Weather wise, Columbus Day turned out to be everything that Good Friday was not, namely, dry, clear, sunny, humidity free, and warm. It was GORGEOUS. Clear and sunny, with highs reaching the low 80s! Perfection. So perfect that I am glad that we didn't have plans to spend time inside at shows. Wonderful fall days like this are in short supply, so you take advantage of them while you can.
Since it was so wonderful, we decided to walk most of the day. After meeting in Grand Central, we headed out to travel 42nd Street. I wanted to show them the Public Library, the lions, and Bryant Park before heading up to Central Park and the Upper West Side for a special behinds the scenes tour of a local drama program where I may or may not have connections.
My loose plan for the day was to be away from the Columbus Day Parade route as soon as possible. I had forgotten when the parade started, and was grateful to learn that it was later than I remembered. We were therefore, able to take our time on our rambles. All the better for Ms. Emily to use her recent birthday present to document the day.* (She's 13! Can you believe that? Neither can her mother.)
Here's Ms. Emily taking in the sights of the Library. (Moments like then when she was standing still and quiet were few and far between.) The Library was closed for the holiday, so we went around the block and explored Bryant Park. I managed to get the pair of them to pose for me in a garden arbor.
One of my favorite parts of Bryant Park was the itty bitty outdoor library and reading room for the little tiny kids that come with parents, or more likely, the nannies. Even the park chairs were scaled down. It would have looked weird for me to go over and look at the books, and besides ... Emily was ready and raring to go to the Big PARK! Central Park.
We headed up Broadway, stopping in practically every single ticky-tacky tourist shop looking for NEW YORK sweatpants (to no avail), getting pretzels and liquids, and then dodging those annoying carriage ride and pedi-cab vendors, to get to Central Park. We wound our way in ... ending up at the Heckscher Playground. While these are only two of the photos I have of Emily playing there, Wendy and I spent a lot of time "resting" while Ms. Em crawled through concrete structures, claimed the castle, scampered up the native rock slope seen in the background, and then tried to get a turn on a tire swing. In the meantime, Wendy and I caught up, re-hydrated, watched lots of fathers take their turn with their offspring (since it was a holiday) - some who were better at than others, got an eyeful or more of very uninhibited kids running through the water features, and then watched Emily try and deal with Big Apple kids. Even though they were younger, they did not give an inch to this "big kid" and Emily never did get a ride on the tire swing, though I think she did get to swing once or twice on a regular swing. Eventually it was time to head out and look for food.
Due to the nature of our behind-the-scenes tour, there are no pictures. I just hope Ms. Em enjoyed what she did get to see, and it gave her some ideas for the future. We have tentative plans for another return trip in the spring to see some productions at this venue.
After the requisite stop at the Gift Shop (again, no sweatpants), back to Central Park it was. We headed north toward the Delacorte Theater and Belvedere Castle. Before we could get to the Castle however, we got sidetracked. Emily wanted to go play in the Diana Ross Playground, so Wendy and I got to rest some more, watch a pick-up co-ed soccer game of the cutest toddlers ever, and watch Emily futilely try to get on yet another tire swing. As a consolation later, she got a Popsicle from a Central Park ice cream vendor, which we enjoyed at the base of the Castle stairs.
Wendy is not going to be pleased that I'm posting this one, but tough: Old Friend Privilege! Because we spent so much time at the playground, we missed the cut-off to go in the Castle, but the views of the Turtle Pond, the Ballfields, and Delacorte from the Castle landing were gorgeous on a pseudo-Indian summer evening.
Ms. Em picked our paths through the Park, and we ended up rambling part of the Ramble. This was a first for me as well. I tend to get lost in the Park, so stick to the main drags. My little print-out map wasn't so good, but as long as I could get my bearings off the skyline and sunset I knew we were. There is a GPS "app for that" of Central Park, but none of our phones were smart enough for that. Which is fine. When your head isn't pointed down at a tiny screen of a phone, you can point the tiny screen of your digital camera at things like this ... boaters on the Lake. If you look closely, you can see the diversity of New Yorkers in rented paddle boats. There were gondolas out as well, and there was a traffic jam under the bridge as the pilots steered their ships to shore before the light was gone.
Ramblers in the Ramble or Rabble Rousers? -- at the Stone Arch
You would think that with all the dining options in New York I would have had better plans for dinner. I didn't, though. I was waiting to see where the day would end up, plus I had to consider some dietary and budgetary restrictions. We ended up at the same corner of the Park where we started, right at the corner by Columbus Circle ... and then I had a thought.
Part of my "tours" of New York are showing Emily what life is like on a "typical" day. She's seen Grand Central, done the subway, been to my office, and walked my streets. I try to show her that it's not like the movies or television shows. Hanging out in the Parks was a perfect example of what New Yorkers do on days off. You walk. You rest. You read. You eat. You hang.
Since we were so close to the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, I decided to show Wendy and Emily where people shopped on the Upper West Side ... and had occasion to eat. Whole Foods. Not glamorous, sure. But I also figured that with all the options at the dining court, we'd find something that everyone could try and eat without too much gastronomic distress.
After figuring out what to get, we were lucky enough to find three seats together so we could eat. Or, more precisely, Wendy and I could eat. Emily was so busy people watching and listening, I don't know if she actually tasted her food. She got to listen to local college students complaining about classes, heard about every language under the sun, watched mothers finish shopping and then try to feed two kids, and watched and watched and watched until her eyes must have been exhausted. My one miscalculation was remembering it wasn't a holiday for everyone and getting us to the check-out line madness after the rest of the office-drones that had to work had rushed to the market for their dinners.
Dinner done, we exited the madness of the mall to this delightful scene. A PERFECT fall evening at Columbus Circle. Hey -- Columbus on Columbus Day. (Aren't I smart like that?)
No day in New York could be complete for Emily without a subway ride, and she had fortunately brought her MetroCard from her last trip with her. With swipes for all, we headed into the bowels of the system and within minutes was back in Grand Central with time to spare for bathrooms, refreshments, and securing seats on Metro-North back home.
I can't believe how fast time is going. Ms. Emily is 13! 13 is that magical age: when you look at her you can see both the little girl that she was and the young woman she is going to be. Scarey for this "auntie," not to mention her mother!
Aside from her annoying habit of shoving the new camera in your face (*and by that I mean up your nose and blinding you with the flash), it was a delight, once again, to share "my" New York with Emily. I hope she had a good day. Can't wait for the spring, when she can have yet another Big Adventure in New York City. Maybe I'll have finally found those darn sweatpants for her!
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