What an adventure! I have concluded that my husband is the king of the roads! He navigated the curvy roads with bumper to bumper traffic like a pro all the way to Manhattan and INTO the CITY! I was impressed! Jeff Gordon had nothing on him! Of course, he was doing more than taking a left turn all the time. Kevin zipped in and out of lanes like a well traveled veteran and we arrived in Manhattan in no time at all! I was happy to have this Nascar Knight by my side. Upon arrival, we parked the car in a parking garage and proceeded to begin our walking for the day. We walked to Time Square and my main fun was watching Heather's face! She kept looking around everywhere, all of this was new! She was transfixed! We got to Time Square and my first destination with family in tow was---the tickets for the matinee! We got our barrings and found the ticket booth and stood in line. The one show on the list that I was most interested to see was The Phantom of the Opera. I had seen it in the traveling Broadway series, but NOT on Broadway, which is so very different. We moved up in line and were able to get four tickets, 14th row, CENTER! Four, you say? Yes, we took Kevin's cousin Jonathan with us and had an absolutely wonderful day with him! He is in his latter twenties and always smiles! He is fun to have around and very considerate. So, it was a natural match to take him into the city with us. Our major benefit is that we had our trail blazer, him, directing where things were. Between that and the fact that Kevin grew up in New Jersey, until he moved to Florida, really helped.
We started then the quest for certain stores: F. A. O. Schwartz and Tiffany's---with a stop off here and there for coffee, water and more water. Before we truly began our journey, we got said libations and sat in Time Square really taking it all in. It was a sight! Heather was so excited! Her six year old brain was going into overdrive, it was fun to watch.
We then began our walk towards F. A. O. Schwartz and walked, and walked and walked some more. We pointed out various old buildings to Heather as well as the beautiful ornate columns or faces on old buildings. Churches that were adorned with figures of saints and beautiful arches along side new and modern buildings, what a sight! I was flabbergasted! The last time I had been to New York was when I was twenty-five, thus, at thirty-eight, I can truly appreciate these amazing buildings.
All along our journey, I people watched. New York City is a great place to do just that. I saw so many Europeans and heard a melding of foreign voices. It was a delight to the ears. That combined with the solicitors along with way, hands out with pamphlets, trying to con you into taking part in a tour, go to a comedy club or give money to the homeless. Thus, not always a con, just a very insistent coersion by them.
We decided to go into the Apple store before we entered kid "children heaven" and walked into the glass apple box and then proceeded to walk down frosty glass stairs. It was one heck of an entrance! Heather loved it and then, we were in! We looked around us and there was a hustling and bustling about the store. We sat and talked to a pretty African American girl and she was so informative about Macs. Curly hair, big smile and filled with knowledge of her product. It was nice and very convincing. Needless to say, as to not miff my present computer, I won't say it directly, BUT---next time, my computer will be "New York City friendly," if you know what I mean. Don't want to make my Red machine angry, so, moving on.
After that, we went to F. A. O. Schwartz and you could hear the band of angels practically singing upon our entrance. It was magical. Heather's eyes got REALLY big! I think mine did too, because in front of us was Batman---made out of LEGOS! Not only Batman, but Harry Potter, Hermione, Ron, Hagrid and more! It was an awesome sight. Heather was in Heaven. We even played on the BIG piano! No chopsticks or Flight of the Bumblebee, sorry.
Then, it was on to my Mecca, Tiffany & Co! I had never been in one and here I was, ready to enter! Upon entering the turn-around, I was like a Raven in a hall of mirrors! Sparklies everywhere! It was soooo pretty! After tooling around the first floor, I asked where the sterling silver was and went into the elevator to the third floor. There I was, surrounded by pretties and Kevin said, "Alright, you may have whatever you want, up to $500 dollars. Get busy." I looked all around, after hugging him, and found a wonderful signature bracelet with a dangling heart on it. It was beautiful! There were going to add several links in it and we could pick it up later. I thanked my Knight and kissed him.
We were now on our way to food and then Phantom. Our mission, to go to one of the wonderful Ray's Pizza and procure some zza! We found just the one filled with beautifully tantalizing aromatics and soon landed ourselves with a tray filled with the Italian delicacy of the Gods. Jonathan bought us each a beer and Heather, of course, had water. We sat down and ate our Pizza and due to the fact that I was in New York, I did have a day of cheese---no Vegan pizza, and when in Rome, you eat like the natives. Then, it was time for the Phantom of the Opera and we were ready and in line! Upon entering, we were in air conditioning and ready to be taken away and BOY, were we ever. The whole time I watch and listened and thought of how this was Linn's favorite musical and how he would have loved to see it again. I thought of all the times he use to sing me the songs as the Phantom and I would sing as Christine. I thought how interesting that I had ended up with my Raul. Thus, I cried my eyes out during various times of watching the musical. It was wonderful! I was so happy to share this experience with my daughter and new husband. I turned to him when it was over and thanked him for a wonderful honeymoon, because that's what it felt like, and he said that it had only just begun. A good man, I am so blessed.
The next thing on our list was Kevin's other mission to eat a Cannoli, a true Cannoli. So, we found a little place that sold just that and ate to our hearts delights. After that, we went to pick up my bracelet and went into Toys R US! That was Heather's one request and she was in Heaven once again! She was amazed at the animatronic T Rex in the Jurassic Park section of the store and was just beside herself when she saw the Ferris wheel smack dab in the middle of the store!
After that escapade, we went back to Tiffany & Co and saw more pretties and Kevin asked me if there was anything I couldn't live without and I said, "No." And, we picked up my beautiful bracelet. Then, it was destination food and we found a fabulous Irish Pub and had a nice array of yummies! We went into various shops and got to see NYC at night and the lights, lights, lights! At the end of the night, we were dead on our feet with smiles on our faces and we retrieved our car and drove to where Heather could see the statue of liberty. We figured that next time, she would get to go to Ellis Island, next time, we would do all of the many things that we wanted to do, but could not do in one day, next time. But, for now, NYC in a day, what a magical day!
What a wonderful time!
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