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?

It's Christmas Time in the City

Christmas in NYC is legendary. I must admit, I was a little worried it wouldn't live up to its hype. I was even MORE worried I wouldn't have time to see anything because I'd be hauled up in a library for the entire Thanksgiving to Christmas interim. But I found some time to explore, and here is what I saw (All photos mine unless otherwise noted):

Central Park Skating

One of my best friends from undergrad came to visit the weekend after Thanksgiving, and her family took on me on my first tour of NYC Christmas. We started at the Wollman Ice Skating Rink in Central Park. It was so picturesque!

Please play the Charlie Brown song in your head

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of US skating, but you can see how many people were down there! After we were done, we walked through Midtown and ate at an Irish Pub near Madison Square Garden. I then met some friends for some more holiday/birthday cheer. It was a great day!

Rockefeller Christmas Tree

Some of you may know that I saw the tree as it was en route to Rockefeller - on an 18 wheeler driving down Amsterdam with a police cavalcade at 11:00 at night! A few days later on my way to watch a Gators game, I saw the tree with all of its scaffolding at the Rock but no lights. I watched the lighting on TV and counted down the minutes until I could see it. We walked near it on our previously-mentioned adventure through Midtown - I could tell by the crowds - but we didn't get close enough to see it.

So on my fake solo Christmas, I left a little early to see Elf on Broadway and took the D train to Rockefeller Center. After I got lost in the concourse, I ended up coming out of the door I've seen a million times on my favorite show.

What do we want? To bring you sandwiches!

When do we want it? Whenever would be convenient for you!

(Source - Mind Grapes Vineyard)

I turned to my left and there it was, right behind the two-block-long line for PaulFest on SNL - the treeeeee!

Now I'm sure y'all have seen pictures of it before; maybe you've seen it on TV. But unless you have seen this 75-foot beauty in person, you can't even imagine its splendor. It's just magnificent. They even switched out the 30 Rock flags for the festivities!

Elf the Musical

After seeing the tree, I made my way over to Times Square to see the limited engagement of Elf on Broadway! Now, Elf is my favorite Christmas movie. Period.

I'm singing! I'm on your blog and I'm singing!

(Source - Halloween Landing Zone)

So needless to say, I was a little worried about the Broadway adaptation. But with its resume, I was reassured: Directed and choreographed by the man who brought us the Drowsy Chaperone and the Highland fling of Spamalot, gorgeous sets by the man who designed a million buildings and the sets for Legally Blonde and Hairspray, music and lyrics by the team responsible for The Wedding Singer, and costumes by a man with both Broadway (Legally Blonde, Drowsy Chaperone) and Christmas (Radio City Christmas Spectacular) experience. Alright! I will see it. By myself because no one else wanted to go. And you know what I thought?

This critic was spot on. It was ridiculous and nonsensical. The lead, Sebastian Arcelus, didn't try to be Will Ferrell - he was his own endearingly goofy Buddy the Elf. Every cast member was brilliant. The sets, costumes and music were fabulous. I loved the use of technology. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. But it was great fun. I loved every minute of it. Perfect for kids of all ages!

We're singing! Concrete Jane liked us on Broadway and now we're singing!

(Source - Elle Girl)

(And yes, that IS Norm from Cheers as Santa up there. WIN!)

Snow on College Walk

The minute I finished my final final, it started to snow. And not just flurry, but actually snow. Not enough that it obstructed anything, and it didn't even last very long. But the important thing was, I ended my holiday celebration in NYC by frolicking in the snow with my roommate (let's call her Roomie V).

Our romantic walk down College Walk

Low Library all lit up and snowy!

Frolicking! Roomie V says I look like a gingerbread man

Overall, I was happy to have checked so many things off my holiday to-do list. There are still so many things to do in the next few years, including the Rockette Christmas show and some kind of public Hanukkah ceremony. For my first year, I think I did pretty darn well - especially considering I aced all of my finals in the midst of this (Thanks, finals survival team!).

Does your neighborhood do anything special for the holidays? Have you added any new location-based traditions this year?

Whatever I Feel Like I Wanna Do, Gosh!

Sorry I've been such a bad little blogger lately. It's mostly because I've actually been exploring. It's also partially because of this:

Yep. I redo this baby at least every other day.
You should see it now. It's color coded and beautiful.

BUT on the I've-Actually-Been-Leaving-My-Room front, here's a short rundown of what I've been doing for the last week or so:

- I started my job. So far, so good. It's pretty straightforward and easy. It might get boring, but I'm happy to be working from home... at least I can play good music!

- I met the 2nd year students in my program. There are 8 of them (there are 3 of us), and they all seem really great. Two of them already have jobs, which they're using for their student teaching. Myself and the other two first years kinda see that as living the dream.

- I've been bonding with the people in my program, whom we'll refer to as Miss M and Mister M, no relation. We went out to dinner on Tuesday night, and I really think we got to know each other quite well. We haven't aired all of our baggage or anything yet, but we really do love each other already. It's nice that all of us jumped in and felt the same way: We're going to be a close-knit group. Let's skip the awkward phase and just be best friends.

- I've been taking pictures with my iPhone. Not of people though. Still working on that part.

This is the courtyard between my dorm and my school building.
Seriously, sometimes I feel like I go to Hogwarts. And this isn't even the pretty part.

- I went out with Roomie S's college friends, which was super fun. I got to explore Midtown East, which is a totally new area for me. Sure, there's some touristy stuff around there that I've seen, but the NYC bar scene is a whole new world for me.

- I watched the Gator game at one of the local Gotham Gators bars with my good friend and fellow Gator-transplant Jungle K. It was much more low-key than the Atlanta Gator bar I went to with my sister. But it was nice to see an old friend, make some new ones, and be served by a funny bartender. Overall, a good experience.

- I also got to explore Greenwich Village a little, since the Gator bar was downtown. Not too much to report except that I'm growing less afraid of it. And Washington Square Park is the best place in the world for people watching.

Today it was also a wonderful place for clear blue sky watching

Nothing too crazy, but it's been a good week. Too much time spent in bars for my liking, but I guess that's the standard "get to know the people around you" place for 20somethings. Oh well, at least we're getting pretty good at finding cheap drinks!