NYC- July 21, 22, 23

We are waiting in Laguardia for a few hours before we leave New York. Truth be told, I am sorry to be leaving already. I was just getting the hang of  being a New Yorker again.

(Pictures for this post will be added soon)

Here are some of the things we did while here:

As soon as we checked into our hotel (Hotel Cosmopolitan – great little place, friendly staff, excellent location with a red line subway stop right outside the door) We headed down to Battery park and the Staten Island Ferry. I will get on a ferry when ever possible, (in another life I will be a ferry captain) so it was a great first stop. The world always looks great from the water, and we got the added bonus of seeing the waterfall installation, Lady liberty and Ellis Island. It is the best free experience in New York.

 

Then we walked through the financial district. Unfortunately they don’t give public tours of the NYSE anymore, so we just looked around. We did manage to find a great pizza joint and so had a great piece of NY pizza. We looked around South Street Seaport and the Fulton Market area. Next, it was over to find Ground Zero (just a few blocks from our hotel). It is impressive to be in New York and see how narrow the streets are and imagine how truly terrifying it must have been to see the building dust billowing out in every direction, and people running in terror.

 

Then headed back to the hotel to cool down since it was a hot, hot day. In the late afternoon we took the subway up to Chinatown where we had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant the Nina and Jim recommended. (I had the crispy squid with garlic sauce –delicious!) Then Theo and I want down Canal Street to W. Broadway. He got to see all the little open shops on the way and we picked up a few trinkets. We weren’t able to get any tickets to a show (Monday night is the night they take off) so we stayed in.

 

Tuesday morning we started out having breakfast in the nice little café next to the hotel. It is both a hotel and neighborhood crowd. Then we went down the street to check out several local toy stores. After that we headed uptown to Times Square. We didn’t get far before Theo spotted the Ripley Believe it or not Museum, which he was very enthusiastic about seeing. So we toured the bizarre and unusual – believe it or not. It was more fun then I thought it would be! Then we walked down Broadway for lunch at the Carnegie Deli. It is such a classic NY place! Theo had his first real, garlic half-sour pickle and loved it. (definitely my child) we also tried egg creams. Our sandwiches were beyond obscene. I got corned beef and tongue, neither of which I have had for years. Excellent meat – but it literally had about 2-3 pounds of meat in the sandwich. Theo’s cheese sandwich had about pound to pound and a half of swiss cheese on it. Once we ate what little we could, we packed up the rest and left. Next stop, Toys R Us at Times Square – a 3 story store complete with ferris wheel, 20-foot techno-dinosaur and Lego replicas of the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Chrysler building and more. Next we found a policeman and explained our dilemma of  having huge amount of leftovers from the Carnegie Deli. He told us where some homeless folks hang out, so off we went down 42^nd street in search of some people to give our food to. In Bryant Park we found both a beautiful small carousel, which Theo rode, and a man in need of some food. We gave him our leftovers and headed home. Once again, after we cooled down and I did a bit of work, we headed out for dinner. We had a good, simple meal and discussion with the man who owned the café next door. He was impressed with Theo’s description of Ripleys. We headed a few blocks over the Hudson River and Battery Park where we found some great play structures, and nearby a really long slide. We returned home just as it was getting dark.

 

It was a great couple of days in NYC. Of course, we could have done much more, and I would have loved a few more days there. It was a good introduction for Theo. I am reminded that it is an intense and crowded and wonderful place. I’d like to return soon to do more exploration of the things adults are interested in. Now back to Colorado.