One of the first sights that we encountered was the Letterman Studio. Surprisingly enough, we also saw Paul Schaffer crossing the street right by us on the way to his taping.
Then we stopped into Mujibur's gift stop right next to the studio. After we
bought something, he readily agreed to pose for a picture with us. We got
stand-by tickets for Letterman after answering a trivia question about
the show. Do you know who Biff Henderson is? We did! Here you can
somewhat see him talking with a group of people near the studio.
One of Dave's highlights (and the place of frequent stops) was the Easy Everything Internet Café. It had over 800 computers ready for customers and Internet navigating. It was the best deal in town with $1.00 getting you 26 minutes for on-line time.
Here is the Plaza Hotel off of 5th avenue where we would like to stay next time.
The always busy and bustling Times Square at night!
Amongst many limos and lights on Times Square, Dave happily spotted Crystal Bernard.
Being on Live with Regis and Kelly was another highlight of our trip. Before the show Gelman taught us how to clap appropriately during the show. Did you know that if you clap faster it makes it louder? Kelly was on maternity leave so Bernadette Peters filled in.
Ol' Reg was pretty friendly and chatted with the audience during commercial breaks.
Shawn Wayans (Scary Movie II) was a guest on the show and Dido was the musical number. After the show, Catherine Zeta Jones, came in and did a promo for her new movie coming up. It was taped and will be shown later in the month. Dave and I got our picture taken on the set after it was all over!
After the taping we had lunch reservations at Barbetta's.
Barbetta's was celebrating it 125th anniversary. We sat in the garden
and it was so beautifully done, we didn't feel like we were in the
middle of the city.
It was Restaurant Week in New York and lots of fancy Manhattan
restaurants had reasonable prix fixe meals. We got to eat at some nice
places we probably wouldn't have been able to otherwise.
After that we decided to walk to walk over to charming shopping area of Soho. A note to future NY city goers, it is a very long walk, but along the way we shopped at Macy's, saw the Empire State Building, Madison Square Gardens, and the World Trade Center in the distance.
Once we got to Soho, the fewer numbers of tourists, the amazing
architecture of the buildings, and all of the galleries and specialty
shops amazed us.
Next we stumbled onto Washington Square Park. There were many performers and dancers. We were enjoying our time so much that we realized we just had an hour until our Broadway show and we were very far away.
We tried talking a cab back to midtown, but realized it was rush hour (it almost always is in NY). We decided we could walk faster. Somehow we made it back in time to change, get a quick picture in front of our hotel and get over to Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. It was a wonderful show and full of special effects.
The next morning we got up even earlier to head over to Rockefeller Plaza to be on the Today Show. We didn't have a sign, but managed to be right next to some people that did and got interviewed on the air. We cheered and waved our arms around. Here is Willard Scott and Katie Couric. Matt Lauer was home with his new baby and Al Roeker was on vacation.
After being on national TV for approximately ten seconds, we headed downtown toward Wall Street. We went to the New York City Stock Exchange and missed the 9:30 opening bell by four minutes. Dave was soon cheered up when he saw all of the hustle and bustle on the trading floor.
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge was next on our agenda. Here we are on the Manhattan side. The Brooklyn Skyline is behind us. The Statue of Liberty was to our far right and the Manhattan Bridge to our left. It is a wonderful walk and there is a foot and bike path that goes over the cars. On our way back over the bridge we had a nice view of the Manhattan sky-line.
We were hungry by this time and decided to have supper down by the World Trade Center. Here is a picture of the twin towers. We ate in the middle of an Atrium near the World Financial Center. After that we walked down by the docks and looked at the boats.
More pictures of Times Square at night and a pretty fountain.
Friday was our museum day and we were able to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We were interviewed by Entertainment Tonight about the special Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis exhibit that was going on. We were also able to go to the Museum of Modern Art and view Van Gogh's Starry Night. The MOMA was under lots of construction, but should be finished by 2004.
Saturday we took the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty. This was as close as we got to it. The Ferry is free and also provides a nice view of the Manhattan sky line. Afterwards Dave took the bull by the horns and we decided to have lunch at the top of the World Trade Center at the Greatest Bar on Earth. It was a hazy day, but we still got a nice view.
Since we were becoming Metro experts by then, we decided to take the subway underwater and go to Coney Island. Lucky for us, they were having their annual Mermaid Festival and we got there just in time for the parade of mermaids, the fire-breathing devils, and the dancing jelly-fish. There were a lot of people there. We also walked along the Coney Island beach. After having a famous Coney Island hot dog, we headed back.
It was our supposed last night in New York (our flight ended up being canceled so we did get a bonus night) so we decided to go by the last few attractions we hadn't seen. Here is Radio City Music Hall (178841 #2), NBC Studios where Saturday Night Live and the Late Show with Conan O' Brian are taped (178840 3). We also got to see more of Rockefeller Plaza (178838 #1, 2, 3,) and at night (178840 #4, 5).
Sunday was our last day in NYC and what better way to spend it then at Central Park? It is over 30 acres of spacious green refuge for New Yorkers. There is biking, boating, a zoo, and many places to picnic 10, 11. It is so wonderful that this busy and bustling city has something like this (178840 #8, #9). Here is the famous Alice and Wonderland statue (12). Of course, Sunday was the day we found out about our special surprise that was coming when we returned home (7). And it isn't just Oliver.(13)