Beautiful Weather vs. End-of-Trip Exhaustion

New York - Day 6

So much to do on our last day! We were in for another nice, sunny day, warm by February in New York City standards. Off we went, bright and early, towards Central Park. We found a pretzel cart on the way and grabbed some warmish food. (The pretzel Sue and I shared was still a bit cold in the middle. Meh.)

The sun was incredibly bright on this brisk morning and Central Park looked beautiful. We only walked as far in as the zoo, which wasn't open yet, then turned back heading towards 59th Avenue (trying to avoid all the puddles of melted snow and mud).

One stop I missed last time was FAO Schwartz. Because I will always be a kid, we may have spent a tad bit too long in there. I picked up some chocolates for souvenirs, and wrestled with whether I should buy a tube of plastic dinosaurs. In the end, I walked away with an assortment of Harry Potter candies instead. (They had a Harry Potter section!) Oh yes, on the ground floor, there was a Muppets event of sorts. I got to play with one for a minute before we hopped on the elevator, but they started harassing us to stay.

Along 59th, I stopped inside MAC hoping to pick up some Viva Glam lipsticks (no dice) and popped in the giant Zara (they had a sale and it was INTENSE in there). Having wasted too much time, we finally walked over to the MoMA gift shop, the third purpose of our morning jaunt. I picked up some cute things and the checkout girl wasn't nearly as horrendous as all the other MoMA gift shop employees.

Outside the MoMA we met up with my friend Ana. She had moved to New York last summer. (We'd met in 2005, both travelling alone and visiting Tulsa for the first time. All you really need to know is Hanson brought us together.)

Ana took us to Stage Deli on 7th Avenue for lunch. (The man who seated us looked like Locke's father from Lost.) All the menu items had names associated with actors and movies. I ordered a Kevin Bacon Lettuce Tomato sandwich and an egg cream. I'd always wondered what an egg cream was, having read Harriet the Spy more times than I can count. It contains chocolate syrup, milk, and soda water; definitely an interesting combination. I don't know if I'd ever crave it, but it's yummy and rare enough for a West Coaster, that I would order it again if I ever see it on a menu.

After our huge sandwiches, the waiter (did I mention how incredibly amusing he was?) pressed us to order a slice of cheesecake. Ana assured us it was quite delicious, and though I am not a big fan of cheesecake, I relented. When the slice arrived, my jaw dropped: it could very well have been the size of my face. The four of us could not finish it.

We parted ways with Ana after a great lunch. Megan, Sue and I headed to the old Macy's with their wooden escalators. Inside Macy's I finally found some Viva Glam lipsticks, and Megan waited forever to get a drink at the Starbucks, then we made tracks for the Met.

It was later than we'd hoped by the time we made our way back up town. We all wanted to see different things inside the Met, so we split up with intentions to meet again around dinner time. On my previous visit, I'd spent most my time in Egyptian and American art, so I wandered in the opposite direction this time, and happily found a lot of stuff from the art deco era.

We were all exhausted by the time we sat down with some pre-packaged cafeteria food (it was late and the only dining area open was the American Wing Café). Absolutely determined to see more of the museum, we persevered and did not aim to meet up again 'til the museum closed.

Getting lost among the relocated modern art paintings, I found myself with only 15 minutes left to track down the Degas section in 19th century European art. The museum guides were of little assistance unfortunately, and by the time I finally saw Degas's Dancers Practicing at the Bar, I only just managed to snap a photo before I was ushered out.

I had wandered in the gift shops for a bit and found a nice necklace that was priced for clearance. After we located one another in the lobby, we trudged home in exhausted silence, glad to have seen what we did, but hoping the pain in our feet and legs would subside by morning.