NYC -- Strangers and Subways

I've been absent from my blog for a few days. We had family visiting from Arizona last week, so I never got around to posting my final NYC entry. This one will include my photos of strangers, as well as our experiences on the subway.


I set a goal before I left for New York that I would take a picture of at least one stranger per day. Turns out it was a pretty easy thing to do. There is no shortage of strangers -- interesting ones -- in New York.

This first one is probably my favorite stranger shot of the week. This one is from Brooklyn as we were walking to Grimaldi's. I asked these guys, "Can I take your picture?" They were happy to give me a smile, although they gave me kind of strange look when I first asked....Oh well!






Being the small-town hicks that we are :), we were enthralled with the subway. It was about a 5-minute walk from our hotel to Grand Central Station, where we could hop on a subway that would take us anywhere we wanted to go. We more than got our money's worth out of the $25 each it cost to buy a 7-day unlimited Metro pass.

The subway is so much more than a mode of transportation. The stations and trains are full of all sorts of interesting people -- dancing, singing, crying repentance and even doing acrobatics. We were also pleasantly surprised to find that New Yorkers on the subway were often friendly and helpful. One woman heard our conversation on the train as we tried to figure out when we needed to get off. "That's in two more stops," she offered. Another woman handed me her well-used subway map and told me she could easily get another. A nice lady even offered Alex a cough drop one day.

One of my favorite parts of riding the subway was the entertainers. They'd hop on when the doors opened, usually stay on for one stop and then get off. The break dancing acrobats were the best. (And they even posed for a quick picture).

Mallory insisted on standing and holding the bar while we rode. She had a goal not to take a seat once...and didn't the whole week. Toward the end of the week, Parker became our self-appointed navigator. We followed him (rapidly, I might add) through the stations and onto the next train.

Mallory puts on her sad face as we take our last subway ride before leaving New York.

Whew....I've come to end of my New York posts. What a fabulous trip. I'd love to go back and hope we can someday. :)

New York -- Just Us Girls

Thursday was another fun-filled-fabulous day in NYC. Mallory and I had reservations for lunch at the American Girl Place. The boys weren't invited (not that they wanted to be anyway). Derek, Parker and Alex took off on their own that day to Peter Luger's Steakhouse in Brooklyn. Derek had heard the steaks there are out of this world and something not to miss.


Mallory brought along Ruthie, one of her three American Girl dolls. Before we left home, she had such a hard time deciding which doll to bring, but I reminded her that Kit and Julie have both been to the American Girl Place in Los Angeles, so it was only fair to give Ruthie a turn. Ruthie was thrilled and hasn't stopped bragging about her visit to New York to the other two girls since we got home. :)







While we were in the area, we stopped in at Tiffany & Co. I couldn't even come close to affording anything in there, but it was oh, so fun to drool over the beautiful diamonds, silver and other jewels.


Friday was our last day in New York. We were going to go on a harbor cruise, but by the time we got over there, we didn't have time to take one and still be to the airport on time. We went to visit Chinatown and then had lunch in Little Italy. Then, we headed back to the hotel to wait for our shuttle to take us to the airport. Here are a few shots of our excursion that day, as well as our hotel. I just have to give a shout out to the Eastgate Towers Suites. It was such a fabulous place to stay. It's not easy to find a suite hotel in New York City that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Eastgate Towers was perfect for us. It used to be an apartment building and has been converted in a hotel. The staff was fabulous, especially the weekend bellman Patrick. The hotel is about a five-minute walk to Grand Central, so it's easy to walk there and catch a subway anywhere you want to go. It's in more of a residential area, so you get more a feel of being a real New Yorker staying there. Although I am so aware that our family looked unquestionably like a bunch of tourists! Anyway...if you ever plan a trip to New York and need a hotel room big enough for you and all the kids, check out the Eastgate Towers. (And they didn't even pay me to say that....although maybe they should!







>
It turned out our flight was delayed by an hour and a half. We didn't get home until 2 a.m. We arrived home exhausted, but silly me, I turned on the TV in my bedroom and Sleepless in Seattle was on TV, so I just had to watch the part where they go up in the Empire State Building, so I didn't go to sleep until 3:30 a.m....YIKES!

Believe it or not, I'm still not done posting New York pictures! Stay tuned for my subway and stranger posts coming soon!

NYC -- Wicked Wednesday!

One of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing Wicked on Broadway.

Wow! Seriously...Wow!!!

Mallory loved it, too, as did Alex. After it was over, Parker admitted it was better than he thought it would be. Even Derek said he liked it. (Even though it didn't include car chases or explosions like the shows he usually enjoys watching). Of course, I had warned everyone before we left for the show that they BETTER enjoy it, considering the price I had to pay for tickets. GULP!

I didn't take my camera to the theater with us, but Parker had his, so we snapped a few shots of the experience.

Alex and Mallory waiting of the performance to begin.

Mallory outside the Gershwin Theatre.

Mallory making the difficult decision of which Wicked shirt to choose. (This took almost as long as the play itself!)

On Wednesday morning, before we went to Wicked, Mallory and I visited Books of Wonder, a children's bookstore we had heard about. It was so much fun to browse. I let Mallory choose one book that I would buy. Decisions...decisions....She is definitely a girl who agonizes over every choice!

Mallory outside Books of Wonder.

After our Wicked matinee, Mallory, Parker and I went to visit the New York Public Library. I loved this room. What a great place to study, read, surf the Internet, etc.

After the library, we took a walk down 5th Avenue and soon found ourselves in front of the Plaza Hotel. Parker and Mallory did a 'Home Alone' face in honor of the occasion.

New York -- Liberty Tuesday

Tuesday we visited the Statue of Liberty. Right now, visitors can go up to the top of the pedestal Lady Liberty stands on. Come July 4, you will be able to go up in the crown. We felt a little sad that we couldn't do that, but it was worth it to be in New York in June, when the weather was much cooler than it will be in July.
We rode the ferry to Liberty Island, visited the Statue, then hopped on the ferry again to Ellis Island. My crowd was not as interested in Ellis Island as I was....I could have spent a lot longer looking around the museum.
After Ellis Island, we got back on the ferry to New York. That night we went to eat at Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.Fun day again!

On our way from the subway to the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, we stopped to the the Sphere. This sculpture sat for three decades in the World Trade Center Plaza. It was damaged in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The plaque says it now endures as an icon of hope and the indestructible spirit of this country. It was placed in its current location on in March 2002 as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the World Trade Center attacks.







This display gives you an idea of the size of Lady Liberty. It also made me think of the joke my dad used to tell that included the words, "Why the long face?"

Now, do they look like true tourists or what? :)

This display at Ellis Island is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. When you stand at one angle, you can see all the different faces. From another angle, it's half faces, half flag. If you stand way off the the side, it just looks like a flag. Pretty incredible.



At the Hard Rock Cafe after our Statue of Liberty excrusion. This is a display of hundreds of guitars.

Getting ready to order. Our booth was right next to a scary purple suit once worn by Jimi Hendrix. Parker wandered through the restaurant after we ate and was thrilled to see Slash's guitar.

:)