I took the long weekend and a very good friend of mine, from back home, to NYC. We had a blast. The city is amazing. We were stationed on the 51 st floor of a 52 floor hotel in Time Square, the very hotel where Good Morning America hosts their guests. Our view was straight down into Time Square, GORGEOUS! Saturday was spent playing tourist and information officer. I was mistaken as a local multiple times… which made me extremely happy. We walked forever and saw as much as we could. I love whirl wind adventures. I don't think I could be a lazy tourist and just do nothing all day. I'm sure I completely exhausted J but she didn't complain once.
I have to say Central Park is probably my new favorite park to be in. It was absolutely amazing… aside from the forever smell of animals wafting from the zoo and the hundreds of horse drawn carriages.
We set out exploring towards the piers and Liberty Island. By 9am there was a line 4 hours long to get to the Island. We vetoed this and took pictures from Manhattan. Walking our way north we stopped at Wall Street to admire the Trump Building, impressive building, and unimpressive surroundings. We also stopped to see Trinity Church, an already famous church for being part of the original New Amsterdam, further made famous by the film National Treasure. Hopping the subway we ventured north to Central Park where we wandered casually through the majesty of this grand promenade. Finding our way to the Metropolitan Museum I was all too prepared to be disappointed but was pleasantly surprised to find it was everything I had ever dreamed it should be and spent much of my time comparing it to the grandeur of the British Museum . My traveling companion found out quickly that although I may not watch a lot of television I am addicted to movies and could point out several film locations throughout the city. My favorite movie location was of course in the Met where Sesame Street had been lost and was on an adventure to save a young Egyptian. The location can also be viewed in the film Maid in Manhattan. I am of course speaking of the Temple of Dendur, absolutely amazing. Truly if you have the time for an adventure the Met is the place to have it. I also began to sing a bit from Bedknobs and Broomsticks when we entered the Armory Hall. You would have to see it for your self to understand where this crazy came from. Continuing on we walked down 5th Avenue to encounter Tiffany's, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, St. Patrick's Cathedral and then traversed our way to Broadway and back to our hotel.
We strategically planned our adventure to encompass that of Fleet Week, when all the naval ships not called on tour dock in New York and the sailors get shore leave. It turns out that the vast majority of the sailors that take advantage of shore leave are 18-21. We were, however; happily met by a group of LCDRs, CDRs and a RADML to share a beer with at the pub we decided to call home.
Truly an amazing adventure and one I am most ready to take again. Next time I will take in a show or two on Broadway, see the Village, wake up earlier to get to the Island and maybe even make it into Jersey.
Who knows I may move there next.
