We had such a full day and the evening was just beginning. Mary, Alex and I walked to Macy's with Mary's cousin Rebecca and her son Aden where we said goodbyes. It was so nice meeting them, she is very sweet and what a great kid Aden was.
Macy's is Christmas. First it starts with the Thanksgiving Day parade and ends with the movie classic Miracle on 34th St. In between is all the talk about the Macy's window displays. Although I had been in Macy's NYC before and I am not a big shopper, I was not to interested in making my way around this multi-leveled floor of clothing, household goods and perhaps a floor of electronics. Instead I was all about seeing the amazement of the Holiday window display.
I was sadly disappointed. It was a nice display, but I had hoped for more. So there we had it. Next!
The Empire State building all lite up was beautiful and graced the sky as we walked.
We headedack towards Bryant Park where the bus was to pick us up. It was a little early (can you believe we still had something like three hours before pick-up?). Alex was hungry and I really needed to find a restroom so we headed to a McDonalds. Kids will be anywhere in the world with any kind of food to pick from and they will almost always choose a McDonalds. Feet hurting and the cool night coming in, a nice break from all of the crowds and the rush was refreshing. Finding a seat in McDonalds was a chore, as was waiting for the only bathroom in the place, but it was a nice break from the outside.
After this we were off again and making our way back towards Bryant Park. This little park is actually an evening pleasure center, and it was packed with people too.
Bryant Park is on the back side of the Public Library and home to one of the ice rinks in the area's. This one was FREE. Apparently everyone likes FREE because there was NO way we were going to get time on that ice. The line stretched forever.
There is a nicely decorated tree, and several small shops with unique gifts surrounding the ice rink. We watched the Zamboni clean the ice and took a ride on the carousal.
This was a ton of fun. We did some more walking with no specific direction in mind and went looking for a rest room for Alex.
By change we ended up at the HBO store. Here Mary asked about a bathroom, and I gazed at the Games of Thrones and True Blood stuff. Two of my favorite shows. I was almost temped to buy a sweat-shirt, but decided against it.
Finding a bathroom was nearly impossible. Even the eateries were void one. We tried the subway
and the subway restaurant. NOPE. Mary finally took Alex into a bar/pub and got him taken care of before we headed back to Bryant Park and found a nice seat by the fountain.
We still had about 45 minutes before we could board the bus. I was ready to get on, get in my seat and fall out.
We simply enjoyed the scenery, had hot cider and made wishes in the fountain. I'm not telling you my wish.
At about 7:30 we headed towards where the bus was to pick us up. We were instructed to get there by 7:45 and all of us ready to get some heat and a warm seat searched the line up of buses with no luck finding ours. We waited by some guys that were clearly smoking something other then a cigarette, before I noticed Sue and her family standing on the street. We went to meet them and I overheard the YMCA leader inform Sue that the Police would not let any more buses come down the street, we would have to go to him. Thank Goodness it was just outside of the Public Library and only about a block (a long block) away.
We found him!!! Needless to say, this delayed our take off time just a bit, and we hit a big traffic jam before entering Lincoln tunnel. The problem was actually a car that was clearly burned up. Hope the drivers and passengers were okay. The bus offered two holiday movies and some candy to help keep up our sprits, but it was still a long ride back. Featured was Elf and The Grinch. Several hours and two hours later then anticipated we all got back to Liverpool safe and sound at 2am.
So TOTALLY worth it was every bit of the irritants we had on this trip. I was already talking about what to do next time. Gavin admitted that he should have gone. Well next year then. I know I will be better prepared for the bus. Pillows and a blanket, snacks and perhaps a warmer coat. Several pounds lighter would be nice too. Now I just have to figure out what and where our next adventure will lead us. TTFN
No comments:
Post a Comment