E=MC2 and other ramblings

I've decided that if I ever wanted to take up smoking that I could live in NY and never have to buy any cigarettes. Seems that everyone on the sidewalk has a cig between the lips. So much so, that there's more than enough second-hand smoke to go around for the taking. Even when you're in your "smoke free" hotel room. Our "third" room (see previous post) is five floors above the main entrance to the hotel. So when everyone rushes outside to light up, the smoke rises up and filters through the air conditioner.

And now, live from New York, our top story: We went to see the Empire State building today. About a two hour wait to get to the top. They had you wandering in "cattle lines" like Disneyland so that you felt like you were getting somewhere because you were always on the move—albeit—just zig zagging back and forth between the ropes.

When we finally got to the top, you could only go 3/4's of the way around. They had the northwest corner blocked off. The buzz was that they were expecting a "special guest" to arrive for their own private tour. Finally, the word got out that it was Miss Mimi—Mariah Carey. No, we didn't hang around to see her.


Thirdly, is the quote of the day. Remember I told you that we went on an Uptown bus tour yesterday. It took us to Harlem and we got dropped off at the Apollo Theater to catch the next bus to get to The Cloisters. The tour guide gave a brief history of Harlem and it's reputation of the past. He really went out of his way to tell how things had changed and that it was an "up and coming" place now. So much so, that former President Clinton has an office there. He pointed out the building.

Well, today we were on a subway that continues into Harlem. We were headed to 103rd Street to try out a Mexican restaurant for lunch that cs had read about in her NY tour book. A lady with two young kids (a boy and a girl) was on the same car. The subway stopped and she was getting off with the little girl in hand. She called out to the young lad to grab his sister's hand and come on. The boy was dawdling and the subway was about to take off. She hollered, Alex, take hold of your sister's hand and get off of the sub or you'll end up in Harlem. Everyone around let out a chuckle. [I'm not certain to which Harlem she was referring—the "past" or the "present".]

So my advice to you "younguns" out there, If you don't get off of the train when you're supposed to, then you'll end up in Harlem…or something like that.

After lunch, we rode the subway to Brooklyn and then walked across the Brooklyn Bridge back to the Manhattan side. I'm certain that the bridge is worth much more than the $24 that the guy was trying to sell it for. He did state that it was a really good price. [Note to Lucy: I saw more than a tree growing in Brooklyn.]


Lastly, the four of us—Syd, Pen, cs, & I went to see the Lion King. I won't lie. I did get a little "tb" (tired bum) syndrome. Good thing there was a 15 minute intermission. However, it was a good show and the costumes were pretty amazing.

That's today's wrap up in the circle of life…for now.