The Big Apple

I only drove until about halfway across Connecticut… then Chip took the wheel, and I had a chance to take a nap in the backseat… he drove all the way to the top of Manhattan before he woke me.. he had taken a wrong turn and was a tad bit lost. So I started driving again, and we swiftly made our way to the parking garage on 42nd street.

It was interesting to see how much had changed merely on 42nd street. Madame Tussaud’s New York wax museum was a bit of a surprise. I had heard there was one starting in NYC.. but I didn’t know it was already up and running. Later in the day, we did try going to it.. but it was far too expensive to be worth our while. We bought our tickets to Rent, which was the main purpose for being in the City yesterday. We decided to go to the 8pm show.. so it was 10am.. we had quite a bit of time to waste.

And we did indeed have quite a time. The subway now has this all day ride pass that only costs $7.. so we each bought one and put it to good use. We were supposed to take the subway up to FAO Schwartz, but took it in the wrong direction.. so we went all the way to to bottom of Manhattan and back.. it took about two hours altogether.. which left us plenty of time for naps. We finally got to where we wanted to be.. took a short walk and there was FAO Schwartz. Neither Marcia or Chip had ever been, even though I have quite a number of times. Chip was just thrilled to be inside a Trump building. They both were shocked at the stuff inside.. I made sure to tell them it’s a place to LOOK at toys.. not buy.. considering they had a kid-size electronic Hummer for $30,000.

After that, we went to the Trump Tower, which for Chip was a dream come true. It was actually really spiffy… there’s a waterfall running down a wall that’s three floors high… the wall shaped strangely, with squares jutting out here or there to make the water move differently. We hung out on one of the rooftop “gardens”.. which compared to even my yard here, was kind of pitiful.

So then Chip wanted to go to the Gugenheim Art Museum.. so onto the subway again.. in the right direction this time. It was raining, and I mean pouring, when we got out of the subway… so we ran the six blocks to the museum. It was definitely an experience. I was not fond of the paintings that were just… a black box.. or a red circle. There were other odd things.. like an entire bar made out of wax, and a piano filled with cement with potatoes stacked next to it. All in all though, I had a good time.. despite the fact tat my legs felt like they were going to fall off after awhile. Marcia and I made Chip sit for awhile to stare at Picasso paintings while we rested. Finally, we decided to go to the top of the Empire State Building… So we hopped on teh subway again, ran through the rain again….. and found out that going to the top of the Empire State Building is far too expensive for us. Plus, we wouldn’t’ve been allowed outside once we got to the top, because of chances of lightning or something. So we headed back to 42nd street for food and the show (which was on 41st street). It was pouring again.. so we went back to the car and I changed into dry pants and new, dry shoes.

We went to Applebee’s to eat… but it was packed, so we went to McDonald’s instead, then went to the show.

I’m not going to ruin it for you. I’ll merely say it was fabulous.. and amazing.. but for mature audiences only.

Then we came home. That was interesting. New York drivers are insane.

End of story.