I decided that if we wanted something good we needed to get out of Times Square, so we headed to 6th Ave. where vendors had already begun setting up for a street fair that was to take place all day on Saturday. They were already cooking and it smelled really good, but we were drawn to Magnolia Bakery instead of street food. We both got individual cheesecakes - Rebecca got two! She got a Red Velvet and something else, I got a Caramel and we both got coffee.... So! $26 later, we had breakfast at the fountain across from Magnolia Bakery and Rebecca who is not much of a sweet person finished off both of her personal cheesecakes in the time it took me to finish one. But it was heaven. 
So on a huge sugar high the likes of which you may never have seen, we immediately headed back toward Times Square presumably to catch our subway to Yankee Stadium even though we were supposed to get on one a few feet from where we had eaten our cheesecake. About half way back to Time Square, that little fact dawned on me and we went right back to where we had been and walked down to the subway station. Now, I have been on subways in NY numerous times but for me it is always an adventure because I always know what color or number train I should be getting on, but I'm never sure if it is going in the right direction. This only happens to me in NY. My Google map had said that we needed to get on the train going to Norwood. The metro worker we stopped and asked just pointed and grunted at a turnstile, so we went through that one.
Once we were down there, I saw that the Norwood platform was the next platform over and you had to go back up and pay again to get to it. So, we stayed where we were and assumed that the seasoned metro worker who pointed us in the direction we had taken probably knew more than Google and we were correct. Of course, we weren't sure about that until a lady and her son got on at about 125th St. and began talking to us. They were going to the game too and we talked to them almost the rest of the way to the 161st St. stop.
Once we arrived at the 161st St. stop, everything else was a breeze. We just followed the crowds to the stadium and then began walking around and looking in team shops. I wanted a cap but I was hoping to get a fitted one. But here's the deal, unless you want one of those stupid gangster looking flat bill caps, you can't get a fitted cap at Yankee Stadium. What's up with that??!?!?!? So, I wound up with an adjustable one.
Our seats were in section 424 which is the highest level and on the third base line. As far as seeing the game goes, they weren't horrible seats. They were just REALLLLLLY high up. I mean if the Goodyear Blimp had been present, it would have been below us. To give you an idea of how high up we were seated, concessions are only available on the first 3 levels. I'm assuming it has something to do with not wanting the workers to get the bends when they get that high without oxygen masks.... Here's a picture of Rebecca in our seats. If the Empire State Building had been visible from Yankee Stadium, she would have been looking down at it. I'm just sayin'....
The Yankees lost the game to the Rays who played well. Even when you are not a huge fan of the teams you are watching it is still better when the team you are wearing gear for wins. But neither of us were broken hearted by the outcome. Following the game, we followed this crazy big crowd back to he subway stop and this is when I learned a very valuable lesson. Never keep your metro pass in your pocket all day getting bent. It seems that bent metro passes don't work in the turnstile. When this discovery was made, Rebecca had already passed through the turnstile and was on the other side, in the 150 degree underground area while I was stuck with no way to get through. So, I found the line for people who had similar problems and stood in it for about 15 minutes while Rebecca waited for me on the other side of the turnstile. I'm not sure why, but apparently I look a little bit like a New Yorker. So, people continually came up to me and asked questions while I was in line. I would then turn to the girl next to me who worked at the stadium and ask her and then answer them. I guess they were intimidated by her, but she was super nice and got a big kick of the Texan translating for her.Rebecca on the other hand had some excitement of her own. Apparently a lost little boy found her standing alone and came up to her for help. So she hung out with a lost kid until his parents found him while I stood in line for 15 minutes so that the lady behind the glass could point out the bent spot in my metro pass and then make a huge production of rubbing it across her desk and then handing it back to me. The whole bent metro pass thing would have been nice to know beforehand. That's all I'm going to say.
Once we were back at our stop on 6th Ave. we decided to walk around the street fair that had been setting up earlier in the day while we ate our Magnolia Bakery breakfast. I got a scarf to wear with my plain black dress that night to our play and then we were on our way back to the hotel. In the hotel, while Rebecca showered, I did a little research regarding places to eat before our play and discovered that in order to be at our 8:00 performance in time, we needed a reservation for no later than 6:30. So, on Open Table, I got us a reservation for St. Andrews Restaurant and Bar at 6:30. I made the reservation at about 5:50 and had still not showered. Folks, you have never seen two females shower, throw make up on faster or run a straight iron through hair at the speed with which we worked. We left the hotel at 6:25 or maybe 6:27 but there's no use splitting hairs. Once in a taxi, I told the driver where we were going and he immediately started talking about the street fair which had 6th Ave. shut down and was going to effect his ability to get us there. At 6:45 we finally got out of the taxi and walked the last block and a half faster than he could have gotten us there.
St. Andrews was a really nice pub that I would have enjoyed spending a nice leisurely dinner in. Instead we ordered our drinks and announced to our waitress that we had theater tickets for 8:00 and she informed us that in order to get there on time, we couldn't get anything that required a long cooking time. So, Rebecca just ordered a Caesar Salad and I got a Caesar Salad and a NY Strip cooked medium rare. The NY Strip was served with mashed potatoes and we ended up sharing part of the steak and potatoes because it was huge! So it all worked out well except that we were terribly rushed and couldn't sit back, relax and enjoy a great meal. After dinner, we got a taxi to take us to the Al Hirschfeld Theatre for our performance of Kinky Boots. Now I'm not sure what you know about this play, but it was the best one I have seen in YEARS!!! The score which was all written by Cyndi Lauper was outstanding, the choreography was wonderful, the story was both funny and touching and the performers were amazing! It is a great show that you just can't miss if you have a chance to see it. I won't tell you the story line since you can see that for yourself on the link I provided. But check it out. By the way, it won 6 Tony's this year!Following our play, we decided to walk over to Junior's for dessert. I had never been to Junior's before and didn't really understand all the hoop-la. We waited about 30 minutes for a table. We were seated outside where I had a latte ice cream soda. It was really good. I'm normally a Carnegie Deli kind of girl for cheesecake following a show. But this was good.
After dessert we made our way back through the hustle and bustle of Times Square and eventually back to our hotel for a few hours of sleep before our all day tour on Day 3. Tomorrow I'll tell you all about the horrible experience of that tour. Get ready, this is going to be a fun one. Have a great Saturday.... or what's left of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment