My purpose in being in New York is to sort out God's calling in my life so I began the day with total self indulgence. I don't necessarily recommend this to others but I needed to play and play I did.
1. Woke up in my $55/night bed and breakfast (it's cheap because they don't serve breakfast!) and walked through Harlem to a McDonalds for coffee and oatmeal.
2. Took a subway to Times Square.
3. Finding my Florida jacket too skimpy for November in NYC, I bought a new hat and coat.
4. I wandered around lower Manhatten for a while and some guy sold me a 3 day bus tour package. I loved it! I saw lots (I'm stymied on how to upload all the videos I took with my new tablet...stay tuned), and bought a turkey sandwhich and another coffee. (Good-by vegan diet).
5. I was especially interested to hear from this tour guide how Manhattenites see Statan Islanders (I am from that burrough). Two quips: "Manhattenites want to secede from the union and form their own country...but they dont want to take Staten Island with them." "Everyone on Staten Island has a car; few people in Manhatten have a car." Car ownership is appaerently beneath the 7 million taxi driven, subway riding folks on Manhatten.
6. The tour guide suggested we, "Take the Top of the Rock (Rockerfeller Plaza) tour now before the storm hits. The view from the 70th floor is better than from the Empire State building." So I grit my teeth and faced my fear of heights. 70 floors up isn't hard when encased in tall, thick glass walls. I filmed my experiment and I'll post it if I can figure out how. I also are some pricy vegetarian sushi and salad.
7. Back on ground level I needed a drink and found the holy grail for all cartoonists, humorists, and fans of the New Yorker, the Algonquin Hotel. Sipping my Manhatten while in Manhattan, in the shadow of original prints by Hirschfeld the caricaturist, and in the same room where Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Harpo Marx, George S. Kaufman, Harold Ross, and others schmoozed in the 30s was a dream come true (I know, I have weird dreams).
8. Night life in the city that never sleeps is visible from outer space, so I've been lead to believe. See photos.
9. I took the subway back to my neighborhood and scouted around for grocery stores. If I don't get some kale or baked tofu soon I'm going to ... I'm not sure what I'll do. It's late and the metaphor pool has just about dried up. I am happy to report that a consumer can find just about anything they want in a five minute walk from anywhere. Tomorrow I eat like a king.
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