NEW YORK CITY!

As you all know I am living my dream to be a NYer.   After two days, I'm not sure I would ever really fit in now at my age.  It would be difficult to be old and move here to this pace. As a young person, I would have totally loved living in the city. We are staying in the Financial District and its very nice, but definitely a younger crowd. If I actually lived here, I would want to live in a different part of the city.  It seems NYers are more friendly in other parts of the city. It's a little stuffy down here with all the business and financial folks. 

Tuesday evening after we arrived to our apt. , we unpacked and got settled before we walked over to Pearl Street Diner. This was one of the places I had on my list try in FiDi (Financial District). Robert Pattison filmed a scene here in the movie Remember Me. Plus, it's a long time staple in FiDi. It closed for three and a half months due to damage from the flood. I read several posts about the disappointment of residents in FiDi about its closing. It finally reopened.   Our plans had been to share all meals since we eat so little. 

However, the special Tuesday was two for one. We had lots of leftovers. We ordered diner food like turkey and stuffing and potatoes and gravy and fried chicken. Ok NY food is great, but they don't compare with southern cuisine. They need a few Paula Deen lessons on the use of butter, grease and salt.  We were pretty tired so we went to bed fairly early after dinner. 

Wednesday we got up threw on shorts and headed up to the 23rd floor for our continental breakfast which is included five days weekly. Considering the cost of food, we plan to take advantage of this perk. It's exactly what we expected, bagels, sweet rolls, fruit, cereal, yogurt, coffee, juice, etc.  It's actually a pretty good spread. They are pretty generous too allowing people to pick up what ever they want and take with them. We've grabbed a few things to keep in our room as well. The 23rd floor is nice. There is a very pretty lobby with a big TV and nice sofas and chairs to lounge and chill. 

There is also free wifi in this lounge. 

I've noticed at certain times of day many people sit up here with their laptops. Most everyone in this building is young. I assume they can't afford wifi and come up here to connect. I can't say that I blame them. I think since the apts are small, this is probably like our living rooms at home. The roof top deck is also attached to the lounge. It too is nice with flowers a view and plenty of comfy seating. The gym for the building is also on this floor. I think the gym is nice too. I just wish there were bathrooms up here. It's a pain to go down the elevator every time you need a bathroom. I guess maybe it doesn't matter to a younger crowd, but for the older crowd it would be a nice feature.   Jerry just found bathrooms up here. Lol

After breakfast yesterday we began our day of touring and lots of walking. We strolled up Wall Street to Broadway taking in many sights like the Trump Building (there are several in NYC), NY Stock Exchange, Trinity Church and our intended destination to Ground Zero memorial. As many times as I had visited NY since 911,  I had not been to see this memorial, so it was at the top of my list of things to see.  

It's free but they ask for a donation of $5 to $10 a person. It was really amazing to see the level of security required just to view the memorial. It was very similar to the security level at the airport. While going through security I realized the magnitude of change our country has endured since the tragic 911 event. We have already become accustomed to it, but I felt a little emotional just thinking about how hated our country is because we have been so blessed.   I'm so thankful to be an American, but sad at the same time to know we live in danger of those who hate our country.  Once through security we were able to view the memorial pools. It's hard to describe the feeling viewing all the names on the surrounding walls of the pools. One of our new friends at church is from NY and her sister died in the WTC. She shared her name with us and we were able to locate it and take pictures. You can see her name in our pictures, and we took pictures in honor of Brunilda's sister. It was then I looked up and saw that Jerry was feeling as emotional as I was at this place of remembrance. 

Once we left the memorial, we walked and found another place on my list for lunch. We ate at an Italian place in FiDi named Harry's. We shared a chicken cutlet sandwich with peppers and fresh mozzarella.  It was simple, fresh and tasty. The sandwich was huge and we couldn't finish it. Of course the bread and oil before helped fill us up. We drank water, trying to save money since the food is so expensive here.   Before the tip it was under $10 so that was good. 

Although we have both lost lots of weight and walking is so much easier now, Jerry still has really bad feet, having had serious foot surgery in the past so we try to be careful not to walk too much causing him too much pain. We have to pick and choose when to walk long distances and when to take public transportation. We wanted to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and I read that if you could only walk one way, walk from Brooklyn to Manhattan since those views are the most beautiful. So, we decided it was time to bite the bullet and purchase our unlimited subway card for 30 days. It was $115 a piece. Oh well I told myself if we were at home, we would most likely spend this in gas money.  We caught the subway and went over to Downtown Brooklyn. While there we thought we would look for the TKTS booth for matinee tickets for Broadway shows.  I read that you can actually purchase the matinee tickets the day before at the Brooklyn TKTS booth. Usually you can only purchase them the day of the show at the discount booth.  We tried to get our bearings in Brooklyn to figure out which direction to walk. Believe me when you are walking everywhere, you don't want to take any unnecessary detours and tire yourself anymore than you must. We asked a lady for help and she pointed us in the right direction. We should have listened to her and not asked another guy who totally got us off track. Let me side track here and talk a little about downtown Brooklyn. Let's just say a two stop subway ride from Wall St to Downtown Brooklyn is a different world, literally.  Wall Street is sleek, rich, a place of suits and ties and the wealthier type. Downtown Brooklyn is  a contrast of Wall Street. Here you hear loud booming music from store fronts. You don't see Tiffany in DTB. Of course finding a bathroom in the city, anywhere is a chore. We decided to slip into Wendy's for a bathroom break. There is always a line at all public restrooms and they are always up or down several flights of stairs. All fast food restaurants are a few stories high or low, below ground. The Wendy's in DTB was pretty yuck. It was old and packed with people. However, you take a bathroom break when you get the chance.  After Wendy's we were still searching for the right directions to the TKTS booth. Using apps and maps weren't helping. All of a sudden the lady from earlier that gave us directions walked up and asked if we had found what we were looking for before. She was so nice, she walked us to our destination. Who says NYers are not nice?  Once at the ticket booth we remembered mantinee shows are only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Oh we'll, there was a park close by with little restaurants around the park. We sat down to rest in the shade, under the pretty trees and shared a chocolate cupcake.  Once rested we began our walk to the Brooklyn Bridge. It wasn't very far from where we were resting. Ahhhh, the Brooklyn Bridge walk, what can I say? If this isn't on your bucket list, add it. This walk was spectacular! 

The views from the bridge of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan Bridge and Dumbo were truly breathtaking. I  didn't mind the bikes whizzing by me at top speeds, or the many other people also walking and admiring the views because I was so taken by the view I wasn't distracted.   I didn't even notice my tired and aching feet and body during the walk.  On the Manhattan side there was construction and tarps were up which obstructed the views some.  With that being said, I need to come back in a few years when they are down to do this again.   At the end of the bridge I remembered City Hall Park was there for a rest stop. Unfortunately the park was closed because NYC teachers/educators were having a huge rally for fair contracts and more money. Wow, what a difference. There were so many people in their blue shirts there to rally. I spoke to a couple of them sharing that in the south we don't have unions, we just take what we can get and right now are thankful to have a job.   Outside the park we found some benches to rest. One of the many things I love about NYC are all the parks, green spaces and of course food carts. The smells of food everywhere are heavenly. The greatest thing is that you don't feel guilty about eating because between the subway stair master and the many miles you put on your feet, you deserve it. While resting for at least an hour, watching the rally, conversing with people and enjoying the nice weather we sampled a great NY dirty water hotdog as they are referred to by locals. They really are just a cheap red hotdog with these cooked spicy onions in a red colored sauce, but they are yummy. We also couldn't resist the Waffles and Dingees food cart for a tasty dessert. We knew we didn't need it, but it was on my list and in case we didn't make it back to this area I didn't want to miss it. You saw the picture on FB. It was mmmmmmmm!  It was the throw down waffle because this guy beat Bobby Flay in a waffle throw down with this waffle. It had skepuloos spread which is a gingerbread cookie spread with whipped cream. 

Once done indulging and resting we caught the subway to Wall St and went back to our apt. I was EXHAUSTED!  I crawled in bed and fell into a coma for a little while. Finally about 8:00 we ventured out to find a bite to eat again. By this time I knew I needed something a little healthier. We ended up at Chipolte (like Moe's or our Diablos). In NYC, they aren't quite as generous with their food. Nothing is included with the price. No, Chipolte does not give complimentary chips and salsa and guacamole is an extra $2.50. I got a salad and Jerry a Burrito.  The portions were more than generous ( which we can't eat) as they should be for $22 for those two entrees and drinks.  Back to the apt we went and we died. We were exhausted. 

Today is a forced rest day because its rainy and cold out. We are not disappointed because we need a chill day. We've been hanging out in the lounge on our iPads. Later we will brave the rain and possibly go to the New Museum of Contemporary Art. They have free hours from 7-9 on Thursdays. I've done my research for free hours. I just hope everyone else hasn't discovered it. 

More postings will come. Hopefully I will have less information to share all at once. 

Cindy Pafford