NY City Part II: NY's Famous Streets, Rockerfeller Center, and Time Square.

After the views, and the lines of the Empire State Building we met up with Mary's cousin Rebecca and her son Aden. Lunch was on everyone's mind, so it was a quick hot dog from a corner vendor, just for the experience, because it was not that yummy.

Then we made our way inside the Heartland Brewery for some more formal sit down meals and a few cocktails. Mary was on a mission to get some power to her phone and we all needed a bathroom and a seat. Mary was able to charm a nice waitress to plug her in in the staff office, bathroom lines were not bad, and we all had a nice comfortable seat. That's were I finally scarfed down my dog and it was pretty cold by then.

The Heartland is located in the Empire State Buildings lower levels and apparently makes it's own beers.

The Smiling Pumpkin Ale featuring a toothless guy with a big smile had me thinking it was just up my alley, but Mary convinced me to try one of their cocktails. I had the Traffic Jam Slam. She opted for something more fruity and Rebecca had a pina-colta.

Who can resist a mixed drink with Grey Goose Vodka. Oh who am I foolin? For the $12- price tag for one small mixed drink I could have purchased an entire bottle of cheep vodka and never know the difference. I still am kicking myself for spending $12- on a drink, not to mention the $3- cold hot dog I ate. Mary and I opted for cocktails as our meals with a side of French Fries.

Alex and Aden did some second cousin bonding with tick tack toe on the placemats as Mary caught up with her cousin and the family.

After a re-charge with cocktails, a seat, a bathroom break and some French fries, we were all ready to take on the next challenge NY had to offer.I could have never anticipated the challenge we were to face as we took off towards Rockefeller Center. So off we went back down 5th Ave.

If you look close you can see the window washers on this building. WOW!!! Not a job for me that's for sure.

 Saks and Company. I have never been in and never purchased any items from there, I have always just heard about this store. Should I be impressed?

Some pretty building dressings.
I enjoyed taking random pictures as we walked and tried hard not to stop mid-stroll as the pedestrian population was sure picking up. Any slows in the pace could be a people jam.

St. Patrick's cathedral. Looks like they are working on it's exterior. Many years ago when I was a kid we got the grand tour of this famous church when visiting my Aunt and Uncle. My uncle was actually working on the interior at the time. I remember my mom being quite impressed, but I have very little recollection. I am sure it is amazing inside.
It got incredibly crowded at cross walks and as we got closer to Rockefeller Center, it was definitely a sea of humans.

We took a moment with the angles before we got the courage to head towards the center, and gained a view of the tree.

Can you see all of the people.
Initially I thought we were never going to get up close to the golden man over looking the famous ice rink. There were people every where and they all wanted to get their own glance at this famous rink, or take a turn skating on it. I had heard the price was pretty steep. Anywhere from $19.99 to $50-. Would it be way cool? Sure! But am I going to pay that kind of cash? No! Let's put it this way, your gonna spend lots of money when your visiting NY City there is just no way around it. You can be cheep like me, and still regret the $12- cocktail I had drank, or you can just splurge. I spent the rest of the day extremely cheep.

Somehow we pushed through the crazy crowds and made it.

The Holiday tradition of the tree originated in 1931 and the original tree lighting ceremony was established in 1933. Our Golden friend so modestly covered is Prometheus, the Greek God of Fire Stealing. Behind him reads "Prometheus teaches, in every art, brought the fire that have proved to mortals a means to mighty ends." The center and the statue were at the end of the great Depression. Ok, so I took that information from a book.

We spent several minutes admiring the skaters, gawking at the tree and the statue, before we decided to move on. Pictured is the NBC studio located in the GE Building. The Today show is filmed her and tons of performers have played in this square while admirers stand in the crowds with signs, and waves as they hope to been seen on TV by their loved ones. We were a little late for the show this time.

Next door is the NBC studio and home of Saturday Night Live.  There are so many tv stations now a days that these guys probably are not as big of a deal as when I was younger. When I grew up there were three channels and the public broadcasting station. Are our youth of today scared?

We made our way towards Broadway and 42nd Street towards Time Square, and I enjoyed taking pictures as we went. How about this historical sight. Radio City Music Hall.

Home to the Rockette's. Even the history behind this place is older then me, but the can-can dance lives on.

 Every one I told that I was going to NY City insisted that I see the Holiday show. Maybe next time, Mary looked at ticket prices and the start was $200- WOW!!!

Trying our own can-can dance outside of Radio City. We spent some time admiring the Holiday Balls and taking pictures.

We wondered down towards 42nd and Broadway on our way to Time Square.

Up ahead...time square.
Along the streets were miles of people selling goods. Artwork, purses, hats, crystals. Rebecca bought a winter hat and we all bought a matted picture of NY City.

The city streets are simply amazing. All of the lights the noises, the people. There was simply entertainment in walking along with the crowds.

Everywhere you turn there is something to see. (Including a not so flattering picture of me in Time Square). I sure would not want to be here in three weeks for the ball drop. WOW it was crazy that night I cannot imagine on New Years Eve. Last time I was here was in Feb. and the ball was still hanging lite.

The Broadway shows and where to buy tickets, there is so much you can do just on this street alone. Although I never knew 42nd to be anything other then this beauty of today, but apparently once it was a street lined with nudy bars and strip clubs. Crime was at an all time high and clean up began. I am so glad it did these streets are incredible.

As we continued down the street, we started to see all of these characters.

Someone had warned me they wanted tips for pictures. Some were even pre-set $5-. Hell I wont even pay a movie star $5- with an autograph. We did steal a few free shots, and Mary paid for one. I love the one with the Liberty statues.

These characters were everywhere. If you had a favorite in mind I am sure you could have found them. Super hero's, Cartoons, Hello Kitty, and of course Minions.

This barley covered Indian was posing with some girls when I was about to get his nice back side and a stupid biker came up between us and gave the guy rabbit ears. JERK!!! and I missed my BUTT shot, he turned around just as I was taking the photo, Opps! Not so bad from this angle either.

More of time square and all of its glory as we made our way towards Macy's to say goodbye to Mary's cousin.
The lights and the scenes were something out of a movie. Like the views from the Empire State building, there is no way to describe it. All senses are on over drive. Up next is the ending of the evening. Stay tuned for the next adventures in tomorrows blog post.