A Very Long and Picture Filled Post

John & I have returned from a long weekend in NYC.  I must say that I am amazed at how much I enjoyed myself, even taking into account my sore feet & back that are probably going to  be with me for a while now after literally walking miles hither & yon in the city each day.  Honestly, while we were there we caught a TV interview with a 102-year-old man who was in better shape than I was!  Much better shape!  The last full day after walking a total of about 6 miles ... not really a lot when you think about it ... John hailed a cab to take us back to our hotel & I literally had to hold onto my pant leg & pull up on it in order to lift my leg/foot to crawl into the cab!  Pathetic!

John has been wanting to visit NYC for as long as I can remember so this trip was really for him.  I was not looking forward to it very much.  I imagined that the city would be dirty, that we would be taking our lives in our hands whenever we left the presumed safety of the hotel, & that all the people would be rude.  It was totally the opposite. The city was clean, I felt safe shuffling along the streets with my big purse hanging over my shoulder, & the New Yorkers couldn't have been more friendly!  It was delightful!

NYC is gigantic!  I knew it was a big city, but it was bigger than I could've imagined.  We would have to make several more trips there in order to see everything there is to see. We had great weather.  Cold, but rain free.  It even snowed a few flakes on Sunday!

On Thursday morning we flew to Baltimore, took the Amtrak train to Penn Station, & then walked to our hotel which was located in Times Square.  Our room was very nice.  We had a lovely view of 8th Avenue from one window & a likewise lovely view of the Hudson River & New Jersey from the other window.  

On Friday morning we visited an aircraft carrier, the Intrepid.  I was really excited about this for several reasons, not the least of which being that my brother served on the Intrepid when he was in the Navy during 1959-1961.  As we walked around the carrier I thought about how my brother had lived there & had walked in the same places where I was walking.  It felt kind of weird being there & thinking about how he had been there so many years ago & who ever thought that one day I'd be there as well.  

We were surprised to find that our hotel was located just about a block away from the famous Actor's Studio.  John, who loves old movies & movie stars, was very thrilled about this.  It was sadly a little ratty looking which is a real shame.  I don't know if it's still an actor's studio but if not they should give it a nice makeover & make it into an actor's museum of some sort.  

We then walked to the upper west side seeing many sights along the way.  I should be embarrassed to admit this but my goal was to visit one particular Food Emporium where they supposedly sold Laderach chocolate bark imported from Switzerland. This is the best chocolate I have ever had in my life.  Unfortunately I did not realize that there is an upper west side & an upper east side & so we were on the totally opposite side of Central Park than we should have been.  No big deal though ... we saw a lot of nice sights & landmarks along the way & experienced our first NYC cab ride for which my feet & back were very grateful!

On Saturday we visited Rockerfeller Center, St. Patrick Cathedral (lots of construction going on there), FAO Schwartz (I was so ticked seeing the large stuffed Peeps!), & we found the correct Food Emporium which sadly no longer carried the bark   : (   We also went to a yarn shop called Strings.

The owner & sales clerk at Strings were very nice but I did not buy any yarn there.  We then walked through Central Park over to the Dakota. 

Our last stop of the day was another knitting shop, Knitty City.  This was by far the best knitting shop in the city!  I bought some nice yarns which I will show you in another post   : )  

We hailed a cab to take us to an Irish pub which had delicious fish & chips! 

On Saturday we decided to walk south.  We visited Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building, the famous Macy's, & then walked/shuffled far south to a tea shop, a CD store, & then to Purl Soho ... another knitting shop.  Yes, that's another bag of yarn loot you see me holding there   : )  

On Sunday night we saw a Broadway musical.  To be more precise, it was the opening night for the previews.  I really don't know what the difference is between opening night & opening night for previews, but the show, Kinky Boots, was fantastic.  

I tried taking a few photos from our windows that night.  In no way do they capture the real thing, but here they are anyway.   

We really had a wonderful time & it was good to get away from the devil's playground for a while   : )   We are looking forward to returning again one day.