First, The Cloisters. To get there we had to take the “A” train. That was cool. No way to tell who else thought so. We also found it interesting that the ceilings Subway stations in Midtown Manhattan were very dark – at 190th street, the ceiling was white. It felt nicer. As we walked through Fort Tryon Park on the way to this extension to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we thought it was fun that Broadway bordered the park on the east. Simple minds – simple pleasures.
After returning to Midtown, we ate lunch at the Heavenly Rest Stop which, more than anything else reinforced the notion that one shouldn’t try to buy their way into Heaven. The staff was great, the building was fascinating, the shelter from the midday sun was a Godsend and our panini were tasty. Actually, we didn’t like the texture of the cooked cucumber in the Vegi Panini but that really only bothered the Vegetarian.
We crossed another street and there was the Guggenheim. Now, I really don’t know what their problem is, but they have one. It seemed to me that there are enough people in New York that want a job that they could hire people who weren’t angry just for coming to work. Either that or it’s policy to hire and train staff that resent visitors and are rude to them so that they will leave. It wasn’t just us; I could see docents abusing guests where ever I went in the building, most often when they stopped to view the exhibits. We were grateful to leave that place behind us. There were a couple interesting things about our visit, but if we old anyone about them, we fear that we might have to forfeit the memory.
We arrived at the Circle Line Cruises office to learn that the only ride we could take that fit our time frame was a 30 minute sprint on a speed boat they called “The Beast”. It was a perfect next step. They turned up the throttle, turned up the music and took us for a quick spin down the Hudson River to see the Statue of Liberty and back (we’re afraid she lies, but she’s still a grand old dame.) We got a little smarter and caught the 42 bus back to as close as we could get to our hotel.
The younger members of our party went to see Cinderella and the elder members to dinner at McGee’s on 57th. we had no idea at the time, butt McGee’s claims to be the inspiration for the gathering place in How I Met Your Mother. Not only that but we felt they took good care of us.
