Sunday started at 7am-- and I was ready for the double decker bus tour by 9. I think this may have been my least favorite thing. I guess I'm anti-structure :-) The tour started via headphones... blah-blah-blah listen to this blah blah pre-recorded blahness. Or something about iron vs brick vs steel and the structures and how tall they could stand. Yes it was super interesting. Not sure what I expected but this wasn't it. In addition it's 8:30am now and fuh-reeeeezing! And then I misunderstood the Brooklyn tour was just once a day at 10, where as I thought it was like all the other tours- multiple a day, so I missed it.
One person can only tolerate so much boredom so I hopped off the bus and started my foot tour and my check list of to-dos!
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| Final day in NYC's to-do list |
My first mission was to find Fluffy's Bakery as my beloved former customer recommended! Besides I was ready for breakfast. But first I found a friend... A pig in NYC
Then I walked by Hell's Kitchen restaurant-- of course it was closed as they don't serve breakfast. I also checked out the Amish Market.
In true Beth form I got lost finding Fluffy's. But that was ok, more sights to see that way. But then there it was in all it's glory.
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| I ate potatoes, banana nut muffin and hot chocolate |
Next was Trump Tower. Everyone needs to go to the overly fancy over-priced Trump building!
They have a 6 story fountain in the lobby! They have two outside patios on the 5th floor. Only over-priced shops are in the Trump Tower.... don't worry I didn't use my Discover card there!
Next was also a NYC staple--- the FAO Schwarz toy store!
It was huge and I easily liked it better than Toys R Us. It wasn't so cramped for walking space. Best of all it had the beloved cabbage patch doll's 30th Anniversary doll--- yes Dolly and I are both 30 this year. I was a huge doll fan FAR longer than the average girl and cabbage patch dolls were my first love. The also had a doll nursery and a doll factory where you can make a doll. They had a Muppet Puppet creator area. They had stuffed animals gallore from bean baby sized to $2,000 monstrous sized bears and horses. There was a story telling room and a candy store area, legos in every variety, giant soccer balls and so much more. I couldn't leave there without a souvenir so I bought a $30 FAO brand doll on sale for $6 and a $15 card game for $3 I figured the kids would like.
It was time to tackle an important task---- NYC Bagels. I love bagels so that's an extra perk! If I picked between donuts and a good cini raisin bagel, the bagel would always win. They were even a decent price for bagels--- and comparable to the price of Panera here. But the selection way out-did Panera or local anything. My cini raisin bagel was delicious! I ate it while on the double decker tour bus in a delay.... details on that soon...
There were so many fruit stands in the morn into early afternoon. I did buy 3 mangos after tasting them on the Brooklyn Bridge. Unfortunately they aren't easy to cut, but still delicious.
I actually wasn't planning to go to this next spot--- becaus I'd watched enough episodes of The Cake Boss on TLC to know
Carlo's Bakery was in New Jersey. But as I was walking towards the next bus hop on/off stop I saw the Cake Boss Cafe. Without a doubt I needed to stop there!! The line and crowd was insane. When you went inside you had to grab a number from the ticket counter in order to eventually get served. When I went in they were serving #26, I was #53. I got one over-priced chocolate cupcake. It wasn't that delicious actually. It tasted rather dry to me. I know my Betty crocker skills at home taste yummier-- even if theirs look prettier.
That being said, it was still cool! Yet another of those rare experiences- that was worth the $3 and time waiting.
Then, I really did hop back on that double decker bus. Again, I was not impressed. An older dude about 55-60 was our "tour guide". I learned more about him and his opinions and life than I did on the history or culture or excitement of NYC. It would be like ME leading a NYC tour--- well a very not shy me-- but still same idea- under qualified obviously. I hopped off not to long into the tour of "uptown" to go check out the "Harlem" tour with a better tour guide. We were two blocks into this tour when a furious slightly crazy motorist claimed the bus had crossed the line and tapped their vehicle. So in the lovely unshaded top of the double decker in the warmest part of the day, we waited as they argued back and forth. The motorist was on the verge of violent--- and yet no police were called and no visible damage seen. It makes me wonder if these types of occurrences are typical.
This tour was much more thorough and the guide was from Harlem and clearly knew what she was doing and talking about. But the language barrier between her and some foreign passengers was a bit NYer like and rough...
I was amused how close our heads were to bridges and red lights. At times flimsy tree branches would hit us as we drove by.
Next was the Firefighter Store.
Then more people watching... More naked cowpeople... and a Subway to Magnolia's Bakery, Another place on my to-do list, recommended by a friend.
They were better than the Cake Boss cupcakes and the same price. I chose a more unique flavor: blueberry lemon.
Next I hit the street flea market type setup. It went on for like 10 blocks. All sorts of booths of food , hand mades, souvenirs, and merchandise were set up for sale. I got there near the tail end as the Police make them start packing up at 6pm. Here I had my discounted Thai supper with a lemonade.
At 6pm, all the food carts put their "left overs" on sale to get it sold. Of course that meant I needed a Mango smoothie for just $1. It was a pinch watered down, but still good. I bought 3 t-shirts. Mom and dad each got one-- it would be their anniversary gifts. The other was Anthony's souvenir, a tiger shirt of course! I also got Marko a nutella donut.
Then, I had to jump on my final chance at buying my street art, that I mentioned already on Friday's blog. I bought my spray paint master piece from this street artist.
I then took the subway back to my hotel, as my hands were beyond full from all the souvenirs and goodies I'd gotten all day long. To my surprise, Marko was in the hotel room when I got back. So we shared some of the goodies. I stayed there for about an hour, but then it was time for my NYC at night double decker bus tour. I took the subway to the bus stop. Then waited in line for about an hour until it was finally my turn. I expected a somewhat quick 30min, maybe an hour tour of NYC lights.... instead, we had a two hour tour! It started by going through Time Square. Although by the time our tour started it was dark, it practically looks like daylight in Time Square with all the lights.
We went all over Manhattan, up and down town, Little Italy, China Town, into Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge, over the Manhattan Bridge. It was thorough and such a unique view--- NYC in lights... like driving around to see Christmas lights, but VERY magnified.
My camera certainly couldn't do justice to the looks, but a slight taste of what it truly looked like. We got back to our original pick-up/drop-off location. And that meant I needed to find my final to-do of the night, just 2 blocks away, an Italian restaurant suggested by a friend. I ordered Tortelini and waited for it to cook and then took it with me on the subway back to my hotel. I ate it there. And it was then I realized yet again that I don't appreciate authentic tastes... I think my store bought frozen version I boil and add sauce to is tastier. What I got I felt was too firm, so apparently I over boil mine, but I guess this is also good that I like the $3 a bag version that lasts multiple meals as opposed to this $10 version ;-)
On the walk back from the subway to our hotel, just a few blocks I was amused by the H&M store--- their mannequins were dressing so they had up "privacy" curtains.
I made it back to our room after midnight. I was greeted by snoring. I ate my supper and also went to sleep.
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| Silly boys--- Marko is sleeping inbetween the bed and wall while Gary is sleeping 1/2 way down the bed and using the chair as a footrest |
Monday morning I was going to go to the Today Show, but Gary asked if I wanted to go to breakfast one last time, and I of course loved spending time with both the guys this week, so I took him up on breakfast!
Gary and I went walking to Time Square stopping at open shops so he could buy his souvenirs. We headed back to the hotel about 8am.
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| A great souvenir for sure! |
We were walking past the Good Morning America plaza at 8:30, the perfect timing to see Robin Roberts!
I quickly packed my stuff and then found an excuse to wonder the close-by streets while the guys got their stuff ready. I brought Marko back lunch and we headed to the train station.
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| Using those muscles to carry our stuff all the way across the street--- and pouting that I didn't carry a heavier bag hahah |
It was neat yet odd seeing our hometown listed on the signs for train departures in NYC. Our train was 45 minutes late.
When it came it was a mad dash of a trillion people filing through the ticket check line. We ended up with the most crammed seats on the train-- 100% opposite of our ride to NYC. It got even more cramped at Baltimore and then DC when our train became filled to compacity filling those few previously spare seats.
We finally made it back to Lynchburg about 9:20pm. Joyce was there to pick us up and even she seemed excited to have seen the train come in.
After we dropped Joyce off at her house, us three went to Zaxby's for a late supper. We were starving! We took it to go. Then we dropped Gary off at his house before picking Jayna up at Grandma and Poppy's. We stayed for a while chatting. And when we got home we were greeted by being locked out of the house as our batteries to our door lock had died. So, Marko got to test out his new lock picking skills.
