Day 13 – Big Daddy’s Diner, Top of the Rock, Dylan’s Candy Bar, Central Park, MKTO

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Not too of an early start this morning. We had done a little googling and found a place close by that you’re your washing for you; as if we have time to do it in this fantastic city. So we walked down to Sam Hop Laundry at 251 West 91^stSt, dropped off our full plastic bags, paid our $8 each and left in the hope we’d at least get some of the clothes back in one piece.
From there we went to a Diner we’d walked past called Big Daddy’s Diner for some breakfast. What a fantastic American style diner. American paraphernalia everywhere; Grease posters, Route 66 signs, gumball machines; you could even buy t-shirts from this place. Marnee and I both ordered the pancakes and we got a side of potato gems to share. To drink Marnee got an orange juice and I got a giant cup of tea; it was huge. Sitting on the table next to us was a group of about 10 that were trying to take a photo. They got one of the staff members to take one but they didn’t like it so when they saw my dSLR sitting on the table the asked if I could take one for them. We had a brief chat with them before getting back to our breakfast. When they were leaving they said thankyou again and they were on their way. We finished not long after and headed up West 91st St where we walked past a bunch of the well-known yellow American school buses. I stopped to take some photos, as I do, only for us to realise that the group that had been sitting next to us at the diner we standing in the street and saw me taking photos so came over. Turns out they were the bus drivers. We had a chat with them before making our way up to the subway at 86^{th S}treet. We trained it down to 7^thAvenue to then walk to Radio City Music Hall to head to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck. Even though we had been up the Top of the Rock before it’s still a fun thing to do in New York. The view is always amazing. We stayed up there for quite a while taking photos before heading back down. From there we walked up Fifth Avenue to Henri Bendel where Marnee purchased a stunning bracelet then over to Tiffany and Co where I, of course, made a purchase. Then from there we headed past Bloomingdales on West 59^th before arriving on 3^rdAvenue at Dylan’s Candy Bar.
Dylan's Candy Bar is a chain of boutique candy shops and candy supplier. It is owned by Dylan Lauren, daughter of the famous fashion designer, Ralph Lauren. It stocks 7,000 candies from around the world. We ordered a couple of cocktails. Marnee ordered a chocoholic martini and I got one called pop rock explosion. With mine they put the pop rocks in the bottom of the glass then mix all the ingredients together then when it comes to the table they tip in the liquid. The pop rocks just explode. We ordered some food as well. While we were sitting there we realised we were sitting next to some of Dylan’s executives because they were talking about the new design for the store and what Dylan does and doesn’t want for it.
From there we walked to Central Park to meet Nick at The Lake next to The Loeb Boathouse to hire our row boat. It was only $12 to hire it for an hour so all three of us jumped in and had a row around the lake. We saw the Bethesda Fountain, went under the Bow Bridge and to the other side of the lake where Marnee and I got off to go and collect our washing and Nick took the boat back.
Marnee and I stopped in at strawberry fields quickly on the way before making it to Sam Hop Laundry. Our clothes were there waiting for us when we arrived, all washed, dried and folded… And all intact. Fantastic! I would highly recommend them!
From there we headed back to the hotel and got ready to head to the MKTO concert down at Irving Plaza. We went for dinner at a place called SideBar. We got some fries to share and had quite a few drinks. This was a real proper sports bar; there was nowhere in the bar that didn’t have a TV with sports on it.
After, we headed round to Irving Plaza for the gig. We were by far the oldest in the place with the average age being probably 16-18. This worked for us though as we were able to get drinks at the bar without any hassle at all. They were entertaining, even more so after all our drinks. From there we headed to Jake’s Dilemma where Marnee and I had gone previously. On the way we came across a Banksy piece in one of the lane ways we cut down which was pretty cool. We participated in way too many $3shots, Marnee got involved in some beer pong and Nick spilt half a jug of beer in his lap before we decided it was well and truly time to leave.

We stumbled all the way back to the hotel but stopped off at a pizza shop on the way. I asked Nick to grab me a slice while he was at the counter and he came back with a broccoli pizza. Seriously?! Of all the types of pizza he gets broccoli! Didn’t stop me from eating it at that point. Even Marnee had a bite! We finished off the pizza and made the rest of the way back to the hotel.

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