NYC... Overstimulation City

Our hotel was the Hilton Times Square. Oddly enough, the hotel is not actually in Times Square. It’s actually a block down and a block over. It's pretty much smack dab halfway between 7th and 8th avenues on 42nd street, information that means absolutely nothing to anyone who hasn't been to that area of the Big Apple. This block of 42nd street is P.A.C.K.E.D. with businesses.

Yep! That's it, sandwiched between Applebee's and the Money Exchange business.



Our hotel had a narrow sidewalk access that if you weren't paying attention to look for, you would walk right past it. It was wide enough for two double doors, but that was it. And it was very plain compared to everything else around it. Once you walked through the doors, you had to walk about half-way through the building to a doorman's desk.



Across from the doorman's desk were a pair of elevators, either one would take you up to the lobby.

That's right. Up.



The lobby for the Hilton Times Square, we would learn, is on the twenty-first floor. I think the first twenty floors of the building were office/back of the house space. I remember seeing a sign in the elevator saying that maintenance was located on the fourteenth floor, so I assumed that the space was used by the Hilton employees to run the show. We checked in, and the front desk said we had a low floor and then gave us our room number: 2411.

Only in New York is the twenty-fourth floor a "low" floor.

But I guess the bonus is that you end up with a really nice view.






This golden hand was the top of the marquee sign for Madame Tussaud's NY.



That body of water behind those buildings is the Hudson River.

Here's the top of that ad we saw on our way to the hotel.

More hotels in the area.

Another view of the Hudson River.

I think this was a hotel, too, but I'm can't remember the name. In between the blue and brown halves of the building there was a white strip that would light up at night.

We stayed long enough to unpack, and went out to explore the city.

During the bus ride to the hotel, a gentleman passenger, once he discovered we were first-timers, explained to us that we were in for a completely unique experience. He was right. There were people everywhere, and everything was in constant motion. There was something to see everywhere you looked, and next to that one thing, there were about ten other things to look at. It was literally like being a kid in a candy store: there was so much to look at, so much going on, so much to experience, there was no way this was going to be a typical weekend mini-cation.

We had to walk past Madame Tussaud's whenever we went West. This place was a tourist magnet! We practically had to walk into the street to get around the crowds wanting to get a closer look at this wax figure of Morgan Freeman. And yes, it did look that real. People were even posing for pictures with it!



Mary Poppins was playing at the Amsterdam, which played songs from the musical in the lobby that you could hear as you walked by.

First stop, Times Square. Actually, our first stop was going to be Bryant Park, but when we waiting for the light to change at 42nd Street and Broadway, we saw Times Square and decided to take a detour.

Oh. My. God. There were people everywhere. The entire block was shut off. Only traffic through the area was going down the 40's streets, only crossing, and that was taking some time. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon, and traffic was bumper-to-bumper!



Here is the famous scrolling news ticker that you always see on TV.

Another view of Times Square. We're getting closer to the heart. Advertising was everywhere! Visual overload! You can see two more ads for Mary Poppins. A lot of the "bilboards" were electronic. They would show one ad for about a thirty seconds, and then change to another one.

More ads... and yellow cabs! They are very proud of their yellow cabs; every souvenir store had yellow cab magnets, salt and pepper shakers, shot glasses, nick knacks, key chains, you name it, they had a yellow cab souvenir.

There are two types of cabs in NYC, and the other kind isn't yellow, and it isn't regulated. It's best to wait for a yellow cab, since they have strict guidelines they have to follow. The base cost to ride in a cab is $2.50 and then add forty cents for every one-fifth mile or twenty cents per minute when the cab isn't moving. It costs you an extra fifty cents when you ride in a cab between 8pm and 6am.

A huge Target ad:

Next we headed over to Bryant Park. We saw this park on our bus ride to the hotel, and thought it was interesting, because it was a park with actual grass. All the other parks we saw had asphault tops.

Besides being a park with actual grass, Bryant Park is historic. It was established as public access land in 1686 by Colonial governor Thomas Dongan. In 1776, it was a battleground during George Washington's retreat from British forces. In 1847, the city designated the area as a park and named it Reservior Square. In 1853 it hosted the Crystal Palace Exhibition at the World's Fair. In 1884 it was renamed Bryant Park to honor the poet and advocate William Cullen Bryant, who died six years earlier. In the 1970's, Bryant park was overrun by drug users and prostitues, but in 1980, a non-profit organization took control of the park and cleaned it up. Now the park hosts all sorts of events like concerts, movies, holiday shopping, and fall festivals. You can see a lot more neat pictures on the Bryant Park Blog.

In the picture below if you were to look to the left (if you were there) you would see the back balcony of the New York Public Library. If you look really closely, in the middle of the picture, you can see a blue and white striped canope. That is a French-Style carousel. Most of these people are just sitting and enjoying the beautiful weather (75 degrees, sunny), some were reading, and some people had their laptops (there is free wifi in the park) and were working.

This is the open-air Reading Room. It first started in 1935 as a place were out-of work New Yorkers could spend the day reading, without the need for a library card or other identification. It closed when more jobs became available during World War II. The non-profit organization started the traditon up again. Books and periodicals are donated by publishers, and you can go and pick up a book without a library card, have a seat in one of the many chairs, and read to your heart's content.

The view down 42nd Street, back towards our hotel. To the left you can see a "witchcraft" sign. This is the snack-bar type business they have in Bryant Park.

This is the view down 42nd Street going in the other direction. That gorgeous building in the background is the Chrysler Building.

A hot dog stand! And a soft pretzel stand. And a kabob stand.

Here's a news stand. There were one of these on practically every block. Besides newspapers and magazines, you can also purchase drinks and snacks like candy bars.

Here is another view of the news stand. And looky there! It's a pay phone!



Here is a close-up view of a building down the street. The smiley face was part of an electronic billboard (I'm not sure what they were selling) that would erase completely and re-draw this picture about every thirty seconds.



The entrance/exit to the 42nd Street/Bryant Park subway station. We did not ride the subway when we were in New York. We could not pull ourselves away from all of the energy and sights that were above ground.



While we were waiting enjoying the park and the sights, a friend of ours from Baltimore showed up, completely surprising me. I had hoped she would be able to come up for a visit, but last I had heard, it wasn't happening. Then she appeared right in front of me! I screamed (which earned me some curious looks from others nearby) and we gave each other a big hug.

Then the three of us went off on an adventure of our own. We ate dinner at Virgil's Barbecue (recommended by another friend who lives in NYC), which is actually a related company to Goode's BBQ here. Good food, and lots of it. The waiter was attentive and very friendly. Our friend ordered hushpuppies, and there were about 2 dozen on the plate, no lie! After dinner and visiting, we left to stop back at the hotel to pick up a souvenir/gift for our NYC friend, and then went in search of a place to find some cold beverages and wait for our other friend. After wandering around for a while (it's really hard to find a bar with some available seating in New York on a Friday evening), we ended up at Shorty's, (on Ninth between 41st and 42nd) which is the only place in New York you can get an official Philly cheesesteak.

They also had something ridiculous like 20 beers on tap. I had a pumpkin-spice one that was fantastic! It was like drinking a pumpkin pie. The second beverage I had was a "Flying Dog." Our friend from Baltimore suggested it. When our waitress, Jessica brought it out, it was as dark as tar and had a big head of foam that took about 30 minutes to melt. I know it took a long time, because it took me a long time to drink it. It was eight percent alcohol, and had a huge kick at the beginning of your sip (yes, had to sip it), but warm going down and smooth aftertaste. It made me very happy and very buzzed. Our NYC friend showed up, and we visited with him for a while before we all hopped in a cab and rode down to Greenwich Village. From what I remember in my Flying Dog haze, it was as unique and amazing as Times Square.

Lots of packed bars (Friday night in New York) next to regular businesses, next to houses. Stairs to walk up into the building or down into the basement. We saw a building that looked a lot like the Flat Iron Building, but I don't think we were in that area. Maybe, but I'm not sure. In any case, whatever building we saw, it was pretty cool looking. Too bad I was too inebriated to think to take a picture. We must have looked like real New Yorkers, because at one point while we were walking around, a couple of older people asked us for directions! We had to defer to our native New Yorker, since we didn't want to send them in the wrong direction.

The thing about finding a cab in New York is that sometimes, like on Friday night, it can be really hard to find a vacant one. So we started walking back towards 42nd Street. After about twenty blocks, we finally found an empty cab and were able to ride the other twenty blocks. Then it was just a short trek back up to our hotel. We said goodbye to our friends and thanked them for the surprise and the adventure and headed up to our room. It was about 12:30 in the morning. We had been in the city only nine hours and we were exhausted!