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