Thursday, February 23, 2012

2 Hours in NYC

Don and I try to pick a different neighborhood every time we plan a walking day in NYC. Last Saturday it was the Lower East Side. After 2-1/2 hours of driving in, inching along Canal Street, and looking for parking, we finally found 2-hour street parking.

The first thing we did, of course, was eat. Was found a great little corner restaurant called Sauce. It was a delicious lunch - salad and lasagna for me.

After, we hit the streets! One of reasons for choosing the Lower East Side was that I had heard the Tenement Museum was worth visiting. Of course, we didn't plan ahead and all the tours were booked. There is one tour of the actual tenement that houses the museum, and a walking tour of the neighborhood,which was home to almost every immigrant group that entered NYC during the hey day of immigration. We were able to sit in on a 20-minute video presentation that was really well done, giving us a good introduction to the neighborhood, an appreciation for the hardships of arriving in NYC then, and an appreciation for the community and its contributions to NYC life.

With about 30 minutes left on our parking ticket, we then walked east to Clinton St, then up to Houston where we turned west and found Katz Deli, which had a line up out the door and down the street about a half block! Across from the deli was a gelato store ... impossible to pass up. So we spent our last 10 minutes savoring gelato before we dashed back to our car just in time: 2 hours on the dot.

Tenement Museum - Orchard St.
Dark cherry & chocolate combo
We decided to drive by the World Trade Center to see what we could see. Not surprisingly, you can't get very close by car. They are making progress on the Freedom Tower, which we first saw taking shape from our cruise ship in August as we sailed down the Hudson R. Another time, again we will plan ahead, we will sign up for tickets to see the 9-11 Memorial.

The Freedom Tower through our windshield
After winding our way through lower Manhattan, and catching a glimpse of the WTC area, we headed home via the Lincoln Tunnel. We got home about 1-1/2 after leaving our parking spot. With 3-1/2 hours of driving for 2 hours of neighborhood touring, it was still a worthwhile adventure.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Sofa buddies

Don & Toby

Monday, February 6, 2012

Me & my cuz

We were in Florida for a warm 4-day weekend back in January and surprised my cousin, Sue, and her husband, Jeff, at the Tiki Bar a.k.a. Kokomo's on Friday night. Then they invited us for delicious veal a la Michael a la Jeff on Sunday night. We took a few pics of Sue & I.
Here we are on their balcony with ocean view.
And inside their beautifully renovated condo.
It was a short but a great trip. Then back to reality, which pays for the getaways. And its not like the weather has been anything but mild for most of this winter (so far).

Friday, February 3, 2012

Vigil for JoePa

Carolyn and her roommates attended the vigil for Joe Paterno @ PSU and their photo was printed in the county newspaper. It was a sad evening in the valley remembering a man who gave so much to PSU - money, time, inspiration.
Carolyn is on the right, face lit up, looking out with dark cap