The air coming from these vents was extremely cold! See the mist?
Another view while coming in to land.
We stayed at the Fitzpatrick Manhattan. It was really nice, the people were great and the service was great too. This is the sitting area of our suite. (See the roses on the dresser? Bill had those in his hand when he met me at the airport...)
This is the bedroom.
Most hotels have a Gideon's Bible in the nightstand. Here they had a guide to Irish Legends.
This is the wet bar area of our room.
Outside the hotel.
The Fitzpatrick Manhattan.
This is the bar in the Fitzpatrick.
After we freshened up, we hit the streets. Sightseeing and in search of food.
Look at this candy store!
And many corner stores had row upon row of flowers. Like this one.
We ate at the Pig 'n' Whistle on 2nd Ave. We sat on the sidewalk. Here's Bill paying the bill.
This line had formed to get into Turtle Bay - a nightclub.
Next morning, we went out again. This is the UN. No flags were flying outside. I felt gypped on that but it was Saturday so they don't put out the flags. Who knew?
Grand Central Station.
A candy store in the middle of Grand Central.
Some people - a lot of people in New York - can sleep any where!
Wonder what this girl thought Bill was doing? Grand Central, still...
Times Square is now a closed off street. They put a bunch of lawn chairs in the road for weary travellers such as myself. I might add that this is the point in our trip (fairly early on) where I purchased some gellin' insoles for my not-so-sensible shoes. Perversely, the drug store stocked these insoles on the third floor of the store!
An arms-length shot of us in Times Square.
We decided the Circle Line sounded fun. Bill had never done that before, so it was a first for both of us. Here's the boat we went on for a three-hour tour, circumnavigating New York.
The tour guide was great. I imagine he'd be fun to hang out with.
Leaving Manhattan.
I was about to do the arms-length picture of us with the Statue of Liberty behind us, but some lady offered to take our picture. After a picture of our chests, then a picture of half of Bill, she finally got the both of us in the frame with the statue. She hadn't used a digital camera before.
This is the Watchtower building - home of Scientology. The time/temperature on the building reads 69 degrees, but it felt much cooler and by this time had started to sprinkle. We soldiered on, though, under cover of the boat.
One of about 97 bridges we passed underneath.
Another bridge.
Yet another.
That's the Empire State Building off in the distance, and Bill's sister Dorry lives in the right-hand step-type looking building by the water. The Chrysler building is off to the right. Apparently even though Chrysler hasn't owned the building in years, it's still called The Chrylser Building.
The UN from the water. The smallest building (left of the satellite dish) is the cafeteria for the UN, which is now covered top to bottom in bullet proof glass.
I don't know why I felt compelled to take pictures of every single bridge but this one is interesting because the cable cars leave from beside there and go to Roosevelt Island. It is also just underneath this bridge, that we found the grocery store we went to later.
The home of Cirque de Soleil.
The new Yankee Stadium (on the left) and the old Yankee Stadium (on the right).
Yep. Another bridge.
Bill got us some hot dogs. He was a little bit miffed when he first went for a dog and they weren't ready! After standing in line for 15 minutes, they told him it'd be another 10 minutes to get the dogs ready. (That was funnier in person than it sounds in the re-telling)
A big blue C painted on rocks. Columbia?
After a right-hand turn, it looked almost like we could be back in NC.
All the life vests are stowed in the ceiling. That was pretty cool. Would be difficult to remove while the boat was going down, though. 
Ha ha. No men!
After the boat, it was back into the city.
Down in the subway.
Bill beside a painted pole in the subway.
This kid was playing guitar in the subway.
This guy sounded like an entire band was playing! Hey, rock and roll ain't noise pollution!
Yeah, we rode the Pelham 123 train.
When we got back to the room, the nice folks at the Fitzpatrick had filled a bucket with ice and beer for us. The card says "Compliments of John Fitzpatrick". Yay! Free beer!! I heart New York!
This is the view from out hotel window.
View from window looking left.
View from window looking right.
The hotel also brought up a vase for the roses Bill had brought me. Awwww...
After a short resting period, we again headed out. We went to find a bottle of wine. This grocery store - the Food Emporium - was without a doubt the nicest grocery store I've ever been in.
Mary and Dorry came to our room and visited for a time before we went to dinner at Tao. It's a Japanese/Chinese fusion place. The atmosphere felt more like a club, and the food was divine. This huge Buddha sits at one end of the lower level. See the koi swimming around by his feet?
Looking down from the upper level.
Me and Bill (you really can't see Tao at all, but it's there behind us...)
Mary ordered for all of us. She loved Bill's phone, which she used as a flashlight.
This is Dorry (and the waiter).
Outside Tao.
After Tao, we headed to the hotel bar for a nightcap. Mary and Bill.
Bill, Mary, and Bonnie.
Us about a half second later, it looks like.
Me and Mary.
Mary and Omar, a friend of hers who helped arrange many surprises for me and Bill, including upgrading our room to a suite, and the appearance of the beer in our room. Thanks Omar! Thanks Mary! Thanks Dorry!
The next morning came too soon. We missed the 8-ish train we had planned to take and got on a 10-ish train instead. Off to see Doris, Bill's mother, on Long Island. This is Penn Station.
Penn Station has all kinds of food!
Here's me and Bill with Doris.
Bill and his mom.....
This stupid sign was at a platform where we had to change trains. We sat in St. James for a short time, had some cannoli and cream puffs and crumb cake...
Here's Bill on the platform in St. James waiting for our train to go back to the city.
This is the train.
Inside the train was extremely clean and comfortable.
Here's me and my Kindle. We settled in for some reading (it was a 2-hour ride, after all). Bill? He slept... we'd hardly slept the night before.
After Long Island, it was out to Chinatown.
It was exceedingly crowded. Now, I've only been to Chinatown twice before in my life, but I will say it was far more crowded that I remember.
There was just guy after guy with suitcases open on the street, selling knock-off brand name purses. When a cop car would pass, all these guys would slam shut their suitcases all at once. It was pretty funny.
The real deals are down underneath the stores. Little Chinese ladies tell you to come with them, and you go through a store front, down a rickety wooden stair case, through a basement, then they'll open a door and behold! A small room filled with Fendi and Louis Vuitton and Gucci! All kinds of bags. No Pictures Allowed!!!
After Chinatown, we headed back to the hotel. Passed Carnegie Hall on the way.
And the Russian Tea Room. We were wishing for an umbrella at this point. It was drizzly but not too bad.
The streets of New York.
WTF is this guy doing? Why is a chair on top of a mail cart??? I have no idea....
After changing out of our wet clothes, we met Dorry and Mary at Johnny Rocket's - a retro burger place - for dinner. It was very, very good. I was starving. From all the walking, I'd guess. 
Then Mary went home, and we walked with Dorry as far as my aching feet would go. Then we hopped into a cab and headed for the Empire State Building.
This is the entry way.
These pictures are kind of out of order, because this was taken on the observation deck.
Thank goodness this switchback line thingy was not needed! We waited - I'd say less than one hour from the time we got there till we got up on the observation deck. Not too bad.
Ah, the view. None of my pictures can possibly capture the vastness that was the view from up there. Every direction stretched out - lights, lights, and more lights. It was really amazing.
After that, it was nearing midnight, so we went back to the hotel, setting the alarm yet again. Had to leave by 9:30 to catch my flight. The cab rides were incredible. I'm surprised that you don't hear about death-by-NY-cab all the time. The driver that took us to the airport told us his dream is to move to NC and open a diner. He knows someone in Gastonia, apparently. He veered across traffic and said "Take picture now! To the right! Nice view!" This is what it was. The Hudson River.
So that's it. I had a great time in New York and already can't wait to go back.
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