Theater

 

One of my favorite things to do in New York is see shows.

 

I saw Newsies with Evan Kasprzak and Alex Wong, two of my favorites from seasons five and four of So You Think You Can Dance, respectively.  I really liked the movie when it came out.  Honestly, there are few musicals I don't like - I have absolutely no issue with people breaking into song mid-conversation as that's what I almost always want to do anyway.   What you don't see in the above linked clip from the Broadway show is how much one of the actors spit when he spoke and sang.  It was a consistent spray.  I felt bad for the  other actors.  What you DO see in that clip is just how graceful Alex Wong is.  The other dancers are great, but Alex has such grace and stage presence...it was fantastic to see! (And yes, that IS Batman in the movie clip.)  

 

I also saw Harvey at Studio 54.  It was very good.  I was really surprised by it.  There are very few members of the cast.  There is no singing, no dancing.  Just some pretty darn good acting.

 

After the show I happened upon the stage door and snapped this photo for Kendra.  

 

One of my favorite things in the Theater District:  Shake Shack.  The Great White Way is still delicious.  The roasted peach shake reminded me of eating fresh peaches and cream in Grandma's kitchen in Fresno.  And, as luck would have it, I was there for the corn dogs!  They only serve them 3 days a year:  July 3 - 5th.  Oh was it good.  YUM!

Highline

 

Within days of my return from New York the last time I was there, I found out about the Highline.  

 

I was so sad that I hadn't known that it existed.  So visiting Highline was one of my top priorities for this trip.  

 

It is an abandoned above ground rail line that has been converted into a public park.  It is gorgeous and peaceful.  

 

 Covered with foliage and boasting great views of both the city and the Hudson River. 

 

There were a lot of people visiting the night I was there, but it didn't seem that way at all.

 

And just below the Highline is Chelsea Market.  Not at all like Pike Place Market.  Which is not a bad thing.

Fourth

 

Since I was going to be in NYC so close to the Fourth, I couldn't NOT stay.  

 

After much debate, I decided to view the fireworks from the flight deck of the USS Intrepid on the Hudson.  

 

The nation's largest fireworks display was set off from 4 barges on the Hudson River.

 

It was gorgeous!  And I wasn't stuck on a boat for 6 hours (a different option available) nor was I sitting in the hot, hot sun for 12 hours just to get a good spot. 

Hot Garbage!

 

Seriously, everywhere you went...Hot Garbage!

 

The Apple store on 5th Avenue is open 24/7.  It's underground and about 5 times the size of the store in Bellevue Square Mall.  If it had been an Android store, I might have been interested, but as the only Apple product I own is a 7 year old iPod, I was not even mildly interested.  I must have been the only one not interested, the store was hopping, even at 11 pm on a Sunday night.

 

CBS This Morning did a great piece on Matt.  And the interview wasn't half bad either.  It was fun to spend 30 minutes in a TV studio and see what happens.

 

We then went to Chelsea to take a peak at the stalkers outside Katie and Suri's new place, which, I realize, made us stalkers as well, but we were just so curious.  The whole scenario is so completely removed from our reality, I just wanted to see it for myself.

Seen at the Statue of Liberty

Think the Statue of Liberty might not be a hotspot on a random Monday in February? Well you'd be wrong.

Check out all of the people on the boat that arrived just as we were leaving. Jope!

Seen at Times Square

Times Square is all about getting your attention. We stood in one place and counted the video screens we could see (over 35) and there are large billboards EVERYWHERE. One of my favorites was the one for the Mini Cooper. There were Mini Coopers mounted on the sides of buildings. It reminded me of something the Top Gear crew would do, but they would put Richard Hammond in the car and ask him to drive across the building.

On a slightly related note, are those lights or video cameras?

Oh what a beautiful morning

The view from just outside the flat in Rome my last morning there, 2 days ago.

The view of NYC/Times Square from the hotel yesterday morning.

And I awoke to this view this morning (at 4am, by the way. Hooray for jet lag).

Hmmm...which would you prefer?

no carb left behind tour

I had a couple of hours to wander around this morning prior to heading to JFK and decided to make one last stop on the no carb left behind tour. For the past week I have eaten pizza or pasta everyday. I'm not complaining at all. It was mostly good...paricularly the pasta alla carabonara I had in Venice. The pastries were delicious. The orange juice and gelato was divine.

This morning in NYC I decided to try a bagel with butter in lieu of cream cheese, they say it's better with butter. I say with butter it lacks an egg. So I'm sticking with cream cheese. Also, the bagels are better by Battery Park...no offense Times Square.

On a slightly related note: I need a salad.

Life in plastic...

I'm not sure what Ken did to merit his non-stop assault on Times Square screens trying to win Barbie back, but it must have been HUGE.

That's What She Said

Auguste Bartholdi designed the Statue of Liberty and in the pedestal exhibit they've included this quote of his. Ironically, you know what isn't as big as you think it is? The Statue of Liberty! It and it's pedestal is just a bit over half as tall as the Washington Monument.

Even though it's not as big as you'd like it to be, it's still pretty amazing. I enjoyed it. Lots of stairs and lots of wind, but totally worth it. Ellis Island was a beautiful building. We walked through it a bit, but I think I would have enjoyed it more had we gone on a tour. The complex is just so huge and there's only one building open to the pubic. I'm interested to know a bit more about it. You know what I did learn? They charge you $5 to look at the records and see if your family passed through there. There seems to be something wrong about that.

Battery Park is FAMOUS! I've seen it in so many NYC based movies, yet I never knew it was Battery Park. I assumed it was Central Park. And it could be that Central Park has similar benches - I haven't made it there yet - but I'm pretty sure I've seen Battery Park in movies before.

While walking through the Financial District we happened upon this street with 3 (actually 4) names. Federal Plaza, Duane St, FBI Special Agent Leonard W. Hatton Jr Street and O'Dwyer something or other. The O'Dwyer name was on the pole behind me. So my questions are many: What is the actual name of this street? Why must it have 4 names? Isn't naming a street meant to honor someone? How honored would you feel if the street they named after you had 3 names already?

I've enjoyed my time here in NYC and, at first, thought I could live here, no problem. I have now ammended that opinion. I could live here, but I'm not sure I would choose to live here. After 4 days of non-stop people EVERYWHERE, I just want to go somewhere and be ALONE. Even the parks here are more crowded than I'd like. However, if I could be guaranteede a relatively empty park on a regular basis and unlimited tickets to Broadway shows (both on and off), yeah, I'd move here.

Slow down...you move too fast

Rode the NYC subway today. A little intimidating when the subway driver announces that she will not be stopping at your intended stop due to construction. My first thought was: Great! Now I'm going to be late to church. And I have to walk 6 blocks...IN HEELS! Thank goodness for the helpful people on the subway that told us to get off at 72nd and then cross to the downtown track and ride the subway only one stop (the nice gentleman repeated that to me several times, because apparently, in his mind, I'm not only not from NYC, but I'm also retarded).

On the way back from church, as we passed the 59th street subway stop, Debbie and I serenaded those around us with Simon & Garfunkel's 59th Street Bridge Song - because we knew had Lynda been with us, she would have sung the entire song.

Shake, Lego and 30 Rock

Collin and I have decided there should be a Shake Shack everywhere we go. My burger was so yummy. The Shake sauce was a nice touch. Great flavor and a perfect size. Debbie got a veggie burger that was A-MAZING. We will be returning, I'm sure.

For dessert, I asked the cashier for his recommendation...which was the Great White Way. Vanilla frozen custard, marshmallow and crispy rice. It was exactly as he said it would be: Like eating an ice cream rice crispy treat.

Of course we had to go to the Lego store. (FYI to the Lego store in Downtown Disney, I knew you were nothing great, but compared to this store, you kinda suck.) There were such cool murals everywhere and Lego versions of Rockefeller Center icons...and this HUGE wall of Legos. I'd actually like to return because we only explored half the store.

The visit to Rockefeller Center was a success. We enjoyed it more than the visit to the Empire State Building last night. Why? Because we could actually see the Empire State Building from the Top of the Rock...and somehow, that makes you feel like you are looking at NYC from the sky. I wish it had a better view of the Chrysler Building, that's the only change I would make. Of course, I didn't feel like I was at Rockefeller Center until I saw the statue of Prometheus. And the rink? Totally tiny and WAY over priced. The rink at Bryant Park is much better, in my opinion. (We went there too and I rode a tiny little carousel which made me feel like Ranee the Gigantor riding my magical flying frog defeating the baddies everywhere - video game coming soon.)

You like Black people?

Made it to NYC just fine...no getting dead for me...whew! HOWEVER...I did not sleep on the plane at all. JetBlue, if you're reading, my red-eye flight from SEA to JFK was entirely too warm. It was all I could do not to start taking off layers of clothing...and that's something nobody really wants to happen on a plane (am I right, Richard Patrick?). And it wasn't just me...everyone around me was complaining about the heat.

After checking in at the hotel, I slept and then headed to Broadway and Times Square. Times Square being Times Square, there was some craziness there. Young men were trying to get people to go see a comedy show and one of them had the pitchline of "You like Black people? This show has Black people in it." Also a bridal party was getting their photos taken...and it was bitterly cold. I was wearing long underwear (it is very rare that I'm cold, but I was FREEZING today)...and these girls were standing around in strapless gold lamé. Craziness I tell you! I really do hope that the T-Mobile ad appears in her wedding album...cause that'd just be hilarious. Or maybe it's just me.