(All of the pictures here, unless otherwise indicated, were taken by me)
My sister and I flew out very early in the morning to LaGuardia Airport. All I did was read this book on my trusty Nook ST "Callie", while my sister slept at the window seat. We arrived freakishly early, like noonish, and our room wasn't ready. We stood in line to get a cab and rode for about thirty minutes. So yeah, from Queens to Manhattan.
Our ride was pretty nice, taking in all the sights. My sister was snapping photos like a pro, I just soaked it all in. I haven't had much luck taking photos from a car, so just leave it to the one who can do it better.
Either way, we got to our hotel (a nice little place on the west side of Central Park), and our room was ready. Naturally, we were at a loss what to do (plus, I was feeling a little anxious) since we arrived so early. I think my sister forgot our arrival time, since I did remember. With that, we chilled for a bit watching the Olympics and then some Arthur (the cartoon, not the Dudley Moore film):
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| This was apparently field hockey... |
We got fed up and left to find two things: a place to eat (for me) and a Starbucks (for my sister), which we were successful at. I got a slice of pizza, which wasn't that good. Maybe I just went to a "eh" place. After that, we headed to Central Park to find the things I wanted to see: Belvedere Castle and Strawberry Fields. And we were successful, of course (mostly thanks to the Central Park app):
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| On the way to the Park! |
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| I will conquer this tower! |
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| A view from the conquered tower |
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| Despite this, I'm more of a George girl... (picture taken by my sister) |
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| The Dakota Hotel |
Central Park was absolutely gorgeous. The weather was nice and cool, about the upper 70s, I guesstimate. There were lots of families, runners, joggers with dogs, bicycle riders, and tons of walking tourists. It felt very safe and comfortable. Something that I wasn't expecting in this big, bustling city.
After our time in the park, we took to the subways, heading for CBGB! After missing our stop and then getting lost around the Lower East Side (even with the generous help of a local), we finally found our way. Inside, the new owners have kept the original graffiti and walls behind glass, along with hanging posters of various albums and concerts. The only Talking Heads thing I spotted was a poster for the Heatwave Festival. There was more Rolling Stones stuff, which makes no EFFING sense. They didn't play there (as far as I know). There wasn't even much in the way of Ramones or Blondie stuff around either. Somebody missed the point.
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| The fact that it turned into a clothing boutique would make for an interesting David Byrne song... (picture taken by my sister) |
They weren't kidding when they said that CBGB was a tiny-ass club. It was very narrow, like a boxcar. You would be squished up against people if you wanted to hear the music. I'm assuming the bar didn't allowed for wiggle room, either. There are plans to reopen the place, maybe somewhere else, but we'll have to see.
Since were we dog-tired from all the walking around the Park and LES, we hailed a cab and went for Times Square.
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| Oh my God! |
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| Giant-ass TV screens... flashing lights... |
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| The consumerism... it's everywhere. |
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| It's all -- wait, they turned Bring It On into a musical?! |
We stayed there for a while, grabbing some noms from the Starbucks nearby, apparently the largest of its kind.
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| Not pictured: its other bar and register |
After getting our noms and sitting in Times Square for a while, we went to the Empire State Building. We had tickets to go to both the 86th and 102nd floor observatories. We're thinking "this will take us an hour and then we'll go back to the room and sleep". Nope, didn't happen. We waited in line for TWO HOURS. I'm seriously not joking. We were in line for security, then the check-in, and then to actually get to the last elevator to the 86th floor! So many people! Must've been a peak hour.
We saw people cutting in front of us, claiming they bought tickets where they could skip the lines (such tickets exist, but they were likely in the wrong line). We finally got to the top. By then, it was night and the brightest area of town was Times Square. My pictures from the observatories are pretty blah, but lemme share this instead:
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| Looks like something out of a horror movie... |
After spending a total of thirty minutes on both observatories, we called it a night and hailed a cab back to the hotel, where we crashed, falling asleep to the Olympics. Right back where we started.
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Next time on the program: Frustrated Lady Writer and her sister do more touring! Will their calves continue to ache? Will they figure out the subway system in time for the concert? What strange and fantastical things will they see at the Museum of Natural History? Will Frustrated Lady Writer find some new food to try? And by God, will they be near a Starbucks?!
Tune in next time for the latest installment of Frustrated Lady Writer Takes on New York City!
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