famous celebrity lived in which apartment building flanking the west side of Central Park, and how much those apartments cost. Unbelievable, really, how ridiculous the price of some of those apartment homes are. I quickly looked up on my phone for some apartments for sale in the area, and found a 4600 sq. ft. 4 bedroom 6 bath home for a cool $25 million. And its because of location, location, location.

Horse drawn carriage in Central Park.

That's an apartment building??

Multimillion dollar apartments on the left side, just across the street from Central Park.

Chump change for some people...

I started dozing and falling asleep on the tour, again because it was so warm, but also because we had been going non-stop the past 48 hours. I did, however, wake up long enough to catch some of the more familiar sights, like the Apollo Theatre in Harlem where a lot of today’s popular comedians got their claim to fame, as well as other points of interests like President Clinton’s office building, Columbia University, and General Ulysses S. Grant’s tomb. I never realized how incredibly big Central Park was, as we looped around and came back down through the east side. We passed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (known as “The Met”) and the Central Park Zoo, made famous by the popular animated movie Madagasar. After returning to our starting point at the Park, we decided to do a little walking around inside the park, to take in some greenery after being surrounded by steel and glass and concrete the past 2 days.

Beautiful cathedrals.

The Apollo!

The famous Plaza Hotel by Central Park.

The Guggenheim Museum's famous profile.

Just a beautiful afternoon in the city.

Walking inside Central Park, very serene and picturesque.

You could never tell that you were surrounded on all 4 sides by buildings!

And then the clearing that reminds you that you are!

We quickly hoofed it back to the hotel with just moments to spare; another storm was brewing while we were at the Park and it was coming in fast. As soon as we arrived in our room we saw the rain come in, scattering the people in the streets below. This storm also had lightning, pretty impressive as the following thunder boomed and echoed amongst the surrounding buildings. We got ourselves cleaned up and changed; we were going to see the New York Ballet that evening. Tangie had found some cheaper tickets online early that morning while we were getting ready for the day, and booked us in a private box to see a performance of Cinderella at the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for only $26 per person! Okay, so we were in the nosebleed section and our view was partially blocked due to the height and location of the seats, but so what? We were going to see the ballet!

What a sweet surprise! Happy Birthday Tangie!

We went downstairs to the lobby and it was still pouring, and then we saw the line for the taxis, and started to worry a bit. A doorman was out with his umbrella hailing taxi cabs for the hotel guests, but because it was a Friday evening and it was raining hard, there was none an empty taxi to be seen. Each one was either occupied or traveling down the other streets, unless they were actually coming to the hotel to drop off a new guest. Granted, the Lincoln Center was only a mile and a half up the street, and had it not been raining we would’ve gone ahead and walked it, but since it was we were forced to wait our turn behind 20 other people waiting for taxis that were few and far between. Finally, a black car came by to drop off some people, and asked if anyone needed a ride anywhere. A group of ladies went forward accept the invitation, but then quickly declined when they were told it was going to be a flat $30 to go to Times Square. Then we asked how much to the Lincoln Center and he said $35, and Tangie said, okay let’s do it. So we skipped the people waiting for the taxis and climb inside the black Lincoln Towncar, and he took us up through Central Park , weaving in and out of traffic, to the Lincoln Center, just in time for us to pick up our tickets at will call, hit the restrooms, purchase a $6 bottle of water, and find our seats.

Taking the black car to the ballet in the rain.

The Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center.

Inside the lobby of the Opera House. The floating chandeliers looked like suspended fireballs.

With the Mrs. waiting for the recital to begin.

A huge venue to perform in!

Taking it all in.

The venue was just breathtaking, and the performance even more so. It’s incredible the caliber of the performing arts that is available in this city, and there is always something happening or going on. We enjoyed hearing the live music as the symphony accompanied the ballet dancers through almost 2 hours of the program. I can understand why ballet dancers have such massive thighs through all the jumping and twirling, the pirouettes and dancing en pointe. The lead ballerina playing the part of Cinderella must have been on her tippy toes at least half of the program, it was painful to watch! I did enjoy watching the orchestra pit, especially the 2 oboe players, as I reminisced with fondess of my days and performances with Southern’s symphony orchestra.

View of the orchestra pit from our box.

Beautiful choreography.

After it was over we went outside to still damp conditions, although it had stopped raining by then. We decided to take the subway back to the hotel, but when we went to the ticket kiosk we got confused as to which one to buy and how much we wanted to spend on fares, seeing as we would only be using the tickets on Saturday and part of Sunday morning. So we ended up walking back the 15 blocks, stopping at an Italian restaurant to get a NY style pizza, we were so famished. Now, 15 blocks doesn’t sound that much at all, although you’ll have to remember that these are city blocks, so quite large in size. Our feet were screaming after a long day of walking, but especially in our dress shoes after the ballet. We were so grateful when we were able to finally prop them up when we turned in for the night, around 1 AM.

One last photo in the lobby with the fireworks.

Dancing with the marquee.

New York style pizza!

The view of Rockefeller Center lit up at night from our room.

Saturday morning we slept in somewhat, taking our time in the morning to get ready for the day’s excursions. We didn’t have anything concrete planned; we originally thought it would be nice to go do a 2 hour bike tour of Central Park, but we had decided to go there for brunch on Sunday, to celebrate Father’s Day. So instead we opted to take the subway and go down to the Chelsea and Greenwich Village districts, for an opportunity to walk the Highline, an elevated walkway constructed on an old railroad track meandering high between the buildings. They designed it very well, filling up both sides with lush bushes and foliage along the approximately 20 blocks it was from start to finish. It was also very modern in terms of features and style; there were benches and loungers and waterworks and lookouts throughout the entire walk. A serene and natural escape, if you will, amidst a concrete jungle. We had never seen so many people, presumably locals, taking pictures of plants and flowers. It was as if they had never seen them before. I was hoping they were just plant enthusiasts, happy to see the blooms and greenery after a long winter. We took in the sunshine, a complete 180º from the previous day’s weather, as we enjoyed the views of the walkway and the backdrop of the city all around us.

A quick breakfast in the front courtyard.

The New York Highline.

A lot of people walking above the city streets.

You could never tell we were deb smack in Manhattan with this shot.

The walkway even went underneath some apartment buildings!

From there we took the subway under the East River and left the island of Manhattan for Brooklyn, where Tangie had seen a foodie event at a park there. Called Smorgasburg, a group of over 100 artisan and gourmet vendors congregate every Saturday for the city locals. It was like food trucks on steroids, there were so many different ethnic cuisines to choose from. We decided to give ourselves a $20 budget each, and agreed on a meeting point and then split up. We thought we could cover more ground and try different things if we went to separate areas, so we did. The most popular tent was the one making the ramen burger, where they cook and shape ramen noodles as the buns and put a beef slider in between. The line for that tent was a good 100 feet long when we arrived, and grew to more than double that by the time we left. Alas, we did not get in that line, it was so long. We did, however, enjoy a plethora of different flavors, my favorite being the fried whole anchovies with a mustard dip, lemon, and roasted red pepper. It was such a relaxing time while we were there, watching the people and taking in a taste (no pun intended) of life in a big city.

Grass is a commodity in the city. They like to put them in the streets when they have festivals,
to add some greenery somewhere.

Smorgasburg event at East River Park with Manhattan in the background.

A mecca for many local foodies.

The Manhattan skyline looms across the East River.

The ever popular Ramen burger. I had to take a picture of one in order to someday replicate it.

Enjoying the weather and scene. People watching was always a favorite pastime.

Clockwise Top L: Spicy tuna taco, tofu fries, kale au jus, Vietnamese summer rolls.

Clockwise Top L: Green curry ramen, fried whole anchovies, mango chili smoothie,
raspberry pistachio doughnut.

We took the subway back to Manhattan and got off at Chinatown. This was another area that we wanted to walk through while we were there. It was a flurry of commotion as we walked the steps up to the street level. People walking through dozens and dozens of street peddlers, trying to get tourists to look at their goods and buy their cheap knockoffs of designer watches, sunglasses, and handbags. If you weren’t buying, you were selling. There were so many people just coming up to us wanting to sell us stuff, it felt like you were in another country and not in the United States. We walked up the street a couple of blocks, Tangie getting herself a new pair of sunglasses for $5, before finding ourselves in Little Italy, literally on the other side of the street.

Lolo would freak out at all the fresh and exotic fruit stands in Chinatown.

Lots and lots of delicious fruit from the homeland.

The scene that met our eyes brought nostalgia and familiarity of our honeymoon in Italy, the quaint cafés and markets and shops that lined the streets in Venice, Rome, and Florence. Not the chaos from the previous district, rather, people sitting at tables enjoying pasta and wine, sharing conversations with each other and enjoying life. It was so neat to see the sudden difference when entering Little Italy, it was like entering another country within seconds! We walked around, taking in the street scene and partaking in some authentic New York cheesecake and gelati. We made a quick stop to walk through Grand Central Station when we took the subway back to the hotel. We were going to try and do something pretty crazy and adventurous that evening.

Awesome!

Loved the decorations above the streets!

Took a photo with the owners of this restaurant. Tough Italian New Yorkers with thick accents,
but nice enough to let me take a picture with them.

Original New York Cheesecake and cannoli.

Back on our honeymoon!

If you don’t want to spend a gazillion dollars purchasing tickets online for Broadway shows, there is a venue in Times Square called TKTS that allows you to buy discounted tickets to unsold shows at 40-50% off. The catch is that you have to stand and wait in line, sometimes for 3 or more hours, for a chance to get tickets to the show you want, and only if they had any left. There isn’t even a guarantee that the seats would be together, but I guess that’s the risk at buying tickets at a discount. Anyway, someone had told Tangie that if you show up at TKTS about 30 minutes before the shows begin, that there would be no line to purchase the tickets. So she wanted to try. There was the chance we would miss the first 10 minutes of the show, but the discount was worth that chance.

We took the subway to Times Square and were pleasantly surprised to find that yes indeed, there was absolutely no line whatsoever at the TKTS windows! Tangie quickly went to the next available teller to see what shows had tickets left. We had been trying to decide which show we wanted to go see, and she had her heart set on one called If/Then, which stars Idina Menzel of Disney’s Frozen fame. We had two other choices if tickets to that one weren’t available, but surprisingly they were. And at 40% off too! Tangie quickly jumped at the $86/per ticket price and got us on the 2^nd row of the mezzanine level, which were fantastic seats. We were stoked, and since the theatre is actually adjacent to our old hotel the Marriott Marquis right there on Times Square, we made it over with enough time to spare, using the bathroom and getting another $6 bottle of water before the show began!

The craziness of Times Square again!

Surprised she scored some tickets to If/Then!

Our view of the stage from the mezzanine.

Some great seats at 40% off!

The show is about a newly divorced woman returning back to [ironically] New York City to restart her life, and splits into two stories of what would happen if she went down one path, or another path, based on her choices of people, career, and love interests. A veritable “what if” story that gave the audience reason to mull over and question the decisions made in their lives, and how would life be different if we had chosen another path. The music was incredible; the dialogue funny and crude at times. Idina Menzel was amazing, as expected, but the whole time I envisioned her as Queen Elsa in Frozen and secretly wished she would belt out a couple bars of her song, “Let it go!”

The crowd outside waiting to get pictures and autographs with Idina Menzel after the show.

After the show Tangie and I met up with her co-worker Christine, as well as her friend of hers at a Japanese BBQ restaurant, where we had to grill our own meat. Pretty cool! They too had just gone and seen another Broadway musical, Kinky Boots, but Tangie had wanted to go see If/Then instead. Christine is moving up to New York so she was up for the weekend checking out apartments and locations in the city with a real estate broker, and she had come to decide on 2 apartments, and wanted to know our input. It was a lot of fun chatting about the shows, the city, and her apartment choices, all the while making sure you didn’t overcook your hanger steaks on the grill in the middle of the table. What a different and unique dining experience!

Japanese BBQ!

Tangie already putting her sirloin strips on the grill.

Cooked and ready to eat!

After saying our goodbyes and separating, we decided to just walk the 12 blocks back to the hotel, at around 1 AM. The streets of Times Square were still buzzing, but then it started to thin out and get darker as we walked farther and farther away from the lighted banners and marquees. It didn’t seem or feel dangerous, but your senses perked up anytime you’d walk past someone down the dim streets, or hear footsteps behind you. Luckily nothing happened, and we arrived back at the Palace, quickly crashing to bed we were so exhausted. We had logged in 400 steps shy of 30K, which was 9 miles of straight walking that day!

The Empire State Building at night.

Sunday morning was Father’s Day, and we wanted to have brunch in Central Park. The restaurant was the famous Loeb’s Boathouse, with the well-known open deck seating overlooking a picturesque little rowing lake, recognizable from many movies set in New York. The restaurant had a buffet each Sunday, and opened at 10 but didn’t take reservations, which meant we had to get there early enough to beat out the line. So we were up by 7:30, showered and changed and luggage pre-packed as checkout was at noon, and out the hotel by 8:45 to take the subway up to the station nearest to where the Boathouse was at the Park. We managed to arrive at 9:30, and there already was a line beginning to form, but fortunately we were the 4^th party to arrive so it wasn’t bad at all. By the time the doors opened, the line had gone outside the building, and by the time we had finished brunch the wait was an hour long!

The famous view of the Loeb Boathouse at the water's edge.

A scene from the movie Enchanted, of the lake with the Boathouse in the background.

The line behind us just before they opened their doors!

It was a perfect place to have brunch. The weather was still slightly cool from the morning, especially in the shade, but the sun was out and reflected brilliantly on the lake as we enjoyed our selection from the menu. Tangie chose eggs Benedict with spinach, while I had the smoked fish platter, consisting of Norwegian lox salmon, haddock, sturgeon, and tuna, all smoked. After eating we took a walk down the path to the famous Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, again, recognizable from many movies. We took some photos and walked around a bit, before getting back on the subway to the hotel. We had just a few minutes left to finalize packing our gear, and checking out.

Tangie's top, mine bottom.

The view from our table.

Walking the many beautiful pathways in the park.

The famous Bethesda Terrace and Fountain.

Another scene from Enchanted, at the Bethesda Fountain.

Tangie had called her work’s car service to pick us up and take us to the airport, so we were able to ride another black car to La Guardia, rather than have to hassle with paying another cab fare. We went through security with no issues and had about a 45 minute wait before boarding our flight back home. It was a full flight, and since we had booked our flights separately due to Tangie’s being through work, we sat separately, she two rows in front of me. We exchanged texts together before taking off, thanking each other for an amazing weekend and promised to do it again. It was as if we had snuck away and met each other in a different city for a romantic getaway. And in truth, it really was, except for the sneaking away part. Both our families knew we were meeting together!

The flight back was uneventful and on time. The gentleman next to me was Indian and didn’t seem much interested in talking, so I kept to myself and gazed out the window, marveling at the size of Manhattan island from the sky, and trying to pinpoint all the areas we had gone within the city. It truly is a big world, when something so massive as New York City becomes a dot at 30,000 feet. We arrived in hot and muggy Orlando, retrieved our luggage and departed on our separate ways, with me heading to Avon Park to pick up the kids, as they were going to attend Vacation Bible School early the following morning, as I was also sure the grandparents were ready to hand them back over!

Glimpse of my companion as we part ways.

Sad to leave.

Manhattan with Central Park from the sky.

Can you pinpoint the Statue of Liberty?

The kids wave goodbye to Lolo and Lala as we make the trip back up to Orlando.

A few pictures of the kids while we were away. Thank you Lolo and Lala for taking them for us!

Smoothies by Lala the first afternoon there!

Maddy a little homesick, so they did FaceTime with Daddy. I don't think that helped.

It rained a lot during the day while they were there, so they had to resort to making some crafts.

Heading to bed with some new pets?

Watching a movie with Lolo.

With Auntie Esther's pet tiger.

Braelyn and Lala made a swan carving out of an apple!

We had a glorious time, and we promise to return back. And as amazing of a place as it is, I don’t know that I would be completely happy to live there. Amidst all the things to do and see, I think the quality of life would be too stressful. And the living conditions too tight and compact. Even 4 days was enough to be there at one time. But I never got to eat a New York hotdog, so we have to go back.

Soon.

Here was the rest of our week(s):

VBS at Markharm Woods Church all of last week.

They did an amazing job decorating and making it fun for all the kids.

The programs were great too. The twins really got into it.

The older girls hanging together.

Braelyn attended a birthday party for a classmate last Wednesday.

She was so excited and had so much fun, she had missed her friends over the summer.

That gave us time to get Kohlden a haircut.

Maddy and Aubree hung out together at VBS.

This gave the moms a chance to see each other every morning. I wonder where Corey is...

Kohl running back from their activities with

little sister right after him.

Friday evening performance at the church.

They really enjoyed doing all the songs with hand motions, in the tie dye shirts they made.

The twins getting into it.

Maddy did great with her hand motions!

Sabbath evening, joined some friends at the Johnson's for Elin's birthday party.

The butterfly girl turned 1!

Showing their butterfly footprint craft they created at the party.

Elin sharing her smash cake with Tangie.

Sunday morning, the crew happy to hit the beach!

It wasn't very crowded at all, but a bit windy so we couldn't even use our umbrellas,
they kept blowing away.

It truly was a beautiful day…until the rains came.

Maddy and Kohl catching some waves on their boogie boards.

The torrential thunderstorm came earlier than expected. Unfortunately, a swimmer was pulled out
by a rip current about a quarter of a mile down the beach, and they had to call off the search because
of the storm. His remains washed up later that evening. It was very sad.

Braelyn helping out with the dishes.

Hooked up with Calleigh and Aubree and took them to the pool with us on Monday.

Bonzai!!

Maddy goes for it!

Brother Mike was in town for a job and hung out with me Monday evening.
Tangie had flown out to Atlanta until Wednesday night so it was nice to have his company.