Sigh! We're leaving the City today

 Tuesday, August 20, 2024

There's plenty of time this morning to get organized and that's lovely.  We consolidate our bags so that it's easy to get to the parking garage down the street. We take our bags down to the lobby and see "the man behind the wall" to drop them off while we take our last stroll through the theater district, aka Hell's Kitchen.

See the window washer?

Last view from our window

Our goal is the New York Public Library's main branch.  I need to see the lions up close and personal and it's really only a few blocks away!!  As we're waling we notice a large sculpture a couple of blocks away and, since we've got the time, we take a little detour.  It's a large piece and it's made out of steel and rubber tires!! Worth the time!

It's called "Shaved Portions" by Chakaia Booker








This is Verizon Plaza with free WIFI, open to the public 24 hours

Next to the library is Bryant Park and what a park it is!  There is a ping pong table for any one to use.  There is an entire area set aside for chess competitions, there are lots of tables and chairs and a huge open grassy area with a fully equipped stage for performances.  There is a yoga class in progress and we are about to see Cali Co Cat do story time for the little guys!  She's a treat, all dressed up in her cat persona, and engages the little ones from the get-go!  They do sing alongs and shake their maracas and sing Old MacDonald's with all the animal languages and Cali reads them stories! The chairs even say Reading Room in cut-out letters.






There several of these.  One had newspapers; another has magazines.


Tech support










We haven't spotted the lions yet, and we keep circling the building, past the large flower-covered cafe, and turn the corner.  There they are!!  I'm so excited! We take lots of pictures and figure that it would be a terrible waste to not go inside!  Oh my.  This is more like a museum than any library I've ever been in, much less worked in!!  It has a visitors' center and a store and café and is simply gorgeous inside and out. The visitors' center has some examples of items contained in the various collections;  but visitors are invited to touch these!  I am surprised by how emotional I am here, in this temple of knowledge.











Hand-drawn dance notations


There is a special exhibit called "Treasures" and we can't resist going inside.  It's as though the Smithsonian has been shrunk and transported to Fifth Avenue.  We see Danilova's tutu and a selection from Jerome Robbins' diary and an original Green Book.  There is James Baldwin's copy of The Progressive which contained his essay "A Letter to my Nephew" which contains the statement "There are many white people who a trapped in a history which they do not understand, deeply inculcated with delusions of white superiority and the myth of American innocence." There is a miniature Qua'ran manuscript in the shape of a leaf and Charles Dickens' desk, lamp, and calendar and so much more!!






Buddhist prayer boards in Pāli (Burmese square script)

Set design for Broadway production of "Guys and Dolls"

And we can't leave without a stop in the library store.  My library never had a store!!


Juggling class!!






Interesting benches




We had a slice left over, so, of course, we had to wrap it up in 
paper plates and a mask!



We're hoping to find a real New York deli to get some bagels;  but before we do, we find a great looking pizza place and hunger wins out!

We're ready to head out of town, so we go retrieve our luggage from The Pod Hotel and walk the half block to the iPark.  Our car appears pretty quickly, having ridden down in an elevator, and we load up and head out.  It's pretty amazing how quickly we are out of the city and into a different world with lots of green trees!  In what seems like no time we are at Heidi's Inn, in Brewster, New York, with lots of grass and trees and a pool and a ping pong table and a huge room!  We figure we could put five of our Pods room in here! 

The cruise port




We settle in for the one night we'll be spending here and Ginger finds a place on line for dinner.  It's a classic diner and the food is very good and not New York prices!! There are some giggles on the multipage menu!  There's a Ty Cobb salad, Fruity Tootie waffles, Hub Cap nachos, and Soup made for Slurpin'.  It also advises us to think globally - act locally - dress casually! 

I can't finish my wrap and take the other half to go.  We've got a fridge and a microwave (brought home some french fries, too) and there's a large screen TV so we can actually watch the DNC tonight.  We're hoping to catch Michelle Obama's speech. We've been a bit busy up 'til now and have barely been able to keep up with the news.

Oh!  We get to see Bernie and Michelle and Barack!!

Lounge at Heidi's Inn



Interesting combination of 21st century technology and 20th century (no USB ports)!




Big Apple Wrap with apples, chicken breast, pecans, cranberries, blue cheese and
honey mustard vinaigrette in a spinach wrap.

Tomorrow we'll go to see Dale's memorial exhibition and then drive up to Potsdam.

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