Let's Go Explore: Midtown Manhattan

Hooray! My favorite segment is back! (It's my favorite because it involves me doing fun stuff)

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I commute to New Jersey to teach. I take the 1 pm train back and usually arrive in the city by 2 pm. I've developed all sorts of good and bad timewasting habits for my train rides - Facebook stalking, doing homework, Tumbling, grading papers, and catching up on NY happenings. Today, I was balancing reading a textbook and reading my iPhone, and one of my favorite blogs reported that 30 Rock would be filming at 30 Rock all day today.


ALL DAY?! That's a long time. Usually it's a few hour window, and you're lucky if you make it there in time with all the celebrity stalkers. Now, I knew it wasn't a guaranteed thing since the weather was iffy all day, but since my train would arrive in Penn Station (about 1.2 miles from Rockefeller Center), and I'm a bit stir crazy from a studious weekend, I had to take the chance.


Now before you read any further, I should tell you that I didn't see 30 Rock being filmed. It all but hurricaned this morning; I arrived in Manhattan during a dry period, but it was clearly going to rain again. I don't know how filmmakers account for this kind of thing, but I have a feeling they couldn't film outside today.


I DID, however, have a lovely hour and a half long excursion through touristy midtown (and I burned 200 calories walking & carrying my backpack around - bonus!). I started at the flagship Macy's, which is right across the street from Penn. I had walked by Macy's before, but I had never been inside. It's just like any other Macy's, except slightly bigger, much busier, and more spread-out. It's kind of like a Macy's-Mall-hybrid. OF COURSE they were having a sale, so I bought myself a little present.

A Betsey Johnson Panda Necklace! Swoon.

Then I headed over to Herald Square to see one of my favorite statues in the city, the James Gordon Bennett Monument, also known as the Bennett Clock. It features a lovely statue of Minerva, Roman Goddess of Wisdom, complete with two tireless workers to chime the bell and lots of owls.

According to the inscription, Minerva and the Bellringers stood atop Joseph Gordon Bennett's New York Herald building, tolling hourly from 1895 to 1921. In 1928, they were restored to their original location and continue to be officially maintained by the Parks Department. However, as of 1940, the statues don't actually hit the bell anymore - it's all an illusion (one that cost the city $200,000 in restoration a few years ago!). Anyway, I adore Minerva and her owls, so this is my favorite.

Then I walked up Fashion Ave to say hello to my good friends Patience and Fortitude at the NY Public Library

 (This one is Patience)

And finally, I ended my trip with a snack and a visit to Rockefeller Center, which was sadly empty, but always majestic. It will always be one of my favorite architectural spots in the city.

So much Greek mythology! No wonder Percy Jackson put Olympus here.

It started raining the minute I finished my sandwich, so I bolted to the B train and headed back uptown. All in all, a successful exploration! I found touring these touristy areas as a local surprisingly zen.


Do you have any places (no matter how touristy!) in your city that you can see over and over again and never tire of?