Briar Rose 7457
Proud of my Princesses
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2002
- Messages
- 4,944
NYC ... what is is about you...
yesterday my sisters and I tool the dd's into NY. since we drove in from Long Island, I got to see one of my favorite sites --- when you pass the old World's Fair Grounds on the LI Expressway, you get a beautiful view of the Unisphere and the old NY State Pavillion (better known to my kids as the flying saucers in "Men in Black") with the whole Manhattan skyline in the background. we went through the Midtown tunnel and headed down the Chelsea. the dd's had appointments to get their hair cut. (I take the girls to the same stylist where I get my hair done.) after everyone was beautiful, we drove up 6th avenue (I know, "Avenue of the Americas. sigh) and parked the car in the theater district.
our first stop was Toys R Us on 42nd street. earlier that day Toys R Us had its Christmas parade through Times Square, and the store was positively packed! note to self -- don't go on a saturday in november -- the store will be crazy until after New Year's. the line for the ferris wheel was overwhelming so we didn't ride. (yes, there's a ride inside the store!) instead, we looked at all the stuffed animals on the main level, then headed upstairs to look at dolls. I loved the life sized harry Potter and Hagrid built out of legos, and the animatronic dinosaur in the Jurrasic Park section of the store. we wound up in Candyland -- a candy shop decked out like the board game. bought some Harry Potter candy (chocolate frogs!) and decided we'd had enough of this store. on the way out, we walked past the Disney Princess Christmas tree.
Times Square on a Saturday night! the crowds are wall-to-wall people. the sidewalk vendors, the artists, the entertainers, are out in full force. we saw someone making artwork out of people's names, a "living statue" and a rock band, to name a few. overhead are the illuminated signs advertising anything and everything. Mr. Peanut is one of our landmark signs -- we always look for him. as you walk past the ABC studio you can look up at a huge screen and see ABC programming, or you can watch news headlines on the "zipper". there's another big screen, and another headline zipper, at One Times Square (where the ball drops on New Year's Eve.) the billboards are all oversized. it's the most amazing display of light.
we walked about a block to Planet Hollywood. we weren't planning to eat, but we did want to check out the gift shop in the lobby. we continued walking uptown to the TKTS booth in Duffy's Square -- half price day-of-show Broadway tickets. but by the time we got there, there was nothing we wanted to see available. so we walked back down to 42nd street and went into the "Hello Kitty" store -- older dd thinks it's babyish, but younger dd loves the stuff.
finally we walked across the street to our main destination -- Madame Tussaud's wax museum. we were greeted by "Governor Pataki" at the door. went upstairs past Michelle Kwan, Wayne Gretsky and Fred and Ginger. the first room is "Opening Night Party" where you can view curent celebrities. the dd's liked Brad Pitt, John Travolta, and Bette Midler. younger dd was surprised to learn that Ru Paul was really a man! some dear friends of mine told me to say hello to the Today Show crew -- so I hugged Matt lauer for them.
older dd wanted to see the French Revolution room, but younger dd decided to skip it. it can be a bit intense, and they give you the option to walk around it rather than through it.
the next room was important poeple of the 20th century -- the Pope is in that room, as are Leonard Bernstein, Amelia Earhart and Helen keller. Younger dd wanted to take my picutre with Golda Meir, and she hissed at Arafat (yes, she is her mother's daughter!) older dd wanted to know if I could recognize FDR and JFK and Jackie without looking at the name tags.
next was popular culture. the girls loved Marilyn Monroe, Neil Armstrong and The Rock, and hated the Spice Girls ("Yesterday's news"). I liked the Beatles, Elvis, elton John and Diana Ross. I thought Madonna's choice of outfit was horrid, adn Michael jackson looked as freaky as he always does. the best display was Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as their characters in "The Producers".
by now the dd's were starved, so we stopped at the snack bar for popcorn before moving on the the September 11th exhibit.
both dd's were extremely unsettled at this exhibit. it's a wax portrayal of three firemen raising the American flag at Ground Zero, and there are also displays on the overhead screens portraying the aftermath of the attack. I found myself getting upset in this room.
the last exhibit isn't wax. it's a movie about the hisotry of NYC. short film, shown in a domed theater so that the images suround you. cute.
after visiting the gift shop, we walked back out onto 42nd street and over to the Disney Store. 15% off everything in the store! we bought a few stuffed animals and a tinkerbell snowglobe.
when we finished shopping we wanted something to eat. I suggested a restaurant, but everyone was tired. so we bought some hot dogs from a street vendor and went back to the car for the trip home.
It was a great day.
yesterday my sisters and I tool the dd's into NY. since we drove in from Long Island, I got to see one of my favorite sites --- when you pass the old World's Fair Grounds on the LI Expressway, you get a beautiful view of the Unisphere and the old NY State Pavillion (better known to my kids as the flying saucers in "Men in Black") with the whole Manhattan skyline in the background. we went through the Midtown tunnel and headed down the Chelsea. the dd's had appointments to get their hair cut. (I take the girls to the same stylist where I get my hair done.) after everyone was beautiful, we drove up 6th avenue (I know, "Avenue of the Americas. sigh) and parked the car in the theater district.
our first stop was Toys R Us on 42nd street. earlier that day Toys R Us had its Christmas parade through Times Square, and the store was positively packed! note to self -- don't go on a saturday in november -- the store will be crazy until after New Year's. the line for the ferris wheel was overwhelming so we didn't ride. (yes, there's a ride inside the store!) instead, we looked at all the stuffed animals on the main level, then headed upstairs to look at dolls. I loved the life sized harry Potter and Hagrid built out of legos, and the animatronic dinosaur in the Jurrasic Park section of the store. we wound up in Candyland -- a candy shop decked out like the board game. bought some Harry Potter candy (chocolate frogs!) and decided we'd had enough of this store. on the way out, we walked past the Disney Princess Christmas tree.
Times Square on a Saturday night! the crowds are wall-to-wall people. the sidewalk vendors, the artists, the entertainers, are out in full force. we saw someone making artwork out of people's names, a "living statue" and a rock band, to name a few. overhead are the illuminated signs advertising anything and everything. Mr. Peanut is one of our landmark signs -- we always look for him. as you walk past the ABC studio you can look up at a huge screen and see ABC programming, or you can watch news headlines on the "zipper". there's another big screen, and another headline zipper, at One Times Square (where the ball drops on New Year's Eve.) the billboards are all oversized. it's the most amazing display of light.
we walked about a block to Planet Hollywood. we weren't planning to eat, but we did want to check out the gift shop in the lobby. we continued walking uptown to the TKTS booth in Duffy's Square -- half price day-of-show Broadway tickets. but by the time we got there, there was nothing we wanted to see available. so we walked back down to 42nd street and went into the "Hello Kitty" store -- older dd thinks it's babyish, but younger dd loves the stuff.
finally we walked across the street to our main destination -- Madame Tussaud's wax museum. we were greeted by "Governor Pataki" at the door. went upstairs past Michelle Kwan, Wayne Gretsky and Fred and Ginger. the first room is "Opening Night Party" where you can view curent celebrities. the dd's liked Brad Pitt, John Travolta, and Bette Midler. younger dd was surprised to learn that Ru Paul was really a man! some dear friends of mine told me to say hello to the Today Show crew -- so I hugged Matt lauer for them.
older dd wanted to see the French Revolution room, but younger dd decided to skip it. it can be a bit intense, and they give you the option to walk around it rather than through it.
the next room was important poeple of the 20th century -- the Pope is in that room, as are Leonard Bernstein, Amelia Earhart and Helen keller. Younger dd wanted to take my picutre with Golda Meir, and she hissed at Arafat (yes, she is her mother's daughter!) older dd wanted to know if I could recognize FDR and JFK and Jackie without looking at the name tags.
next was popular culture. the girls loved Marilyn Monroe, Neil Armstrong and The Rock, and hated the Spice Girls ("Yesterday's news"). I liked the Beatles, Elvis, elton John and Diana Ross. I thought Madonna's choice of outfit was horrid, adn Michael jackson looked as freaky as he always does. the best display was Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as their characters in "The Producers".
by now the dd's were starved, so we stopped at the snack bar for popcorn before moving on the the September 11th exhibit.
both dd's were extremely unsettled at this exhibit. it's a wax portrayal of three firemen raising the American flag at Ground Zero, and there are also displays on the overhead screens portraying the aftermath of the attack. I found myself getting upset in this room.
the last exhibit isn't wax. it's a movie about the hisotry of NYC. short film, shown in a domed theater so that the images suround you. cute.
after visiting the gift shop, we walked back out onto 42nd street and over to the Disney Store. 15% off everything in the store! we bought a few stuffed animals and a tinkerbell snowglobe.
when we finished shopping we wanted something to eat. I suggested a restaurant, but everyone was tired. so we bought some hot dogs from a street vendor and went back to the car for the trip home.
It was a great day.
One of these days I'll get there.
With Patrick leaving next Sunday it probably won't be quite as much but I'll still be there a lot. 
