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Home
2003 2002
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We went on a theatre tour
with Jan's folks. We met up at the Newark airport early on Tuesday
evening. It was like a small town airport compared to the chaos of DFW.
It was really laid back.
We stayed a half a block off
of Times square in a hotel called 'The Edison' (http://www.edisonhotelnyc.com/).
It was built in 1931 (so it was older and not as modern). That was the
same year that Radio City Music Hall was built and they were both built
in the art deco style. We had breakfast every morning in one of the
hotel restraint's that had plaster walls and ceilings that were painted
in a Wedgwood style design (3D). The waiters were really cool and funny
(in that restaurant).
We had a bus tour of
Manhattan on Wednesday morning. It went from Park Ave to Battery Park
with everything in between (Central Park, Chelsea district, Harlem & the
Apollo theatre, the garment district, Macy's, Museum mile, Jackie O's,
Saint John the Divine Cathedral, etc). Then we went to the Empire State
Building on Tuesday afternoon. That is where the building pictures were
taken. The triangle building at the bottom of the picture is the
Flatiron bldg and at one time was the tallest structure in NYC! In the
harbor at the top right is the Statue of Liberty and just down from that
is Ellis Island. The tall buildings at the end of the island is
downtown. The WTC used to be in the right of that clump of buildings.
Wednesday evening we headed down to Carmine's Restaurant. This is
supposed to be a pretty good place and it was. Of course we had to get
reservations months in advance and I can see why. Then we hurried off to
the theatre hardly a block away from the hotel to see the play 'The
Producers'.
I should say that we
couldn't stop on a street corner and look at a map without someone
coming up and asking if they could help us find something. It was
unexpectedly friendly! What a pleasant surprise.
Thursday morning we had a
group tour of Radio City Music Hall. We weren't terribly excited about
going initially, but it turned out to be really interesting and we were
glad we didn't miss it!! The building/theatre was incredible with it's
art deco opulence! We went into the theatre where they were setting up
for the broadcast of the Daytime Emmy's. Then we went under the stage
to see all of the stage lifts and things. We went behind, under,
around and over the stage. They took us up to where the Rockets hung
out and rehearsed and we met one of the Rockets there in costume. Then
down to the lobby below the stage where the rich and famous used to
mingle with regular people. Thursday afternoon we ended up going to
Rockefeller Plaza and had lunch at the Sea Grill where a salad, sandwich
and glass of wine was $100 for two. However, Jan is still raving about
the best sandwich she ever had (personally I think it had something to
do with the dwarf that served it...)! We wandered around the shopping
district until it was time to head back to the hotel. Then on to supper
on Restaurant row on the other side of our hotel. We found a great
little French restaurant. Instead of the normal appetizers they had a
basket of bread, a rack of pepperoni and sausages and a basket of melons
and vegetables on each table to munch on. The main course was pretty
good too. Back to the hotel where one of the actors (female - I guess
they are no longer called actresses) from the play 'The Producers' came
by and talked to our group about what it was like, living and working in
Manhattan and the play of course. She was a riot! Thursday evening we
caught the play 'Gypsy' with Bernadette Peters.
Friday we grabbed the subway
and spent the morning at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We
couldn't get into the Statue of Liberty because of security but I
wouldn't have missed being able to walk around her. Ellis Island was an
amazing story all by itself. Listening to the stories and seeing the
exhibits were real eye openers. Friday lunch was spent with a hot dog
stand in the middle of Battery Park, watching the people walk by, the
street vendors cry for their wares and the street musicians play their
tunes. We had the usual opportunities to buy Rolex watches for $5.00 -
I passed it up 8-) . Then we walked up to Wall Street and saw the
outside of the NY Stock exchange, but again because of security we
couldn't get in. Soon it was time to hop back on the subway and head
back to Times Square and our hotel. Friday evening the group got on a
bus and went to the restaurant 'Tavern on the Green'. It's in Central
Park and truly an amazing place to see. Friday night in Manhattan was
unbelievable. Traffic is sheer chaos anyway but the weekends can't be
imagined. Driving a big bus through all of this with only inches to
spare was amazing. Added to the weekend crowds and chaos, the detours
created by the arrivals of the stars for the day time Emmy's and the
various streets that were blocked off because of it and we all had our
mouths hanging open (Dorothy we're not in Kansas no more). The bus
dropped us off for the play 'The Lion King'. WOW!!! The music, the
costumes, it was all a dream. After the play our group hung out in
front of the stage and the actors and stage manager came out to talk to
us. REALLY COOL!
Saturday morning we headed
off on the subway to ground zero. The cold damp gray overcast seemed
fitting for our outing. Late Saturday afternoon it was uptown to the
American Museum of Natural History where we took in an exhibit on
Einstein. We also caught a couple of films on space inside of the
planetarium. They were done in a 3D effect with surround sound. It
blew away anything I had ever seen before. Back to the hotel in warm
sunshine. Early Saturday evening it was back down to restaurant row at
the little French restaurant and then on to the play. This time we
caught 'Man of La Mancha'. By far it was the BEST play that we saw.
The acting was superb and the stage setup was great!
Sunday morning had us all
packing on the bus for a little ride through 'The Holland Tunnel' and on
to Newark. It ended all to soon. There were 100's memorable moments
and fun things happening. We can't wait to go back. Three afternoons
we had enough time between events to sneak down to one of the bars at
the hotel and grab a window seat. Literally watching the world walk by
and people reacting to it was a blast.
Well I'm sure I've confused
some of the events but this was one of our most favorite vacations and
we wouldn't hesitate to go back.
19933
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