Day 8: "The Last of the American Girls"
Today was really slow. I didn't have a lot planned, but I figured walking across the Brooklyn Bridge would take a while.
I didn't do it.
It was hot as balls today. It's 11 p.m. and 89 degrees with one million percent humidity. Gross.
I got up this morning and got on the train to go to Brooklyn. I had the day planned out; I do that. Go to the TKTS window and see what I could get, go to Junior's and try this "cheesecake," and then walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, take pictures, get on a train and be back to Queen's to move my things before Monica's dad got here.
As per usual, it did not happen like that. The mixture of frustration and heat made me unbearably cranky, but everything worked itself out. I actually enjoyed the day overall. Not some bits, but overall, good day.
I had mapped out the directions from TKTS to Junior's and from Junior's to the Bridge, but forgot from the train to TKTS. It's not really that far, but for some reason the location as I knew it was not coming up on the map. BTW, having data sharing on the phone has saved my life this trip. I have a great map that Monica gave me, but it has been a total God send to have reinforcements.
So I wandered around Brooklyn looking for this place and found it after going to wrong way for a while. When I got off the train at Court St. in Brooklyn it was 11:15 a.m. and it was 90 degrees. Which is not surprising to me, in Phoenix it's 90 degrees by 8:30. But the humidity had me seriously considering taking my pants off. I found the TKTS booth. The line for the booth in Times Square is 2 hours minimum. There was one couple at the window when I approached the booth and by the time I wove through the jubilee of roped lines they were gone. If you ever come to New York you need to get out of Times Square because this city is so much bigger than that little bow tie of streets, and if you want to get cheap tickets use the downtown Brooklyn location. Brooklyn is lovely and you get your stuff hassle free. My favorite way to get stuff.
Because it was so hot and humid I was not excited to eat cheesecake. I wanted an IV with water. So I decided to skip Junior's and the Bridge. It's a 3/4 mile walk. I can do it, but I was melting, and I didn't want to pass out half way or have a stroke or something.
But I did walk down to the shore to get some water and to try out the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory--they use natural ingredients according to their signage and the tour guide who narrated the night tour, both times, recommended it but I never went in so I figured now would be a good time. It was. I had a scoop of Butter Pecan and some water and a sit in some air conditioning and was ready to go again. But not before 50 kids came in and kept bumping my chair because I was right next to the pop machine. Not exaggerating the number either. I usually do but not now. It's a tiny shop with 3 tables and I had 7th grade bums rubbed on my arm for a good 25 minutes before they left. It was so noisy!
I found a train that would take me out of Brooklyn and back into Manhattan. And went back to Queen's to clear my area and get to my hotel. I decided to go without my suitcase so I could find it and then go back for it after I had checked in and oriented myself a bit. I don't have a map of Queens and Monica & Alex's place is so easy to navigate! Turn left then left again and the train station appears! Not so much in the new place, but I didn't have anyone to give me directions this time because when I called to ask, not only were there a ton of trucks driving by making it impossible to hear anything, the "helpful front desk guy" just told me to turn around. He had no idea where I had come from! But I got to take a nice tour of Queens, I haven't seen much of it yet and it's not bad. Cute in some areas.
Again, the address would not come up with a spot on the map when I plugged it into my phone so I was sort of on my own with this one. After wandering around for a long time and a probably sunburned face, I found it. Got checked in and immediately went back to Monica's for my suitcase because I had bought tickets for tonight!
Alex & Monica were kind enough to drive me from their place to the hotel. I will miss staying with them. I was going to call a cab because I still had no idea where the train station was in relationship to the hotel, but I didn't have to! We talked about driving in New York because Alex has a car which seems so unnecessary but he works really far away so I get it. But I was convinced we were going to die a few times. Not because of Alex.
I made it to the St. James Theatre in time for...
...American Idiot!!! I LOVE GREEN DAY!!! When I had started planning this trip I wrote down every show I wanted to see and it was a list of 30 but the only one I circled was the Phantom. After that it's all frosting. But ever since the Grammy's when the cast sang 21 Guns with Green Day I wanted to see it and I'm so glad I did. I've never seen anything like it! It's completely different from any musical I've ever seen! I'm not sure what I was expecting because on one I hand I thought it would be like Jersey Boys detailing the process the band went through and how they wrote the songs or that it would be like Mamma Mia! and use Green Day songs to enhance the story. It was the later, but I was still surprised. It was fantastic! High energy, great singing, amazing stunts and set work. I liked it a lot! And will be listening to Green Day at least all tomorrow if not for the rest of my trip. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" was in my head as soon as they sang it and has yet to leave.
After the show I walked down to Junior's to get some cheesecake to go. I had a slice of Strawberry Cheese Pie and it is good cheesecake. Mine is better. No joke. This one didn't have a crust. I don't know what kind of person makes a cheesecake without a good base, but I'll just have to leave that out of the evaluation. The cheesecake is good. Light, fluffy, not heavy at all. It was just basic regular cheesecake with a strawberry topping and I liked it. I've heard the food is not so great, but the cheesecake I would recommend. And then you come to me and I'll make it the way it should be made.
Tomorrow's Goal: I'm going to take it easy on purpose tomorrow. I want to go to Highland Park and go shopping. There's a store here called Top Shop and it's the only one the states, for now. But I want to see what it's like. I can also get my souvenirs tomorrow too.
A few of my favorite pictures:
Truck in Queens.
Korean War Memorial to soldiers from Brooklyn.
Graffiti. Written for me. "Lost but on my way."
Junior's Strawberry Cheese Pie.
I didn't do it.
It was hot as balls today. It's 11 p.m. and 89 degrees with one million percent humidity. Gross.
I got up this morning and got on the train to go to Brooklyn. I had the day planned out; I do that. Go to the TKTS window and see what I could get, go to Junior's and try this "cheesecake," and then walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, take pictures, get on a train and be back to Queen's to move my things before Monica's dad got here.
As per usual, it did not happen like that. The mixture of frustration and heat made me unbearably cranky, but everything worked itself out. I actually enjoyed the day overall. Not some bits, but overall, good day.
I had mapped out the directions from TKTS to Junior's and from Junior's to the Bridge, but forgot from the train to TKTS. It's not really that far, but for some reason the location as I knew it was not coming up on the map. BTW, having data sharing on the phone has saved my life this trip. I have a great map that Monica gave me, but it has been a total God send to have reinforcements.
So I wandered around Brooklyn looking for this place and found it after going to wrong way for a while. When I got off the train at Court St. in Brooklyn it was 11:15 a.m. and it was 90 degrees. Which is not surprising to me, in Phoenix it's 90 degrees by 8:30. But the humidity had me seriously considering taking my pants off. I found the TKTS booth. The line for the booth in Times Square is 2 hours minimum. There was one couple at the window when I approached the booth and by the time I wove through the jubilee of roped lines they were gone. If you ever come to New York you need to get out of Times Square because this city is so much bigger than that little bow tie of streets, and if you want to get cheap tickets use the downtown Brooklyn location. Brooklyn is lovely and you get your stuff hassle free. My favorite way to get stuff.
Because it was so hot and humid I was not excited to eat cheesecake. I wanted an IV with water. So I decided to skip Junior's and the Bridge. It's a 3/4 mile walk. I can do it, but I was melting, and I didn't want to pass out half way or have a stroke or something.
But I did walk down to the shore to get some water and to try out the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory--they use natural ingredients according to their signage and the tour guide who narrated the night tour, both times, recommended it but I never went in so I figured now would be a good time. It was. I had a scoop of Butter Pecan and some water and a sit in some air conditioning and was ready to go again. But not before 50 kids came in and kept bumping my chair because I was right next to the pop machine. Not exaggerating the number either. I usually do but not now. It's a tiny shop with 3 tables and I had 7th grade bums rubbed on my arm for a good 25 minutes before they left. It was so noisy!
I found a train that would take me out of Brooklyn and back into Manhattan. And went back to Queen's to clear my area and get to my hotel. I decided to go without my suitcase so I could find it and then go back for it after I had checked in and oriented myself a bit. I don't have a map of Queens and Monica & Alex's place is so easy to navigate! Turn left then left again and the train station appears! Not so much in the new place, but I didn't have anyone to give me directions this time because when I called to ask, not only were there a ton of trucks driving by making it impossible to hear anything, the "helpful front desk guy" just told me to turn around. He had no idea where I had come from! But I got to take a nice tour of Queens, I haven't seen much of it yet and it's not bad. Cute in some areas.
Again, the address would not come up with a spot on the map when I plugged it into my phone so I was sort of on my own with this one. After wandering around for a long time and a probably sunburned face, I found it. Got checked in and immediately went back to Monica's for my suitcase because I had bought tickets for tonight!
Alex & Monica were kind enough to drive me from their place to the hotel. I will miss staying with them. I was going to call a cab because I still had no idea where the train station was in relationship to the hotel, but I didn't have to! We talked about driving in New York because Alex has a car which seems so unnecessary but he works really far away so I get it. But I was convinced we were going to die a few times. Not because of Alex.
I made it to the St. James Theatre in time for...
...American Idiot!!! I LOVE GREEN DAY!!! When I had started planning this trip I wrote down every show I wanted to see and it was a list of 30 but the only one I circled was the Phantom. After that it's all frosting. But ever since the Grammy's when the cast sang 21 Guns with Green Day I wanted to see it and I'm so glad I did. I've never seen anything like it! It's completely different from any musical I've ever seen! I'm not sure what I was expecting because on one I hand I thought it would be like Jersey Boys detailing the process the band went through and how they wrote the songs or that it would be like Mamma Mia! and use Green Day songs to enhance the story. It was the later, but I was still surprised. It was fantastic! High energy, great singing, amazing stunts and set work. I liked it a lot! And will be listening to Green Day at least all tomorrow if not for the rest of my trip. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" was in my head as soon as they sang it and has yet to leave.
After the show I walked down to Junior's to get some cheesecake to go. I had a slice of Strawberry Cheese Pie and it is good cheesecake. Mine is better. No joke. This one didn't have a crust. I don't know what kind of person makes a cheesecake without a good base, but I'll just have to leave that out of the evaluation. The cheesecake is good. Light, fluffy, not heavy at all. It was just basic regular cheesecake with a strawberry topping and I liked it. I've heard the food is not so great, but the cheesecake I would recommend. And then you come to me and I'll make it the way it should be made.
Tomorrow's Goal: I'm going to take it easy on purpose tomorrow. I want to go to Highland Park and go shopping. There's a store here called Top Shop and it's the only one the states, for now. But I want to see what it's like. I can also get my souvenirs tomorrow too.
A few of my favorite pictures:
Truck in Queens.
Korean War Memorial to soldiers from Brooklyn.
Graffiti. Written for me. "Lost but on my way."
Junior's Strawberry Cheese Pie.
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