Pretty cool train station...the ceiling is painted with all the famous constellations. The main area is just huge! But the main thing I remembered didn't even have to do with trains...just some really pretty cars that were being raffled off:
yummm! 300 tickets were getting sold per car for $1000 each. Not a bad idea on their part! they still get the $300k for the car and a bunch of people lose a lot of money...
I had high hopes for real New york Cheesecake. So we hit their most famous joint for some quality cheesecake. The verdict? It's cheesecake. Nothing particularly phenomenal that you can't get anywhere. They were charging something ridiculous like $5 a slice. At least the ones at the Cheesecake Factory are bigger. Hmmm...Eli's anyone?
Had to see what all the talk about New York Style pizza was about. We heard this was one of the best places in town. They still use a coal oven to heat up their pizzas. We got a Sausage/Pepperoni/Roasted Red Peppers pizza and it was delicious! I still say Chicago has the best pie in the states, but this pizza is right up there! You'll find it in the Little Italy area.
Did you really think we'd miss it? Yeah, I don't think so. Let me just offer up some advice if you'd like to go. The ferries go to both the statue's island and Ellis Island before returning. We caught the first ferry out too avoid lines. We even avoided Ellis island because we were REALLy short on time. And the whole trip still took us 3 hours. So make sure you have the time!
Well here it is...our last day in the Big Apple and -- more importantly -- the end of the road trip. But we still had a few things to take care of before marking NYC as officially "done"...
We ran into this place on our way back from the bar. It was yet another check in our tourist's book that we had to hit so we stopped for a hot dog. I remember them making a big deal out of this in the movie Fools Rush In (yeah I watch too many movies). Let me tell yeah, I was pretty disappointed...skinny hotdos with hardly any taste at all...and that's after a bunch of drinks when any food you eat will usually taste like the best food ever...too bad...
Bora and Charlie took us to a really cool bar that you just won't find in most places...literally! There's no sign out front, you just need to know where it is. Here's what the front door looks like:
but the inside is swank and looks like someone's apartment...the idea is so simple...yet brilliant!! We got there a little early, but after a certain time its by reservation only. yowsa!
AWESOME!!! We couldn't have planned a better picture during our trip! How did they know?? :o)
So after dinner, we decided to get some dessert. There is a REALLY popular cupcake place in NYC. The only problem is that I can't remember the name. Once I find out, i'll update this post.
So how popular is popular? Ever see a line for a cupcake place at 11:30 at night on a Saturday? Ever see a place with a self-proclaimed "Cupcake Bouncer"? Yeah...*that* popular...
Ate dinner at this Cuban place and it was fantastic! The place looks really nice and the portions of food you get are huge. But make sure to try out their Sangria, tis was awesome! I wanted to try their Mojitos too, but couldn't stop drinking the Sangria! They also have live Cuban music there too! Highly recommend this place in the West Village!
This place is cool as hell. It reminds me a little of Navy Pier in Chicago. Lots of stores for the shoppers, but also lots of street entertainers. I was able to catch the breakdancers in the pic above. They also had your typical "statue people". Know what I'm talking about ? Well, this time they had arobot guy who has a little box to play robot noises. Very nice act in my opinion:
After leaving the Wall Street area, I decided to take a walk along the water and ended up heading towards the Brooklyn bridge. This would be as close as I would get though with the limited time I had...
I've seen so many pictures of this statue that I decided I'd make another! the only problem, is that EVERYONE is trying to get a picture of themselves in front of it. So getting a picture of the bull is really tough. But I lucked out.
The funny bit is that some people would get sick of waiting for a photo, so they'd umm..."improvise":
in what country is this a common practice?? ;o)
Well, I've read that they were going to rebuild that area, but wow are they moving fast! The entire area is gated off but you'll find lots of notes all around with poems people have written about 9/11. You still get that weird feeling in your stomach when you walk around there knowing all those people died there.
hmmm...who can I talk to about that stagnant MSFT stock price?? Then again, it has been steadily climbing since I visited there!
Man, my memory of American history is rusty. Supposedly this is the site where George Washington was inaugerated as the first president of the United States. I'm too lazy to verify it, so comment back if you know different!
Rice pudding anyone? I want to say that I saw a scene in the movie, Hitch, that takes place here. So we decided to check the place out. Picture a Baskin robbins type place and switch all the ice cream with different flavors of rice pudding. Now, I understand that not everyone likes rice pudding. But, if you're in NYC and do like it, you better hit this place because their stuff is faaannnnntastic. I had a Banana rice pudding with graham cracker topping:
the picture doesn't do it justice...the good news is they supposedly ship as well, so I say just try it for yourself!
Little Italy is...well...little...
It's literally right next to Chinatown as you walk up Mulberry street. The thing that you notice right away in this part of town is the smell from all the restaurants in the air....MMMM MMMM!!! We already ate in Chinatown, but the smell was making us hungry all over again! This Italian deli was a big culprit of the great smell too:
I have to say I was expecting a little more from the area. When I was in San Francisco's chinatown, I felt like I could easily have been in China itself. I didn't get that feeling in NYC.
There are tons of people everywhere there, and we even caught some festival while we were there (yay dragons!!). The streets are lined with street vendors selling everything from fresh fruits to purses...
some different looking fruits by the way...
and it's amazing what people can make with palm reeds...
So, among the many differences you'll find between the cities of Seattle and New York, there is no more audibly notable difference than the car horn. By this time in the trip, we were all tired. So the idea of setting the alarm to wake up early was not something any of us wanted to hear. It didn't matter though. Around 8 in the morning you hear a car horn...then another...then another 4...Finally, it felt like EVERY car on the street let out a long continious honk...
HHHHHHOOOOONNNNNNNKKKKKKK!!!!
wow. Patience is a virtue not known in NYC.
Bora and Charlie, really hooked us up in NYC. Katz was just one small example! We told them they should start a blog about places people should go to since they seem to have the whole city scooped!
Why is he blogging about this??? Let me take you a little closer...
Still have no idea? For you movie buffs, this is the location of one of the most unforgettable moments in the film "When Harry Met Sally"....the famous orgasm scene, that is...."I'll have what she's having"
So we were going to meet up with my friends Bora & Charlie and a place on the lower East Side of Manhattan. Very cool area, but one thing that really stuck out to us was their Bring Your Own Booze policy. Apparently there's some weird stipulation where a lot of the restaurants in that part of town can't serve alcohol. But, they don't mind you bringing in your own. Which, in retrospect, is awesome! I mean, I'd rather pay $7 for a six pack than the single beer most restaurants would probably offer at that same price. The only thing is, did anybody remember to bring an opener?? ;o)
yeah, that's his belt alright!
On to our next big tourist attraction!! So let me just say that the fact we went on our road trip at this point in the year proved to be the most valuable here. Why you ask? well, i doubt you'll ever see this room look like this in July:
That's the line to get in the elevator that will take you up to the 87th floor...ummm...I don't think so!!!
In the end, though, the view from the top is breathtaking...above, you'll see a view of the Wall Street area of Manhattan along with the Statue Of Liberty off to the right...
...well you didn't think I was going to leave out at least one photo of Central Park did you? It's blocked by some other buildings, but you can still get a good idea of how trully large that park is
If you want to see Gothic architecture at its absolute finest, you'll be sure to check out this church. It's also right there on the famous 5th Ave which should ring a bell to those of the shopping fanatics. I'm wondering if this is the same church that the Stay Puft Marshmelow Man stomps on in The Ghostbusters movie...hmm...
Ok, so we're museum junkies...but I've heard so much about this place from magazines and such that I just had to check it out. There are some pretty famous pieces in this place, but honestly, the amount of stuff we saw in there was a big let down after seeing the Art Institute in Chicago. Still, there were a lot of gems here like this nice Jackson Pollock piece:
...or the very first Van Gogh painting I ever learned about (A Starry Night):
and my new favorite...the image that i'll probably end up putting up on my desktop the next time I leave on vacation (Edward Ruscha):
I fyou'd like to see more, just click on any of the images and sorth through my photos on Flickr
Yeaaahh...that's right! Nothing like walking down 7th Ave (that's not just any street mind you...it's the one that leads to Times Square) and seeing a familiar name. Just thought my Seattle peeps would get a kick out of it.
How many times had I seen this place during all those New Year's specials? Too many. But, now we were finally walking around there. Kinda surreal to be honest. I mean, seeing what we've seen along the entire road trip and comparing it to this was just ridiculous. It's definitely a mega tourist trap, but what do you expect. Lots of purty lights that made me think a trip to Tokyo might have to be an an upcoming agenda.
Our arrival into New York City was significant...it was the only city where we would park the car and never get back into it. Our trust Ford Escape (or rather both of them) had survived just over 5000 miles of road tripping. But this is NYC, and our cab ride from the airport (that's where we dropped off the car) showed us the only important thing you need to know....you don't want to drive in this city!
This is all we saw of Harvard. :o( If only we hadn't spent all our time walking the stupid Freedom Trail! The area that the campus lies in is called Cambridge. We drove through it at night and it looked great. It will be the first thing I visit when I head back out there.
Here's another place we were told was a must visit in Boston. Don't you love how most places people recommend are food places? I think if someone asked me about places to visit in Seattle, half of them would be food related.
Anyway, the place was pretty busy, and what better to try in a Boston pastry shop but Boston Creme Pie. MMMM...we finished 2 slices of this in about 20 seconds...
This was our reward for finishing the trail. wow. Looks like a typical house in Seattle to be honest! Wasn't he just a scout? Oh well, just figured I'd show you what you'd be missing if you didn't visit this area of Boston.
Now, I like a tourist attraction as much as the next guy, but the Freedom Trail in Boston is just over the top in my book. They painted a red line all throughout the city to follow the route Paul Revere took while letting the locals know that the British were coming to start the war. What is does is zig zag you across the whole city with the majority of the areas not being very interesting at all. If you're short on time, I suggest you don't bother trying to walk the trail.
