Home Again

And now for the final day of our saga...

So, after stowing our luggage, Kelly and I hopped on the water taxi to head downtown. Not really, but Kelly got a picture of this yesterday from Liberty Island, and the subway didn't sound quite as neat, so I lied.

Actually, there's a subway stop at 51st and Lex, so we slipped out the back door of the Waldorf and shot down to Canal Street for some shopping. The first two places we stopped weren't bargaining much, so we moved on; but the next few places made some nice deals.

I bought a few more "pashminas." Sadly, the stuff they used to stick the label on damaged the scarf a bit when I removed the tag, but it still looks ok. The funny thing to me, though, was that the tag actually has the true fabric content and point of origin ("aertlic"/acrylic and China, respectively, surprise, surprise), just hidden on the back side.

Kelly did a good job bartering once we found stuff she was interested in, but several times she expressed that she wanted to come back with Sami to do some serious bargaining. She replaced last year's "Channel" sunglasses with "Dolce & Gabana," bought a "Tiffany" bracelet and necklace and bought a handbag she really liked (the guy offered to attach a D&G tag, but Kelly said it was a knockoff of another designer -- who I, of course didn't recognize -- so she passed on the offer) -- all for under her $60 budget! We were done shopping within 30 minutes, so we figured we'd try to slip in the Empire State Building before our reservations for lunch uptown.

Within minutes, New York's underground magic carpet dropped us at the ESB and we flew up to the observation deck. The crowds were not as light (read "non-existent") as when Sami and I went, but we had no lines and were at the 86th floor within 15 minutes of our arrival!

The visibility was fabulous, so we had a great view of King Kong...

Oops, wrong picture, that comes later.... We had a great view of the City and environs. You can see the Waldorf peeking out from behind the Pan Am building -- meh, Met Life building, sorry.

Here we are from the Northeast view, Kelly in her new sunglasses looking chic. You can see the Chrysler building and a bit of the East River behind us.

Here I am, dressed like a grown up to impress the bellhops at the Waldorf.

And I know this is an addiction and I have to stop, but, really, look where I'm pointing...

Monica is so right, they're everywhere...

Anyway, we threw some more money away in the gift shop; but, ever the bargain hunter, Kelly bought a calendar on clearance! (It was from 2004. Not really, but aren't I funny?) Then, despite Kelly's insistence that we take a cab (she'd been lobbying for cab rides the entire trip), we took the subway, yet again, uptown to Tavern on the Green. That's where we actually met Kong. He was the topiary in the garden outside the Crystal Room, where we ate.

The Crystal Room was lovely, albeit empty. We actually took these pictures from our table -- they're not downloads. There were maybe three other tables in use when we arrived. It filled up a bit later, but certainly not like the holidays! January is so the right time to visit New York.

We originally had planned only to have dessert -- Kelly wanted creme brulee -- but as we had not yet eaten and it was after one, we decided to have lunch. I had a wonderful salmon (surprise) served with ratatouille! Of course I thought of Sam! Kelly had a turkey club -- yet another prop to Sam! Sadly, the creme brulee was a disappointment. Kelly had half finished it when I took a bite, and it was cold! Plus, the torching on the top had been a bit burned on one side. So sad. It was still good, just a let down after the year-long anticipation. In spite of the creme brulee, lunch was lovely. Because the restaurant was so empty, we had a good chance to relax and look around. I never noticed the ceiling before (and how could I have missed this!).

After an obligatory visit to the gift shop -- postcards and pencils, de rigeur -- we decided to walk back to the hotel to get the car. (Still no taxi. Sorry, Kelly, but this is New York.)

We visited the magnificient ladies room and cooled our heels in the lobby while waiting for the car, then bid adieu to the Waldorf and headed for the Lincoln (tunnel) and home. (Sam, we so have to come back here when you're home.)

Coming out of the Lincoln, we had a lovely, clear view of the City, which was a nicer farewell than on the Jersey side.

(Actually, I used to love seeing these exhaust stacks at the refineries when I was little. There used to be loads of them going at night and it looked cool. This is the first one I've seen burning in a while.)

And, not to worry you, but, they're multiplying...

OK. I'll stop. Kelly and I decided that my new obsession needs to be Priuses (is that the plural of Prius?) that are not blue. We saw about four on the ride home -- red (2), green and grey. Luckily for you, we did not take pictures of them.

So that was it. A whirlwind visit to New York. Those are often the best kind. (I think it may have taken me longer to write about it than our actual visit!) I'm getting more comfortable tooling around so the next time I visit with Sam, we may actually stop to eat!

A bientot!