:: Venting Insanity ::

:: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 ::

my nyc trip
So, I promised details, I'll give details.

meeting the girls
I woke up early, hoping that John S. had gotten my phone message the night before about me going with him. We were catching a 10 am train, so I wanted to be at the station around 9:30 to make sure I caught John S. and the others at the ticket booth. Ronkonkoma's a big station, so it's easy to loose someone.

I checked my e-mail for a message from Laura, but there wasn't any, so I figured we could maybe meet up another time.

John called me about a quarter to 9, saying he was stuck at Wal~Mart in Centereach, and could I pick him up. I said sure, but that we would be running a few minutes late because I wouldn't be able to get out of the house until 9. He was okay with that, so I picked him up on the way to the train station.

On the way, John filled me in on details as to how he got basically roped into taking his coworkers daughter into NYC. It turns out that he really didn't know them either, so it was going to be an interesting trip.

We got there about 10 to 10 and got our tickets. John's coworker got there right about then and introduced us to her daughter, Justina, and her daughter's friend, Kelly. They're a lot younger than John and I, but that was okay. Justina had been dying to go to NYC for a while, and her parents didn't really feel comfortable being the ones to show her around because they'd only been there a few times. John happened to have mentioned something about it at work and this woman asked him if he'd take her in for her 18^th birthday (which was the day before mine). She offered to pay for the trip, since a trip into NYC is anything but cheap.

So, here we were, on a train with two young girls we didn't really know, heading into the city without a game plan. As we decided, I sent a quick e-mail from my phone with my number in case Laura decided to try and catch up with us.

arrivals
We get to Penn with two main goals. The wax museum and a subway ride. John and I figured, hey, no problem. The wax museum is in Times Square, we'd get dinner, figure a few more things out, maybe hit the Manhattan Mall or some other big sightseeing type thing, and then head home, slipping at least one ride on the subway in there somewhere.

First stop, Times Square.

madame tussaud's
We had some trouble finding it. Turns out we went the wrong way from Times Square. I got a bit turned around in my approach and didn't see the hands that are part of the facade. ^^;;

Oh well.

Anyway, we get inside (after passing Samuel L. Jackson at the entrance) and stood on line with Joan Rivers, The Rock, and Elle MacPherson. Michael Jackson had a little stage display and we passed Michele Kwan, Wayne Gretski, and Benny Hill to get to the elevators.

The place is filled with celebrities of all sorts... world leaders, history makers, singers, sports stars, actors, dancers... You name the type of celebrity, they probably have someone to fit the bill.

All the statues were extremely lifelike. I was in awe through the whole place. They had scenes set up where they were sitting or where they were standing. You could sit on the couch with B. B. King and touch maribu feathers on Ginger Rogers' skirt. All the displays are open. The museum feels that you should be able to stand next to a person and 'measure up'. They want you to touch the hair and clothes. It's really amazing the level of work and quality that goes into making someone in wax at this place.

stop number two
After that, we were starving. So, we headed back to Times Square and hit Planet Hollywood for dinner. I'd never been to a Planet Hollywood before, and my last attempt at going had been slightly derailed because they had moved and I didn't know where they were. My cousin had been very disappointed.

Anyway, we get inside and had a *huge* dinner. I was stuffed. The waitress kept asking us if we wanted desert, and we kept saying no, but Justina and I were about to find out why.

A group of the wait staff came out at that point with a giant sundae that had two candles, one of Justina and one for me, and sang "Happy Birthday". Either John or Kelly, we weren't sure which, had told them about our birthdays. We cleared the center of the table and stuck it in the middle. There was no way the two of us were eating it alone.

what next?
The girls weren't sure what to do next, so I suggested the Empire State Building. I've lived on Long Island all my life and I'd never been up there. After September 11^th, I made a vow that I would get there soon. Unfortunately, Liberty Island is closed at the moment, so that vow isn't capable of being filled.

So, Empire State it was. We weren't sure what kind of view we would have, but it wasn't amazingly overcast, so we figured we'd give it a shot.

We get inside and they're touting this thing called a 'combo ticket' which combines the "Sky Ride" with going to the top of the building. We said, 'why not?' and headed over to get the combo ticket. The Sky Ride is a virtual motion theatre on the second floor of the building that offers a helicopter film over NYC. It's narrated by Kevin Bacon. It was cute, and the first theatre was really crowded, so the four of us ended up in the other one by ourselves, which was a neat deal.

Review to follow... ~_^;; Heh heh.

After the film, we headed around to catch the elevator up to the top. There was a gumball machine at the elevator, which we thought was kinda cool and got some gum. As we headed up, we remembered why. Going up in an elevator to the 86^th floor of a building *will* make your ears pop from the pressure change.

I was amazed by how quiet it was up there. The streets of Manhattan are always noisy. Horns and other car noise, construction, sirens, people talking or shouting... but, up there, it was just wind. It was like being in Central Park. It was so peaceful.

We walked around the entire observation deck, just looking. I picked out a few places I knew. It was the south side that really hit me hard. I didn't think I would have a problem, but that hole in the skyline still gets me right in the stomach. It just felt so empty...

it's the mall!
We headed back towards Penn Station to hit the Manhattan Mall. The girls like to shop, so that was a big thing they wanted to do. I really didn't look around to buy anything, as I wasn't into shopping at that moment. I'd spent enough money recently... heh... ^^;;;

Anyway, I had gotten a message from Laura at some point before the Empire State building how they had pretty much hit the city earlier that morning, but hadn't heard the phone ring. I happened to have checked my messages at the mall. So, no meeting up. We can do it some other time, though.

After the mall, we debated a bit on where to go and Kelly suggested a horse and buggy ride. No one had any clue where they might be. I said, "It's subway time."

horse & buggy
Since we were down by Penn, it would have been a nasty walk to get up to Central Park. That's were all the carriages are, so we headed down into the subways and grabbed a MetroCard for the trip to Columbus Circle. It wasn't a long walk from there to find carriages. We were a bit surprised by how expensive it was, but went for it anyway. After all, it was Kelly's and Justina's first time in NYC and who knew when they were going to get back in again.

We took the short ride, since that's all we could scrape together in cash. He took us around the southern end of the park, which was really nice. It was quiet in there, too. It was nice to take those breaks from the noise that day.

homeward bound
From there, we got the subway back down to Penn and ate something quick on the Concourse before catching the next train back to Ronkonkoma. It was a long ride back that included us being punchy tired to the point where we were recording strange messages on Kelly's phone and playing them back again, and an argument between John S and his girlfriend Nicole about how he had the nerve to even think about going to all those places without her.

Of course, when he said that he would take her when she wanted to go, she said, "It won't be the same because we didn't go together first."

{{sigh}} Go fig, right?

overall
We had a really great time. Of course, any time I spend in NYC is good... It's all good... And maybe next time, Laura and I can actually catch up with each other. LOL.