The Big Apple

---

Geo: 40.7528, -73.9853

New York City, Day 2

Day one presented us with a good acclimation period for observing and learning the New York culture. Waking on Day 2 in our high rise accommodations was exciting. With Alex still sleeping, I ventured to the streets of the city to see what this bustling area looks like when the people are still asleep. It was such a different sight. Time's Square was virtually empty. I sipped my coffee as I sat and enjoyed all the LED displays and signs without the distractions of the crowds. Wanting to make the best of our short time in the City and to see certain sights, we found an app run by tripomatic. We searched the sights we wanted to see and planned a non binding itinerary.I went back to the room, roused my sleeping travel buddy, and off we went. Heading for Central Park. What an amazing feature this park is for such a concrete jungle. Immediately upon entering the park you can almost forget you are in such a large city. To say it is a city park sort of takes away from what you are actually experiencing. Somehow, this oasis consisting of dense trees, a large lake, 4 baseball fields,a beach volleyball court, a historic carousel, and on and on, has been carved right in the middle of buildings towering into the sky. It is astonishing how this bit of nature has been able to survive the all consuming concrete jungle's expansion. This is definitely a placeI would love to explore another time when there is more time. But moving on we must. Where do you go from here, hotsy totsy 5th Ave of course. Well, that is, after you figure out you are on the wrong side of the park and have to cross back over to the other side. Not being shoppers, nor the right color paper in my wallet, we declined to actually go into any of the shops along the way, but did admire the historic buildings. Not able to resist, we did pop our head into the Apple store. Lined with what appeared to be marble floors and walls, the staff out numbered
the customers 5 to 1. I think we were a little early. Now, being in NYC, we both had certain things we had heard about and wanted to try. New York pizza is something our New York transplants back home have always bragged about, so we had to seek out the best. Alex advised that according to his research, Grimaldi's Pizzeria was the place to go. So off we went, on the subway, in the wrong direction. About an hour and half later, now famished, we stumble upon a street fair near our destination. We enter the pizzeria and quickly strike up a conversation with the manager who explains why their pizza is the best. He also informs us they have a location in Clearwater. Interestingly, the have analyzed the NYC water and add subtract the necessary minerals to manufacture NYC water from Florida water. The pizza was quite delicious with Alex exclaiming it was the best he has had. Now full to the max, as we did not want to carry left overs all over the city, off we went to the Empire State Building. Now having a clear understanding of the subway, which can only be achieve by going the wrong direction several times, we were able to quickly navigate to our destination. (In a city where all the buildings are tall, downtown is not just where the tall buildings are. For those first timers, downtown is the financial district and uptown is towards Times Square and beyond.) Once at the Empire State building, Alex heads up for a tour, while I head over the the convenient Empire bar for a local beverage containing hops and barley. This next bit is just what I gathered from Alex when he returned. He said it was amazing. The views were great and he could see everything. There was a new building being built nearby that has already passed the Empire State Building in height, and is continuing further up. He was able to see the Statute of Liberty off in the distance and took quite a few photos. We met up in the lobby of the building and discussed our next move. At this point, we decided to make a B line, or should I say #1 train, and go back to Times Square to see if we could score some tickets to a Broadway show. Neither Alex nor I were overly excited about a musical, so we agreed Penn and Teller on Broadway would be a fun show for us to see. Purchasing our tickets at a nearby discount ticket window, we were off in a rush to get cleaned up and ready for our show. The boys looking sharp, stylin and profilin, we walked over to the Broadway Theatre. What an experience to get to see a comedy show that I recognize from my youth but that still continues to appeal to all ages. They were on Broadway to celebrate their 40 years together doing the Magic/Comedy show. What a great show it was. They incorporated old acts with new ones and even, as a grand finally, made a rare spotted dwarf elephant, most likely containing bovine dna, disappear, leaving us mystified. This day was a fun filled and non stop from dawn to late night. We are getting as much out of our visit as we possibly can. Barely walking, we limped back to our room and again, enjoyed our view. On a side note, I failed to mention that as we were about to head off to one of our destinations, we got word that Obama was in town and would be attending a play on our block. Of course we had to see the action, so we headed over. The police and secret service barricaded the streets and a tent was erected in front of the theatre for the presidential limo to pull into so he would not be visible to any mal intentioned individuals. We watched as the motorcade went by and the president's limo passed. That was a nice surprise.

---

Photos

Central Park
Like nature just dropped from the sky in the middle of all the concrete.

Empire State Building
Can you see Alex at the top?

Comments

[Big Momma]

Oh so much fun and all packed into a short time period!! I am glad you two were able to experience the theater. Bill and I went to see Hair and was I shocked when they took all or their clothes off for a few minutes. I love NYC for a vis
it. I rode the train from White Plains to Grand Central Station as that was very easy for me!!. Love you, Mom/Nana

[miky]

What a fabulous day you both had!!! Thanks for sharing so many details including the humorous ones. I've enjoyed reading all the entries.