Norwalk to New York City

May 23rd and 24th:  We have moved to our last destination - the Big Apple or New York City.  

Wednesday evening, I reported we had dinner with Betsy's cousin Sue and her family, but had no photos.  Here are a couple for the record.

The lobsters were steamed, not boiled (apparently a kinder way to die) ....

Bill and Sue Abrams

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon in Central Park walking around.  Getting there (or more properly to NYC) was challenging.  I had no problem getting Betsy and our luggage to the nearest train station that would take us into the city.  Before dropping her at the station, we had a great breakfast at Knead, just a short distance from the station in Saugatuck.  I then returned the rental car and Enterprise gave me a ride back to the station.  I quickly bought tickets at a machine (with no instructions) that would take us to Grand Central Station.  Everything mostly worked well up to this point.  We didn't even need to wait very long for the train to arrive.  But the train was SRO because the NY Yankees had a afternoon game (against the Seattle Mariners), and yep, you guessed it, the fans were rowdy, noisy and hogged all of the seats on the train.  We stood up for the entire trip from Norwalk, CT to the 125th St./Harlem Station (the nearest connection to Yankee Stadium from the train station on the subway).  It was rather uncomfortable to say the least.  There was one guy (with a young son) who was wearing a Mariner jersey - he was booed whenever he arose from his seat.  (It was raining seriously when we got up that morning, and poured during the train ride, so we half expected the game to be cancelled.  The day gradually improved and warmed.  Oh, the Yankees beat the Mariners (5-0).

We arrived at Grand Central Station, followed the crowd into the great hall and then were totally confused on where to go.  Of course, signs were rather sparse and they are probably targeted  more at locals who understand the shorthand.  We exited through an office building, wandered toward a street that would go north (we were heading from 43rd St. up to 72nd St.) and then a bit westward.  The streets were jammed packed with cars and trucks, none moving very fast, lots of pedestrians, and no taxis.  So, I called up an Uber, which came fairly quickly (there were 5 or 6 cars in the immediate vicinity) and Ana, our driver, took us to the Hotel Beacon.  Whew, we arrived about noon.  The hotel staff are very gracious and our room was available.

After resting a bit, we pulled ourselves up and walked around the lower half of Central Park.  The photos tell the story.

Our room at the Hotel Beacon - comfortable, quiet, and in a great location.

Professional dog walking. New York has lots of dogs who seem calm and nonchalant about the racket and chaos around them.  We have even seen a couple of chill cats - one riding on the front of a motor scooter and wearing sunglasses!

An interesting fence in Central Park with integrated benches.

Belvedere Castle.

Turtle Pond with a thriving turtle population.  They seem to come to the humans.

Natural History Museum, from inside the park (it is just outside of the park on Central Park West).

The Obelisk.

Lobsters (or crabs) holding up the Obelisk.

A panther watching for unwary squirrels or tourists.

Women Rights Pioneers.

The skinny buildings?

The Plaza Hotel.

The Dakota (home to many celebrities, including John Lennon).

On the way back to the hotel from our walk (BTW 4.4 miles), we stopped at Trader's Joe for dinner supplies and other treats.  Then we cleaned up and had dinner in our room before hustling off to the Hudson Theater, near Times Square.  We rode the express subway which, after not stopping at the next several stations, did stop at Times Square.  We learned later the nuances of the subway train lines and the different types of trains running on these lines (locals versus express, downtown vs crosstown, etc.).  In any event, we made it through the crush of people in Times Square to the theater a half hour before showtime.  We saw Merrily We Roll Along, a musical written Stephen Sondheim, starring Jonathan Groff (previously King George in Hamilton), Daniel Radcliffe (the original Harry Potter), and Lindsay Mendez (a Broadway regular with TV credits), and others.  It was well done, the music was good and we enjoyed it.

Today, we slept in, had breakfast in our room, and decided to head toward southern parts of Manhattan.  We took the subway to 14th St. and 7th Ave., walked through some of Greenwich West Village, then into Greenwich Village proper, through Washington Square into Soho ("south of Houston"), to Canal St., the edge of Chinatown and into Little Italy.  We stopped for lunch at Da Nico, the home for the 25th anniversary of The Sopranos.

Washington Arch

One of many manhole covers - note where it was made.

Fire escapes

Lunch stop.

We then moved northwest up to Chelsea and walked the Highline, a former rail line, restored and altered into a raised art and garden path.  It is popular with locals and out-of-towners, since it offers great views of the city, has cooling breezes and sitting areas, and no motorized traffic or even bicycles.

Inside a subway station.....

The start of the High Line

Dolphin art.

Remembrance of the trail's past.  The building in the far distance has a platform, known at the Edge - a 100-stories-high observation deck with a glass floor, bar and 360 degree views, for $36 per person.

More art.

The Shed (performance center) and the stairway to no-where.

The Shed's roof support.

The High Line looking west, just before the Hudson Yards.

The stairway to no-where, actually called The Vessel.

The Empire State Building in the far distance.

And, finally more "street" art.

Con Ed.

We returned to our hotel to rest up and get prepared to go to Cabaret tonight, our second musical.  More on that later.