Newlyweds in the Caribbean: Curse of the DLXDDP - Day 24 - Empire State Building & Brooklyn Bridge

[Scruffette]

Newlyweds in the Caribbean: Curse of the DLXDDP - Day 24

Index

Saturday 22nd September

Empire State Building, Grand Central Station, Brooklyn Bridge & Waitress

We were up at bright and early this morning – a full day of sightseeing was on the agenda!

Our first planned stop for this morning was the Empire State Building. I read that the security lines can get really long later in the day, so we wanted to get there as close to the opening as possible.

It wasn’t too far a walk and we planned to get some breakfast en route, with a few contenders picked out on trip advisor obviously. The first place was open, but was only serving drinks and no food yet. The next place was closed. So much for the city that never sleeps – apparently this doesn’t apply on weekend mornings!

Eventually we found a Wendy’s very close to the Empire State building.

I don’t have a receipt, but from the looks of the pictures we had some loaded breakfast potatoes, a side of more potatoes and a breakfast burrito. It was fine.





We then headed over to the ESB. Despite it being a really tall building, it’s surprisingly hard to spot when you’re close to it, as every building looked tall!

Our tactic of visiting soon after opening worked. There was no wait for security and we were soon in the lift on the way up. Our tickets were pre-booked and we had access to the 82nd floor and the 102th floor. If you’re going up a tall building, you might as well go right to the top!

I got a bit snap happy, but here’s just a small selection -









































Ollie enjoyed all the information about the construction of the building.

Our next stop was Grand Central Station - very pretty for a train station!







There’s quite a large food area downstairs. Ollie and I both remembered my brother telling us about great cheesecake from Grand Central Station, but we couldn’t remember where from.

After a look around, we assumed it was from Magnolia Bakery, so we got a piece of caramel pecan cheesecake to share. We really enjoyed this.





As it turned out, my brother was actually talking about cheesecake he got in Washington, so no idea why we both thought it was from New York. Turned out well for us though, as it really was delicious!

We stopped by a Walgreens for a drink, and then headed back into the station to take the subway (the notes say 42nd St to high St (Brooklyn) via Fulton St – I was still letting Ollie navigate so no idea where we needed to go!)

A child sat next to me on the subway had serious personal space issues and pretty much ended up leaning right across me. Bit odd.

The subway took just into Brooklyn, so we could walk across the Brooklyn Bridge back into Manhattan.

It was a beautiful day, the views were great and we really enjoyed the walk. It was pretty busy though and we did have to dodge a few cyclists who weren’t staying in their lane.





There were lots of souvenir sellers on the other side of the bridge, where we picked up our Broadway magnet.

Next was china town, where we stopped in at the Fried Dumpling, for fried dumplings. A bargain at 5 for $1.50. The cheap price did make me slightly concerned about the quality of the food, but I tried to ignore this thought as they were really good.









We then walked over to the 9/11 memorial.



What really struck me here was the vastness of the space where the towers stood. The water features in their place were a lovely way to mark the space.

This was a very emotional experience, I think we can all remember where we were when we heard about 9/11 and nobody can deny the impact of the event. I did have a little tear behind my sunglasses. Although this was overwhelming, I’m really glad we came here.

What I didn’t like, was people posing and smiling for pictures in front of memorial. Yes, take photos, but it’s not the right place for grinning and selfies.

The next stop on our walking tour was Katz’s Deli (from Man V Food fame).





There was quite a queue to get in and the place was absolutely rammed inside. This place must have a good reputation.



There was a bit of a battle to get to the counter to order. The lady in front of us decided that after her sandwich was prepared, the meat was too thick cut for her. They were very good and did make her a fresh sandwich.

When it was eventually our turn to order, we decided to get a pastrami on rye to share. They did cut us off some pastrami to nibble on while we were waiting. They had a weird payment system where they gave you a ticket when ordering, and you then had to pay on the way out.

We eventually found some seats on a larger table and tucked into our sandwich, with the side of gherkins that comes with each sandwich. This was tasty and really well filled. However, the sandwiches are quite pricey (around $20 or so plus tax).



An older woman on the table with us was quite forcefully telling everyone to vote in the next election (although, as it was 2018, there was still a while to go). When I told her I was form the UK and couldn’t vote, she told me to try anyway! She was quite funny and only slightly scary.

After paying our ticket and being let out of the building, we took the subway back to near the hotel. Of course there was a quick stop in 7-eleven where a ridiculously large slurpee was purchased. They didn’t have any white chocolate m’n’ms that Ollie had spotted somewhere else earlier, but we did find a bag in an independent mini supermarket nearby.



We took our goodies back to the hotel and then I had a nap before this evening’s show. Whilst getting ready we enjoyed some ciders in the room and the m’n’ms – they were fine, but I prefer caramel ones.





Our dinner of choice was a slice of pizza from Luigi’s round the corner – we shared a slice of chicken, and then decided another was needed! The second choice was margarita.





It was then a short walk over to the theatre for tonight’s show. I enjoyed the nearby poster for the show with the tagline ‘sex, sisterhood and pies’. What more do you want from a musical?



Again, I was surprised how tiny the theatre was. They bake pies for sale in the interval, so the theatre smelt amazing!

I knew nothing about the show beforehand, but really enjoyed it. I listened to the soundtrack on repeat when I got home, as the songs are really catchy.



It took me until the interval to realise the curtain was a pie lattice – I just thought it was a nice pattern!





There was an outburst from one of the audience members during the show. At first, I thought it was part of the show. I then realised that it was an older gentlemen who was very confused and angry with the people with him. His family members managed to persuade him to leave, but it was quite sad to see.

The cast paused the performance while this was going on, and then continued like pros.

I generally try to avoid using the toilets during the interval at a theatre. As a man, Ollie has no issue. I was waiting for him outside the gents and when the last man was done, a member of staff asked him to check the toilets were empty. When it was confirmed, the staff member shouted ‘go,go,go’ into her walkie talkie and a mad dash of ladies appeared to go through the toilets. They clearly have this process down to a fine art!

Lots of people asked me which of the shows I preferred. At the time, I said Dear Evan Hansen, which I think is a better piece of theatre. However, I think I actually enjoyed Waitress more. In fact, I went to see it for my birthday in London this year. While the dialogue is a little corny and a few of the jokes are lost on a British audience, I still absolutely love the songs. Lucie Jones’ rendition of She used to be mine was heartbreakingly beautiful.

After the show, we stopped by the 99c pizza place again to pick up a slice to take back to the room. How can you walk past a place with pizza for that price and not indulge?

Our evening ended eating pizza in bed and watching tv.

Day 25 - Central Park & travel home