DAY 3 - SUNDAY 5TH AUGUST
Tam and I both wake
up at 3.00am. 4 ½ hours sleep is quite good really compared to
our usual first nights sleep after flying a long way. We do
manage to doze until 5.00am when we turn on the light and I write
up my trip report while Tam reads.
By 6.00am the girls are up, thanks mostly to a few well aimed
kicks. We try to get ready as quietly as possible so as not to
wake Michael and Elaine and are out of the door and walking to
Short Hills station to catch the 6.46am to Penn Station.
It’s a beautiful morning and we really enjoy the stroll past
some lovely houses to the station.
44 minutes later (I know this because it tells me so on the
timetable) we arrive at Penn Station.
Our first objective is breakfast and Tam’s heart is set on
the Cheyenne Diner (411 9th Avenue) as she’s read good
reviews about it. We walk past a couple of nice looking diners
trying to find the place and there are mutterings of mutiny from
the ranks as tummies are starting to rumble.
We eventually find the place and, to be fair to Tam, it’s
certainly very good. It’s just what you expect a New York
diner to look like with the booths and art deco interior.
The food is great and we variously try ham and cheese 3 egg
omelette with potato, French toast and bacon and the lumberjack
special for Tam. I think she ordered this thinking she would get
a well-muscled male stripper (The Old Grey Mare is not enough for
you?) but ends up with a large plateful of pancakes and syrup
along with another plate of 2 eggs and bacon. Along with
plentiful supplies of coffee, the bill comes to $35, really good
value.
Suitably fortified we venture forth and walk towards Times
Square. There is a half marathon going on and all the traffic is
stopped. This just makes it better as we stroll up Broadway on a
beautiful sunny day in relative peace.
We keep walking until we reach Central Park. We wander around the
park taking in all the sights including Strawberry Fields ( an
area dedicated to the memory of John Lennon) where there are a
few tour groups.
One guy is talking loudly in French to a group of French
tourists. At least I assume they are French. Perhaps they are
Brazilian, that would certainly explain the puzzled faces.
Anyway, I catch a few words here and there and from what I can
piece together it was Lauren Bacall that shot John Lennon in a
fit of pique over who had the best apartment in the Dakota
Building. Don’t take this for gospel though; I never did get
my French O level.
We stroll on through the park and come across several softball
games in progress. After yesterday I was hoping a game of cricket
might be taking place. I could have strolled to the wicket, Taken
my guard (middle and off leg please umpire), surveyed the field
taking careful note of the strategically placed silly mid-off,
fixed the bowler with my steely gaze and promptly lost my middle
stump first ball.
We all really enjoy Central Park. It’s an oasis in the midst
of the hustle and bustle of the city and there are many people
out strolling, jogging and generally enjoying the pleasant
surroundings. There are even people jogging while pushing a child
in a buggy. That’s cool. If they sat me in a buggy and gave
me a beer, I’d go jogging with them.
We head to the Guggenheim Museum next. Unfortunately the outside
of this wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright building is covered in
scaffolding, but the inside is amazing.
Now, I can hardly be called a lover of modern art, but some of
the things we see here are excellent. There is one area called My
Himalayas Sister’s room where the artist has set up
different styles of room (living room, bedroom etc.) and then has
video projected at various places. It might not sound like much,
but the lighting and positioning of the video makes it very
interesting and really quite beautiful. I never would have
thought that a video being screened on a stack of books could
have captured our attention, but the way it fragments against the
spines of the books is very eye catching.
Don’t get me wrong; I still think there is a lot of
pretentious rubbish here too. There is one large plain brown
canvas with 4 knife slashes in it. Hang it in the Guggenheim,
it’s art, put it anywhere else and it’s vandalism.
Culturally refreshed it’s time for refreshment of a
different kind, so we walk to the Boathouse in Central Park to
grab a beer and watch the people on the boating lake make fools
of themselves.
A further walk down 5th Avenue brings us to the Disney store, who
would have thought it? It’s quite a place, stretching over 4
floors and we enjoy (by ‘we’ I mean me and the girls,
Tam tolerates it) looking at some cool Disney stuff. Once again I
find my dream Jessica Rabbit and once again my dreams are dashed
by the callousness of my heartless wife. So what if we would
struggle to get Jessica home? I could cuddle up to her on the
plane!
More walking as we continue on to Grand Central Station. What an
amazing place this is, all polished marble and chandeliers. At
one point Georgia asks me if there is a nicer station anywhere in
the world. There may be child, but I haven’t seen it yet.
Back to Penn Station via the Empire State Building. We don’t
go in, but the girls get to see it. It’s a highly impressive
structure, but not as striking as the Chrysler Building.
We catch the 3.11pm train and are back in Short Hills by 4.00pm.
Here we meet baby Alex for the first time, as he was asleep when
we arrived last night. Elaine asks if anybody wants to feed him
and India volunteers. All goes well until Alex finishes his food
and requires burping. A look of slight panic crosses India’s
face and she hands Alex back to Michael who is slightly more
skilled in these matters. I can’t blame her, I’ve seen
the sort of thing that erupts from babies at times and it
ain’t pretty.
Notice the strategically placed towel. A man of experience.
We all shower and are off to Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse (a
15 minute walk) where we are treating Michael, Elaine and the
family to a meal to say thank you for allowing us to stay with
them.
Michael attempts to collapse the double stroller, which is the
size of a small golf cart. There is much scratching of heads and
banging and crashing with spanners and hammers, but it is
eventually accomplished.
The meal is pretty good and I try the special, which is prime rib
with shrimp.
Grace chats away happily and Michael tries to teach her a tongue
twister. ‘Irish wrist watch’. Grace launches into it
with gusto. ‘Rish rish wash’. ‘Rish rish
wash’.
It’s Michael’s birthday tomorrow and a pie the size of
Staten Island is brought out with a candle in it. We all sing
‘Happy Birthday’ enthusiastically.
After the meal we stroll back to the house where the ladies are
getting tired and disappear off to bed. Michael, top man that he
is, enjoys English football and he has taped the Community Shield
match between Manchester United and Chelsea from earlier today,
so he and I settle down to watch it. What a guy – the
perfect host and a football fan to boot.
The final score is 1-1 and the game goes to penalties. Chelsea
miss their first two and then the recording runs out. Doh!
Off to bed at 11.00pm.