We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams . . .
yet we are the movers and shakers of the world forever, it seems

Sunday, December 2, 2012

On our own in the Big City!

I forgot to mention something in my last post. There are some more reasons this trip was a bit of a miracle. Mike and I have never left the kids...not a weekend away, not an overnighter; nothing!! So, having the courage to leave the kids was tricky. Having the courage to leave them with an Archie with possible c-diff diarrhea recurrence and crazy diet restrictions was even more complicated. But, much prayer, planned trip cancellations and courage, and re-affirmations, it finally came to pass. I laugh, but I think we mentally cancelled and re-planned this trip about 5 times. I'm so glad we went through with it.

Day 3 in New York City we were on our own. Our gracious hosts had lives of their own to attend to, and they had done a great job of showing us the ropes, so Saturday, we headed out on our own! We had some destination goals, and we got through them all, with many side-ventures that were just as rewarding. It all started with the Brooklyn Bridge.


We walked across it, then turned around and walked back. It was crazy how many runners there were in that tight little space. Mike commented that it is probably one of the only hills around, so they were making the most of it.  I was a little disappointed because I would have liked to explore Brooklyn (they are supposed to have the best pizza there!), but we'll do that next time.

Here is the view of Manhattan from the bridge.

After walking by Ground Zero, we started walking UpTown to China Town...



And Little Italy! We may not have had Brooklyn's famous pizza, but I looked up the best pizza in New York City, and Lombardi's of Little Italy was on the list! Mike was in cheezy, sausage heaven. This is me enjoying a "Lobster Tail" pastry...YUMMY!!

On we walked...
On our way to MidTown, we found a street market, street performers, fun boutiques, and the Flat Iron Building, which Mike was hoping to see...

Washington Square, which we kind of hurried through, but looking back, it was one of the most interesting places we went....next time, we'll be spending more time there for sure!



We found a little Diner with Lucy's name all over it! And took a quick stop inside the Empire State Building (again, next time, we're going to the top!)

We then realized we were awfully close to Chelsea, so we walked some more, finding ourselves at Madison Square Garden! It was so fun to see a name on the map, some place we've only heard of before, and then walk there and say, "huh, so this is SoHo!". That was pretty much how we spent our time on Saturday; that, and EATING!!!

We took a subway from Madison Square Garden to Central Park because we'd had enough walking. Then, we found the best cheesecake in New York, 2 Little Red Hens, was about 2 miles up, so off we were again...walking again! Hey, there isn't much we wouldn't do for cheesecake. We ate it on a cement barricade on the street, then walked the 2 miles back down 5th Ave to Times Square.

We grabbed a hot dog from a street vendor, not because we were hungry, but because when in NYC, you have to have a hot dog from a street vendor, and headed off to BROADWAY!!

Seeing Wicked on Broadway at The Gershwin theater!

They were having a bi-annual fund raiser for Broadway Cares, and if you donated a certain amount, they gave you a backstage tour! We were the only ones AWESOME enough to pay for it, so we got a private tour backstage on BROADWAY!! 

We got to see the set up-close; this is the Great and Powerful OZ, we walked on the "yellow brick road", held the broom and magic wand, peered down the trap door, held the gowns, went in the dressing rooms, saw all the under-stage riggings, the green room...it was ridiculous.

I danced on Broadway!! I tapped at the Gershwin!!

What a night.

We got out a little late, missed the last R-Train to Queens, and had to take a roundabout way home, but by 2AM we were snug in our beds having survived our first day in the city without getting lost!! It was so fun to just wander and stumble upon the things that make the city great. And, we were up at 7AM the next morning to do it all again!



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