Webster-Stoppel Family: NYCD3

So, we're home now, which is sad and wonderful at the same time: Sad, because the real Manhattan was fun, but wonderful because, well, MADDIE! (I will try to talk in a later post about the serious withdrawal both Jon and I were going through the entire time we were gone.)

Anyway, I'm supposed to be talking our third and final day in NYC, not how awesome my daughter is. It's not like we don't have a whole freaking blog for that... Ahem. Yesterday morning we rediscovered something we learned that last time we were in the Big Apple--the city that "never" sleeps at least dozes a lot. If you want something other than pizza after 10 p.m. or anything other than tap water before 10 a.m., be prepared to walk for it, especially if it's Sunday. We hit the streets at 9:30 in the morning, and we still had to walk about five or six blocks just to find coffee. (And what we did find--they out-bittered Starbucks. Yeah... After Gregory's Coffee, we wandered up to Central Park to finish our walking tour.)

Two stops in, we got a call from an old college friend of mine who was also in town. He and Jon had realized, via Facebook, that we were all in town, so we met up with Scott for an early lunch. It was good, if random, to see him again, and I didn't mind spending an hour or so sitting in the a.c., munching on a sandwich.

That short interlude over, we walked back to the park and finished our tour. It was really great walking around the park, which is of course gorgeous, and both of us being amateur history buffs (just different preferences when it comes to most interesting periods), Jon and I both enjoyed hearing about the creation of and original intentions for New York's "backyard", but, um, it was hot. Hothothothothothot. Hot. Haaaaauuuught. We'd been walking for 2.5 straight days at this point, and both of us had matching blisters on our feet, sore calves, sore backs, and stiff joints. So, enjoyable but painful (much like I'd imagine certain fetishes to be, if you're into that sort of thing), also a constant reminder that, damn, we're getting old.

Central Park toured, we went back to the hotel, where I sat and finished the blog while Jon ran out to get sandwiches from Murray Hill Market. After we ate and rested our poor feet, we took the subway up to Times Square to see what we could get at the TKTS booth. The TKTS booth has got to be one of the best things that's happened to the theater/tourism industry in NYC. See Broadway shows don't always sell out, and much like hotels and airlines are starting to realize, it's better to sell an empty seat at a discount than not fill the seat at all. So, on the day of a show, starting at 3 p.m., the TKTS booth offers seats to both on and off Broadway shows for anywhere from 20%-50% off the original ticket price. It's really an amazing deal. Jon and I were able to see Avenue Q for slightly more than $50/person, which is about $50 less than face value. The show was awesome, but it's, well, definitely not for the faint of heart. There's language, what could mildly be termed as toilet humour, and puppet sex (I'm not kidding. It sounds a bit gross, but really, it's hilarious). Anyway, top rate show for half the price, fantastic. If you're even in town and you want to see a show but you're not set on any particular show (obviously new or super-popular shows are harder to come by), I highly recommend this option. You do have to physically go down and stand in line for tickets, but as long as you don't go right at 3 p.m., it's worth the short wait.

After the show, we toyed with the idea of going out for a small snack and drinks, but no. We were both exhausted, and since our flight left at 7 a.m. this morning, we decided we needed sleep more than food and beer. (Maybe that's really when I knew we were getting old...) We hit up one of the several hundred souvenir shops dotting all areas of the city, grabbed some t-shirts for the special kiddos in our life, and went to bed.

And that, dear readers, is pretty much that. If I get around to it, I'll post something later this week about the "aftermath" of NYC--getting home, how Maddie fared, etc., but Jon's off to his brother's bachelor party mega-weekend on Thursday, and I'm off to a family reunion in Arkansas on Friday, so time may be short. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, check out more of Jon's photo skills below and feel free to share any thoughts in the comments.

Back over the rainbow,

A & J

Empire State Building