A Half Day of Lasts

We had our ride to the airport booked for twelve-thirty so had to decide how to use our last half day.  Bob & Liz chose Central Park.

Why just juggle?  Why just run?  Why not juggle and run?

I headed over to Washington Square and Greenwich Village.

Saturday morning is a good time to use the subway without the usual bustle and crowding.

I let the dog paparazzi photo me in Greenwich.  The sculpture comes from Australia and was created by a husband and wife team Gillie and Marc.

I follow the Mah Zu Dahr Bakery on Instagram and stopped to see if their delicacies are as tasty as they look.

They are.

You can't see the tag clearly in the next photo, but you can buy the meringue cake for $55. 

There's a dog park at Washington Square.

This is the birdman of Washington Square.  It's not my idea of a fun hobby.

I love going down random streets and finding treasures such as this:

We may not have done things together in the morning, but we all agreed upon where we would meet for lunch ... at the NYC hot spot which is just a couple of doors from our hotel.  Chick-fil-A is new to NYC and it was packed every time we went past.

None of us had eaten at one before and we thought it was pretty good.  Maybe it wasn't up there with Carmine's or Dead Rabbit, but it was good.

We were at Rob's house in Saskatoon by 11 last night and home to Weyburn this afternoon.  

Our last night at the hotel we didn't get to sleep early because we started a conversation about what was the best - the best food, the best show, the best tourist attraction, the best conversation with a random stranger, the best surprise, etc. etc.  Already we were storing our memories.

We're home now but don't quit reading the blog as I am going to do one more post about our hotel.  I could also do a post showing our American Express bill when it comes, but I won't.  Just let us say that every penny put on it was well spent.

Taj Mahal or CW Pencils

I knocked another item off my life list and mentioned to Bob that some people have big items like seeing the Taj Mahal and some have lesser items like shopping at CW Pencils.

This morning Bob and I went over to Chinatown and Canal Street.  I love the store Soul Paper in Saskatoon and have talked about NYC with the owners more than once as they come here annually for a huge paper show.  I asked what shops they would recommend in NYC and this pencil shop was one of them ... the only one I can remember.

The store is ten feet by fifteen feet at most and is very minimalist.  The clerk told us it is the only known store that sells only pencils, unlike many which sell them but pens and stationery products as well.

Some travelers may have dreams of bringing home a ring from Tiffany's while others have dreams of buying some cool pencils.

Chinatown is about smells and sounds as well as sight, but I can only supply you with visuals.

Bob, oh, Bob, which looks the best?

There were signs of spring.  Sellers had bunches of pussy willows ...

... and cherry blossoms.  At least we think these are cherry blossoms.

Judy, Canal Street has jewelry waiting for you.

It's the Chinese Year of the Rooster and that was evidenced in these trees.  Barb, this was right at the corner of Forsyth and Hester Street.  No one was melting the snow on Hester Street as there isn't any snow.  For you others, Barb just read the book Snow Melting on Hester Street and the book is waiting for me at the library when I get home.

Here's a unique way to advertise a business.

While we were doing this, Elizabeth was taking a tour of Radio City Music Hall.

Lunch was an easy decision because the Gorilla Cheese truck was parked across from our hotel.

Bob and Liz went down to Brooklyn while I ambled around Times Square and Hell's Kitchen.

At Housing Works thrift shop employees were putting out boxes of boots and ladies were all around trying to get to them first.

I was taking the next photo when a man with "security" on his vest said, "Miss, no taking photos.  That's a private building."  First, I love being called "miss" instead of "ma'am" and, secondly, I think anyone can take photos of the outside of buildings.  It wasn't even a Trump building!

While I was in Hell's Kitchen, Bob & Liz went to the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn.  They had a pie break at Pies & Thighs.

Here's some of what they saw.

Our pile of tickets has dwindled from ten sets of tickets to zero.  At least we had a grand finale seeing Jessie Mueller in Waitress.

You know it's going to be a good show when the stage curtain is cherry pie.

Little pies in jars were sold at intermission.  I'm going to try recreate this one which is a salted caramel pie made of chocolate, cream, butter, Oreos, sugar, and sea salt.  Hmmmm!  Shouldn't it have one healthy ingredient tucked into it somewhere? 

Before I sign off, I have a p.s. to the Fazermint part of last night's post.  Our friend Glenda has helped us on the quest for these through the years.  I got an email from her which said, "OMG, you found Fazermints!  That's like the Holy Grail of Candyland!"  Indeed it is.

Today was a fall-down-on-the-bed-and-crash day.  Elizabeth's step count was at close to 25,000 which is almost 15 kilometers.