It took about 30 minutes to walk back to our destination for lunch – Juniors.
It was a sizeable menu to peruse
We had arrived around 1145 and walked straight in . It’s a really cool diner. We had a great server and we liked the atmosphere.
Andy had Something Different
Potato cakes, beef brisket , mushroom gravy and apple sauce
He said it was amazing
Jamie and Nick had bacon cheeseburgers with onion rings
They said better than Shake Shack – at the very end of the holiday , these were rated as best burgers of the whole trip – just edging out Hash House.
Connor had Chicken Deluxe - grilled chicken with cheese and bacon
I had pulled pork with crispy onion straws
Connor and I decided to share so my plate ended up like this
It was all nice - maybe too much cheese on the chicken , but still tasty. I think my pork was the better of the two
I had the strawberry cheesecake
Which defeated me and Andy finished it off ! I would have had it to go but we were off to Central Park next and I knew it would be sloppy goo in nano seconds.
The bill $123 before tip, $143 after
It was 1245 by now and there were murmurings of tiredness
Which I confess to not taking notice of ...
Today was our only chance to see Central Park so I didn’t care if we just set foot in and left, we were definitely going there
.
Unfortunately the trip turned out much longer than expected due to our outstanding navigation and lack of signage !
What better way to walk off a belly full of burgers and cheesecake than a yomp in 100 degree heat.
Evil mother
It was really hot – the subway was sweltering
It was sweatier than a camel's armpit
And only marginally more pleasant smelling
We took the subway to 57th Street and it was a short walk to Central Park
Earlier that morning there had been an unfortunate incident with a young man stepping on a bag that had a homemade firework on it – so we were on heightened vigilance
Which meant that Andy couldn't ignore the large blue holdall that had been left outside the toilets and appeared completely unattended.
Yes maybe someone had just nipped to the loo but for goodness sake , it’s the 4 July, some dude was injured here this morning, its been all over the news about possible terror incidents and you leave a naffing big bag unattended ?
The boys laughed at Andy's insistence on reporting it – but he was adamant and he found someone to call it in to be checked – amazing how many people simply walked by
Anyhow, civic duties discharged we set off
That’s Andy in the background in full civic mode
I had a park map but found it really hard to determine where we were
I really thought there would be more signs ( I mean any) pointing the way to the notable landmarks
Eeesh and it was hot hot hot
It was lovely seeing everyone having their picnics and lounging about – although we thought there might be more of a carnival feel with it being 4th July – you wouldn’t have known it was.
I guess we had expected more “ razamatazz” for the holiday
One of The Ghostbusters buildings
We walked for ages , completely missing the path to Strawberry Fields.
We stopped for some cold drinks and were given directions – back the way we had come
Sigh
The troops were flagging
Despite having a long list of things to see around the Park , we agreed we would make it to Strawberry Fields and call it a day – it just wasn’t fun , it was too hot and we were not enjoying it
We finally made it
We exited and found ourselves at a different subway – with it being a bank holiday a different timetable was operating and there was no 3 train which would have been perfect for us.
We took a C train to 39th and then got a D train – but didn’t realise it was an express which didn’t go near our stop
Right about now one of our party needed the rest room – of course
We found ourselves a 4th Street – basically in Greenwich and a damn long walk back to the hotel.
Not good
After a bit of pro crastinating, tutting , cussing and “ you work it out then “ type conversatons, we did the sensible thing- and hailed a cab
And it was only $6 to the hotel – why didn’t we just do that earlier !
The boys headed off to their room while we popped across to the Smith for a drink.
And we pondered what to do about the Fireworks
The teens had already said they were not fussed/ really didn’t want to hang around for hours waiting to see them.
We had been in touch with Andy's cousin who lives in Long Beach and there was a good chance she and her husband would come into the city but weren’t planning to see the Fireworks from anywhere near Brooklyn or the southern port areas.
I had looked up a number of rooftop bars that offered good viewing but they either had a whopping fee or needed to be booked in advance – and you had to get there at like 6pm , some 3 hours before the event
Plus of course they were still predicting it was going to tiddle down.
Andy's Cousin called and said they would be in town around 8.30 – coming in to Penn Station so we agreed to meet in a bar near there and play it by ear.
The teens opted for another McDs and pizza from the place round the corner – they wanted to stay in and watch the spectacle on TV – the heat and walking had definitely taken its toll, they looked knackered.
We made our way up to 34th around 6.30
This was one the more off-putting sights – and meant that many parts of the city just smelt horrible
Just piles and piles of rubbish on the sidewalk, day and night
We wandered around here for a bit
And pondered on which Irish bar to choose from on 37th Street
There were a few to choose from …
We ended up in O ‘Reillys , just at the end of that blurry shot
It was totally dead – as were most places – until after the fireworks when it got much busier
I had a chicken quesadilla which was delicious
Andy’s Cousin and her husband arrived about 9 – they were absolutely drenched just on the short walk from 34th and we felt vindicated at being feeble and watching the fireworks on TV – it did look fabulous – truly worthy of the word spectacular.
We had a few fun hours catching up – her husband is an ex NY Firefighter so he had many stories and was such a funny storyteller – he has lived in NY all his life so was able to tell us about so many places.
It was great fun – it had been very last minute and we left around midnight promising that we must meet again – a definite reason for us to go back.
It was raining heavily as we left so we caught a cab for $10 to the hotel dropping into bed just around 1am.
The 4th July night really had been a washout
I am sure the late night and amount of beverages will have no effect on our early start to see the Highline tomorrow
Which you can find right
HERE