We rolled out of bed at a leisurely 10:30 this morning. JD was merciful since I was only working on 3.5 hours of sleep the day before. They took a nap while I went to Liberty and Ellis Islands. Needless to say that once we were ready for the day, it was noonish. We packed up our things and took off, but I realized that I’d left my cell phone and sunglasses behind. Blech.

Anyway, I had to go back and pick them up while the girls walked on ahead to Times Square Bagels. It’s a little place (and I mean little, barely room to line up at all in there) with great prices on bagels. They make their money on the extras I’m sure. Cream cheese adds $2.15 to your bagel cost and water is probably $1.75 or so. But still a reasonable total for NYC.

So we ate brunch at a table in Times Square. They’ve closed off part of the street through Times Square to make room for pedestrian traffic. A random guy made a weird comment about Anna’s pants…we were laughing about the weird comments and come ons we’ve received while here. Apparently, someone told Anna that she had beautiful black hair…she’s blonde. Like I said, weird.

Anyway, we went back to Chinatown because JD wanted to find a purse. Anna shopped in a couple of shops and I picked up a scarf or two. JD and I ended up following a guy around who said he could get us some purses…but he was very sketchy. We ended up ditching him to return to civilization on Canal Street where we picked up Anna and returned on the green line uptown. I took all the bags back to the apartment and did a little bit of work that needed to be done on the church website while JD and Anna went shopping on 34th Street.

From there I went to Central Park. It was a cold day, the coldest since our arrival. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain. But I ended up coming out of the subway and picking up a bagel for the road at a little shop on the outskirts of the Park. Then I took off walking.

People seem friendlier in the Park. I was reading a map and a guy stopped on his bike and asked me if my bagel was good. I said yes and that he could get one at the shop at the end of the path. He was very nice. Then while I was walking through, a guy was walking toward me and I made eye-contact and he said “hello”. Crazy. It was like being back home for a moment.

On the map I noticed a couple of places I wanted to see, so I set off for Bethesda Fountain, the famous one that you see in movies all the time, with the dual staircases and bridge. I spent quite a bit of time in that courtyard taking pictures and just enjoying the day. By then it was starting to get pretty dark so I thought that I’d take a short walk and then follow the main road out of the park and to the subway entrance.

The nice thing about Central Park is that along it’s northwestern border there is access to subways at 72nd Street that run directly back to our apartment. Sadly, I did not see the subway entrance and I didn’t want to stop walking. I walked from 72nd street to 59th/Columbus Circle to take the blue line uptown. While I was walking I called Lorna Brown to have her meet us near our house so we could walk to ESPN Zone to watch the BSU game.

We wanted to be able to watch the game and eat, but have it be an experience as well. It definitely was! Big screen everywhere and a touchscreen at our table showing the ESPN feed of our choice. Controls on the screen adjusted the volume for each table. The speakers were behind our heads. It was a trip.

The food was good and not badly priced for New York. I had pasta and brought the leftovers home after the game. The Broncos won! We parted with Lorna & Luke and walked home slowly through a virtually deserted Times Square. JD was hit on by a guy who thought she had “sexy nostrils”, whatever that means!

It was a good day overall.

-Melissa

View photos from Day Seven >

Tomorrow: Brooklyn

We started out this morning early, so early in fact that I had only JUST finished posting the pictures and blog from day five a mere 3 hours earlier. <Pause for reflection, and to focus my eyes> We were scheduled to be part of the audience of Good Morning America this morning (thanks to JD) and we had to be there at 6:15am. When we finally did get there, we waited in line for about 10 minutes before we were allowed in. They searched all of our things and then we were allowed in.

On the wooden floor there are a few lines that are in brown tape (or paint, whatever) that we had to remain boxed by or risk being either in the shots they needed or off the camera when it panned over (which it didn’t this time around). There aren’t chairs, so we stood for two hours while the show was going on. During the first 20 minutes, we watched the recorded segments and the audience coordinator (worth it to go and hear her, she’s hilarious) kept us entertained.

When the weather segment was going to come on, we all went outside and stood in Times Square. A group from Yahoo was out there and got in the crowd in front of us. They were handing out signs and shirts, but I didn’t take any because I didn’t want to promote a brand on the show (which I knew they wouldn’t either) and the camera never even panned our way (which we blamed on them…and it was probably true).

We were sent back inside where we organized ourselves again and Diane Sawyer came down and said hi to us. She took some time in there to have her picture taken with the audience. They interviewed Andy Williams who was awesome and funny. They cooked and some of us got apple crisp. Then Robin Roberts came down to the audience and greeted us along with Chris Cuomo. There was a guest weather lady and she stood right in front of me…my face might have been behind her…I don’t know.

In the end they ran out of time and didn’t end up panning across the audience again. So we went and got our pictures taken with Robin Roberts and Chris Cuomo, which was fun.

After the show we parted ways. Anna and JD were going to check out the Yahoo yodeling booth because Jewel was there. I went to the 1 train to Battery Park. Once there I stopped off at the ferry stop and picked up our tickets and then went to a Starbucks to wait for Lorna Brown to meet me. I have to admit, I enjoyed that everyone else was working and I was sitting.

Lorna came and we set off for the Liberty Island/Ellis Island Ferry Tours. We had to wait in line for a little while and then we had to go through a security checkpoint that was much like going through the airport. Then the ferry, on the second deck outside. It was a beautiful day. The sun wasn’t out the whole time, but it was relatively warm. Perfect for what we were doing.

We walked the island and took TONS of pictures. I didn’t mean to, but I took an amazing number of pictures (470ish total for the day). Poor Lorna was probably thinking, seriously? Anyway, we realized that our tickets allowed us access to the pedestal, so we went through another security checkpoint (after locking our bags in a locker keyed to my thumbprint) that tested us for explosives and then we went through the museum at the base and climbed the 156 stairs to get to the pedestal. The wind up there was REALLY harsh. It was amazing, but I almost lost my scarf a number of times.

We left soon after for Ellis Island. I was not incredibly enthused about it because I don’t know that any of my relatives came through there. The history was cool, but I was so tired from the day that we didn’t stay long.

We waited in line for the ferry for about 30 minutes and then boarded for another 10. It was brutal stuffing ourselves in there, but we made it and I got so excellent skyline shots. We disembarked in Battery Park and I walked her to the subway stairs. She went back to the Starbucks to await news from her son as to where they were going, and I returned on the 1 to Times Square.

I didn’t transfer to the C line and ended up walking the 7 block to our street and then down. Once I finally made it up the stairs I collapsed on the couch for 10 minutes before Anna and JD came back. Then we prepped to see Wicked on Broadway. The Gershwin Theater is about 3 blocks from our apartment. We walked over, picked up tickets, and then went to a corner grocery to pick up snacks.

When we returned, we had to go up two escalators to get to our seats (and they were in the lower level too). But they were good. The musical was awesome, all of the players were outstanding, and the production quality was what I would have expected of Broadway.

After we went to a little Thai place called Pongsri on 48th Street. It was clean and tasted good to all of us, and we all have different tastes. Plus it wasn’t too expensive, especially considering that it’s New York.

And then I returned to write a blog…with my eyes fighting me every moment because they want to close so badly. So, goodnight Neverland.

-Melissa

View photos from Day Six >

Tomorrow: Central Park, BSU Game

JD decided that today we would go to the site of the World Trade Centers (with my prompting). We hopped aboard the E train and got down there pretty quickly. We came out right next to the site of the new One World Trade Center and the memorial that will stand in the place where the twin towers used to be. (click here for info on this)

We didn’t immediately go to the touristy sites. We ended up in Tribeca at a little place called Kitchenette. It’s a local diner style place where we ordered some french toast that ended up being more like cinnamon roll toast. It was…interesting. But the place was cute and very different. From there I visited St. Paul’s Cathedral and took pictures of the World Trade Center area. We weren’t allowed inside because of the construction.

Then we went to a store called Century 21 which carries designer clothing, similar to TJ Maxx, except it was much larger and had more brands. I didn’t find much I liked there, but JD got some sunglasses and Anna a shirt. We then wandered through a street market that was strung all along the Financial District. It had some of the same vendors that were at the 8th Street market a few days ago. But we ended up making a few purchases there before leaving for Chinatown.

Chinatown. Really. Are there words to describe it? From the moment we walked up the stairs we were bombarded by people trying to sell us Gucci, Coach, and Prada handbags, shirts, glasses, etc. None of which were real of course. We looked at some of them, but we ended up following a guy to his “stand”….yeah. Not really a stand. Anyway, it was interesting weaving our way around. Definitely a different world there. Random smells assaulted us, along with people who knew only six English words, three of with were “Coach”, “Gucci”, and “Prada”.

We each bought a little something and ended up back at the house to prep for Open Mic night. Anna had found a little place (and I mean little, most of the locals hadn’t heard of it) online and we tried to find it in Greenwich Village. But we came up with wrong stairs out of the subway and went the wrong way. We walked completely out of our way until a very nice New Yorker walked us back to the our starting point and showed us where we’d gone wrong.

Once we’d found the place, the open mic time was already starting and the list was very full. Anna signed up, but had to wait in line for her turn (if it every came). In the meantime, JD and I met up with Lorna & Luke Brown. Lorna, also from Boise, is visiting her son Luke in New York and we met up at Caffe Vivaldi on Jones St (where Anna was waiting to play).

We hoofed it, looking for a somewhat reasonable place to eat. Just down the street from Caffe Vivaldi was the restuarant Perilla, operated by Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle. It was a bit rich for our blood, but fun to see. We ended up in a little place somewhere else (I really have no idea where). We talked, ate, etc. Lorna is going to come to Ellis Island with me tomorrow while Luke is at work. Sweet!

Right. Ellis Island. I was supposed to go today, but while we were at Century 21 I realized that I was too late to get all the way to Battery Park to get on the ferry out there. So I pushed it out to tomorrow.

When we returned, Anna was still waiting. We parted ways with Luke & Lorna and went in search of dessert. We found a little place on Bleecker St called Rocco’s and it was very good. It was hard to decide what I wanted, but I went with hot chocolate and a chocolate mousse square. Pretty good choice. JD had a pastry that I can’t remember the name of and a cappucino.

Anna text messaged us and said that they’d run out of time and she hadn’t been called.

We ended up meeting at Rocco’s and returned home on the A train. It was sad for Anna. She’d lugged her guitar all the way down there for nothing.

On the A train, we were visited by two men claiming to be homeless, but they used the same phrases which gave me pause. One was older and walked along the train talking to everyone and making us feel bad. The other danced and sang a song hoping for donations. It was interesting.

But I realized something then. New Yorkers don’t make eye-contact for a reason. It opens you up, shows interest in another person’s life. While in most cases this is fine, for the others, this situation for instance, it opens you up to the other person’s need, peddling, or worries. It’s hard, in the face of so much need, to be able to sort out the real need from the false. I myself averted my eyes from the men. But I don’t feel bad about it in their case. I don’t believe that they were actually needy.

The fine line between a hard heart, which keeps your money in your pocket and out of dishonest hands, and a soft heart, which in a city like NYC will leave you destitute, is hard to walk.

-Melissa

View pictures from Day Five >

Tomorrow: Good Morning America, Liberty Island, Ellis Island, Wicked on Broadway