The Big Apple

Some friends and I met up in New York City for the weekend.  New York has never been my favorite city to visit.  I’ve been a few other times to see friends who live there, and I find it rather claustrophobic and so crowded.  However, I had a plane ticket that needed to be rebooked in the next 6 months, some friends in the city, and another friend in Virginia who was willing to fly there as well…the weekend was booked and highly anticipated.

I made the mistake of not packing my real camera  because I didn’t want to carry it around.  The iPhone didn’t take any pictures that I would enlarge and put on the wall, but they did capture the highlights of an amazing time…

We stayed in Astoria which is a lovely neighborhood in Queens. I taught with Jill when she lived here in California before moving back to the East Coast.  Her sister Tracey, who also lived in LA for awhile, is an actor and photographer who lives in NYC.  Tracey took us on a wild, fun filled weekend!

After we all arrived Thursday night and Friday morning we were ready for our “running” tour.  The only time we stopped was when I yelled, “Wait, I’m taking a picture!” 
- The best part about being in a big city…taking the subway!

- A stop at TKTS to purchase Broadway tickets for later that night
- Lunch at South Street Seaport with views of the Brooklyn Bridge

  - Battery Park to see the World Trade Center Globe Memorial and the Statue of Liberty 


I had never made a point to see the Statue of Liberty when I was in New York before.  We didn’t have time to do the museum, but at least I got to see it.
Battery Park
- We passed through Zuccotti Park which is the home of the Occupy Wall Street protestors.
I think I understand what the protest is about, but I wondered as we walked by if, one, how many of the protestors actually knew what they were protesting, two, how many of them would be jobless even if we weren’t in a financial mess, and three, how long it had been since they had taken a shower.
- After fighting our way through the protestors, we found our way to Canal Street to buy purses, (which I guess is ironic to a point). - and then had dinner in Little Italy.

- Books of Wonder was next – Have you ever seen the movie “You’ve Got Mail?”.  The children’s bookstore that Meg Ryan runs in the movie was based on Books of Wonder.  Well-known children’s authors and illustrators visit on a regular basis and sign their books.  It is like a candy store for those of us who love children’s literature…
 
They had signed copies of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.  It took every part of me not buy it.  It is such a wonderful book, but I already own it AND it weighs as much as a brick and I didn’t want to carry it home in my luggage.
- We wasted some time in Time Square before the show started.
Time Square is the epitome of what I don’t like about New York City.  It is SO crowded.  The lights and busyness are fun, but I don’t like being bumped into!
- It was then time for a Broadway Show!  We saw Billy Elliot, which was wonderful. 
  I do like that theatres on the East Coast are very, old, ornate, and usually smaller than their West Coast counterparts.  Our seats were half price, and they were great. 
- We headed back to Time Square for some shopping after the show, before making our way home for the night.

And that was just day 1!