Roadtrip to NYC: Manhattan Day 1
The day gets off to a slow start, with a nice, comprehensive tour of of Hempstead and the surrounding cities courtesy of Wanda, Joel's landlord. I don't make it into Penn Station until 5pm or so, about 3 hours later than planned. Whoops.
No big deal. =)
The plan is to meet up with Joe and whoever else to go nosh for dinner, while I walk around NYC before then and play tourist. My late arrival precluded much of the walking I had planned, but instead of learning the subways and buses to get to St. Mark's, I walked the 32 blocks to St. Mark's and took pictures along the way. Yes, my body disliked the forced activity after 5 days of sitting in the car, but it lived. The humidity was unpleasant but not too bad-- looks like Malaysia is my new benchmark for icky humidity!
Madison Square Garden had a very large crowd in front of it with an ad for the Gilette Venus Razor (lots of women were in line for this, I wonder why? :-p :-p ), the US Post Office across the street was surrounded by scaffolding for construction, and the outside of Penn Station was nothing to look at.
The first of many walk-bys of the Empire State Building happened; had I the talent to see the future I would have taken the time to go to the top, because this was the only really clear day I had in NYC. Looks like that'll have to happen the next time I come visit.
Walking past Macy's and the Empire State Building down 5th Avenue is Madison Square Park, a museum I didn't know existed (the Museum of Sex), the Flatiron Building, Union Square-- complete with subway stop, Farmers Market, and Virgin Megastore-- then I detoured a bit, I think.
A tour book to Manhattan says that things change noticeably as you go north/south of 14th. Street. North felt very high-rise urban, some of it older than others, but very dense... south, streets become more tree-lined, buildings are no longer super-tall, and things feel older. It's less modern, with more first-floor storefronts that seem to be small shops rather than big companies. Continuing to walk this is borne out as I meet Eileen and her friend Ann at a small asian-run nail parlor, with a little cell phone store and a Giant Robot store all almost adjacent to Tompkins Square Park. Much more charming than the skyscrapers. This must be what downtown Berkeley got its look and feel from, the three or four blocks of Telegraph near UC Berkeley remind me of this. Only with less energy, smaller, less charm, and the pizza isn't as good. *evil grin*
Joe catches up with us as well, we lose Ann in the process, and instead of drinks after dinner, it turns out Eileen's got plans to meet up with Terese (sp?) for happy hour. Umm no nosh? But happy hour sounds good, so Eileen, Joe, and I walk back up to 22nd Street to Blockheads for magaritas, sangria, and massive burritos. And it turns out Terese went to UCLA, too. It seems I can't escape my fellow UCLA alumni. *grins* Dinner and drinks are nice, plus the walk back to Penn Station with people who actually know where they are going and what they are seeing makes things even nicer.
Not to knock aimless wandering, but given that aimless wandering over 30-odd blocks could take over an hour, having some direction definitely helps at times. ;-)