New York, New York

As an early Xmas present to each other, we had a 2 day holiday in NYC. We took the train from Union Station in DC at 7:30 am to Penn Station in Manhattan. They've put up a parking garage at Union Station since our last trip. The lot where we parked last time has a building on it now. We got up to New York about 11:00 am, hiked from Penn Station to Times Square and got into our hotel. Then we went looking for lunch in a real NYC delicatessen. On the way to lunch we saw the Naked Cowboy. I'm not sure what he was advertising, but he looks kind of cold. You never know what you will see around Times Square. It's fun to wander around and take a look. We saw some other entertainers in front of the Ripley's Odditorium. They were dancing to a Reggae rhythm up on stilts. The first night we went to see the Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall. It was their 75th Anniversary Extravaganza and they put on quite a show. I never expected to see 3D effects in a live theater show. The next day we had breakfast in the hotel and then headed down to Macy's. We walked along 5th Avenue to see how the shops were decorated and passed by the NYC Public Library with its lions in the front.
Macy's was packed. Black Friday here is a regular Thursday for them. This was a regular workday and it was tough to move around, and you could forget about getting an elevator. I'm always intrigued by their wooden escalators anyway. These things are ancient and look like they could eat small children. Macy's goes all out during the holiday season. We liked the Poinsettias singing carols. Macy's also has on display the crystal ball that will be seen in Times Square to usher in the New Year. This was very impressive. A huge ball that changed color over and over. Like watching a kaleidoscope from the outside.We originally planned to see the matinee for Wicked on Wednesday. However, the stagehand strike prevented that. We did get tickets for Mary Poppins instead. This was in the New Amsterdam theater, which was famous for the Ziegfeld Follies. It was a great performance. I never have seen someone tap dance upside down before.After the play we headed back down to Penn Station to catch our train. We stopped off at another delicatessen for dinner. If you ever eat at one of these places bring a big appetite or plan on sharing. They had some really great coleslaw, too. We got a last view of the Empire State Building and went into the train station.
They have an interesting way of doing business there. There is a display board in the center of a huge room that shows what trains are coming in and what track they are boarding from. The thing is you won't know what track to go to until about 10 minutes before they start boarding. The board would change showing the track number and a herd would stampede for the door. We had a great time in NYC as we normally do when we visit. It would be a fun place to live; for about a year. I don't know if I could keep up the pace longer than that.