NY Recap (day 3)

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

I've been lazy so haven't been writing much. Yesterday was guitar so I was learning how to play songs with only 3 notes.

So where were we?

On the third day Geneman and I met Stef and Lucy at Ground Zero. We walked all over the place (where we could). A lot of the areas on the walkways were screened off, but we were able to clearly see the construction going on through gaps in between the screens. We also went into the American Express building (If I rememer correctly) nearby to check out some of the displays.

The glassed in atrium where we were hanging out was kind of odd. There were these huge, evenly spaced palm trees that looked a little out of place. but it was neat to see, nonetheless.

Afterwards we went to a park that ran alongside the Hudson River.

And we waved at New Jersey.

There were some huge boats in the marina. It reminded me of the humongous boats we saw in Florida.

We walked beside the river for a while. But by this time, we were pretty starved so we headed off to Tribeca to eat at Bubby's Pie Company. I'd never heard of it before, but it was a recommendation in the little trusty travel book.

Not only was the food really good, but there was also a bonus. We saw James Gandolfini at the restaurant! And, Stef thinks we were a few tables away from Julia Stiles too.

Stef (the observant one) spotted Mr. Soprano first. He and his party were sitting at the top of the stairway leading down to the sketchy basemental area (where the bathroom was). I had already gone down to use the restroom and come back up.

And no, I totally didn't notice anything or anyone cause I was on a mission - to pee and find my way back to the table.

Anyway, I wanted to see the glory that was James G as well so I faked another trip to the restroom. On my way up, I made eye contact with him (hopefully he didn't think I was checking out his woman), and we exchanged nods.

Gangster style

Just kidding (aout the gangster style). We did nod. He was probably acknowledging that I shouldn't be embarrassed about my bladder problem.

Lucy and Stef took it one step further - They talked with and Lucy got a picture with him.

A brunch to remember.

So let's see, what else. After we ate, we followed the smell of money and ended up in the financial district.

Wall Street.

Of course we were greeted by the big Stock Market Bull. Just in case you were wondering, yes, it is male, and it is anatomically correct (as far as I know). So of course we did stuff to it.

And that's all I'll say about that.

You can definitely tell where people rub the bull for luck.

We actually spent quite a bit of time in the financial district. We went to the New York Stock Exchange, bought souvenirs, some people climbed fences for pictures, etc.

Oh yeah, I found a guy that would sell me a "Rolex" for 100 bucks.

When we were all financialed out, we headed to the Empire State Building. The timing was perfect. After we got through the ticket sales and waited through the lines, the sun was beginning to set. The sunset had some great color to it. And we were able to see all of the lights turn on in the cicy.

For dinner we had pizza at Pie by the Pound. Kind of a neat concept - They have these pizzas made and displayed. You tell the servers how much you want, they cut it off, and heat it up. It was quite good. We were careful to save room for dessert...

At Veniero's - Even though the name sounds like it's something evil (or bad), this place had these crazy kickass desserts. You pretty much checked your diet and/or lactose intolerance at the door. Everything was super rich and creamy.

Unfortunately, Monday morning was going to be an early one so we tried not to stay out too late. (Gene had to work, and I had to catch my plane). Which was a good idea in theory, but not in practice.

It wasn't as late of a night as the 2 before, but it was still late.

The next morning, Geneman gave me door to door service from the apartment to the airport. And then I was off...

(the end - Commentary to follow later. I'm falling asleep again)

-Kirk