For today’s walkabout, I had decided last night to go somewhere totally new, and far from the hotel. It was a subway ride to the walkabout. Battery Park was my destination as I wanted a picture of Lady Liberty since the values she has espoused for so long have been under attack, really since 9/11, and even more so with the 2016 election.
I’m glad I did as I got to see something I’ve wanted to see, plus some fantastic old buildings, one of which is on the National Historic Registry. I’ve always wanted to see the Wall Street Bull—who knew how anatomically correct it would be. As with most things New York, I had to wait to get a good picture of it, and a sweet old Asian woman offered to take my picture with it when saw me about to try a selfie.
Picture taking was a practice in patience this morning as there were more people than I’m used to milling about since I was in the Financial District.
It was a bit of an adventure heading back to the hotel. Usually a subway platform will say Uptown or Downtown so one knows the platform side from which to board. As you probably guessed, this station did not. After pondering for a moment, I decided which side I thought was correct and got on. I figured if nothing else, I’d get a quick visit to Brooklyn before catching the train back into Manhattan. Luckily, I guessed correctly and was on my way back.
Yesterday was another full day of seeing the City.
We started at Rockefeller City in the NBC Store. Little did we know they were going to be taping a section of the Today Show in there. A small crowd was had gathered in one corner of the store, so I went to investigate. Seems a group of people from some town were practicing for the live shot of when Kathie Lee Gifford would show up. Joe and I decided to get with the crowd (so you may have seen us on TV yesterday). Then when that shot was over, we thought it was done. But no, about a minute later, Kathie Lee is ushered in and starts talking with four pre-selected people (the funny thing is one of the PA’s told them to remember their name and where they were from when she showed up, I know why now). When she came in, I thought those four people were going to pee their pants right there. It was exciting to see her and got some shots and video of her. She was in and out in less than five minutes.
From there we went outside and took pictures of the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. Apparently they were debuting the first episode of the last season in Radio City Music Hall last night. Next we were off to have street dogs, Halal and Korean food from the little food trucks that are all over the place.
On my walkabout earlier, I had seen a small exhibit of Game of Thrones costumes, in an AT&T store of all places. I knew Richard and Rob might find it interesting. Which they did, as did Joe.
After that bit of excitement, we went to get some penny’s pressed for a friend who collects them. Funny that we will pay 50¢ for the pleasure of smashing a penny with a picture on it.
Dear Evan Hansen was next. Some bits were good, but it just didn’t live up to the hype it receives. The best, and in some ways the worst, part was a scene showing the ugliness of social media…too much like current reality.
A nice dinner at Trattoria Dell’Arte followed. The food was fantastic and the coat check attendant was very funny. She even knew a little about each of the places we live and has been skiing in Taos.
Our next stop was back to 45th Street for Kinky Boots (still as good as ever). Since it closes this week, we decided to go see it again. With a little time before the show, Richard wanted to do a shot and talked Rob into doing so as well. A little entertainment prior the show.
Dessert was in order after the show. We had scoped out a place while walking from the subway. Interestingly, the workers had no idea what time they actually closed, so we took the chance and went back. They were still open and we got some cookies and some blondies to take back to the hotel.
We closed the Owner’s Lounge, where we went to have our dessert, before heading off to a comfy bed and called it a day.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 