A Mad Dash to Manhattan

We recently made a trip to meet with family in Pennsylvania, and were honored to be invited to stay with my niece Rebekkah and her family (son Shannon, husband Ben, Griffin the BIG sweet dog who thinks he should be a lapdog but can't quite fit anymore, and a furtive cat whom I promise I will get to know better next time) nearby in New Jersey. On Sunday morning an errant neuron in my brain spawned a nutty idea: maybe we could go into New York City for the day; just maybe. It was still about 6:00 a.m., but as I stumbled to the coffee pot I mentioned this to Ben, for whom all things are "no problem." About 10 minutes later, with input from Ben and Rebekkah, I had a detailed description of an itinerary that was not just do-able, but actually sounded fun. Now I just needed an accomplice. I cajoled my sister Meredith, who, up to that moment, was envisioning a relaxing day reading and napping. With only that much preparation, I finally lit the fuse. Tammy - how would you and Sara like to go to New York today? (She had never been, but always dreamed of it.) I can't even try to describe the flurry of activity that ensued, but a short while later we were buzzing along I-76 toward Newark Penn Station with the Tom-Tom cranking out instructions by the second. Once there we parked at the first parking lot we encountered and walked across the street into the train station. I've always loved trains & train stations - I think it's in my blood. My Father's father was a Pennsylvania Railroad man. For $10 per person (Sara was free) we got round trip tickets to New York Penn Station. (My sister Laurie is right - consider the plight of the hapless foreigner who has to distinguish between New York Penn Station and Newark Penn Station as they are announced on the nearly unintelligible PA system!). The train was amazingly comfortable, especially if you are used to sitting on airplanes. On this one, you entered the car and then could choose to go upstairs or downstairs. We went upstairs, seated ourselves very easily, and soon the train started, almost noiselessly. As we rode across the New Jersey marshlands the view was hyper-industrial. Lots of electrical distribution, chemical storage, warehouses. Very sci-fi and grungy, but with a beauty all its own. Then the train slowed as it came to a slight rise, and suddenly all of Manhattan was visible across the Hudson River. Wow! The train proceeded, but more slowly. Then we began descending, and suddenly we were in the tunnel that would take us under the Hudson and beneath the streets of Manhattan, until we stopped at Penn Station, NY, directly under Madison Square Garden. Total train time- about 15 minutes. When we got off the train, we followed the signs to street level and were greeted by the most fantastic urban view anywhere. I snapped a photo of Tammy with Macy's in the background (how appropriate :)), and then after doing the newbie tourist 360, we hailed a cab for our first stop - MOMA. MOMA is the self-said acronym for the Museum of Modern Art. The cab ride was fast and glorious. I paid the fare (about $11 for the 4 of us) with a credit card since there was a swiper in the back seat, but I gave the driver his tip in cash, which he greatly appreciated. Once inside MOMA, Meredith had the presence of mind to ask the cashier, um, you don't actually have Egyptian artifacts, do you? The answer of course was "no - that's not exactly modern art." That's when I realized Rebekkah had named our first stop as The Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the similarity? They both have M's and A's. I make silly goofs like that all the time. Another quick cab ride, and we were at the "Met", which really does have Pharaohs and Mummies and such. Also, Monet's, Rembrandts, and various Italians. The Met is REALLY big. You can get REALLY tired going from one end to the other and from floor to floor. But it is unimaginably wonderful, and glorious, and, well, pick your favorite superlative - it fits. Hungry now, we all got hotdogs from a street vendor in front of the museum (5th Ave.), and headed for our 2nd stop - the Plaza Hotel (made famous by "Eloise at the Plaza). We walked south along 5th Avenue from the front of the Metropolitan Museum to the Plaza Hotel, a distance of 23 blocks (1.4 miles according to the GPS on my phone). Central Park was on our right the entire way, and several times we detoured into the park; once we watched the sailboats on the pond. It was hot, and we stopped several times, but the sidewalk was a never-ending moving conveyor of color and sound. Since it was Sunday, most people were tourists like us, or vendors trying to sell things to tourists like us. When we finally made it to the Plaza, we were treated like royalty (and paid like it too - two coffees, a soft drink, creme brulee, and ice cream = $55 plus tip!). While we were in the Plaza, a vigorous rainstorm blew up, and thankfully cooled off the city markedly. When we went back outside, it felt 20 degrees cooler and it was still raining lightly. No one minded - we bought two umbrellas from an enterprising vendor ($5 each), and continued south on 5th Ave. We were headed for glitz and glam shopping, but suddenly there was Tiffany's. The real deal. I think they use laser beams and mirrors or something, but I've never seen so much sparkling. The first floor is amazing, but actually tame compared with the 2nd floor, which the directory identifies as "Spectacular Jewelry." Indeed. It's not even worth describing - just use your imagination and you'll probably get a good sense of it. After I dragged Tammy out, we kept walking, but when we got to St. Patrick's Cathedral (W. 51st St. and 5th Ave.)the rain got heavier, so we took cover under some renovation. Sense took over from valor, and we hailed a cab to Bloomingdales. Leaving Tammy and Meredith there, I took Sara out front, hailed a cab, and whisked her off to almost-9 dreamland, aka American Girl Place. I enjoyed it almost as much as she did (not sure what that says about me), and she bought Rebecca with a few accessories. Cab ride back to Bloomies, cab ride for all of us back to Penn Station, quick dash into Borders, dive downstairs, catch the train back to NJ, and on the road back home. We stopped at the Clinton Diner which has a sign declaring "Lots of Good Food Inside!" Indeed there was, and we ate a lot of it.