As
usual, I was awoken by a nagging voice. However, it was only about
6:40. That couldn't be! I had forgotten that we were going to the
Today Show, and Mom wanted us there by 7:05. We actually didn't even
come close to leaving until 7:20. We arrived there about 45 minutes
later than what Mom wanted. It was rather chilly out, and we were
about 4 people from the front. Whenever the camera would roll by,
people would start jumping up and down, waving their arms above their
heads. Eventually, the crowd dispersed enough that I was one person
from the front and could see over their head. This however, took 45
minutes. The camera panned by our area twice, us and our sign getting
on the picture each time. Of course, we recorded it at home. I love
VCRs. At one point, Al told us, as in the crowd, to keep it down
because this next section would be quite serious. Little were we
prepared for what came next. Katie decided that she needed a
colonascopy, and it would be broadcasted through the country.
Luckily, that would be the next day. Phew! A little old lady walked
up next to me, and then shoved me out of the way as she wedged
herself between my mother and the woman in front of me. Mom looked
back at me, and we all decided it was time to get going.
We walked around town for awhile, enjoying the sites. We got another
fun pass (heaven forbid, for it wasn't in the plan) and took the
metro to the Museum of Natural History. Apparently, the Dinosaur
exhibit had been being renovated, and they had re-opened rather
recently. We did a quick scan of the different exhibits, seeing the
"Star of India" and a nifty exhibit on meteorites. Our
final stop would be the dino exhibit, Dad skipping the exhibit for a
cup of coffee he had missed on the way to the Today Show. A school
group had gotten in just before us, so there were kids whacking the
computers and exhibits, while jumping around like angry howler
monkeys. I breezed through the exhibits, and Mom took a few pictures.
We met dad at the café, and I had a soda. We slowly made our
way to the exit, towards our next waypoint, the Flat Irons building.
The Flat Irons building is actually pretty cool. OK, cool isn't
the right word, but I like its wedge shape. The term 23-skidoo is
often mentioned with the building, and I had just found out that it
was referring to what the traffic cops would say to the gentlemen,
for when the ladies walked by the building, the downdraft would raise
their skirts to their ankles. Heaven forbid! Dad ran off, trying to
find a good picture, while Mom and I sat on a bench. I don't like
excessive walking. Dad came back (Darn) and we headed off for a brisk
walk through Chinatown and Little Italy. I must say, the strangest
thing I saw that there was a long block filled with restaurant
appliance stores. They would take the appliances outside, fix them
up, and sell them. I don't think I would eat off one, much less buy
one. The rest of the walk was uneventful, though we did stop to gawk
at a huge corner totally covered in graffiti.
Times Square was large, and crowded with people. Around the MTV
studio, girls would let out this high-pitched squeal every two and a
half minutes or so. Come to find out, Hanson was playing in the
studios, and the squeals were when the girls were on camera. I
thought Hanson was "out" this year. Heh, that's trends for
ya'. We were all tired and hungry, so I greedily accepted Mom's idea
to eat at the TGI Fridays. We only ordered a nacho platter, I had a
coke, and dad a coffee. The bill was $22.00, and they had counted my
refill as a whole other soda. The waitress (An unhelpful and rude one
at that) stood around impatiently for her tip. Dad took pride in
putting a big fat "0" there, as we walked out the door. He
later told to me that she might have been trying to embaress him in
giving her no tip by standing next to us and watching, so he lowered
it to 0. We walked back to the hotel, the parents discussing what had
happened with Friday's.
We lounged around in our room, watching the sky turn dark. Our
final stop of the day would be the Empire State Building, which I
wanted to take pictures from at night. We trotted there, I
complaining about blisters, and mentioning the occasional "we
were here yesterday" and "I remember that!". Just goes
to show you I, like the cat, can be entertained with a piece of
string. Just not for very long. Dad went and got us tickets with our
handy-dandy-citipasses while I hit the men's room and got lost on the
way back. What
can I say, I was tired! We proceeded up multiple escalators and
elevators to an almost-triple-digit floor. At the 89th floor, you
could get a gift from three souvenir shops, have a snack, or go out
side for some pictures. And, as a special treat, the 102nd floor or
something up there was open too. It turns out, Dad hadn't been to the
other floor on his previous visits. It was cold out, and dad took
most of the pictures because I had a problem looking over the edge.
Even if there was a 7 foot tall, spiked tip (I guess they'd rather
skewer someone than let them fall from the 109th) fence between me
and death by falling. And if I don't fall, my glasses, or the camera
could easily be dropped 89 stories. I've heard of people throwing
pennies from the observation deck, and that you shouldn't walk by the
building if not keeping your eyes on the sky, but I now know that a
penny dropper would be foiled by the wedding cake design of the
building. These thoughts come to me at the weirdest moments. We all
headed in after taking a dozen shots, and waited in the line for the
up elevator. The line was long, but at least it was warm. The top
observation deck was just a small octagon, with walls and windows.
The other one actually had a better view. We all got on the next down
elevator, disappointed. We took one last look at the outside
observation deck, and took the elevator back to the entrance. We took
a picture of the lobby, and made our way back to the hotel, tired and
cold. As we kicked of our shoes and laid down, I realized that our
last full day in New York had indeed, been a full one.
Copyright, 2000, All rights reserved
Written entirely by: Jesse
Original Web Upload April 2000
Last Update: July 12, 2001
As
usual, I was awoken by a nagging voice. However, it was only about
6:40. That couldn't be! I had forgotten that we were going to the
Today Show, and Mom wanted us there by 7:05. We actually didn't even
come close to leaving until 7:20. We arrived there about 45 minutes
later than what Mom wanted. It was rather chilly out, and we were
about 4 people from the front. Whenever the camera would roll by,
people would start jumping up and down, waving their arms above their
heads. Eventually, the crowd dispersed enough that I was one person
from the front and could see over their head. This however, took 45
minutes. The camera panned by our area twice, us and our sign getting
on the picture each time. Of course, we recorded it at home. I love
VCRs. At one point, Al told us, as in the crowd, to keep it down
because this next section would be quite serious. Little were we
prepared for what came next. Katie decided that she needed a
colonascopy, and it would be broadcasted through the country.
Luckily, that would be the next day. Phew! A little old lady walked
up next to me, and then shoved me out of the way as she wedged
herself between my mother and the woman in front of me. Mom looked
back at me, and we all decided it was time to get going.
the
metro to the Museum of Natural History. Apparently, the Dinosaur
exhibit had been being renovated, and they had re-opened rather
recently. We did a quick scan of the different exhibits, seeing the
"Star of India" and a nifty exhibit on meteorites. Our
final stop would be the dino exhibit, Dad skipping the exhibit for a
cup of coffee he had missed on the way to the Today Show. A school
group had gotten in just before us, so there were kids whacking the
computers and exhibits, while jumping around like angry howler
monkeys. I breezed through the exhibits, and Mom took a few pictures.
We met dad at the café, and I had a soda. We slowly made our
way to the exit, towards our next waypoint, the Flat Irons building.
Times Square was large, and crowded with people. Around the MTV
studio, girls would let out this high-pitched squeal every two and a
half minutes or so. Come to find out, Hanson was playing in the
studios, and the squeals were when the girls were on camera. I
thought Hanson was "out" this year. Heh, that's trends for
ya'. We were all tired and hungry, so I greedily accepted Mom's idea
to eat at the TGI Fridays. We only ordered a nacho platter, I had a
coke, and dad a coffee. The bill was $22.00, and they had counted my
refill as a whole other soda. The waitress (An unhelpful and rude one
at that) stood around impatiently for her tip. Dad took pride in
putting a big fat "0" there, as we walked out the door. He
later told to me that she might have been trying to embaress him in
giving her no tip by standing next to us and watching, so he lowered
it to 0. We walked back to the hotel, the parents discussing what had
happened with Friday's.
What
can I say, I was tired! We proceeded up multiple escalators and
elevators to an almost-triple-digit floor. At the 89th floor, you
could get a gift from three souvenir shops, have a snack, or go out
side for some pictures. And, as a special treat, the 102nd floor or
something up there was open too. It turns out, Dad hadn't been to the
other floor on his previous visits. It was cold out, and dad took
most of the pictures because I had a problem looking over the edge.
Even if there was a 7 foot tall, spiked tip (I guess they'd rather
skewer someone than let them fall from the 109th) fence between me
and death by falling. And if I don't fall, my glasses, or the camera
could easily be dropped 89 stories. I've heard of people throwing
pennies from the observation deck, and that you shouldn't walk by the
building if not keeping your eyes on the sky, but I now know that a
penny dropper would be foiled by the wedding cake design of the
building. These thoughts come to me at the weirdest moments. We all
headed in after taking a dozen shots, and waited in the line for the
up elevator. The line was long, but at least it was warm. The top
observation deck was just a small octagon, with walls and windows.
The other one actually had a better view. We all got on the next down
elevator, disappointed. We took one last look at the outside
observation deck, and took the elevator back to the entrance. We took
a picture of the lobby, and made our way back to the hotel, tired and
cold. As we kicked of our shoes and laid down, I realized that our
last full day in New York had indeed, been a full one.