Tuesday, March 11, 2008

View from Empire state Building


View from Empire state Building
Originally uploaded by betzspt
Here is another picture from the Empire State building. I was trying out adding a picture to the blog from flickr. It works really well, very easy, just a click and type.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

We're Back

Here it is Saturday, We were in New York City for 5 days, (we spent half a day in the Airport)

A couple of mishaps to tell about:

First Shonda lost her driver’s license before we even left Detroit, She had it when we went through security, and put it in jeans pocket in case she needed it again. Just before we got on the plane, she checked her pockets and it was gone, We had stopped at a Starbucks and got a coffee, she went into a rest room. We walked at least ½ mile to our terminal (A2) the very end of the concourse.

Second, Are you ready for this- try not to laugh- Sunday afternoon, we started our tours, Ed and Shonda were walking just ahead of me, I caught my heel on the curb, took about 2 steps trying to get my balance and went down in the middle of the intersection. I had a huge bruise on one knee and must have caught my weight on my arm and jammed a shoulder. The shoulder is better, but now my whole leg lower leg is purple to yellow-green.

We saw Avenue Q on Sunday night, billed as Sesame Street for adults. One website billed it as Sesame Street meets South Park. I was doubtful, but got tickets at half price. It was hilarious. A musical, they had songs like, It sucks to be me, Everyone's a Little Bit Racists and The Internet is for Porn. You can see some of the videos on YouTube. These are from the British trip, so they are a little different but check this page for some other videos.


We went to the statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island, on Monday, the weather was beautiful. As we are walking through Battery Park to get to the Ferry, we spot a small statue of Liberty then it moved. Shonda started to take a picture and he motioned her over, draped an American flag over her shoulders, put a crown on her head and handed her a torch, and signaled for us to take a picture. Then he indicated that it would be $5.00. The picture didn’t turn out. On the way back out there were half a dozen statue people. We spent some time at the Statue, but did not go inside, we didn't realize we needed to get additional tickets in advance, but that's OK, we got some nice pictures outside. This is one of those things, you just don't realize the enormity until you see it in person.
We spent a little time at Ellis Island, but not since none of our ancestors came through there we really didn't spend much time.

We visited the Empire State Building, Again one of the things you can't get the real effect of until you are there. Shonda got some nice pictures, even thought it was a little hazy. We went to Macy’s I sat in the coffee shop while Ed and Shonda did Macy’s. My back is acting up, (so what’s new?) Shonda thought it was going to be different, she thought it was like a huge JC Penney's.


That evening we saw a play Ed wanted to see, a play put on by the Steppenwolf theater Company, August: Osage County, Steppenwolf is a theater company in Chicago where a lot of now famous people started. The play was good, kind of dark, the kind dark, but definitely makes you think. The kind of play Ed, likes.

Wednesday, Shonda and Ed went to Rockefeller Center and to see St. Patricks.
Wednesday afternoon we saw Wicked a really great show, but I will never watch The Wizard of Oz the same way again. If you ever get a chance be sure to see it. I wouldn't be surprised if they make the musical into a movie.

We had dinner at Broadway Joe’s. The menu said it was in the movie the FBI story with Jimmy Stewart and Shirley McLain was filmed coming down the stair way in Sweet Charity. I don't remember either one of those movies, so I am going to have to find the videos I guess.

On Thursday we went to the Metropolitan Art Museum, and walked through Central Park.


Our plane was supposed to leave NY at about 10:30 AM Friday Morning, but because of the weather, it didn't leave until almost 1:00 PM.

I have put some of the pictures on flickr. Search for betzspt New York City.

3-13-08 Notes: I have had a couple of people ask me if I saw Governor Spitzer while I was there. No. I didn't know anything about his scandal until I got back. I also didn't know anything about the Recruitment Center Bombing until I got up on Thursday morning, even though we were only a couple of blocks away.