Oak Street Ranch

Evening Three Recap and Day Four

Greetings All,
Lots to cover, so let's jump right in, shall we?
When last we left our intrepid explorers, it was out to dinner in NYC.
We arrived in the area early for our dinner reservations - went walking around, and stopped for a quick cocktail in a local restaurant.

Upon the recommendation of Cousin Ruthie, we went for middle-eastern: Ilili, in part of what I believe is the Flatiron District.
Loud, busy place with low key decor. Light woods, lots of sheer drapery, and candlight. I could go through all the selections (which included kebab, stuffed grape leaves, shwarma, etc), but for this recap, I'll just say - way too much food. All of it delicious.

We crawled out of there, stuffed beyond even dessert and coffee - and were out for more adventures. A short hop in some subways, a little walking, and we headed towards Rockefeller Center. Let me tell you. This is a good and bad decision on our parts. Good: All the sights you expect. Rockefeller Center. The tree (which was huge). The skating rink (which was smaller than I expected from TV). It was lit up, bright and bustling. The bad - It was a tourist mecca. Tour buses letting off, crowds packed in. Guys dressed as Santa, Dora the Explorer or giant panda bears, all posing for tourist photos (Please - save the emails. I have no idea why a tourist would travel to New York, to pose for a photo with a guy dressed in a panda outfit. But, I do know we saw another one near Wall Street today, so its apparently one of the more popular options...)
We struggled through the crowds down past Radio City Music Hall. We considered going to the "Top of the Rock" - but with the crowds, being so full, and having already done the Empire State Building, we just kept moving.

After a quick stop for some photos, we trucked over to Times Square (again, based on Jen's brilliant navigating).
Times Square - Well. Let me say. Its as if someone took The entire Las Vegas Strip, and crushed it all into a two block radius. Its bright, loud, crazy and impressive. It definitely matched up to what you see on TV. We grabbed a random table out on the Square and hung out to ring in my birthday in Times Square. Very cool! More subway transfers, and then home!

This brings us to Day Four.
Let me start with - Winter Arrived. No... really... Its a high of 40 or something... freezing rain, potential for snow.
So, needless to say, we are bundled up, and trying for subway transfers over walking. THOUGH, you have to fuel up - so, there's a stop at Crumbs for cinnamon rolls and coffee. Gotta have something on the subway, no?
We start with a trip down to City Hall. I always say that you can tell when you're near a city government center (any city government center), when you see lots of folks in suits, and a higher than usual concentration of crazy people. New York did not disappoint in that regard.
The City government area is lots of buildings with columns and plazas. Lots of places familiar to viewers of Law and Order, of course (like the Criminal Courts Building, etc). Some photos were taken, and a quick walk...

We headed into Chinatown! Its exactly what you'd imagine - People selling knockoff handbags, ducks hanging in restaurant windows, tour busses, banners strung across the street advertising some negighborhood festival, clanging, crashing, bumping and yelling.

We cut down some sidestreets that took us into the Tribeca area. Also pretty much what you'd expect. A chat with a friendly doorman, while we took refuge out of the rain to get situated... and we were off again, down Broadway, towards the financial district.
This walk took us into shopping areas, commercial zones, etc. We stoppped at place recommended by Cousin Cindy - Century 21. Its not the realtors... Its kind of like a cross between...between... between a Lohmann's, a May Company, and ... an industrial blender... on high... Crowds, tourists, locals doing their holiday shopping. All one could do is hide. Though, Jen got some nice earmuffs for the cold...
Along their side entrance, we exited out onto the path down to the site of the Trade Center. Its an impressive sight, even when what you mostly see is scaffolds and cranes and digging.
Further down, we came across Trinity Church, also famous from that particular stage in history.

Finally, we made it to Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange is pretty impressive. Its a giant roman temple to money. Marble, several stories high, imposing at the end of Wall Street. Its pretty cool. The surrounding buildings are as well. One of the buildings facing one side of The NYSE is Federal Hall (where Washington was sworn in as the first President, meetings of the continental congress, etc). Very cool building. A quick stop at the top of the steps to Federal Hall for phone calls, and list checking, and we're off again. On Broadway, and a couple of subway transfers to - Katz's Deli.

You get off the subway at Essex and Delancy. A great place to stop if we were getting pizza.. but we march on.
We find Katz's (and unfortunately for us, there's a tour bus outside). It is PACKED. Its a long counter, with dozens of people running behind it. Imagine a deli, and a lottery giveaway and a bullfight combined. With cold cuts.
We searched for a table. FINALLY found one. Right next to the spot from When Harry Met Sally.. the moaning scene.. Yeah, that. Anyway, this incredible charming sever then tells us - YOU! Tables for two are in the back... and walks away. Since that was supposed to be our waitress, we take the subtle hint that she's not going to help us.
So, we head back, get in the self serve line, fight our way to the front and get our sandwiches. Two pastrami sandwiches. Piled high on rye. Mustard. Plate of pickles on the side.
Move on.
We grab some drinks and a slice of cheesecake - just to check. And begin prowling for a table again. After much searching, we finally locate a place, sit down and dig in.
Its great to be sitting...dry...warm... and having pastrami... The pickles rocked. And the cheesecake was delicious. It was painful to have to pack up and go...

After a trek down to the subway station, we had a little negotiation. Sightseeing and shopping would have to wait. Time for a little rest and recharge. Checking of mail, blogging... and recovery.

We'll see what the evening holds. We have show tickets for "Rock of Ages" tonight.
We elected to not have dinner reservations, to see what we feel like. Though, the Irish pub next door to the hotel has Harp Battered Fish and Chips that sounds pretty good!
Of course, there's the dillema - We have our car service set for tommorow (sunday). It comes at 4:45am! Yes - many of you back on the West Coast will just be going to bed when we are getting to the airport (Jason). So, to sleep or not to sleep, that is the question...
We'll see what happens!

Once again - thank you to everyone for your birthday wishes!
And, again, thank you to Jen for this birthday adventure!

Cheers.

posted by Mitch @ 1:07 PM