Last days in NYC

Wednesday was another shopping day. We started out in the east village on a street called St Mark's Place. We slowly worked our way west towards Greenwich village. I left the girls early to go to my Broadway show. I ran across town to Studio 54 where A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Natasha Richardson and John C. Reilly was playing. My tickets were for mezzanine but my dad had bought half-off tickets earlier in the day and ended up sitting in the 6th row.I asked an usher if I was allowed to move to an empty seat after admission and she said sure. So the second half I got to sit so close I could see the tears flow on Natasha's face during the last dramatic scene. It was the best play I have ever seen, so much better than the movie. Each actor brought so much to the play and I nearly cried at the end, mostly because I was so happy to have been lucky enough to see such a wonderful piece of work. After it ended, dad and I went to meet Suzanne and Amanda in Washington Square Park. While there, I took a little trip to the NYU bookstore and down the street to Shakespeare and Co booksellers. I have to say I have never seen such a beautiful store in my life. It was amazing. I could have spent days there. Dad was starving to we ventured into this old time diner for dinner. Later that night I decided I wanted some night shots from the Empire State building and my favorite building in NY, the Flatiron building. So we got back on the subway and made a pit-stop in Rockefeller Center. It was gorgeous at night all lit up and we all sat and people-watched on the benches. Then we went to the Empire State building; it was closed. But the ride down and walk around the Flatiron building was fun. Running across like 6 lanes with a meridian on 5th avenue with cabs going 80 to get better pictures was awesome. We also saw the statue of William Seward across from the Flatiron building.

When we had been in Times Square we were conned, yes conned, into signing up for a day at the spa, so Thursday morning that's where we headed. I say conned because they told us it was one price for a list of things available and we paid, then when we left the spa, they charged us a greater amount, again. But, we prefer to look at it as the time we got our hair done in a New York Salon and forget the cost. After 4 hours there, we took the subway to Coney Island. Little did we know it would be the longest ride yet; an hour. When we finally got there, we walked around for a bit, then made our way to the boardwalk. It was windy and a tad cold but the food was good. We ran around in the water and took pictures for a bit, then we headed back to the city. At the hotel dad and I got ready for our second Broadway show, Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington. Talk about a great play, oh and the visual affects, spectacular! As we were about to walk away we noticed that the line forming outside the door was growing and discovered that Mr Washington signs any and all autographs after each performance. So naturally we stood in line. I got to shake his hand and dad was supposed to take our picture, but he messed up, so that in itself is a fun story to tell. I do have evidence that I was near him however, and that's all that matters.
Friday was an early day. Amanda and I got up and took the subway down the Rockefeller Center and packed into the crowd around the stage at the Today Show's summer concert to watch Rob Thomas. It would have been perfect if not for the rain. So we stood outside watching the Today show and guests like Ellen Degeneres. We got to watch Rob warmup and perform three songs. After the show was over, we went to the NBC Experience store across the street. It was so cool. They had merchandise from all their popular shows, current and old. The store was huge and we spent forever there. When we got back to the hotel Amanda and Suzanne took off shopping and Dad and I decided to walk through the park to the Metropolitan Museum. We spent a few hours there. I finally got to go up to the roof garden. The exhibit up there was a little weird, but the view of the park and buildings was amazing. Then we went back to the hotel, got the girls and went to Time Square and ate at Bubba Gump's. After that we tried to go back up to the Empire State building, but the line was so long and by then I was feeling a bit sick. I still have yet to go up.

Saturday morning we finished packing and checked out. Then we made out way down the Bleeker Street to the Magnolia Bakery which I had heard had the world’s best cupcakes. It was packed so I figured they had to be at least terrific. They were sooo good. We took them over to a park across the street and ate them and watched kids and birds run around under the trees. Then we headed back up the W 72nd and walked over to Central Park. We walked around taking pictures for a few hours, went to the Lake and walked the path. Then we headed back and stopped at CityPi for one last piece of New York pizza. Back at the hotel, we grabbed our luggage and headed to the subway. The ride to Penn station then the train to New Jersey and the train to the airport took us nearly an hour, but we were well on our way back home.