Oct. 24th, 2012, Wednesday: Brad was up and saw Jerry before he left for work this morning, but I didn’t wake until after. We had a bite to eat then finally took off to walk Manhattan. We’d heard there were few public bathrooms in NYC, so of course, soon after we left, I was in need of a restroom. Going north on 7th Avenue we popped into a Pottery Barn - nope, no bathroom there. Whole Foods? It was quite the zigzag, nooks and crannies store, and again, no bathroom in sight. Back outside we came to a baby and toddler store - I knew they’d have a bathroom and sure enough we found one downstairs in the basement. Yay! Continuing north on 7th Ave. we stopped often for photos - quintessential tourists for sure!
When we weren’t taking photos we walked fast, like the rest of the crowd, and the closer we got to Times Square the busier it became. The night before, while walking with Jerry, we learned it was ok to charge across streets whether the light said go or not - as long as there wasn’t any traffic of course! Considering that’s how we cross streets at home, it felt pretty natural.
Today the weather was cloudy with the occasional light sprinkle and temps in the 60’s. We walked all the way to Central Park, then meandered our way through half of the park, taking photos and even taking turns shooting photos for people from other countries - tourists like us.
Taking 5th Avenue back it felt like we were in a mall full of people. Everyone seemed to have a camera.
The New York Public Library - above, and below, some of the murals inside.
After a late lunch at a deli, we kept wandering, at one point into a small park where a bunch of people stood under a tree looking up. We stopped and saw a hawk, fluffing and futzing high in the tree. A couple passed by with a Whole Foods bag, so we asked them where the nearest store was. It was the same one we’d stopped in that morning - a few blocks away. We wanted to cook Jerry dinner so bought veggies for a salad, a good loaf of bread and prawns. We were intrigued with the check-out system - 3 lines - yellow, blue and green. A number would show up on a screen with the corresponding color - then if you were first in that colored line, you’d go to that numbered checkout desk. Damian was a cheery young fellow - very friendly and full of information - he told us his favorite place to go in NYC. He even pronounced Oregon correctly :).
It was pushing 6:00 and getting dark when we started off again, this time south on 8th Avenue, spotting the Chelsea Hotel on our way. My feet were aching, so we tried to slow our pace a bit. Upstairs at the condo, past the crew of doormen we finally arrived, opening the door to find Jerry already home. Yay! He was happy to see us and ready to mix martini’s. What a fun night - sipping martini’s in Manhattan, peeling shrimp and prepping dinner while Jerry watched and took pics with his camera.
After a delicious dinner, we sat around visiting until late, as I uploaded the days pics.
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