We left the village and headed uptown to meet Mom and John. The four of us walked south on 5th Avenue and stepped into St. Patrick’s Cathedral. After that we stopped for lunch at a little pizza place and headed towards the hotel. They had show tickets for that night and I had other plans for us. I wanted to see the Apollo theatre so we headed uptown again on the train and then walked a couple of blocks to the theatre. It was lightly raining so we didn’t stay. We got back on the train and got off a few stops south because I wanted Bailey to see the Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately the entire facade was covered with scaffolding and net as you can see below. We couldn’t go in because it was after hours!
We continued our walk south to the Dakota and after a pit stop at the Starbucks we arrived just in time to see the sunset. The Dakota is the building to the right. Standing at this point, if you turned around you’d find yourself at an entrance to Central Park. In this location you find a part of the park dedicated to John Lennon. This 2.5 acres is called Strawberry Fields.

This tile memorial is found in Strawberry Fields. I’m told that the offerings and the display pattern change every day.We then headed east through the park and heard music in the building across from Bethesda Fountain (photo below). We didn’t have tickets to the show so we had to trudge on. Still heading east, we made it to 5th avenue (again) and headed south. I’m getting tired at this point.When we got to the southeast corner of the park I had to stop for a break. We were across the street from the Plaza Hotel. We rested for a few minutes and then continued our trek towards Times Square and our hotel.

Bailey wanted to see the campus of NYU and I love the village so I planned some time for us to explore this part of the city. I located a couple of thrift stores and she found a pair of shorts, jeans, and sunglasses in one store and you will see those sunglasses soon after this post.
Fountain in Washington Square Park

The gardens everywhere were in full bloom but the gardens in Washington Square Park were especially beautiful.

More fountain shots.

The kids were having fun splashing and an occasional adult too. It was another very hot day in the city.

We walked over to the information center of NYU and she picked up some literature. We then walked to the thrift stores and back to the train station. We were meeting Mom and John at the Rockefeller Center for some site seeing. They were taking a tour of the Top of the Rock.

One of my many things to see in Manhattan is the Chelsea Hotel or Hotel Chelsea, depending on your mood I suppose. This hotel is rich with history and I am going to stay here someday. The train station is just steps away and from that station you can get anyplace you want in the city. It’s quiet and off the beaten path. My kind of place in more ways than one.

I enjoyed just sitting in the lobby and thinking about the many people who stayed at the hotel. If you are interested, here’s the site: www.hotelchelsea.com

After the show we walked over to Times Square, sat on the curb, and people watched. Two tired girls.

I REALLY wanted to see the play Book of Mormon but since it won many Tony awards… well, it is sold out for six months. Many of the broadway shows have what is known as a ‘lottery’ a couple of hours before curtain. BoM still conducts their lottery even though they could easily sell those tickets. Lottery works pretty much the same at each show – just the price varies. You arrive ~2.5 hours before curtain and put your name in ‘the hat’ – 30 minutes later names are drawn and if you win, you are given the option to buy up to 2 tickets for the show at a reduced price.

I convinced Mom, John, and 2 other people in their tour group to enter the lottery with me and Bailey. So, we had SIX entries. Yippee! Well, when we got to the theatre there was already a large crowd. We put our names in the hat and the crowd kept growing. John estimates there was at least 250 people waiting to win about 25 tickets. We didn’t win.

Well, one of my all-time favorite shows is HAIR and it opened again for a short summer run. Bailey and I walked over to that theatre to buy student tickets. Some theatres offer a limited number of student tickets at a reduced rate each day. You have to arrive when the box office opens (or at a time designated by the theatre) and wait in line for these tickets. Theatre tickets seem to cost from 70.00 to hundreds per ticket. I tend to go to the shows where I can get either lottery or student tickets. Call me cheap. I say frugal. HAIR student tickets are 37.00.

But I digress. When I went to buy student tickets the man said ‘we are starting our lottery in 10 minutes, you should try that first’… the HAIR lottery worked the same way. The lottery price is 27.00 per ticket. So, we entered the lottery and didn’t win. sigh. SOMETIMES the shows have a Lottery Losers Line where lottery losers like me can purchase the next best seats at a reduced price. This varies by show too. (BTW, there is a great website that is updated consistently with this info)

Bailey and I entered the LLL and waited. The lady running the lottery came over to sell us our tickets – but she surprised us instead with a FREE PAIR OF TICKETS! Sweet.

So, since I was now about 80.00 ahead I decided to treat us to a snack at Sardi’s. I had been to Sardi’s last year and loved it. It is steps from this theatre and we had fun eating our cheese and salad plate with diet cokes.

www.sardis.com I’m sure I embarrassed her a little with my dancing during the show. We were in the nose bleed seats so no one noticed. I had fun. My first night in the big city at my fav show after a snack at sardis. yay.

Our flight landed on time at LaGuardia airport. We bought our MetroCards and found the bus that would take us to subway station. Our good trip karma began. We walked out, the bus was there, we got on, and off we went. No waiting. After a few stop and about 30 minutes we were in Harlem at the subway. We took the green train south to Grand Central Station. Since the plane was on time, it was too early to check in . I had pre-planned a few stops in between the subway and the hotel of course… The first stop was easy . . . the inside of Grand Central Station. Beautiful!

When you leave Grand Central, if you look east you will see the Chrysler Building. We didn’t go over, just looked at it from the street. From here we walked west towards the magnificent New York Library.

It was very hot and we were carrying our backpacks so the stop at the library was welcome in more ways than one. The inside of the library is just as spectacular as the outside – but a lot cooler. We looked around for a bit and after we had seen the reading room we exited and started our walk to the Edison Hotel, our home for the next six nights.

The parental units weren’t at the hotel yet and we were hungry so I took Bailey around the corner and we found Daniela’s restaurant. Good Italian food and my first cannoli of the trip. Funny thing about this place… we walked by it a few times and each time the meal prices on the sign kept increasing.

We arrived at the hotel and found the parental units. Our room was not ready so I checked our bags and took Bailey on another walk. This time we walked to Times Square and headed north to Central Park and Columbus Circle. Again, it was very hot and we stopped here and there to rest. At Columbus Circle we took the blue train back to the station near the hotel. This station would become very familiar to us. Our room was still not ready so we sat in the lobby for a while. Bailey was smart and took advantage of the quiet time.

Another nap in the Edison Hotel lobby while we wait for our room.

We had a very early flight to the big apple. Two excited girls ready to go!

The early flight soon caught up with Bailey.

I walked out to get the mail one morning and when I turned around to go back I saw this HUGE bird on the peak of the house. Guess he was just taking a break.