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So, NYC was lots of fun! Also exhausting.
We didn't end up getting to Poughkeepsie early enough for the train we'd intended to take, so we took the next one. Then we got delayed since we had to go 15 mph between two stations because of construction...so we didn't get into the city until after 10. TKTS opens at 10 so we weren't sure how that was going to work out, but as it turns out we needn't have worried. They had plenty of tickets still when we got there...even after we had to get out of line and go find an ATM. What kind of place is cash only, eh? So we got tickets for Hairspray - our first choice! WOO.
Once we had our tickets, we set off towards Central Park, after a brief visit to the Hersheys store. We bought some sandwiches in Central Park and wandered around trying to find the perfect spot to eat. I had been thinking of going up to Peebler Point to eat but we didn't feel like walking that far since we were really hungry, so we just picked a spot and ate and fed the birds bits of our sammies. After we ate we headed up to Strawberry Fields. We also stopped to look for a geocache, since I'd thought I had a chance at finding it without the GPS, but no such luck, so on to Strawberry Fields.
It was really nice to see Strawberry Fields - this was the first time I've been in the city since being a big Beatles fan, so it was my first visit. I was pleased to see that there were a lot of people around - I figured it would be the case, but it's still nice. And it was also a nice, respectful atmosphere.
There were lots of flowers which someone had arranged into a pattern with a peace sign in the center circle. In the middle there was also a toy van and a walrus (hee!). Around the very edge (which you can't see in that picture) was a framed poem or something like that, a ukelele with a few Beatles/John related buttons sitting on top, and several large photos in plastic sleevey things. There was also a little rock with a message which I thought was cute in a simple sort of way:
I had brought a few handmade guitar picks to leave...here's a pic I took at home so you can see them:
So after a few moments I tiptoed through the flowers to leave them in the center.
In that picture you can see my picks just under the N in IMAGINE. I didn't see anybody else leave anything during the time I was there. I'm sort of hoping maybe somebody took a picture of me leaving them - everybody was taking lots of pictures, and I know if I saw somebody go up to leave something I would take a picture. Seems like a really sweet photo, no? So maybe someone's got my lil offering immortalized. :)
After a little while we left Strawberry Fields and headed back down through the park and back down Broadway to the theater where Hairspray was playing. The show was REALLY good - Hairspray was definitely a good choice. Marissa Perry is currently playing Tracy, and she was really great. Ashley Parker Angel is Link Larkin, which I find humorous, but he was good too. George Wendt is Edna and definitely a good choice for that part. I was really impressed by the girl who was playing Penny - she was the understudy for the part and she did really well.
After the show we headed down to the Empire State Building since we didn't really have anything else to do...neither my mom nor I had been up there before, so it's good to be able to say we've done it. The view is great but honestly probably not worth the wait. Oh well, still fun.
The wait for that took so long that we were really starving by the time we got down, so we got some burritos from Chipotle (yum!) and then headed back up Broadway. We stopped in a few stores, including another visit to the Hershey's store to get some candy for my dad and brother. I also got a box of Good and Fruity since they're pretty impossible to find. They had some jewelry I was looking at, and I was really wishing they had simple little Hershey kiss earrings, but I didn't see them. Then as we were in line to check out I spotted them on another display. They were pretty much exactly what I wanted, with the addition of little red apples to signify the city. I was so happy to find them...wooo.
We hadn't really intended to stay that long, but on the plus side, we got to see Times Square as it was getting dark, which was nice. I felt I would be remiss if I didn't get all touristy and take pictures of the signs, so here we go.
Pretty! So then we finally headed back to Grand Central and got on the train and went home. By the time we got home it was like...almost 2, I think. This was after I woke up at 5 with about an hour and a half of sleep...so yeah, I was exhausted. And we did SO much walking - I want to figure out how far we walked if I can, so I'll post that if I figure it out. But exhaustion aside, it was really fun and I'm glad we went down. We're probably going to go down again sometime during the summer, so I'm hoping to do some real geocaching then.
Side note: I'm pretty impressed with the pictures my phone took, especially considering the reviews I've read said the picture quality wasn't so great. I guess you can't really tell from the tiny versions I posted here, but they're pretty good, eh? :)