NYC Trip - Day 3, Part 2

After leaving Central Park our next goal was to make it to the Marriott Marque in the theater district because there they sell same-day theater tickets for half-price. Between here and there were a LOT of landmarks including...

Radio City Music Hall

NBC Studios

The Russian Team Room

Carnegie Hall

One of the places we didn't take pictures of was St. Patrick's Cathedral. When we entered they were finishing Communion for the noon Mass. The Cathedral is simply awe-inspiring. It's almost a Catholic museum inside, full of statues of saints with bios on each one, etc. It's massive and beautiful and amazing.

After Mass, in the back of the church, was a small chapel where Eucharistic Adoration was occurring. In the chapel, the pews were filled with people singing. So, when you walked back around to the front of the large church, you didn't know where the voices were coming from, but they were filling the rafters as if from heaven. It was very cool.

We were lucky to come across three Catholic churches during our trip, all of which were beautiful. One was the Church of our Savior near Grand Central Station and the other was Holy Name, which was only a few blocks from our hotel and where we went to Mass the Sunday before we left. New York is so lucky and blessed to have so many gorgeous and historic churches available to them every single day.

After St. Patrick's we were running a bit behind schedule. We were all REALLY tired from walking now, but we had to press on.

Read the sign.. "Every deal can turn deadly!"
with Dea's name right below...
You don't know how true that is!

Gabe was really struggling from exhaustion.
DC lovingly helped him along.

We finally made it to the ticket line and got four tickets for Spamalot. We were very excited. I asked Dea if she wanted to stop by the Rockefeller Center on the way back to the hotel, but she was too tired and we all just hopped on the subway and headed back.

After an hour or two we all got dressed for the theater.

We clean up real nice!

DC outside the theater.

We arrived in the relatively small Shurbert Theater and sat in our four seats. We were surprised to see how "over dressed" we were for the evening. It appears that plays, once they've moved off of the opening run, are no longer events, but tourist attractions. And, like in Orlando, the patrons are usually dressed in the most comfortable clothes, not the nicest.

Feeling superior... okay, not really, we sat back as the lights dimmed. One of the play's characters was being played by Clay Aiken from American Idol fame. He, along with the rest of the cast were very, very funny. We had a great time.

Clay Aikens as Sir Robin.

King Arthur and his Knights
of the very round table.

After the play we were hungry so we headed back to Times Square for an over-priced, but satisfying meal at Planet Hollywood. DC was aggressively flirting with our young and handsome server named Chris. My papa bear claws wanted to strike the boy dead, but I understood it was part of the maturing process.

So I grounded her.

Just kidding.

Full and exhausted, we went back to the hotel and crashed.

NYC Trip - Day 3, Part 1

The third day in New York we decided to walk Central Park and continue walking until we came to the theater district at Times Square. One of our trip goals was to see a Broadway show and we were hoping to get 1/2 price tickets for either Spamalot (a spoof of the Monty Python film The Holy Grail), The Lion King (a play based on the movie) or perhaps Stomp (a play based on stomping).

When you walk through the theater district you realize just how the entertainment industry had changed. In NYC's heyday in the 50's, plays became movies. Now, primarily spurred by Disney, movies have become plays... the aforementioned The Lion King and Spamalot are joined by Mary Poppins and the Little Mermaid currently running on Broadway.

Anyway, back to our day. Central Park wasn't very far away, so we walked through some neighborhoods with wonderful architecture.

The family on the stairs of one
of the many beautiful
brownstones.

Once at Central Park, we partook of the local cuisine (pretzels) and motored ourselves into the famed centrally located grounds.

Mmmm... pretzels.

In honor of the Bard, William Shakespeare, DC and I stopped at a memorial and over-acted, Shakespearean style.

Let us notith beith so badith
at actingith.

Our first real stop was the Belvedere Castle. Built in the 1800s, it was originally used as a meteorological station. It fell into disrepair in the 1980s and 1990s, but had recently been repaired.

Belvedere Castle

Gabe atop the castle overlooking
his little piece of heaven...
baseball fields.

The view from Belvedere Castle.

Afterwards we continued through the park toward midtown and enjoyed the surroundings.

Dea at the Park.

Cool structure. Leaks though.

Standing in "The Mall"
which is used in
a lot of movies.

During our stay, all through New York, it was not uncommon to come across extremely talented artists playing for change in parks and subways. It spurred an interesting conversation with DC... as an artist at some point she'll have to decide whether she wants to try and be a small fish in a big pond or a big fish in a small pond. If extremely talented artists are working for change, then how good must those who actually perform for a living be at their craft?

Some excellent musicians
playing for donations.

After strolling through The Mall we found Poets Corner, where world famous poets were honored with statues. DC and I again found Shakespeare's statue and had our picture taken.

DC and I below the patient Bard.

You know, Shakespeare's genius is that he is able to, with great efficiency, create completely enveloping imagery. One of my favorite Shakespearean lines is:

"He has the patience of statues."

What is more patient than a human form that never moves? Great stuff.

Our now weary bodies eventually reached the end of Central Park, stopping atop the massive rock structures, overlooking a free outdoor ice-skating rink lined by the towering skyscrapers.

Atop the rock.

Kids take a break
looking at the ice-skaters.

Our day of exploration would continue outside of the calm confines of Central Park and into the busy streets of Manhattan as we made our way toward Broadway.

I Got Mine!

Today I picked up Matt Maher's new CD called Empty & Beautiful.

If you're a frequent visitor to this site you know how I came to hear Matt's music by getting copies of his songs from a source I'll simply call an unnamed relative. When I realized I would meet him in person, I paid Matt cash for the equivalent of the three CDs worth of music into which I had come in possession.

When I saw Matt a month or so ago, I told him I'd actually purchase his CD the old fashioned way... with the store, the distributor and the music company all getting their cut.

So, here's the proof, Matt!

Can't wait to listen to it.

NYC Trip - Day 2, Part 2

We eventually made our way to the site of the former World Trade Center towers. There's not a lot to see there now. Just a big pit where they are setting the foundation of the new building.

It was sad to think of all of the souls lost there... very sad.

Preparing to build again.

One of my favorite pictures.

A neighboring church was used by the police and firemen to sleep in shifts as they looked for survivors. It now holds an on-going memorial to the lives lost seven years ago.

It also is the same location George Washington prayed the moment after he was inaugurated as our country's first president. They still have the pew inside where he knelt that day.

Outside the church.

George Washington's Pew

Patches of the police
and firemen lost that day.

After our solemn visit at Ground Zero we walked over to Battery Park, across the water from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

DC, Dea and Lady Liberty.

DC looking across the water at the Statue.

While we looked across the glistening water we explained to our children how important the Statue was to those immigrating to America through Ellis Island. When they saw the Statue of Liberty, they knew they had made it. They knew they were free.

As we discussed the history, a young woman approached us and told us she had overheard our conversation, was from Fox News, and wondered if we'd agree to be interviewed on camera. They were putting together a pro-America video public service announcement and she wanted us to participate.

We agreed.

We got mic'd up and the producer, Brad, explained his approach. He would ask us a series of questions and if he heard something he liked, he'd have us expound on that. At the end we then said a series of introduction lines.

With Dea, he liked when she said "Freedom, to me, means being able to teach my children the way I want."

With me, he liked it when I said "Freedom is not free, it's not cheap, but it's worth it."

It took about a half hour and was a lot of fun. As I mentioned, at the end he asked us to say some intro lines, like "This is MY American Story" and "Stand-Up America!"

When Dea did her Stand-Up America line, Brad asked that she speak as mother would to her children to motivate them. So Dea takes a deep breath and says aggressively, "Stand-up America!" Feeling it was a little too strong, Brad tries to rephrase his approach.

I jumped in and said "Don't ground America, honey."

We all shared a laugh and finished the interview. Brad said the promos may start showing up as soon as next week, so if you see Dea and me on TV, let us know.

The previous night, on our bus night-tour, the tour guide mentioned that the Staten Island Ferry was free and gives a close pass by the Statue of Liberty. So, after we finished up with Fox News we walked over to the Staten Island Ferry and hopped aboard.

After a long day of walking, sitting on the boat and viewing the New York skyline and the beautiful Statue was a wonderful respite.

New York skyline minus the Twin Towers.

The Brooklyn Bridge

Ellis Island

Gabe and I look on from the Ferry.

The Statue of Liberty

On the way back from Staten Island,
DC collapses into Dea's lap
and enjoys a quick nap.

We had planned to hit the "Top of the Roc", which is the top floor of the Rockefeller Center, but we were all pretty wiped out by this time. So we hopped on the subway and headed back to the hotel for dinner and a good night's rest.

NYC Trip - Day 2, Part 1

We started the day worn out from our journey the day before, but we couldn't dally... we had a lot of places to go this day.

Yeah, I'm tired.

We hopped on the subway and made our way down to Grand Central Station.

Gabe and DC waiting for the next train.

The Grand Central subway stop.

This beautiful, large and impressive Grand Central Station building has been used very successfully by Brian DePalma for both The Untouchables and Carlito's Way. You walk into a building like that and quickly realize we no longer consider buildings as an art form. This building is a work of art.

Grand Central Station

Hanging out at the GCS.

DC, Dea and Gabe outside GCS.

Me and DC near GCS.

After a brunch in the GCS dining area, we trekked on foot around the city, spotting many o' landmarks.

Madison Square Garden

The impressive U.S. Post Office.

The Empire State Building

Can you guess where we are?
That's right!
The American Stock Exchange.

Flat Iron Building
used in Spiderman.

We tried to take in so many iconic and well-known locations. It was stunning to turn the corner and find, one after another, places we had seen on television numerous times during our lives.

Our weary feet continued our tour of this massive, memorable city, leading us toward the saddened ground known as Ground Zero...