Today is the last full day for me in NYC for my Fabulous 40 NYC trip – so time for the day 7 recap!

Today started out earlier than other days because I had a lot to get crammed in to today. Started with, you guessed it, breakfast! It was a little less busy earlier in the morning! Then it was off to a day of adventures.

I hopped on the MTA to head down to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Most people wondered why I wanted to go to Prospect Park after going to Central Park. It was for one main reason – I’ve always wanted to go since I was a kid. When I grew up I read books by Ruth Chew, she was one of my favorite authors. A lot of her books were set in Prospect Park. I don’t remember much about the books or the exact locations in the park, but I do remember that ever since I read those, I knew I had to visit Prospect Park. So I did in memory of Ruth Chew, since I’m sure she was part of the reason I love to read. I didn’t think Prospect Park was as nice as Central Park, it seemed more dirty and run down. It is still a well-used park by a lot of walkers, joggers, bikers, well-built shirtless guys sweating in the sun doing crunches, etc.

Also, this helped complete something else. I don’t know if anyone has been keeping track, but I flew into LaGuardia, which is in Queens, then rode through Queens to get to Manhattan where my home base has been. When I went to the zoo, that was in the Bronx. Last night I took the Staten Island ferry to Staten Island. Today I was in Brooklyn for Prospect Park. So I have now (at least briefly) been to all 5 boroughs. I’ve really visited all the parts of NYC!

After a brief walk around parts of Prospect Park, I went back on the MTA to head to the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. I started there with a guided tour of the memorial. While waiting for the tour and seeing the memorial and the names, suddenly the weight and the feeling of the pain and sorrow of all those people and their families came down on me. I’m glad there were benches nearby because I needed to quickly sit down before I fell down. The tour was amazing, got to know a lot about the memorials, how the names were placed, some of the design concepts behind the memorial, and also the stories of some of the people and heroes that perished in the attacks. Several points along the tour I had to lean on something or kneel on the ground. I’m glad I brought my Kleenex along today!

After the tour was done, I went through the museum. A wonderful museum and very nicely done. I was very overwhelmed at many points and sat down when I could. There were tissue boxes at various points as well. I could have stayed in some places longer or all day just listening to the stories. There were some places I had to go through a bit quicker than I normally do at a museum, because my emotions were getting too strong and I just couldn’t handle any more. They had booths where you could record your 9/11 stories and thoughts – so I did that as well.

After my visit to the museum, I walked around the memorials some more and reflecting on them and the people’s names, and thinking how they all have a story and family they left behind. By this point I think I was completely emotionally drained. It was then time to head onto my next stop for the day.

I took the MTA again (so glad I got the unlimited pass!) north a bit to Greenwich Village and to Stonewall Inn. This is one of the gay areas of NYC and Stonewall Inn is where most consider the LGBTQ rights movement to have started, when there was police raids on the Stonewall Inn (a gay bar) and the community rose up against the police and rioted. I wanted to visit it today on June 12, because this is the 2nd anniversary of the massacre in Orlando, where 49 people were murdered in a gay nightclub. I thought I would be more emotional here, especially because it is June 12, but I wasn’t – I think I may not have had much left after the 9/11 Memorial/Museum. I went into the Stonewall Inn and had a drink as well in honor and memory of the 49. There is a park right outside as well that is a National Monument. I walked around the area for a bit, but didn’t come across anything super interesting, but did make sure to get a picture of Gay Street.

Then I walked up to the Highline, which is an elevated park that the community came together to save. It was an old elevated railroad track that was no longer used and vegetation had naturally taken over. The city wanted to tear it down, but the community saved it and maintains it. It was somewhat neat, but when you grow up in the UP of Michigan, you are used to seeing all kinds of vegetation everywhere. I did get gelato along the way.

I then walked a little ways to grab dinner/late lunch. This is the perfect time to eat because places aren’t busy! It was good to sit down as well after all that walking again! Then it was time to walk back to my hotel to get ready for my final play!

Tonight’s show was a comedy – specifically picked because I knew the day would be emotional. It was “The Play That Goes Wrong.” And it sure did! Wonderful show! Even before the play actually starts things happen and characters talk to the audience about stuff as well. If you’ve ever seen “Noises Off”, this is in a similar vain. It was very well done with very limber and acrobatic actors! It was great to have some very good laughs. Then it was time to walk back to my hotel, going through Times Square one more time, seeing the Majestic Theatre at night one more time, and the sadness of realizing my trip is almost over started setting in.

I’ve realized that it is never the cities themselves that I love so much on vacation, or what I do specifically, it is that vacation gets me away from my “real world” and allows me to live in a fantasy for awhile. I wish I could stay in that fantasy forever and not have to go back to my responsibilities. I know it’ll be a hard transition back into my regular life.

I just relaxed in the hotel for the rest of the evening and packed what I could because of my morning flight tomorrow.

A few final thoughts.

I’ve gotten quite good at the MTA, although now I want to research and read more about all the different lines and understand it better.

I still really could use a nice foot/leg massage when I’m done – I’ve sure walked a lot – I’ll post a final step/mileage count tomorrow.

I have a strange feeling I might need some drinks or company with someone tomorrow evening as I might enter my post-vacation funk.

Well – that is all for now – tomorrow is my travel day.

Time for day 6 of the Fabulous 40 NYC Birthday Trip recap.

Started out with breakfast again, and a nice older couple realized there were people waiting for a table, so they asked (more motioned) if they could sit at mine so they didn’t take up another one. I said motioned, because they didn’t speak English, so while it was nice to be able to share a table, we couldn’t make small talk.

Then it was off to walk a few blocks to the Intrepid – Sea, Air, and Space museum. I had to get there before it opened because I bought a tour of it that was an hour before it opened to the public. It was a wonderful tour and nice to have it before it opened to the general public. It was great getting an overview of the museum and the history behind the aircraft carrier before exploring on my own. There is a lot of info there and things to see. I then had a Space Tour that talked about the space program before going to see the Enterprise Orbiter. Was great hearing the history of everything and seeing a real life orbiter (not a shuttle, as the term shuttle is really used to describe the orbiter and the fuel modules together). While the Enterprise never flew in space as it was the test orbiter, it was cool because it was the Enterprise. The tour was great and I was the only one on it except for 2 other employees who were learning information for their jobs. I continued exploring and listened to a presentation on Mars from the same guy who gave my Space Tour – he is really knowledgeable. I of course got emotional at times because of lives lost on the Intrepid during war. I must say – war is awful for all people involved, you’d think we’d eventually learn and stop it. I toured the museum right up until it closed. Glad I got the extra hour with the early tour.

Back to the hotel and time for a quick change and find a place for dinner. Found a nice little place again that had good food and not very busy. The waiter wasn’t too attentive, but was still decent and quick service. Had a wonderful apple pie/cobbler/crisp thing for dessert.

Then it was to play #7 – Afterglow. This was my “edgy” show to see. I wanted to make sure to catch something a bit different and that I probably would never see anywhere else. This was about a married gay couple who have sex with a 3rd person. Long story short, one of the couple falls in love with the 3rd person, while still loving his husband, and then the play deals with how they react and handle it. Makes you think a lot about love, sex, relationships, and how they all fit together – or don’t. Although, it is a show that leaves you wondering how it goes on in the future, as basically the 3 characters are all apart at the end. This of course left my mind racing with thoughts of any possible relationship I might ever get into, and what am I really looking for, am I willing to do work to make a relationship work, am I prepared for the heartache and pain that comes from an ending relationship, etc. Also, it was edgy because it has full male nudity in it. While the play typically tends to be first known for that, it is just a way of telling the story, and after awhile you tend not to even think twice about it. I’m glad I went and it was a really good show.

Then I stopped by my room for a quick part change of clothes, and onto the MTA to go to the Staten Island Ferry for a ride there and back. Since it is free, it is a nice tourist thing to do because you get to see New York and cities in New Jersey from a distance. I did cry and pray when I saw the Statue of Liberty as I keep thinking of The New Colossus (Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free) and the state our country is in with how we treat people. It was a perfect night for it – just cool enough to feel nice and the breeze from moving on the boat. Perfect weather and beautiful sights.

Then back on the MTA to my hotel and call it a night.

My closing random thoughts.

While I love learning things at museums and other places, it can be depressing. Since the more I learn the more I realize how very little I know and how much there is still to learn.

On the MTA I learned that it is Houston St. not Houston, but Houston. Oh – crap – writing it out doesn’t help! It is How-Stun, not Hu-Stun. Sort of like Charlotte vs. Charlotte!

I would have liked to been here for Pride weekend, not so much for the parade or a festival, but because MoMath has a special event! If you want me to go to pride/gay events, have things at a math place is the way to get my interest!

Time for a quick sleep before another, and last, packed full day with a variety of places to see and one more play!

Time for the day 5 update of the Fabulous 40 NYC birthday trip! I always think I don’t do too much, but then end up writing a novel!

Started out with, you guess it, breakfast! And then headed off to church. Thanks to ReconcilingWorks to make it easy to find an RIC congregation. There are many in the area, but most didn’t even mention it on their websites – so I doubted how committed they were, but I found one that mentioned it on their website – although they still didn’t have their full welcoming statement online. It was a lovely old building and a nice pipe organ. Not too many in attendance today, so I guess it just isn’t in Michigan that attendance goes down in the summer. They actually call their worship services mass and they are very “massy” with lots of the old traditions. It was nice to experience it, but I don’t know if I’d like it that way every Sunday. While their organ was lovely, the way it was played during the hymns made it hard to sing along – I’m so glad we have Bruce at Faith! Overall I enjoyed the service and the people were very friendly as well.

I then went into Central Park a little bit – it was right across the street – to just relax a bit and figure out what I was going to do for the first part of the afternoon, since I didn’t have anything planned except to spend a bit of time exploring. I also enjoyed the views as I was sitting there, which was right along one of the paths that many joggers take 😉 I was just looking around and found an interesting looking park – so I decided to go. I hopped (well walked, since I’d probably trip and fall if I really tried to hop on) the MTA to head to Bryant Park. It is a nice little park and they had a restaurant there so I grabbed lunch. While eating I looked at what else there was in that area and discovered Grand Central Terminal and the New York Public Library (main/iconic building).

So after lunch, I went on a walk to explore and first went to Grand Central. While most people seem to be awed by it, I must say, it was smaller than I expected for some reason. It was still a wonderful place (if you don’t have to use the bathroom!) and a beautiful building. Then over to the New York Public library. This is the main building, but the New York Public Library is really a system of libraries all around NYC, so this building is really only part of the New York Public Library. They had a few exhibits that I glanced through (I was running out of time) and explored around a bit. Another gorgeous building. Also, as I do more and more in the city, I’m realizing that while there is a lot above ground, there is a ton below ground as well. In fact, when they needed to expand the library building, they tore up Bryant Park and put a library addition under the park, and then rebuilt the park on top of the expanded library. In the main reading rooms, it just smelled like old books, or as I thought – smells like knowledge! Wonderful smell!

I headed back to my hotel for a quick change before heading to the first play of the day, which was Come From Away. This is the true story of flights that were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, on 9/11. It is the story of the people in the town and the people on the flights. Very powerful and moving stories – I loved it! Somehow the guy next to me mentioned that he had seen it before and that it would be fine if I cried because he would be. I told him I was prepared and had my Kleenex! Well, I don’t know about the whole theatre, but the guy to the left of me and to the right (and of course me) were all crying through the show. This is one I’d definitely see again – hopefully it will go on tour and come to Wharton.

Again back to my hotel for a quick change and figure out the evening plans. Found another SB Local place to eat at and had a nice dinner at an Irish Pub – had fish and chips and a hard apple cider. A nice relaxing dinner – again got in right away and the prices aren’t too bad. Then headed over to the play of the evening!

This was an off Broadway show – which is determined by how many seats the theatre has – nothing to do about location – since very few of the theatres are actually on Broadway – most are on side streets. And Broadway (the street) runs a very long way on the island, so there is much more on Broadway than just theatre. This theatre is actually a set of 5 stages that are all underground again. These are newer ones as well, so a lot different architecture than the previous shows I’ve seen. This was the other show I was seeing that I had seen before. This was Avenue Q! I loved every minute of it again. They’ve tweaked a few things since I’d last seen it, but always love finding little changes if they make it better or continue to fit with the times. At intermission the person sitting next to me, asked me if I had seen it before, and I said yes, twice, but have also listened to the soundtrack many times. He guessed it because I would start pre-laughing, or making motions with my hands, etc. He is from England here on business and missed seeing it on the West End, so fit it into his trip here. He loved it too. Before the show I noticed he was quite cute and my gaydar went off. Hearing him talk with his British accent made him so much more adorable at intermission, but then he said something that ruined my fantasy. He said the dreaded phrase, “my girlfriend”. Still it is always nice to see someone enjoy a show as much as I do.

Now, since I’ve seen the show before, I know there is a section where they typically will collect money (or attempt) from the audience. I noted in the program that any money collected will go to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, so I made sure to have a donation ready. I think I might have been the only monetary donation they got (they don’t get to all the audience, but glad I could reach and put it in) but they did get some candy and a Metro card! (Hint: I’m still collecting on Facebook for Broadway Cares as well!)

Then it was a walk back to my hotel to wind down the evening and prepare for the next day of adventures.

Some closing random thoughts.

As I mentioned a few times above, and what I’ve noticed in most of the theatres, is the wonderful architecture. While the shows are great, the buildings are a show themselves. We just don’t make building with the detail to art and grandeur that we once used to.

I’m impressed with the public safety (police, fire, etc) here. With the streets so crowded, I really don’t envy them trying to get around, since even if people wanted to move out of the way, there isn’t always a place for them to go. Lots of the emergency vehicles are smaller than normal. So you see these cute little police cars and fire trucks.

And, if anyone needs to get me a belated birthday gift – I think I’ll need a leg and foot massage when I get back!

Now to bed I go for another fun filled day tomorrow with the Intrepid Museum and Afterglow.