4th of July fireworks

~ July 4, Independence Day ~

Last Saturday morning, we tried Ellen's Stardust Diner for breakfast. That place is not about the food; rather, it's about the aspiring talent doing hard time as servers. All the servers sing for their customers' supper--and breakfast, and lunch, and anything in-between. They take turns.

It just so happened that we were seated in a section where the server had gone AWOL. When he showed up, we convinced him we were in a rush, and things flowed smoothly enough so that we go back to the hotel in time for the 9am excursion to Canal Street.

Mauri the Travac tour guide had offered as early as Thursday that she would escort anyone who wanted to accompany her down to Canal Street, where there are purses to be had (designer knockoffs), but only by special invitation. Imagine a group of 35 individuals, mostly female with a handful of husbands in tow, rushing down to the nearest subway station, exiting at Canal Street, and ducking into a nondescript storefront. We were ushered into a secret chamber where the real imitation goods were kept. I'm not especially girly when it comes to things like handbags and shoes, but I was looking to replace my purse, so I bought two for the price of what one would have cost me at Sears or The Bay. A couple of the women bought five apiece. (James recounted our NY shopping this morning to his new hairstylist, and she responded that she owns 70 purses. Seventy purses!!! What does 1 person need with 70 purses? Good thing she wasn't along with us last weekend or she would have cleaned out the store.)

After the shopping spree, we chummed around with Ron & Toni, whom we'd gotten to know a bit the day before. We sightsaw (MW says it's a word, no matter how weird it sounds) Madison Square Gardens, Macy's, the New York Public Library and its lions, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Mark Messier at MSG - sans Lay's chips


right: Inside Macy's - they have a wooden escalator! and a Starbucks!
left: Bell Ringers Monument - Minerva and Stuff and Guff

NYPL - it was closed July 4 & 5

St. Patrick's Cathedral

We also got to see, up close and personal, police officers (James asked permission to photograph them), a Bronze Cowboy (the first of 3 living statues I saw in NYC), a very patriotic citizen, and one of the ubiquitous yellow taxi cabs after a run-in with a bus.

We revisited Central Park, which was a hub of Independence Day activity. Where else would you be able to come across a collection of people that included: model sailboaters at the Conservatory Water, dancing rollerbladers/skaters (some actually were shod with 4 wheels), breakdancers and a Michael Jackson lookalike in front of the Naumburg Bandshell, more living statues (but the one in a tutu was bending over, so it didn't seem like the most opportune moment to snap), and musicians, not to mention sunbathers, picnickers, bicyclists, and those who, like Ferdinand the bull (cool! the video has been YouTubed), would rather "sit just quietly and smell the flowers" (or read or people-watch) by The Mall.

Conservatory Water

performers, Naumburg Bandshell

If Peter Pan & Tinkerbell had a daughter...


Minstrel and The Mall

Leaving Central Park and the great outdoors behind, temporarily anyhow, we popped into The Plaza Hotel, which we'd glimpsed from the outside the previous day. Fan-cy! (It warrants a distinct two syllables.)

Exiting the hotel just behind us were three caped crusaders: Batman, Robin, and Superman. They were in a hurry; Spidey must've called for backup. They didn't stop for photo ops, and we weren't fast enough on the draw. Maybe there was a comic book characters' convention? Or do New Yorkers often dress that way?

We had dinner at Rino Trattoria or Trattoria Rino (take your pick: the name appeared both ways), an Italian restaurant on 8th Ave., between 52nd and 53rd St., before making our way to 11th Ave., which is as close as we got to the Hudson River, on which floated the six barges that held the "33rd annual pyrotechnic extravaganza." At first, the street we stood on had two lanes of traffic in both directions. That rapidly narrowed down to one lane in each direction, and finally no lanes at all. Plenty of NYPD were on hand for crowd control. I wonder how early spectators began gathering on 12th Ave. in order to obtain front-row spots.

We positioned ourselves between two buildings, and although we might have missed some of the lower flares, we got to see a respectable amount of the show. James downloaded the televised version, so we have the option of watching the whole thing one of these evenings when we feel the need for sparks and sparkle.

And that was the third day.