Day 2

     After a few restful hours, we breakfasted on pastries, and then Jess went to her meeting, and I caught up on my daily games. I play solitaire, Words with Friends, and Merge Dragons every morning. They have daily goals that I challenge myself to hit them every day. I also did my scripture study. When she returned, it was time to catch the bus for our true crime walking lunch tour. 

    We walked through the East Village and Little Italy, learning about gangs and how they evolved into the Mafia during prohibition. Such infamous names as: Lucky Luciano, Dapper Don, and John Gotti. We started off at John's of 12th Street, a “Red Sauce Joint,” where Joe Masseria had an attempt on his life. Our tour guide was recently retired police detective Frank. He was great. I enjoyed his Brooklyn accent, and he was so knowledgeable. 

   

     We started with a spaghetti lunch and learning how some gangsters held court here in the 20's and 30's. During prohibition, John's lit this candle to say they had alcohol for service. It's actually several candles, and they still light them!

    The food was great, and the atmosphere was amazing. There were frescoes and paintings that were originals. They had so many pictures of famous people, including Danny Kaye!

    Then we took to the streets. It was quite the challenge to create the streets of NYC 1926 in 2026, but Frank was definitely up for it. He brought pictures and colorful anecdotes and regaled us with the gritty details of life run by crime. 

    I spotted a few of these tiny Amazon carts running around. They are wild.

    New York is Bananas! There were several bananas throughout the city, and then I spotted this store. I have no idea what they sell, but I had to capture them and the feeling of New York they evoke.

    This police precinct is famous due to Brooklyn 99. It was having some work done, so we didn't get the best view, but I was fascinated to learn about the green lanterns. According to the NYPD website, “It is believed that the Rattle Watchmen, who patrolled New Amsterdam in the 1650’s, carried lanterns at night with green glass sides in them as a means of identification. When the Watchmen returned to the watch house after patrol, they hung their lantern on a hook by the front door to show people seeking the watchman that he was in the watch house. Today, green lights are hung outside the entrances of Police Precincts as a symbol that the 'Watch' is present and vigilant.” Which is so fun.

    Our next stop was St. Patrick's Basilica. Built in 1808, this site is still frequented by the Pope when he comes to town. There are catacombs and a graveyard. I had to take a peek inside.

    We headed to our last stop, and I loved all the unique shops sandwiched together, like this clothing store: Decendent of Theives. Such cool ideas and things. 

We finished our tour at La Bella Ferrara for some amazing cannoli.

    This bakery is on Mulberry Street! And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, so you know we had to get a pic of us there.

    Down the road, you could see that Little Italy was ending, and there were paper lanterns up, so we went to investigate. We did get sucked into a tourist trap for a bit along the way, but they had fun magnets, so it was worth it. We ended up in Little Chinatown. We found this amazing food vendor that had fruit from all over Asia.

Jessica found some mangosteens, and we bought some to take home. 

    We went through a park where someone was playing a traditional Chinese instrument, we stopped for a bit, but the park was packed, and so we decided to head back to the hotel. It was at this point that my confidence became my downfall. We caught the train and had it to ourselves for a bit. 

I liked this peek, us on the train.

    Unfortunately, I headed us to Queens instead of back to downtown. We came out to a different fruit vendor, and his wares were very reasonable, which was our first tip-off. The next was the lack of skyscrapers. We tried to ask Google, but it made us more confused. We asked a few locals and finally figured out how to get back. We celebrated our return with mangosteens, and they were amazing. Jess had them in the Philippines when she went to pick up Makayla from her mission there. They were told you can't find them in the States, and she was so happy to find some. She texted Makayla to brag. She softened it by telling her she would bring some home. 

    We went to dinner at Veerays, a Michelin-awarded Indian speakeasy right next door to the hotel. We used Jess' food credit to try their 6-course tasting menu. We started with mocktails, and I had the Lucky Luciano in honor of our earlier tour. It was nice. We had the place to ourselves for a bit.

    While I wish I could tell you what we ate, I have no idea what they were. They were all amazing though! 

The bread served with this dish was quite spicy, which surprised me.

Dessert was this delicious custard. 

    After this fabulous meal, we walked it off on our way to the theater. The theater we went to was quite interesting. New World Stages is an Off-Broadway five-theater complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. It was so unassuming on the outside and goes on forever on the inside, like a Tardis.  I loved this mural we passed on the way there. 

    Our show this time is The Play Gone Wrong. I had seen it before in a middle school and high school production, and was excited to see a professional version. Jess had never seen it before. We were in the second row, just out of splash range, which was great. If you are unfamiliar, at a certain point in the play, the actors keep spitting out their drinks repeatedly.

    This play is hysterical and so much fun. Especially if you have ever worked on a play. My favorite bit was catching one actor doing everyone's lines under his breath. Jess really enjoyed it. It was fabulous. We headed home for a hot chocolate nightcap and didn't stay up too late this time!

Sister's Trip Day 1

     For years, my sister and I have been planning a trip. Every time, something would come up, or the timing didn't work. So when she called me to say she had a place to stay in NYC, I jumped at the chance. She left the itinerary up to me, so I found some fun alternatives to the regular touristy things. Jess took the train while I flew in. Daniel drove me up to the airport. Google had us go a different way than we usually go, and we went through construction, which delayed me a bit. I made it with enough time to get through security and run onto the plane. Luckily, the flight was not full, and I was given a whole row to myself! 

     I found out how to use the free bus system from LaGuardia into Manhattan; you take the Q70. It stops at 2 transfer stations, where you can catch a bus, tube, or other form of transportation. It was really convenient. I had an hour and a bit before Jessica arrived, and we couldn't check in until 4, so I familiarized myself with the Metro app and got my MetroCard loaded so I could use the subway and buses. New York, like most big cities, has a wonderful public transit system, but it can be a bit confusing to a tourist such as I. I decided to check out the area and found St. Bartholomew's Church, so I had to visit. On my way, I found these giant rats protesting!

    Manhattan has hundreds of churches sprinkled between skyscrapers. They are fascinating and beautiful. A lovely reminder of faith being the cornerstone holding up the apartments and centering the businesses. 

    They were having an event in the main chapel, but there was a smaller chapel that I was allowed to use. I love that churches are open to the public during the day; libraries and churches; they are my jam! This one was beautiful. 

    They had a coloring page that told the story of St. Bartholomew that I took to bring home for the kids. As I was recharging my phone and myself, I got a message that Jessica was heading in soon. I got the directions to where her train let out and plotted my course. A short walk took me to the subway, which spat me out kitty corner to the train station. There was a sign that said it had moved across the street, so I planted myself outside the station. There was a group doing Tai Chi on the steps along with several pigeons. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the station. It lets out into Madison Square Park, and it is quite busy. I guess that is true everywhere in New York City. We were able to figure it out pretty quickly and soon met up. Our next thought was to get some lunch. We consulted Google and found an indian place a short distance away, but along the way we spied Molly Wee, an Irish pub, and changed our minds. 

    Molly Wee was just like stepping into a real Irish pub, complete with a few regular drinkers bellied up to the bar and the delightfully accented, nononsense staff. We decided to split the soup of the day, broccoli cheddar, and the open-faced Reuben sandwich. The day was quite chilly, and this really hit the spot! They were both fantastic!

    I appreciated that it was still decorated for St, Patty's. After lunch, we decided to visit the Public Library. This building is iconic and, unless you are a student, not really helpful to the average patron. Most of the books were behind locked doors. They did have a coat check that took our bags, so that was nice. We took the walking tour and learned that the real public library, the one with books, was across the street. It was a beautiful building, though, and we enjoyed learning about it. Jessica even signed up for a library card.

    Those lions are iconic! We strolled towards our hotel, taking in the many sights, sounds, and smells of New York. Seriously, I have been blessed living in Washington and Missouri, where they don't allow smoking outside buildings, but here the air was thick with the smoke of both tobacco and marijuana. 

    We found this cute market with so many delightful things! From flowers to food, it had so many options. We got some bread and pastries to try. 

    We passed this bakery on our way too and applauded his efforts. He took it well. I wonder how often they get passersby engaging with them through the glass. 

    Our hotel was conveniently situated right downtown. It was a 15-minute walk to the theater district, which was amazing! Upon entering the hotel, Jessica got the spiel from our rather enthusiastic concierge about an upsell meeting she would have to attend. Timeshares are always trying to upsell you. The good thing was that she didn't have to stay for the whole 30 minutes, and she got a dinner credit for attending. She signed up to attend the following morning. We received our room keys, which were wooden, and also a bracelet room key. I had never seen that before. The elevators were interesting as well. You enter your room number, and the screen would direct you to the correct elevator. It took forever to come, so I doubt it is more efficient, but it worked, I guess. We settled in and then walked to dinner. I had a dinner reservation at The Glasshouse Tavern. It is located in the heart of the theater district and is steps away from our first show. Dinner was amazing. Jessica had the branzino (our enthusiastic concierge had recommended it), and I had the shrimp alfredo. They were delicious!

    After dinner, we walked past a huge line of theater goers to get to our theater to witness SIX! Jessica commented on how it seemed ridiculous to cue up early for assigned seats. I had to agree. Then I related my skipping the line debacle when Daniel and I went to the book signing of Matt Dinniman. We found our seats and set about taking the customary photos.

    Six asks the question, which of King Henry VIII's wives was the best? It's a nonstop rock concert of competing Queens and their live band. They blew us away with their powerful voices. The lighting was spectacular! This show is under 2 hrs and a bit frantic at times, but they get their point across. It was never a competition. They represent real women manipulated by a broken system, and they still made their mark. 

     It was an explosive education on what Bradway can do and set us up nicely for the rest of our visit. We wandered a bit in Times Square, then headed up to the balcony lounge at the hotel with hot chocolate and some of our pastries.

On our way back, we passed this unique fashion display.

We stopped off at a late-night bodega for some milk, then headed up. Our view from the lounge.

     The pastries were delicious and paired well with the hot chocolate. The view was spectacular, and the night: clear and chilly. Although we proceeded to stay up way too late talking, it was the perfect ending to our first day.