Times Square, New York City

We had taken the train to The City Monday on a whim to see how it works out. We got there at 2 pm and barely had time for lunch before we had to return to be back before 5:30 to feed and comfort the boys. But we figured out the drill. So today we went to The City on the 8:40 train that gets to Penn Station at 10:00.

Our plan was to have breakfast and to walk to Times Square. The first place we saw was Al's Deli, which turned out to be the quintessential NY deli. Everybody’s yelling orders and the cooks are racing back and forth at a hectic pace. My avocado toast was amazing and Herb loved his scrambled with hash browns—and the whole bill was less than $15!

After we ate, we continued walking up 7th Ave to Times Square. It’s like the first time you see Las Vegas—the neon lights alone generate their own excitement! As I try to fight my phone, trying to get it to open my camera app, we see there’s a T-Mobile store and Voila! Herb has a new S9 and I have his S8!

After Times Square, we continued up to Central Park and took a few pics. It’s a green oasis that changes the whole atmosphere of New York. What was frenetic becomes suddenly bucolic. It’s the damnedest thing I have ever seen.
We came back down 6th the Avenue of the Americas, stopped off to see Rockefeller Plaza (I am a total Today Show junkie!), then took Uber down to Penn Station to get the 3:45 to Red Bank.

When you live in a “fly over state” and you read voraciously and watch a lot of TV, all of the sites in midtown Manhattan are very well known, so actually seeing the sights is amazing! Not very sophisticated, of course, but it’s such a wonder to see them is more than just a fulfillment of a bucket list! I call this "A Hick Goes to the Big City!"Read more