Sky High in NYC

Well, my alarm will be going off in 3.5 hours, but I figure since I’m not sleeping…I might as well update the blog!

 

We started the day late, weren’t out the door until noon, but we still managed to cross a few great things off of our list. We met our SF home exchange friend, Abbe, for lunch at Bule Smoke, a bbq joint down the street. She just moved to Manhattan 10 days ago and is living 14 blocks from us. What a small world! We had a great lunch with her and just loved getting to spend time with her (we’re always missing each other in California, go figure we’d find the time to sit down and visit all the way across the nation!).

 

After lunch we headed to the Empire State building. We had heard the lines could be treacherous, but figured now was as good a time as any and that they weren’t likely going to get any better seeing as it is fashion week, 9/11 memorial and the U.S. Open….we couldn’t have picked a busier week to visit Manhattan! But, astonishingly, we walked up and were able to literally walk through the entire queue. We bought our tickets and were on the 86^th floor in no time. I had forgotten, since Chicago last year, how quiet it is way up there. There is a hum, or buzz, from the city, but nothing is truly loud like it is on the ground. The weather was great and the views were beautiful. We were lucky because we headed to the south side first and took in the view just as a fire broke out on the roof of one of the buildings in that direction, so soon after we were there, a gigantic plume of smoke filled the air and blocked the view. We walked around the entire observation deck, and then made our way back down. I was ready to go down as it started to get crowded up there and I wasn’t in the mood to wait in line to get my feet back on solid ground.

 

Once we were back on the ground we grabbed a taxi and headed north to the Guggenheim museum. I have seen this building a thousand times in textbooks, movies and the like, so seeing it in person was very exciting. Though, I must admit, I always though it was bigger! I guess everything looks bigger in the movies? Regardless, we finished our pretzel (had to hit up a corner vendor, but I’ll admit, the pretzel was nothing worth writing home about) on the bench out front. Oh, the bench, it was wet. How did I know? I figured it out when my butt was soaked. GREAT. Oh well. So, back to the museum, we headed in and too the elevator to the top, working our way down. There was an exhibition, can’t remember the name, but I can truly say I detested it. I can NOT believe what is considered art sometimes. I kid you not, there was an piece that was a square piece of metal on the floor. That is it. Nothing else. Just sitting there. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! The other similar pieces had some rocks, pavers or steel rods thrown in the mix. I was talking to Kevin in a voice that must not have been as quite as I had thought and said “…did he get all of this shit at Home Depot or what?”. And, as I finished, the docent looked at me and cracked up. Then confided in me that he agrees and is completely on the same page as I am regarding this particular exhibit. Bah! As we worked our way down it got more interesting, and finally we got to the good stuff. Monet, Cezanne, you know, REAL artists. Then, a very cool modern art exhibit, a huge room with 100,000 $1 bills nailed to the wall. At least I could see the value in this piece!!

 

We said goodbye to the Guggenheim and grabbed another taxi that whirled us back to our home base. We paid the bills (forgot to do that before we left…oops!!) and then got dressed for our night on the town. Abbe had recommended we eat at Blue Fin, one of her favorite spots in the city. It was conveniently located steps from our theater, so we took her advice and headed in that direction. Another short taxi ride, and a few minutes later and we were browsing the menu at Blue Fin. Abbe was right, excellent food. We shared a tuna tar-tar appetizer, a lobster sushi roll and a fish entrée that had homemade gnnoci with it that was out of this world. After dinner we walked downstairs to the theater so we could catch the Adam’s Family. Brook Shields was playing Morticia tonight. It was great. She did a fabulous job, and the entire thing was an experience; very quirky and dark. Unfortunately I was so exhausted I had trouble keeping my eyes open during the first half, so at intermission we ran to the bar and bought a coffee and a cupcake. We figured between the caffeen and sugar I was bound to make it through the second half. Well, unfortunately, I think I over did it, because now here it is, nearly 2:30am, and I’m WIRED. I don’t even recall blinking recently. I NEVER drink caffeine, and holy cow, now I know why. I can see how people get so hooked on the stuff, cause I have no clue how I am going to pull myself out of bed in 3 hours and make it through another full day without the stuff!

 

After the show we did some shopping at Times Square, and then started walking in the direction of our house. We had perfect timing and could hear the rumbling start. As we got to the corner motorcycles started to pass by, first a few, then more, and more, and it went on for 20 minutes. Hundreds, if not thousands of motorcycles filled the street. It was wall to wall people and bikes. They were an organized parade in honor of 9/11, police escorts and all. It was really incredible.

 

It is a surreal feeling being here in Manhattan on 9/11. There is a mix of emotions thick in the air, pride, sadness, tension, and all things in between. The coverage of the attacks is everywhere, all of the time, and you can’t look in any direction without seeing an American flag. Security is high, very high, due to the terror threats, and the police are literally everywhere. Streets are closed down, others have checkpoints on the corners, and there are officers on foot, on horses, on motorcycles, everywhere. It almost feels more like a movie set than anything (like the set of The Town that we stumbled upon in Boston 2 years ago).

 

President Obama and former President Bush will be here in the morning for the memorial ceremony at the World Trade Center. The families of the victims are going to be allowed to view the memorial park for the first time tomorrow. The event will be televised, starting at 6am. We are hoping to be off of the island by then. As amazing as it is to be here, in this resilient city, on the 10 year memorial, I would much rather spend the day away from the center of it all. So, we are renting a car and heading to Long Island for the day. I’ve always heard of the Hamptons and love Montauk in Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind, so we figure tomorrow is as good a day as any to go explore the beaches of the east coast. Now…if I could only fall asleep…