We got off at 42nd street and made our way up to Bryant Park. A gorgeous park in the middle of high rises. With the aid of our map, we walked to Times Square and oh my God!! You see it on TV and in movies but nothing can prepare you for the sheer size and scope of it! You crane your neck to try and see everything and just look. It's amazing.
We made our way down to a hot dog stand to tick one thing off our list: a hotdog from a street cart. It was ok, but next time will ask for extras. Just a dog in a bun wasn't all that much for lunch!! We stopped at the Toys R Us store. 3 stories of toys with a huge Ferris wheel in the middle of the store. We bought a couple of things and moved on. Tara wanted her daily serve of chips (it's been near impossible to get her to eat anything else!!!) so we headed down to where we saw the Golden Arches. On the way, we found a Foot Locker store so went in to suss out sneakers. I saw a pair I liked but left them where they were, as I had seen another pair I had liked but weren't in my size in SC and I was kinda holding out for them.
We hit Maccas, and I foolishly opted to order while Bernie and the girls headed upstairs to wait. 20 minutes later I was getting frustrated, as the woman in front of me was using fractured English and a lot of finger pointing to order over $50 worth. Add to that the tour group of about 20 Chinese who monopolised 4 staff with their mega order. All I wanted was a small fries and a bottle of water!! Eventually I was served and headed upstairs without punching anyone, in particular the guy standing behind me who felt the need to keep touching my back at any opportunity. If Maccas had a shower cubicle and an industrial size barrel of antiseptic, I would have asked for a second barrel.... I then made the mistake for going to the loo (sorry, restroom). For a store with a huge amount of customers, 3 cubicles is not enough! I managed to dodge the long line, but if you're busting and you need a loo, try the men's room. Bernie got in and out in 2 minutes.
After Maccas we headed to M&M World. A store for everything M&M. A massive wall of chocolate and merchandise up the wazoo! Tara and Amy both got a bag of M&Ms while I settled for an M&M statue of liberty. As we were leaving, the staff and the M&M broke into a dance routine which was kinda cool. You know you're living when you see a giant yellow M&M groove out to a Ke$ha song!!
We hit the streets again and decided to go souvenir hunting. There were a ton of street vendors selling t-shirts etc, but we went into a couple of the stores to get smaller items. In one store, Amy found a pair of American flag Converse, so she got them. We got more key rings (total keying count: not sure, too scared to count them yet!!) and other bits & pieces. We found a street vendor selling hoodies for $15 so Amy & I got one each. (Hoodie count: me - 4, Amy -2) Other stores of note we stopped at was the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. It's a restaurant with (obviously) a Forest Gump theme. We quote a lot of Forest Gump (I gotta pee, I had a fleet of Jenny's, shrimp creole, grilled shrimp etc) so it made sense we'd go there! Bernie got a t-shirt listing all the shrimp per the movie and I got a keying. We also went to Hard Rock Cafe, planning to have dinner, but someone had booked out the place and it wasn't open until 10 - way past our dinner time!! Amy bought some cool Hard Rock drum sticks, and we were served by the coolest guy ever. I love camp, but black guys do camp that little better!!
It was getting on for dinner time, so we found The Counter. It's a burger bar where you get to order your burger your way. I opted for a bunless chicken breast with tomato, cucumber, capsicum (sorry, red pepper) and sautéed onions with roasted garlic aioli. It was delicious!!
After dinner it was back to Foot Locker. Bernie had bitten the bullet and bought a new pair of sneakers and it was time I shod my hooves in some new shoes too! My sneakers have taken a fair amount of thrashing, both at home and in the US, so I settled on a brand spanking new pair of Nike Shox. Multi coloured and comfy as all get up! I shall enjoy giving them a good run for their money (pardon the pun) when I get back to gym!!
Loaded down with bags, it was back to the subway for our return trip. We stopped in Bryant Park so the girls could ride the carousel. Then it was onto the subway and 10 minutes later, we arrived back on 2nd Avenue and walked past a fire station we had stopped at this morning. This time the doors were open and we asked one of the guys if we could come in. He said it was no problem and picked our accent straight off. He showed us the truck (the fire engine was out on a call) and ushered Tara into the front seat. She was happy to sit and look around inside.
Engine 28 ladder 11 had responded to 911, and had lost 6 fire fighters. They had a memorial set up to remember them, as well as one of their signs from a truck that had been destroyed when the trade centres fell. The guy (damn I wish we got his name!) was happy to talk to us about anything and everything, and when the engine arrived back, told the other guys who we were and where we were from. NYFD are massive heroes in our eyes, as we watched the events of 911 unfold, it was the first responders we felt for the most. So many of them knew they probably wouldn't make it out alive, but they went into the burning buildings anyway. There's a really powerful 911 documentary by 2 French brothers who were with a fire crew on Sept 11 and its raw and emotional. I recommended everyone watch it to see just what these guys encountered. I asked if many NYFD had left the service after 911, due to PTSD, and he said some, whereas some just buried it and kept going, and some who continued to relive that day. We left after handshakes all round and it was nice to know they were so welcoming to a random family of Aussies. Tomorrow we visit the 911 memorial and it will be the NYFD who will get most of my tears.
New York is and will continue to be one hell of a city. One minute the streets look like Sesame Street, the next it's a bustling metropolis. We passed Katz Delicatessen, and something in my mind went ping. Where did I know that place from? Next thing I saw the sign - it was where 'that' scene from When Harry Met Sally was filmed. I wonder how many people have gone in and recreated the fake orgasm scene? We've earmarked it as a place to eat, but there will be no moans coming from me!! Amy would kill me!!
As is said, tomorrow we pay our respects at the 911 memorial and check out that side of Manhattan (I mean that side of the island) and then kill some time before taking a night time harbour lights cruise. NY is like DC - you can spend 4 weeks here and still leave with a list a mile long of things to see & do. And we only have 6 days.....it's fair to say, New York is on the list of places to come back to!!!
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