Now I've Had the Time of My Life!

Wow! Here it is, our last night in New York. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and what all we've done and what we've seen. It has truly been a wonderful time. I'm so thankful we were able to do this. We feel like real New Yorkers! We've learned the subway routes and can make snap decisions about getting off and on. We've learned there are lots of jobs we wouldn't want (door man, guard in a museum, person who sells stuff on the street, etc). Every time the doors close on the subway there is an announcement "Stand clear of the closing doors." We've learned there are very few public bathrooms and at least half of them you really don't want to use but will anyway out of desperation. We know that if you go to the store, you only buy what you can carry. Our friends Eric and Denise who live here say that they don't drink much beer or soft drinks anymore because you have to carry it! When we've gone to the store, we waited to buy milk at the corner store because we didn't have to carry it as far! We've also learned that if you do live here, you definitely need a pair of boots when it snows!

We survived the "Arkansas snow" in New York. You know, here today, gone tomorrow? Well, that's what happened yesterday. Most of the snow was gone this morning. We left the apartment this morning and headed down towards Wall Street. I wanted to go down the street behind city hall and we saw some beautiful buildings. One was a county courthouse and the other was an old bank building.

This is the top part of the old bank building.

The Woolworth Building - my favorite!

From there we headed down to check on the protesters and see how they fared through the snow. There aren't as many as when we came but they are hanging in there. On Friday, the fire department took away their generators because they were a fire hazard. We did see one guy who was using a bicycle to power up a generator. He probably needed to charge his cell phone!

Here's a picture of their little tent city.

The pile of stuff in the back, sort of the upper right corner, is a pile of sleeping bags and clothes. We think they belonged to some who were here but have gone home and they donated their stuff. It's a huge pile. It's been interesting to watch them.

We walked on over to the Hudson River and the World Financial Center area. It was pretty cold down there but we hadn't been over there yet. We hung out in the World Financial Center Winter Garden for awhile because it was warm and they had a public bathroom! There's a pretty good view of Ground Zero from there.You could get a better idea of how big the new buildings are and what is being done there.

The Winter Garden is on the right. The other buildings are part of the World Financial Center.

Then we wanted to walk down Wall Street one more time. Well, now they've blocked it off completely. The cop was telling everyone to take a picture and move on. Before when we were down there, the street was blocked but you could walk on the sidewalks. I think that's the reason City Hall is blocked off too. They don't want the protesters moving in there.

So, we headed up towards Central Park to see it one more time. There was still a lot of snow in the park. We saw so many limbs broken off trees and one big tree that was down. We heard on the news tonight that there were 2,000 trees down in the park. They had areas of the park that were closed because of partially broken limbs but we could hear chain saws working. I couldn't believe how many people were on bicycles and, of course, there were hundreds of joggers.

It looked strange to see the trees with green leaves and the snow on the ground.

I think this was my favorite view in the park today.

After that, it was time to head back to Brooklyn. We're trying to get packed and figure out how everything will get home! Really, we didn't buy much, knowing we didn't want to check another bag so we brought a carry-on bag that didn't have much in it plus, our big suitcases only weighed 40 pounds coming up so we each have 10 pounds to play with!

We'll be back in Little Rock at 3:00 pm if all goes well; in time to go trick-or-treating with Macey! I'm so excited to see her (and her parents) and to see their new house. Being the sweet kids they are, they cleaned our house today, mowed the yard and got a few essential groceries. And, we have Brent and Jackie coming on Thursday for a week so we have a lot to look forward to and won't dread leaving here quite as much.

Check back and I may have a few more pictures posted or more information. I've written these posts pretty late and am not sure what I said! We are exhausted but like I said, we've had the time of our lives here. Maybe if you haven't been here before, you have an urge to come. There's no place like it, that's for sure! Thanks for following along and for your comments.

And, we walked 9.99 miles today for a total of 225.49 miles in 29 days! I didn't count the day we came. I put on the pedometer just as we'd leave the apartment and take it off as soon as I got home.

Conrad and Linda

Snow Day!

The apartment finally warmed up during the night and we both woke up sometime in the night and started kicking off covers. We had layered stuff to sleep in and had to shed some of that. When we got up at 6:30 it was 84 degrees in here! We figured out we have to open the windows a little to even things out.

Today we headed to the Bronx to visit friends Eric and Denise and had a nice, restful day. We got to visit with them and then eat lunch. Home cooking tasted wonderful! I really miss real food. As we got off the train we noticed it was snowing a little and by the time we got to their apartment is was sticking to our clothes. The longer we were there, the more it snowed and we had some really big flakes.

This was taken out the window at Eric and Denise's apartment.

The snow was real wet and with the leaves still on the trees, it really made the trees bend. On our way back to the train, there were a lot of limbs down on the sidewalks and also on some cars. It was so pretty coming down and knowing I didn't have to drive in it made it all OK. I was hoping to see some snow while we were here. One thing we noticed is that when they predict snow here, you don't see the mad dash to the grocery store for milk, eggs and bread!

After a great visit with Eric and Denise and their almost 2 year old son Riley, Eric had an errand to run in our direction so he walked us back to the train station after a stop at the Bronx Ale House for beer and appetizers. It was a neat little place and the food and beer was great. A fire in the fireplace was a nice touch! Between their place and the train station, you had to walk down this HUGE hill. I had my tennis shoes and they are not the best thing for walking in snow/slush. By the time we finally got home, my feet were soaked and my jeans were wet several inches up the leg and we were cold. I told Conrad on the way back that I'd seen the snow and it can go away now.

The train in The Bronx is above ground.

This is what the track looked like when we headed back.

This is what it looked like in Brooklyn when we came up out of the subway.

It didn't look like Brooklyn got as much snow as they did in the Bronx. They had about 3". We're further south and fairly close to the ocean. I don't have much else to share with you today - just snow pictures. Snow in October just seems strange to me but I do remember a couple times when I was a youngster in Iowa and we went trick or treating in the snow.

Now it's time to get ready to think about heading back to Arkansas. Tomorrow is to be cold but bright and sunny. We plan to head back in to Manhattan, check out Central Park, check on the protesters and say goodbye to the big buildings. It should be a great picture day.

Because of our visit, we only walked 4.33 miles and most of that was in the snow! So check back tomorrow to see how we spent our last day as New Yorkers!

Conrad and Linda

A Cold Day in Brooklyn

This was the coldest day we've had here so far but it was sunny. I think the high was 47 or 48. We decided to revisit a few places in Brooklyn Heights and also go to Park Slope near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Prospect Park was designed by the same guy who designed Central Park so they look similar but this one is smaller. When we left the apartment we had to put on the warm coats and gloves. I was sorry I hadn't put on my long johns! Anyway, we had walked around the Brooklyn Heights area before and it was really pretty and decided to do it again. We went down some of the same streets but also some different ones. We ended up down by the Brooklyn Bridge. It is a gorgeous view of lower Manhattan there and a great view of the bridge also.

I could stand here all day and just look at the skyline and the bridge!

We decided to try out Grimaldi's Pizza which is supposed to be the best pizza in NYC and are baked in coal-fueled ovens. They say no matter what time you go there, there is always a line to get in. Well, they were right. We stood in line for about 40 minutes but since we didn't have anywhere we had to be at a certain time, we just wanted to experience this place. It's a small place and it only serves whole pizzas (most places here you can buy it by the slice) and it's cash only. There's a guy who stands out front and tells you when a table is available. We ordered a small (that was a 16") with Italian sausage and mushrooms for $16. We thought it would be more than that since everyone wants to go there. It was really good but we wouldn't say it's the best we've ever had.

After lunch we headed over to the Park Slope area. We were surprised at the houses there. The whole area was brownstone after brownstone and it was a really clean area. These looked a little bigger than most of the ones we've seen and you could just tell it was a wealthier area than some. They date from the turn of the 20th-century when Park Slope had the nation's highest per-capita income.

It was just block after block of brownstones. There were a lot of them that had these bay windows and they had nice plants and flowers in front.

Have you ever wondered where Thomas Adams Jr lived or wondered who he is? Well, neither have we but now we know where he lived and that he was the inventor of Chiclets chewing gum, and of the automatic vending machines that dispensed it!

The red house on the corner was his. Many critics consider this house the finest example Romanesque Revival residential architecture in NYC. Mr Adams commissioned this double house in 1888 for himself and his son.

See, you learned something today too! Here's another one for you. I love Bon Ami cleanser and use it all the time at home. Well, we saw William H Childs' home too and he is the inventor of Bon Ami. This Elizabethan-style mansion was built in 1900.

William H Childs' Home

We walked several blocks in this area and most homes were the same brownstone style. I took a lot of pictures but have had a hard time trying to narrow it down and only post a few. We decided to walk the width of the park to catch the G train, the one that comes closest to our apartment. We didn't know that area at all and didn't want to be there after dark. We got back about 6:00 and stopped at a Chinese place between here and the subway to pick up something to eat. Got back to the apartment and it was COLD! We tried to contact the landlord but had to leave messages on both phones plus an email. The guy showed up about 45 minutes later and said the pilot light had gone out and he relit it. It was down to 59 degrees in the apartment but seems to be warming up now. It's up to 66 degrees! I certainly don't like this steam heat!!

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain and snow and only get up to 45 degrees. We plan to go to the Bronx and meet Brent's friends Eric and Denise again and, depending on the weather, will either take their little boy to the park to play or if it's raining, we'll just hang out at their place and visit and eat. We'll probably be back earlier than usual so we can start gathering up our stuff and packing some. Sunday is to be nice and we want to get out to Central Park again and I have to say goodbye to the big buildings. We'll be leaving Monday morning.

So, here's one more picture from Park Slope. It was a nice day to walk just to keep warm!

Park Slope area

We walked 9.30 miles today for a total of 210.95 miles! I certainly wouldn't want to do that for a living! Until tomorrow....

Conrad and Linda

Brooklyn Museum of Art

Another rainy day so another museum. This time we stayed in Brooklyn. Again, it was a challenge to get there so we ended up taking the subway to Manhattan, getting off at the first station there then getting on another train to go back to Brooklyn. Luckily, the station is right on the grounds of the museum so we didn't get wet. This place really impressed me and we both enjoyed it so much. There wasn't much of a crowd and there was a lot of room to move around. We started with the African Art. I've never paid much attention to it but I know Conrad has watched tv programs about it and read about it in the Smithsonian magazine and National Geographic. The masks they had on display were amazing! They looked so heavy I don't know how anyone could wear them.

This mask is rom the early 20th century. It combines many diverse materials to create an image of power. Multiple eyes,warthog tusks, large teeth and other power symbols such as rifle casings and a beard of authentic and wooden leopard's teeth form a fierce countenance that frightens away negative forces.

This didn't show up very good since it was behind glass but it is a textile fragment from the 16th - 17th century Iran of brocaded silk.

I think my favorite part of the museum was the Egyptian section with the mummies and the big blocks of stone with writings on them. Conrad said they're called stellae. They were in such good condition and some of the writings hardly looked worn.

This was carved in alabaster and from the Neo-Assyrian Period, reign of Ashur-nasir-pal II

(circa 883 - 859 B.C.)

This was about 2/3 of the way down on the same piece above. The writing is so clear but we have no idea what it says.

This is the mummy of Thothirdes - Late Period, Dynasty 26

(Circa 664 - 525 B.C.E.)

This is the Tiffany Glass - the one on the left is "Dawn in the Woods in Springtime"

The one on the right is "Sunset in Autumn Woods"

1905

There are so many other things I could share but you may get bored! It was just a really great day. We spent 6 hours there and did a lot of standing so we didn't do that much walking.

Our total today was only 4 miles for a total of 201.65!! We passed the 200 mile mark and still have 3 more days. Tomorrow and Sunday are supposed to be nice but cold and Saturday they predict rain/snow mix. I wouldn't mind seeing some snow while we're here but if it's raining, it will melt the snow.

Time to make plans for tomorrow so check back tomorrow to see what we decided to do!

Conrad and Linda

The Today Show

Our day started really early today. We got up at 5:00 and left the apartment at 6:05. The G train arrived just as we got there, later we changed to the C train that pulled up as we got off the G, rode one stop and the J train showed up as we got off the C! Perfect timing!! We got off about 3 blocks from Rockefeller Center and just as we walked up to the plaza area where they film the Today Show, it was just beginning. Once we showed the guard our bags, we were able to find our spot. We stood around quite awhile - they had several monitors we could watch and the sound is piped in too. At 7:30 Al Roker came out and talked to everyone and walked along shaking hands. He shook my hand too! Then he gave his weather report and went back inside. About 8:00, Matt, Ann and Al came out and did their thing and Ann walked around talking to everyone. She grabbed my hand to shake it and put her other hand on my arm too and talked to me! She was so nice to everyone out there and is so cute! We stuck around for awhile, saw Star Jones inside, along with Eddie Murphy and Vince Gill. By then we were tired of standing so headed off on our day's adventure.

It was still dark when we arrived. There weren't a lot of people there like in the summer. You can see one of the monitors in the picture. There were 3 out there, I think, and 4 on the building. It was quite an experience!

Ann is just as cute and sweet as she seems to be on TV.

And here's Al.

The first stop was a little over a mile away but it was a nice day for a walk even though it was cloudy. We walked through the area that used to be called Hell's Kitchen but is now called Clinton and down Restaurant Row. Our destination was H & H Bagel Shop. They are supposed to have the best bagels in NYC. It was an old, run down looking place with no place to sit. Attached to the shop is a huge garage that had those bagel carts parked. It is the factory that makes the bagels you buy off the street carts. We each got a bagel and found a place down by the river to eat it.

Then it was on to Herald Square and Macy's. I wanted to show Conrad the original wooden escalators in Macy's. I think he was impressed with them too. Plus, I knew there was a bathroom at the end of the escalators! Then we sat in Herald Square for a little bit to make our plan.

Herald Square

We hopped on the subway and were off to Mulberry Street for a late lunch in Little Italy. After lunch we walked as far as Chinatown (see, all streets lead to Chinatown) and turned around and headed back to the subway to go home.

Little Italy

Our day started so early but we did sleep better last night. The guy lit the boiler and we got heat! When it came on, there was steam coming out of the connection of the radiator so he had to come back and fix it. It was down to 62 degrees in here and a little chilly! We are trying to decide what to do with our last few days here. We leave Monday morning so we have 4 more days to play. We want to go back to Central Park this weekend to check out the trees. Fall is a little late here but we do see evidence that it's coming. Tomorrow is supposed to be a total washout so we'll have to find something to do inside. Friday is to be nice and possibility of rain or snow on Saturday. We walked 8.67 today for a total of 197.65 miles!

So, that's it for today. Tune in again tomorrow......

Conrad and Linda

The Cloisters

We started our day today with a LONG subway ride to the upper part of Manhattan to go to the Cloisters Museum. It is a part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We kind of had mixed feelings about it since our experience with the Met wasn't what we thought it would be. BUT, of course, we had to make a couple stops first! We got off the train at 163rd Street and walked over to the Morris Jumel Mansion. We knew it wasn't open on Tuesdays but thought we'd check out the outside of it to say we'd been there. The mansion was George Washington's headquarters for a month in 1776 during the Revolutionary War, before the British took it over.

The next stop was the George Washington Bridge. It was one I'd never seen before. We walked along the Henry Hudson Parkway forever to get there. It was a real pretty and the trail took us down along the Hudson River.

George Washington Bridge

Our goal was to find our way under the bridge to see the Little Red Lighthouse. There is a children's book that was written in 1945 called The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge. It was so pretty down there but a little tricky to get there.

The Little Red Lighthouse

We kept walking and got to wondering if we were really going to get to The Cloisters since we had to cross the Henry Hudson Parkway at some point and there didn't seem to be a place to cross. Cars were flying along the highway. We finally asked someone who was walking along the trail and she said we would have a chance shortly. It was such a beautiful day to walk so we really didn't mind. I think they said the high today was 62 but it was windy. We FINALLY made it after climbing a hill that reminded us of San Francisco!

The Cloisters was built to showcase the Metropolitan's collection of medieval art. French and Spanish monastic cloisters, a 12th century chapterhouse, and Gothic and Romanesque chapels were shipped from Europe and reassembled on this site, stone by stone. The prize of the collection is the six handwoven 15th-century Unicorn Tapestries. (Obviously, I copied that from the book!) I LOVED IT!

The outside courtyard at The Cloisters

A carved altar that was beautiful. The precise work is amazing!

There were a lot of these sarcophagus' in one of the rooms.

I could go on and on about this. It wasn't crowded at all and so enjoyable. I'm thinking this has been one of my favorite days here. Our walk was so enjoyable and we really don't feel too worn out tonight. We walked 8.98 miles today for a total of 188.98 miles. Looks like we're going to walk in excess of 200 miles in one month! It's pretty easy walking since usually it's flat but walking on uneven sidewalks, dodging people and other obstacles makes it a challenge.

For those of you reading this tonight, when you get up in the morning, turn on The Today Show! Our plan is to get up early and go down there. We won't have a funny sign or anything but maybe you'll see us anyway. It will be a challenge getting over there by 7:00 and it may be a little later that we get there.

So, time to eat some leftover chili and will hopefully get to bed early. We have heat as of tonight and we're excited about that! Hope to "see" you in the morning!

Conrad and Linda

Another Day of Walk, Walk, Walk!

We started our morning by going to the laundromat at 8:00 and doing 2 loads of clothes. Not how I want to spend my time here but it was necessary! We were back to the apartment and then on our way to the subway by 10:00. We got off on 28th Street (not that you would know where that is but stay with me here) and started our walking tour of midtown at the Flatiron Building. It was pretty hazy and it was hard to get good pictures but you know me....I take 'em anyway!

The Flatiron Building is triangular in shape like an iron. It was built in 1902 and is considered to be the oldest skyscraper in New York City. It is 287 feet high.

From there we headed north and walked through Madison Square Park and looked at the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court Building. The building is huge but was not completed as planned. The tour guide on the bus told us that there are more elevators in the building than there are floors. It was built in 1899.

It is the building in the back. See how it looks "chopped off"?

The next stop was for a tour of the birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt. As our luck goes, it is closed for renovation. It looks sort of funny in the middle of the block with tall business buildings all around it.

It's the house in the middle

This is actually a replica because the original was knocked down in 1916, but after Roosevelt's death in 1919 it was recreated as a memorial. About 40% of the furnishings come from the original house and the rest was either donated by family members or are authentic period pieces. I wish we could have gone in.

We kept walking north and saw some really cool buildings. We just walked slowly and studied them all! We stopped at a diner off Lexington Ave for lunch. It was good to sit and rest awhile. We kept on going up Park Avenue, through Times Square (I told you all roads lead to Times Square but we've also decided that a lot of them lead to Chinatown too!) We were headed to Lincoln Center which is a couple blocks north and west of the southern edge of Central Park. (Remember, we started at 28th St and zig-zagged through Midtown and Central Park starts at 59th St.) It would be fun to go to one of the programs there. John Williams (the guy famous for the Star Wars music and a lot of others) is being featured with the symphony tomorrow night.

After another quick rest, we headed across Central Park to the East Side. I think it's about 1/2 mile across the park. Then we walked 5 blocks south and 3 blocks east to Bloomingdale's. We walked through the store but, like most of you know, I'm not a shopper and Conrad would take anything to NOT even walk in a store! We went to the Magnolia Bakery in the back of the store and bought a treat to bring home. Our last stop was across the street to Dylan's Candy Bar. The owner is Dylan Loren, Ralph Loren's daughter. I was expecting one of those stores like you see at the mall. Oh no....it had 3 floors or nothing but candy! It was so colorful and expensive! They carry over 5,000 kinds of candy. They also sell t-shirts, sweatshirts and other things with candy stuff on it. I could have bought Macey a sweatshirt for $45 that said I Love Candy. Sorry Macey, but you'll like the other stuff I've gotten you!

Here's the outside of the store

This was one of the window displays

From there we were headed back home. We walked 9 miles today and my legs and feet are feeling it. I can't believe that a week from tonight, I'll be back in my own bed. This has been a wonderful experience and we've had so much fun. I can finally look at all these tall, beautiful buildings and not look like a crazy tourist. However, we've seen our share of crazy people here. We're learning our way around the subway and a lot of times know how many stops until we get off from memory and which side of the train to get off! We've gotten our "subway legs", you know, like "sea legs".

So, this girl is going off to bed. Hope it's a little warmer tonight. It's been pretty cold. The landlord said they'd come light the boiler tomorrow so we'll have heat tomorrow night. The temperature hasn't gotten above 60 here during the day. It's just perfect for us. The trees are starting to turn - you can see some yellow leaves around. We plan to make another trip through Central Park over the weekend and hope to see more color then.

Later!

Conrad and Linda

Lower East Side Walk

We had a really hard time getting up this morning. There was a big commotion out on the sidewalk in front of our apartment about 2:00 or so. Conrad thought it was someone rapping real loud but I thought it was an argument. I did hear a woman yelling "That's enough" several times. Plus, we have a couple guys upstairs who leave about 9:00 or so every night with a guitar and a saxophone and come back about 2:30 or 3:00 and slam the doors when they come in and are real heavy footed. The apartment next to us has an iron gate in front of the stoop and someone over there stays out late and bangs that gate and then we can hear him going up to the second floor. I guess the steps are right on the other side our bedroom wall. But, we love it here and just try to "Keep Calm and Carry On"!!

Our first stop this morning was the Staten Island Ferry for a FREE ride to Staten Island and back. It was still a little hazy when we went but we had great views of the Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey skylines on the way over but were on a different ferry coming back and it didn't have the outside decks and open on top that the first ferry did so I was a little disappointed.

Manhattan on the left, Brooklyn on the right and Brooklyn Bridge between

Then it was on to the Lower East Side for a self-guided walking tour. We followed a suggested walk from one of our books. It was pretty quiet in the areas were in today. We saw where some of the best traditional Jewish cuisine can be found in NYC. It was about lunch time and Katz's Deli was our destination. It opened in 1888, when the neighborhood was dominated by Jewish immigrants. I'm sure all of you remember it was the deli used in "THE" scene of When Harry Met Sally! Well, that scene must have been filmed in the middle of the night because there were hardly any people in there in the movie. The place was jam-packed but we were able to walk on in. I stood in line while Conrad found us a place to sit. As you walk in, each person is given a ticket. That ticket has to be turned in when you leave whether you eat or not. When they give you your order, they write the price on it. If you don't have a ticket when you leave, you will be charged a minimum of $50! We saw that the sandwiches were huge so we decided we would split one. We had a corned beef sandwich and it came with 2 huge pickles. That sandwich was $15.25!! We didn't see the line where you could get a drink so we just decided we'd get a drink somewhere down the street. When we left there, the line was all the way down the block to get in! A guy at the door counted how many went in and how many went out to keep it even! Oh, they only take cash too. I guess you paid for the experience and it was well worth it. Conrad thinks the corned beef sandwiches are better at Oaklawn!!!

This is the outside and just a few of the people waiting to get in!

This is what $15.25 will buy you!

This is how crowded it was! Notice the round sign at the top of the picture.

Then it was on with business. We saw several really old synagogues. Stores down in that area were really pushing leather jackets. The old buildings though were what held our interest. Brent had told us that it is cheaper to live in this area and now we can see why. I think a lot of the buildings were old tenements that have been changed in to apartments and refurbished more to today's standards. Most looked to be 6 story walkups and so many had clothes hanging out on hangers on the fire escape to dry. Unless they had a washing machine, and I'm sure they didn't, they either had to hand wash that stuff or haul it downstairs to a laundromat and then haul the wet clothes back up 6 flights! It makes you really appreciate what you have.

If you look real close, you can see laundry on the top floor on the first fire escape.

Our last area was the old part of Chinatown - where everyone seems to live in the area and very few tourists. It was really interesting. We stopped by one bakery where a lady had a table out front with a sign that said "Rolls - 2 for $1.00" so we decided to get a couple. I asked her what was in them and she said "$1.00". I asked again and got the same response so decided that was all the English she knew! So, we bought 2 and shared each one. They were really good. To get back to the subway, we had to wander through the commercialized area of Chinatown and fought our way through the throngs of people.

We stopped at a real grocery store that is across the street from one of the stops on our train and bought the stuff to make a pot of chili. Well, there isn't a pot big enough to make a pot of chili so I made it in 2 batches - one in a large saucepan and one in the skillet! It was good and we were excited to have some real food I cooked! We've been having salads if we eat here or cheese and crackers. We have enough for a couple more meals. (We don't have an oven - only a microwave and a gas stove top.) We still had to stop by the little deli on the corner near us for some milk, beer and diet coke. Conrad went in while I stood out on the sidewalk with the groceries. The man who works there asked Conrad where his wife was and he told him I was waiting outside. He asked where we were from (it's very obvious we don't live in this neighborhood) and he told him Arkansas. He asked where that was and Conrad told him in the middle of the country. The guy said "the Middle East?" and so Conrad told him no, it was near Texas! The guy understood that. We think he is Mexican. He's a really nice guy. He first called me Mama when I'd go in there but lately he's been calling me Baby! We seem to stop there almost every day. His prices are about the same as the grocery store.

Well, it's bedtime here so until tomorrow....

Conrad and Linda

East Village and SoHo

It was a bright, sunny, sort of cool day here today and a perfect one to be out walking. We took our time getting around this morning and had our route all figured out and, of course, due to subway problems/construction, we had to alter it at the last minute. The one car we were in smelled so bad. A guy was passed out in his seat and had wet his pants at least once. Don't know how long he had been on there. It was good when we had to change trains. But, we ended up where we wanted to start our day - in East Village at Astor Square. The area has a lot of fashion, art and design stores. It's much quieter in this area and Conrad and I could actually talk about what we were seeing. I guess you could say we "strolled" slowly through the area, taking in all the buildings. There were some really old ones there. We walked past the Cooper Union Foundation Building that opened in 1859. This is where Abraham Lincoln gave the popular speech that is said to have launched his presidential campaign.

We visited a couple churches, one being Grace Church. It was built in 1846 with white marble that was mined by convicts from Sing Sing prison in upstate New York. It was beautiful inside but had a lot of water damage and peeling paint.

Grace Church

We also went to the Strand Bookstore. The store has about 2 million volumes and their slogan is "18 Miles of Books". I believe it! It was 4 or 5 floors and books everywhere, even out on the sidewalk. There is a rare-book room there also. They had new and used books. We didn't hang around there too long, afraid we'd find something and have to haul it around the rest of the day!

We went in to McSorley's Old Ale House that claims to be the oldest bar in the city. It opened in 1854 and didn't admit women until 1970. There was a mahogany bar, gas lamps, potbelly stove and yellowing newspaper clippings posted all over the walls. There was even sawdust on the floor. We had hoped to sit down and have a little refreshment but it was so crowded and no seats available. Lots of people were just standing wherever there was a place to stand. So, we headed back over to Astor Place where there was a market set up on the street. We decided we'd eat lunch there. After looking it all over, I got a grilled cheese sandwich which was fresh mozzarella between 2 rounds of cornbread that was so good. Conrad got a sweet sausage on a roll with a FREE soft drink for $10! (For that price I would hope they'd throw in more than a drink!) It was topped with grilled onions and peppers. He said it was good though.

We wanted to go in St Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, but they closed it about the time we got there because of a memorial service going on in there. It is Manhattan's oldest continually used Christian site.

We walked down Mercer Street, an old cobblestone street with granite sidewalks. It had a lot of old loft buildings with high-end stores and what looked like the original old wood floors.

Mercer Street and some of the cast-iron buildings

One of 3 Singer Buildings - another cast-iron building

We love all these old, cast-iron buildings. Some had pretty fancy trim too. Stuyvesant Street had some beautiful 19th-century redbrick row houses that were Federal-style. We went to the old St Patrick's Cathedral but couldn't go in the sanctuary because a wedding was going on. Apparently, the newlyweds were leaving the church in an old yellow Checker cab because one was parked out front and had "Just Married - Marisa and Fabio" on it.

Pretty cool, huh?

We ended our evening in Chinatown. It was packed there tonight. LOTS of folks selling purses off sheets spread out on the sidewalk, "designer sunglasses", and Rolex watches! Yes, we just walked on by!

By the time we got back to the apartment, we had only walked 8.37 miles but it seemed like a lot more. That brings our total to 163.32 miles! Are you tired yet? By the way, here is how a lot of the dogs who aren't walked on a leash or carried in a purse get around!

Hmmm, wonder if I could ride in one of those!

We've also seen a lot of dogs in strollers!

Jason and Jenny closed on their new house Thursday and today was the big moving day. We were sorry to have missed this big event in their lives and our house will seem so empty when we get home. But, it will just be empty a few days because Brent and Jackie will be here November 3 through the 11th! We're excited about seeing them. It's been too long since December.

Well, I'm off to bed now to rest up for another big day tomorrow. We have one more week and one day and plan to make the most of it. So, until tomorrow.......goodnight!

Conrad and Linda

Ellis Island

This will probably be a short post tonight since we only did one thing today but took us all day! We got to Castle Clinton in Battery Park to buy our tickets to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Actually, both of those are free but you have to buy a ticket for the ferry to get there! So, like happy campers, we head to the line to go through security and............the line snakes through the park all the way back to the street! Well, let me tell you, in case you don't know, I'm not a very patient person! I've been in that same line TWICE in the SUMMER and the line wasn't that long! Anyway, there was nothing to do but wait in line and people watch. An hour and a half later we are on the boat. First stop is the Statue of Liberty. We stayed on the ferry since I've been there twice and Conrad wasn't interested in seeing it any closer than the ferry. Then it was on to Ellis Island - one of my very favorite places here. We got there at 11:00 and didn't leave until 3:30. I think I read every sign in the building and took a ton of pictures!

I think I got a lot more out of it this time after taking the Tenement Museum tour yesterday. It was sort of like last November when we drove the Natchez Trace Parkway. There is so much to think about and imagine the people of that time. They say it took the ships two or three weeks to make the crossing from Europe to Ellis Island. Many only had enough money to get some space in steerage, the very bottom of the boat. Some of those people left their families to make a better life in America. They brought all they could carry with them - some of their possessions were wrapped in bedding and tied together with rope. Some of the workers at Ellis Island could tell where someone was from by the way they tied their knots or by the kind of luggage they carried. Immigrants were told to put their belongings in a huge pile but some chose to carry it because it was all they had. They were required to have $25 with them so the state of New York would not have to support them. They couldn't have a job already lined up because they could work for less than Americans and take the jobs away from Americans. They had to have a plan of where they were going and a ticket or someone had to come pick them up. Single women could not leave with a man so many were married at Ellis Island and then left. The immigrants had to go through so many different "stations" to be checked. There were interpreters but sometimes it would take 2 or 3 different ones to find a common language. They had to be healthy. If they had some sort of disease that could not be cured, they were sent back to their own country. Some families were separated this way. They had to take an intelligence test. They had to complete puzzles. They had to convert their money to U.S. money and how did they know they weren't being cheated?

I thought a lot about children who came over. Did they travel alone? Sometimes a child was sent back. Who would pick them up? It was such a depressing time but these people thought this really was the land of opportunity. One of the quotes was "I thought the streets were paved with gold. In fact, the streets weren't paved at all. I was the one who had to pave them."

Anyway, you might want to do some reading about this on your own. I was happy that Conrad found it so interesting. I guess one reason that I'm so interested in it is that my mother's dad first came through Ellis Island from Norway. After 2 or 3 years, he sent for my grandma and their 3 children. Three were born in Norway and six were born in Iowa. (My mom was born in Iowa. She was number 8 of 9 children. I can just imagine my little grandma coming with 3 small children and not speaking English. How did you keep up with 3 small ones like that with just 2 hands plus your worldly possessions. I wish now that I had known about all that earlier and had been able to talk to her about it. She died when I was 15 so I'm sure I wouldn't have been interested in that type of thing at that age.

We came back to the apartment about 5:30 and are now trying to decide what to do tomorrow. We've made a list of things we haven't done yet that we still want to do. We have 10 more days to finish our list. The time has gone so fast. I'll leave you with a few pictures from today but most of what I took were of the exhibits and the sign that explained them. We only walked 6.32 miles today. All that standing made my feet and legs hurt though!

The Statue of Liberty

Signs like these offered jobs to the immigrants.

The Great Hall at Ellis Island

Each person had to show they were literate by reading about 40 words in their native language.

It was a great day but the coldest one we've had. The high was 55 and it was windy and overcast all day. I'm sure we'll sleep good though!

Later,

Conrad and Linda