Gretchen and I got very brave and adventurous and decided to head into New York City. We got up early and headed out driving for about an hour to jump on a train that would take us to the city. When we got to the train station there was absolutely no parking. We discovered that the Yankees were playing in the city that day and everyone seemed to be riding the train for the game. After assessing the situation we decided that we would just drive ourselves into the city and park there when we arrived.
After finding a pretty pricey parking place just off of Time Square our first stop in the city was to get in line at the Red Box place to see if we could purchase some discounted tickets to a Broadway play. It was soooo stinking hot while standing in the line and I thought we were just going to melt away. I was just dripping and I felt really bad for the older people in the line who looked like they were going to just pass out and die. With a little luck we were able to get tickets to the play, Cinderella that was starting at 2:00 in the afternoon. We decided that we would wander around the streets for a while, eat some lunch, and then head over to the play.
We saw this street sign and immediately thought of Elder Dallin Carroll and Elder Dalton Homer who are serving their missions in Brazil right now. We looked around for a while for a nice lunch place, one that wasn't just a dumb restaurant that we could eat at in any old town. Gretchen was a wise woman and decided that it would be a great idea to follow all of the young, business men and women who were scurrying around town eating on their lunch breaks. There seemed to be this massive crowd heading into this place called Buccos so we followed them. It was such a stressful experience once we got inside. There were large lines at each counter and people seemed to know exactly what they wanted. Gretchen and I anxiously found our way to the salad line. We watched carefully as people picked up a bowl of lettuce and then waited until it was their turn to be assisted in adding the extras for their salad. When Gretchen got to the front of the line the man behind the counter yelled, "NEXT!" Ahhh, it was downright scary. So many choices and each one would add to the cost of the salad. There was no time to hesitate in making your decision because there were intense little career people breathing down your neck who were watching their watches and waiting very impatiently for their turn. Gretchen panicked and only ordered two toppings....strawberries and chicken. I was a little braver and quickly ordered strawberries, chicken, feta cheese, avocado, and almonds. We both had the lime dressing which was very tasty! We jumped into another line to pay and then we were pushed out the door like cattle with the other lunch time people. After such a stressful lunch-buying experience we walked across the street and found a nice little outdoor eating area with all the business people and a lovely fountain. We watched the professionally dressed workers inhale their lunches as we casually enjoyed every bite of our salads and relaxed sips of our cold, bottled water. Lunch was yummy and we definitely would go back to the highly stressful restaurant again!
We welcomed the chance to enter the air conditioned theatre at 2:00 to enjoy Cinderella. It really was a magical play with wonderful music, acting, costumes and special effects. Gretchen and I loved the play and were especially intrigued with the costume change of Cinderella when she magically changed from rags into a beautiful, sparkling ball gown with one little twirl. How'd she do that?!?
After the play our next New York City adventure was to jump on the subway and head over to the 9/11 Memorial. It took us a while to figure out which subway line to take since the maps and directions were really kind of confusing. We finally asked a typical New Yorker for help and with a little hesitation, they did give us direction. You can definitely tell who the tourists are and who the true New Yorkers are. The subway was a grand time.....you can do some serious people watching. Actually, we could have just sat on a bench and people watched all day! New York City has all kinds of people!
I thought the 9/11 Memorial was very well done and it was a reverent place. The names of the people who died are on the walls along the foundation of the original buildings that came down. You'll notice in these pictures the water falls that continually flow. It's quite spectacular. We didn't go into the museum...$24.00 seemed a little pricey.
And here is my obligatory picture of the Statue of Liberty in the background. We were going to ride the Statton Island Ferry but a huge storm rolled in and we decided we had better get back on the subway before it got ugly.
This guy standing next to me had the freakiest eyes and was just kind of creepy.
When we got out of the subway at Times Square it was absolutely pouring rain and I mean pouring! New York City during a thundering rain storm is not a pretty sight! We were fortunate to come out of the ground under some scaffolding and were able to take cover for quite a while and stay fairly dry. We didn't have an umbrella so we just waited out the storm. When the rain let up a bit we walked down Times Square and enjoyed the craziness of the well-lit busy street.
We were enticed to try some samples of Italian Gelato that looked yummy through a window we were peering through and we each decided to buy a small cup. We didn't even think to look at the price...$7.00 for a little tiny cup of gelato. Ugh! It was tasty and refreshing but $7.00, seriously?
This is a picture of our parking lot where we parked. They stack the cars on these ramps and they move up and down like a little car elevator when the attendant is getting your car for you. They can get a lot of cars in a small amount of space.
It was a harrowing ride home in a serious rain storm but we made it home to quiet little Delmar, New York after having our big city adventure. We kind of wished we had planned a little better and stayed the night so we could spend another day in the city, but oh well. We had a blast and it felt very empowering to be able to get ourselves to the city all by ourselves and get where we needed to go and have a great time!
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