#9 Boston Times - The New York Edition - August 6, 2004
Friends!
I have emerged from the ghastly state the dreaded lurgy of the past week had put me in and have attacked this past week with somewhat increased pep and oomph. This past Saturday my friend Linda and I decided to take a day trip to New York City. We left on Saturday at an ungodly hour from Worcester, MA and found ourselves in the Big Apple 4 hours later. I am dedicating this trip to the quintessential white trash family that happened to occupy the seats behind us, and needless to say provided entertainment of a special sort with quotes that will stay with me for quite some time. Let us call them the "Dans", as the only identifier we had was the wife, who called on her beloved "Dan" more often than we thought necessary. We will return to them later.
The bus dropped us off at 42nd near Fifth Avenue, and we headed first toward the Upper West Side, where we visited the farmer's market near the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (http://www.lincolncenter.org/index2.asp) and then headed up Columbus Avenue in search of some more food. The Upper West Side has a tremendous amount of restaurants, and you see more locals there than tourists - we opted for Hunan Park, a great Chinese place with fast service and excellent food. We then headed toward Central Park, visited Bethesda Fountain - listed as the "crown jewel" of Central Park (http://www.centralpark2000.com/database/bethesda_fountain.html. Definitely a good place to hang out, see jugglers and musicians, and some dude dressed as the wizard "Dragonlord", but in typical NYC fashion, we enjoyed a 85 degree, 200 percent humidity summer day, and so we headed for the shade. Central Park is just so amazing, we saw every type of musician known to mankind from New Orleans Dixie Jazz, to one man-bands with homemade unidentifiable instruments. (http://www.centralparknyc.org/) We also decided to ride the Central Park Carousel, which was built in 1871 and initially operated by a blind horse and a mule. It features the "largest handcarved figures ever constructed" (http://www.centralparkcarousel.com/). After the nausea from the ride subsided we headed out of the park to explore the city, and visit important landmarks such as Tiffany's, Trump Tower with its glitzy charm, St. Patrick's Cathedral (crashed a wedding in there), and made our way along the entire length of Manhattan, past Union Square (greatest farmer's market ever), through Soho and Chinatown (too many people) past the Brooklyn Bridge and all the way to Ground Zero. (http://groundzero.nyc.ny.us/). Beautifully restored Grand Central Terminal in New York is also a must see - http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/ Our final stop was Bryant Park, where we enjoyed some free jazz and watching people play speed chess, and here we rested our weary feet from the 10 miles we walked all day.
Little tidbits you gotta love about New York (some old, some new):
*Hot dog vendors, pretzels, roasted chestnuts
*Mango on a Stick - the ultimate snack. The mangoes are peeled to look like a blossom and put on a stick. Costs 2 bucks and is my new favorite snack.
*Central Park has 26,000 trees and runs for more than 50 city blocks. The tree trust of the Central Park Conservancy Women's Committee should be thanked.
*New York can't hold a candle to Boston when it comes to restaurant names, but one Mexican restaurant named "Senor Swanky's" will definitely make the list.
*Coming into New York, the bus took the scenic route right through East Harlem and the Bronx - reality check.
Now, let's come back to our new favorite family, the Dans. I will simply let you enjoy a couple of the same wonderful conversations we were privileged to hear:
"Dan, I am sitting here with my knees up in the air." Dan, I can't hear you, I have waxy built up".
"Dan, I am not fat, I am just a big water balloon." (Mrs. Dan was by conservative estimates a mere 100 pounds overweight).
"I am not going on a death ride in one of those yellow cabs."
Meanwhile, back in Boston, we have recuperated from DNC week, Boston's businesses are all disappointed that the Democrats did not shop until they dropped, and the weather has been simply wonderful. Today was Carrot Day at Copley Square, where "The Food Project" was distributing carrots in order to encourage people to eat locally grown food.
I am heading for an AMC hike Thursday evening to the Blue Hills near Quincy and more adventures are planned for the weekend, among them a 33-mile bike ride near Cohassset, MA, along the South Shore in Wompatuck State Park.
As for my closing tidbits -
*The Beacon Hill Times reports that the "Cat Lady", a woman in whose apartment city officials found 60 dead cats, has been putting up leaflets in the neighborhood accusing the police, the prosecution and the judge of misconduct.
*On the baseball front, Nomar Garciaparra was traded to the Cubs (Nomaahh!!) and among other benefits the Red Sox got Doug Mientkiewicz, who played for his old team, the Minnesota Twins one afternoon against the Red Sox, and found himself a Red Sox member the next day playing against the Minnesota Twins. The amazing thing was that he had a Sox uniform with his name stitched on there the next afternoon. As the TV announcer said "Someone in that clubhouse must have been doing some fast stitching."
*Upon researching a cancer medication today I discovered among the side effects "aesthetic dissatisfaction" - let's just say, I don't need medication for that to happen - a look in the mirror will suffice on occasion.
Toodles,
pet:)
I have emerged from the ghastly state the dreaded lurgy of the past week had put me in and have attacked this past week with somewhat increased pep and oomph. This past Saturday my friend Linda and I decided to take a day trip to New York City. We left on Saturday at an ungodly hour from Worcester, MA and found ourselves in the Big Apple 4 hours later. I am dedicating this trip to the quintessential white trash family that happened to occupy the seats behind us, and needless to say provided entertainment of a special sort with quotes that will stay with me for quite some time. Let us call them the "Dans", as the only identifier we had was the wife, who called on her beloved "Dan" more often than we thought necessary. We will return to them later.
The bus dropped us off at 42nd near Fifth Avenue, and we headed first toward the Upper West Side, where we visited the farmer's market near the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (http://www.lincolncenter.org/index2.asp) and then headed up Columbus Avenue in search of some more food. The Upper West Side has a tremendous amount of restaurants, and you see more locals there than tourists - we opted for Hunan Park, a great Chinese place with fast service and excellent food. We then headed toward Central Park, visited Bethesda Fountain - listed as the "crown jewel" of Central Park (http://www.centralpark2000.com/database/bethesda_fountain.html. Definitely a good place to hang out, see jugglers and musicians, and some dude dressed as the wizard "Dragonlord", but in typical NYC fashion, we enjoyed a 85 degree, 200 percent humidity summer day, and so we headed for the shade. Central Park is just so amazing, we saw every type of musician known to mankind from New Orleans Dixie Jazz, to one man-bands with homemade unidentifiable instruments. (http://www.centralparknyc.org/) We also decided to ride the Central Park Carousel, which was built in 1871 and initially operated by a blind horse and a mule. It features the "largest handcarved figures ever constructed" (http://www.centralparkcarousel.com/). After the nausea from the ride subsided we headed out of the park to explore the city, and visit important landmarks such as Tiffany's, Trump Tower with its glitzy charm, St. Patrick's Cathedral (crashed a wedding in there), and made our way along the entire length of Manhattan, past Union Square (greatest farmer's market ever), through Soho and Chinatown (too many people) past the Brooklyn Bridge and all the way to Ground Zero. (http://groundzero.nyc.ny.us/). Beautifully restored Grand Central Terminal in New York is also a must see - http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/ Our final stop was Bryant Park, where we enjoyed some free jazz and watching people play speed chess, and here we rested our weary feet from the 10 miles we walked all day.
Little tidbits you gotta love about New York (some old, some new):
*Hot dog vendors, pretzels, roasted chestnuts
*Mango on a Stick - the ultimate snack. The mangoes are peeled to look like a blossom and put on a stick. Costs 2 bucks and is my new favorite snack.
*Central Park has 26,000 trees and runs for more than 50 city blocks. The tree trust of the Central Park Conservancy Women's Committee should be thanked.
*New York can't hold a candle to Boston when it comes to restaurant names, but one Mexican restaurant named "Senor Swanky's" will definitely make the list.
*Coming into New York, the bus took the scenic route right through East Harlem and the Bronx - reality check.
Now, let's come back to our new favorite family, the Dans. I will simply let you enjoy a couple of the same wonderful conversations we were privileged to hear:
"Dan, I am sitting here with my knees up in the air." Dan, I can't hear you, I have waxy built up".
"Dan, I am not fat, I am just a big water balloon." (Mrs. Dan was by conservative estimates a mere 100 pounds overweight).
"I am not going on a death ride in one of those yellow cabs."
Meanwhile, back in Boston, we have recuperated from DNC week, Boston's businesses are all disappointed that the Democrats did not shop until they dropped, and the weather has been simply wonderful. Today was Carrot Day at Copley Square, where "The Food Project" was distributing carrots in order to encourage people to eat locally grown food.
I am heading for an AMC hike Thursday evening to the Blue Hills near Quincy and more adventures are planned for the weekend, among them a 33-mile bike ride near Cohassset, MA, along the South Shore in Wompatuck State Park.
As for my closing tidbits -
*The Beacon Hill Times reports that the "Cat Lady", a woman in whose apartment city officials found 60 dead cats, has been putting up leaflets in the neighborhood accusing the police, the prosecution and the judge of misconduct.
*On the baseball front, Nomar Garciaparra was traded to the Cubs (Nomaahh!!) and among other benefits the Red Sox got Doug Mientkiewicz, who played for his old team, the Minnesota Twins one afternoon against the Red Sox, and found himself a Red Sox member the next day playing against the Minnesota Twins. The amazing thing was that he had a Sox uniform with his name stitched on there the next afternoon. As the TV announcer said "Someone in that clubhouse must have been doing some fast stitching."
*Upon researching a cancer medication today I discovered among the side effects "aesthetic dissatisfaction" - let's just say, I don't need medication for that to happen - a look in the mirror will suffice on occasion.
Toodles,
pet:)
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2:09 PM
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