Walkin' Yes Indeed

The trip to NYC this past weekend was wonderful. The weather was perfect with temperatures in the low 80s, sunny, and low humidity. Excellent walking around weather. It was my first trip to New York City and I really enjoyed it. It's always hard to tell if you're going to like a place when the first encounter is on a bright sunny day. I need to return in the middle of winter or on a blustery, rainy day to get a feel for true urban living. But, during the little over two days I was on the island it was great.

If you don't want to read to the entire post here are the photo galleries:

Saturday Photos
Sunday Photos

Friday
I met mom at the Delta terminal baggage claim at LaGuardia around 6:00 and we hopped in a cab for the trip to the hotel. I'm not sure if mom had ever been in a taxi before but that was only my second time but it was a piece of cake. We arrived at the Crowne Plaza Times Square where Emily met us on the curb. After settling in the hotel we walked to dinner at John's Pizzeria a couple of blocks from the hotel. Emily had been to the original Greenwich Village location earlier in the trip so she suggested we go to the closer one for dinner. It was good pizza, but definitely a tourist restaurant given its location. I would have liked to venture to the original neighborhood joint. After dinner we relaxed at the hotel.

Saturday
Well Friday night started not feeling well so that put a slight damper on the trip, but we made do. Saturday morning Emily had to attend a bike building service day with her coworkers, so I ventured out to walk around by myself with the goal of seeing Central Park. I started out heading east on 49th street and then north on 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) so I would have a straight shot at the center of the park. I walked past Radio City Music Hall and saw that Widespread Panic was playing that night (Very tempting for both Emily and me but we resisted). Central Park is beautiful and full of energy. People were running, walking, biking, and skating all over the place. It truely is a bastion amidst the skyscapers. As I walked along the path, I happened across several softball fields with teams in full action playing games of modified fast pitch. I found a spot on the bleachers and a couple of games for a few minutes and wishing I was playing. After watching the games, it was time to head back to the hotel to meet Emily.



I walked out of the park into the bright sun and bustle of Columbus Circle where vendors lined the sidewalk selling photos and other assorted tourist art and cabs zooming around the cicle. Proceeding south on Broadway I grew closer and closer to the masses of tourists in Times Square. I quickly realized thar Times Square is really just a big tourist hub designed in honor of commerce. It reminded me of the area around the Alamo in San Antonio for the cheesiness and my vague memories of Picadilly Circus in London for the visual and auditory experience. I have a feeling that natives avoid the area if at all possible.

Google Map of my Morning Walk to the Park

Saturday afternoon Emily and mom went to find a doctor (everything was fine she just wasn't feeling well) and much to my protestations was urged to go out and enjoy the trip. So, I went ahead with our plan to take one of the Circle Line boat tours of the island. I grabbed a cab and directed him to Pier 83 on 42nd and 12th for my 75 minute tour of the island (they have 3 hour tours and I laughed to myself everytime somebody said it). The 75 minute tour is the shortest they offer and stays just in the Hudson River but it provides an overview of the highlights of what everyone wants to see. As we motored down the river the tourguide explained the history of the prominent buildings and other landmarks such as the Holland Tunnel and of course the Statue of Liberty. As we passed the statue, the boat leaned slightly to the right as people stood and moved to the rail to get a better glimpse. It's amazing, the statue is 305' tall and definitely does not appear that large from a distance. For the scale, look at the people at the base in some of the photos. Another highlight, if it can be called that, was seeing Lower Manhattan and trying to visualize how the skyline looked before September 11. The tourguide pointed out that we should double the height of the tallest building and that would represent the height of the World Trade Center. Those must have been some pretty impressive structures.



Upon arriving back at the dock, I decided to walk to Ground Zero. In hopes of not looking like a tourist more than I already did with my backpack I hoped to find my way without a map. I first walked east on 42nd Street where I passed a family that I'd seen earlier in the morning at the park and on the tour boat (queue "It's a Small World"). After a few minutes I turned into the lush Bryant Park which was surrounded by really cool looking trees. I then took a left then made a right onto 5th Avenue knowing that I'd eventually find the Empire State Building. When I arrived at the ESB, I turned right on 34th Street to get a better view. It's one big building, but aethetically, I prefer the Chrysler Building. Continuing my walk, I turned left onto Broadway which led me to the Flatiron Building, a building I'd hoped to see but wasn't sure of the location. After the obligatory photos of the triangular structure, I made my way down Broadway and ran into Washington Square Park. Washington Square park was bustling with activity, several music circles, and people enjoying the beautiful afternoon. It was a great contrast to the laid back atmosphere of Bryant Park. Leaving the park, I found myself on a couple of smaller neighborhood streets devoid of tourists which provided a nice break from the hubbub of Times Square. As I walked south, twenty-something guys asked if I knew where Ground Zero was and I said that's what I'm looking for too. Even though I had a pretty good feel of where I was going and would eventually find it I pulled out the map. As I folded the map they thanked me and walked off and I continued on my solo adventure. I soon arrived at Ground Zero and found a construction site and no real memorials that I saw (Side note: the main designer of the WTC memorial is a Tech grad!). It was getting close to 6:00 pm when I arrived at the WTC site and my stomach was growling. I debated if I should push on through to the end of the island and see Wall Street, Battery Park, South Street Seaport, and the all important "nexus of the universe", the intersection of 1st and 1st, but I didn't. I walked west towards 12th Street where I knew traffic wouldn't be as bad and caught a cab. Sixteen dollars later and I was back at the hotel (should have taken the subway).



Google Map of my Afternoon Walk to Downtown

Saturday night Emily and I took the subway to Union Square Park for an al fresco dinner at Luna Park in the park. The food was pretty good, but the sangria tasted as watered down and had sat with the ice in it too long. After dinner, Emily wanted to find some shoes so we hit up the huge DSW across the street but she didn't have any luck. We then hopped back on the subway in search of desert which was either going to be a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery or frozen yogurt from Pinkberry (a new concept). Pinkberry won out and luckily we didn't have to stand in line too long and by the time we finished it was down the sidewalk. Pinkberry is a west coast frozen yogurt shop with only two flavors, plain which is kind of vanilla with a twist of tartness and green tee. I got a small plain with strawberries and blueberries. It was definitely worth standing in line and very refreshing. Finishing our yogurt we headed back to the hotel after a long day.

Sunday
Sunday was another beautiful day and started with brunch at Tavern on the Green in celebration of mom's birthday. We all had brioche french toast with bacon. Mom and Emily really enjoyed their's, but I think the Carolina Coffee Shop in Chapel Hill wins the best french toast award. Since we were in the park, after lunch we strolled around and enjoyed the weather and beautiful scenary. We again took a cab from Columbus Circle back to the hotel to drop off mom. Emily and I then ventured out and about to see some more sights before I had to leave.



Our main goal of the afternoon was to go to the top of the Rockefeller Center. For such a beautiful day it was surprisingly uncrowded at the top which made for an enjoyable time. We both concluded that the Rockefeller Center probably has a better view than the Empire State Building since it's more centrally located and you can see the park. Unfortunately the view of the Chrysler Building is partially obstructed which was the only negative.



While at the Rockefeller Center we found the Nintendo World Store and played a Wii for the first time and it took some self control not to buy one. From Wii World we walked down 5th Avenue towards the park to see the former Plaza Hotel. On the way, Emily found some shoes and we stopped in the Trump Tower to see the "public space" inside the building and check out the waterfall. I really, really don't like Trump's idea of design. It's very 80s and tacky with the brass and black glass. After Trump, Emily resisted going in the Tiffany store and we walked by the Plaza after a stop at the Louvre-like Apple Store on the way to the subway. After a short ride, we popped out of the subway in Times Square, grabbed a slice of pizza, and headed back to the hotel. I then finished gathering my stuff and caught a cab to LaGuardia and flew back to Raleigh arriving at my apartment around 10:00 pm. Sunday night mom and Emily went to see Mama Mia and had a great time and really enjoyed the show.

My impressions of New York: beautiful, urban, unique smell, bustling, green, tourists, and clean. I was disappointed I didn't really hear any "New York" accents but I guess that's because I didn't venture out into the other boroughs. While I did hear many different languages walking down the sidewalk, all of the Americans were pretty generic. I knew going into the trip that I wouldn't have time to even scratch the surface of the city which leaves me with the itch to go back and take it slower and enjoy the atmosphere. I'd like to be able to hang out in one of the parks and relax, take in a museum or two, and venture into other parts of the city. I've also asked myself, could I live here? I'm not sure. I think it would be fun but would grow confining after awhile. The energy generated by the masses of people and buildings pulled me out of the hotel and that definitely doesn't happen in my apartment in Raleigh. I'm still not going to buy into calling it "The City" but now I understand why people do.