Sacrament meeting was really good. I quite enjoyed it. And the chapel and meeing area didn't feel as though we were anywhere else rather than an LDS chapel. The decor and colors were all very similar to any other ward meeting place. But the organist! HE was amazing. The pipe organ was visible, the baffles were wooden and visible. And his playing...quite amazing and oh-so-beautiful. I got there about 18 minutes before time for it to begin, so I went to find the bathroom then sat down early and enjoyed the magnificient music. I plopped down right in the middle of the middle row, didn't talk to a soul and no-one talked to me. I guess I don't look very approachable. The member of the bishopric who conducted had a full beard, which is something seldom seen in this day and age. There were about 7 Aaronic (and/or) Melchizedek Priesthood holders who did the Sacrament and the place was so full -- of visitors, mostly-- that they all had to come back for a second tray when they passed the water. The congregation went clear back half way through the cultural hall. It was a good meeting with good talks from the Riley family. No youth speaker. One intermediate hymn.
I took this photo of the publishing house (Penguin/Random House) my co-worker went to earlier this year, only the photo is so blurry that you cannot even see their name inside!
Concrete Canyon.
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| NYC Wyndham. I always have my eye out for Wyndham hotels. |
I left right after Sacrament meeting and took a slightly different route home and enjoyed seeing all the stuff. All the food and restaurants! So many apartments and offices and statues and people and tourists.
When I got back to the room and changed, we went OUT. Our goal was to grab some breakfast but first we boarded the HOHO bus which was parked right outside of the deli where we may have wanted to grab some food. But we rode on. And on. And on. We got off near the bottom of the line and grabbed pretzels off a cart, eating while we walked over to the 911 memorial and museum. They are beautiful. And the Occulus is, too. We spend hours walking through the exhibits in the museum and enjoyed them, were moved by them, were educated by them and were touched by them. What an incredible testament to our resilience and national pride and the world's commitment to peace and friendship, overall. Yes, there are bad people, but I believe there are more good people.
After the museum, we really needed a good meal and opted for a nearby deli called the "Stage Door". The folks were very kind and understanding of our fickle-ness. They had everything from a grill to cold to ...well, about everything. Mom and I split a Rueben and potato salad and chips and fruit cup. I got a cannoli for dessert. I'm going to have to remember to NOT get those any more. I really don't enjoy them so much as I do many other things. But lunch was great. Or, rather, lupper. (Linner? ). We've been basically eating just one main meal a day and then snacking the rest of the time.
Back to the bus and back to Time Square. It was getting late-ish, but when we got off the bus and managed to hail our first taxi cab. Wasn't hard at all! Donna did it well. We observed a few other folks first. We rode it just up to Central Park, where we picked out a horse and carriage. We opted for the shorted, 20 minute ride instead of a 40 minute one. We DID have a cozy blankie, and we DID have a delightful driver whose name I do not recall. The horse was Billy. ha. She was a great drive because we got a really good narrated tour about Central Park that we all enjoyed. She was really nice.
Yes. A rat. In the park. I had to go back and get a quick photo. I thought it was a cute little squirrel at first. Not!
Mmmmm, Cheesecake. We had some decadent desserts on this trip!
Night views from thd HOHO bus.
After our fun carriage ride in the dark (it gets dark here by 4:30 pm!!) We caught another cab back to our hotel area by Times Square. Those two cab rides cost 5 and 6 dollars, I believe, but saved Mom a whole lot of achy walking. Her hip is really, really sore, and Mom was tired of walking. Thankfully, our room is so very close to Times Square. We found that there was a night tour leaving in 20 minutes. We already HAD tickets. . .we also had 20 minutes before the tour left. I made a bathroom stop inside Olive Garden Restaurant (I'll bet they love it that a tour bus ticket-seller-guide would tell non-customers to go in and use their bathroom! ha). and Donna and Janet headed to Starbucks for hot chocolate. Mom was so tired of riding around on buses. I admit, we HAVE been riding buses for a long time. Slow, bumpy and VERY VERY COLD buses since we always sit on the open top. I walked her back to the hotel while Janet and Donna got in the line for the tour bus and held a place for me (and held my hot cocoa that they bought for me. That was so sweet.)
The night HOHO bus wasn't all that great, but we did get to go across the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn. Only for a minute. They basically just drove over, turned around and went back! Too funny. We saw a few different views and streets, and the buildings at night. I could not take a decent night photo at all, so I'll be stealing them off of Facebook from Donna and Janet. Their phone cameras work better than mine. The guide was a "breathy" lady (aspiring actress/singer?) who maybe didn't do a lot of night-time tours because she would point out things like so, "Well, you can't really see this very well at night, but over here is..." Why point it out if we cannot see it? At least I wasn't having my ears shocked off on this trip. I waited a while before I dared to put my ear buds in. I do so hate being zapped with static electricity. And it's a BIG pop. When it's my finger touching the back of a seat, the "pop" is audible. I've seen actual blue sparks when touching a metal filing cabinet at work. Not a fun situation. I pack a big charge.
Well, on to our tour. After it ended, we were all pretty well frozen, though it was 10 degrees warmer than the previous night! The three of us stopped at Juniors and bought MORE goodies to bring back to the room (and Donna had a bathroom stop). Oh. My. Goodness. So much sweetness and fun. :-)
I kind of slept well. I almost forgot to put in my ear plugs, but then noticed how noisy the street was.. Had a bit of threatened heartburn. Imagine that! I wonder why? ;-)
On Sunday Morning, they were supposed to have the street we are on (47th Street) closed to parking for a movie shoot. But I went out to gather up some more savory breakfast foods to go with the sweets we had for breakfast , and there were cars parked all over as usual. It was also rainy, so maybe they re-scheduled. We have a deli on the corner we quite like. Well, it's more of a sandwich and pizza shop. But very convenient. EVERYthing is convenient here!
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