Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Pride Parade 2011
On Sunday we walked along Fifth Avenue from 32nd Street to meet our Docent on 10th Street so we could watch the Pride Parade together.
Since NY passed the right for gays to marry the night before the atmosphere along the route was giddy.
I had never attended this parade before and was astonished at how large it was. Everyone was so happy and gay.
I could only imagine the pain this guy felt walking all the way from 34th Street in those heels. My feet were killing me and I was in flip-flops...
Yes, that's Alex and Simon from Real Housewives of New York. Wonder where Sonya was...
I have never seen so many floats, more than the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...
These guys and dolls loved striking a pose...
The parade was a blast. My only complaints were that there were so many people that it was difficult to get around -- the stores we planned on shopping at in the Village were all closed -- and the darn thing went on forever. We left after four hours, went to get something to eat, and discovered it was still going strong when we tried to make our way back to the west side.
Luckily I had picked a restaurant on St. Mark's Place so we didn't have to try to cross the parade to get something to eat. We ventured into The Crooked Tree, a little hole in the wall that specializes in crepes.
It was wonderful, and possibly the best meal I had while in Manhattan. They also have special sandwiches and the best fried zucchini I ever had. Here's my Docent trying to get the secret ingredient out of the chef...
The white sangria was fabulous and is made with pear nectar. I had two glasses and the waiter did something that never happens in Roanoke -- he bought me another glass. I don't get why people say New Yorkers are rude. I think New Yorkers are the most personable and fun people. I never feel like I'm amongst strangers when I'm there.
All in all it was a fun, but exhausting day.
Since NY passed the right for gays to marry the night before the atmosphere along the route was giddy.
I had never attended this parade before and was astonished at how large it was. Everyone was so happy and gay.
I could only imagine the pain this guy felt walking all the way from 34th Street in those heels. My feet were killing me and I was in flip-flops...
Yes, that's Alex and Simon from Real Housewives of New York. Wonder where Sonya was...
I have never seen so many floats, more than the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...
These guys and dolls loved striking a pose...
The parade was a blast. My only complaints were that there were so many people that it was difficult to get around -- the stores we planned on shopping at in the Village were all closed -- and the darn thing went on forever. We left after four hours, went to get something to eat, and discovered it was still going strong when we tried to make our way back to the west side.
Luckily I had picked a restaurant on St. Mark's Place so we didn't have to try to cross the parade to get something to eat. We ventured into The Crooked Tree, a little hole in the wall that specializes in crepes.
It was wonderful, and possibly the best meal I had while in Manhattan. They also have special sandwiches and the best fried zucchini I ever had. Here's my Docent trying to get the secret ingredient out of the chef...
The white sangria was fabulous and is made with pear nectar. I had two glasses and the waiter did something that never happens in Roanoke -- he bought me another glass. I don't get why people say New Yorkers are rude. I think New Yorkers are the most personable and fun people. I never feel like I'm amongst strangers when I'm there.
All in all it was a fun, but exhausting day.
Friday, July 1, 2011
The High Line
As soon as we escaped MOMA we headed downtown to the Chelsea area to meet some friends. The first stop was The Hotel Chelsea which looks the same as it ever has, except there weren't any junkies hanging outside like the last time I visited it.
After taking some photos my docent suggested we meet my friends at Dallas BBQ on 23rd Street because Lord knows, we don't have any barbecue joints in Roanoke. It was actually pretty good, especially the vegetable tempura and onion loaf. But the highlight of the meal was having my daughter served a piece of cornbread with whipped cream on it while the staff sang Happy Birthday to her.
No, it wasn't her birthday and she was taken totally by suprise as the little stinker thought they were coming over to the table to embarrass me. Oh you should have seen her snickering with my cousin as she plotted with him to tell them it was my birthday. Evil minds think alike. Haha!
My friend and her two children joined us. They just moved back to New York from Orlando -- according to her "I put my time in" and were promptly greeted with a Welcome Back to NY $65.00 parking ticket. Don't forget to face the little piece of paper UP on your dashboard! We decided to walk off the three thousand calorie meal so we all headed to The High Line, a beautiful new elevated park which runs along the West Side from 34th Street to Gansevoort Street. Here's a view of the Chrysler Building from it.
It's good to see NYC put to use the space abandoned for years where once a railroad stood.
I said at least we can say, "We went to the High Line when it was free!" because I suspect that Bloomberg will one day charge people to walk along it. They also have wooden chaise lounges that I can see the city charging folks to lay on much as resorts do on beaches across the country.
Besides the beautiful views, what I really liked about the elevated park was that no bicycles, skaters, or dogs were allowed. I did see a bride and one of the chef contestantss from Master Chef walking along it and was tempted to say something to him, but us New Yorkers always ignore "celebrities" so I didn't.
I even saw some pizza being delivered. And after walking in the hot sun the vendors selling ice and gelato were most welcome. My friend's kids partook in a cucumber/lime ice pop with hot spices sprinkled on it. And I opted for shaved ice of plum and mint. It was one of those things where I couldn't decide if I loved it or hated it, but it was cool and refreshing.
One of the apartments across had a sense of humor and the tenant installed a piece of art of a hand waving in the window that rivalled some of the art we found at MOMA.
Here's a couple more shots I took during our walk...
That's the Statue of Liberty in the background...
When we got to the end of the line we decided to walk the streets back. I can't believe how much the Meat District has changed. We didn't see one tranny along the way but tons of new trendy restaurants. Ah, if only I was 20 years younger...
Such a beautiful view, but it was time to head back to the hotel to rest up for Sunday and the big parade...
After taking some photos my docent suggested we meet my friends at Dallas BBQ on 23rd Street because Lord knows, we don't have any barbecue joints in Roanoke. It was actually pretty good, especially the vegetable tempura and onion loaf. But the highlight of the meal was having my daughter served a piece of cornbread with whipped cream on it while the staff sang Happy Birthday to her.
No, it wasn't her birthday and she was taken totally by suprise as the little stinker thought they were coming over to the table to embarrass me. Oh you should have seen her snickering with my cousin as she plotted with him to tell them it was my birthday. Evil minds think alike. Haha!
My friend and her two children joined us. They just moved back to New York from Orlando -- according to her "I put my time in" and were promptly greeted with a Welcome Back to NY $65.00 parking ticket. Don't forget to face the little piece of paper UP on your dashboard! We decided to walk off the three thousand calorie meal so we all headed to The High Line, a beautiful new elevated park which runs along the West Side from 34th Street to Gansevoort Street. Here's a view of the Chrysler Building from it.
It's good to see NYC put to use the space abandoned for years where once a railroad stood.
I said at least we can say, "We went to the High Line when it was free!" because I suspect that Bloomberg will one day charge people to walk along it. They also have wooden chaise lounges that I can see the city charging folks to lay on much as resorts do on beaches across the country.
Besides the beautiful views, what I really liked about the elevated park was that no bicycles, skaters, or dogs were allowed. I did see a bride and one of the chef contestantss from Master Chef walking along it and was tempted to say something to him, but us New Yorkers always ignore "celebrities" so I didn't.
I even saw some pizza being delivered. And after walking in the hot sun the vendors selling ice and gelato were most welcome. My friend's kids partook in a cucumber/lime ice pop with hot spices sprinkled on it. And I opted for shaved ice of plum and mint. It was one of those things where I couldn't decide if I loved it or hated it, but it was cool and refreshing.
One of the apartments across had a sense of humor and the tenant installed a piece of art of a hand waving in the window that rivalled some of the art we found at MOMA.
Here's a couple more shots I took during our walk...
That's the Statue of Liberty in the background...
When we got to the end of the line we decided to walk the streets back. I can't believe how much the Meat District has changed. We didn't see one tranny along the way but tons of new trendy restaurants. Ah, if only I was 20 years younger...
Such a beautiful view, but it was time to head back to the hotel to rest up for Sunday and the big parade...
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Museum of Modern Art
The next museum we visited was the Museum of Modern Art. Back in the day, I used to go with my dad to see films there. That, and the cafe, were the only parts of the museum my father would visit. Here's a shot of the lovely courtyard...
Although there were a couple of works of art I finally got to see "in person" including some favorites from Van Gogh, Monet and Warhol...
...for the most part my daughter and I were quite disappointed with MOMA. As we couldn't feel moved by a lot of the "art" I guess us rednecks aren't quite as "cultured" as many of the people parading through the rooms. A string hanging from the ceiling, a pile of bricks, torn sheets from a notebook with 1 + 1 = 2 written over and over again, a video of a woman pinching her face over and over again, photos of pimples on asses and then this "masterpiece" left us scratching our heads...
Really? That's art? I'd like to know how much they paid for that piece of crap. In fact, had they put little price tags next to each piece I would have found that fascinating. I wonder if they'd be interested in the pitted wooden plank the boys use for target practice. If you look really close at the holes I think you could see Warhol's face. And I've got piles of bricks in my yard that have more character than the ones we saw in the middle of a room.
Although I became quickly bored, my daughter actually began getting angry..."You don't know how pissed off I am. Most of this crap is not art. It looks like shit I drew when I was three. I could have given them torn pages from my calculus notebook. That would have been more interesting. And the people are so pretentious, torturing their little kids who would much rather be anywhere else...'Look at his masterpiece Francois.' You know Francois wants to pull that string off the ceiling."
More interesting than what was dangling or hanging inside were the views looking outside from MOMA.
My daughter said this was a statue of a woman trying to drown herself after spending all day at MOMA. I said it would have been me if we had to pay $20 a head. Yup, we got in free and we still feel like we got ripped off.
We couldn't wait to get the heck outta there and head downtown to visit Chelsea and Tribeca...
Although there were a couple of works of art I finally got to see "in person" including some favorites from Van Gogh, Monet and Warhol...
...for the most part my daughter and I were quite disappointed with MOMA. As we couldn't feel moved by a lot of the "art" I guess us rednecks aren't quite as "cultured" as many of the people parading through the rooms. A string hanging from the ceiling, a pile of bricks, torn sheets from a notebook with 1 + 1 = 2 written over and over again, a video of a woman pinching her face over and over again, photos of pimples on asses and then this "masterpiece" left us scratching our heads...
Really? That's art? I'd like to know how much they paid for that piece of crap. In fact, had they put little price tags next to each piece I would have found that fascinating. I wonder if they'd be interested in the pitted wooden plank the boys use for target practice. If you look really close at the holes I think you could see Warhol's face. And I've got piles of bricks in my yard that have more character than the ones we saw in the middle of a room.
Although I became quickly bored, my daughter actually began getting angry..."You don't know how pissed off I am. Most of this crap is not art. It looks like shit I drew when I was three. I could have given them torn pages from my calculus notebook. That would have been more interesting. And the people are so pretentious, torturing their little kids who would much rather be anywhere else...'Look at his masterpiece Francois.' You know Francois wants to pull that string off the ceiling."
More interesting than what was dangling or hanging inside were the views looking outside from MOMA.
My daughter said this was a statue of a woman trying to drown herself after spending all day at MOMA. I said it would have been me if we had to pay $20 a head. Yup, we got in free and we still feel like we got ripped off.
We couldn't wait to get the heck outta there and head downtown to visit Chelsea and Tribeca...
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