On a Bicycle Built for Two and Many Other Adventures

This weekend was so much fun!  Mama and Papa sent my sister Heather to NYC for a visit for her birthday.   She had never been here before so I had the privilege of showing her my favorite city and I loved every minute of it.   
Heather came in on Wednesday at 7:35PM.  I didn't want Heather to get here and not know what to do so I hailed a cab and met her at the Newark Airport.  My cab driver was hilarious.  He explained to me how the fare meter works and then invited me to something in Astoria Park.  He also jerked me around a bit because he kept hitting the brakes every five seconds.  Cab rides can be such an adventure!
I met my sis at baggage claim and I was so happy to see her.  We headed back to the Heights and Heather's first cab ride into the city was so cliche!   This cab driver was a character.  He had Baliwood music playing at an absurd level and my sister and I were literally  swaying side to side because of how fast this man was changing lanes.  Heather's seatbelt locked within a minute and she was pinned against the seat. We were laughing so hard. The ride gave us time to take in a great view of the NYC skyline.  It was a relief when we finally made it to my place. 
Once we got here I took her on a tour of my apartment and once she got settled we went to the subway and headed to Carnegie Deli.  We ordered the Turkey Sandwich and it was MASSIVE!!!!!  However, we made a pretty good dent in it.  We couldn't leave without having cheesecake so we ordered the cherry cheesecake and enjoyed every bite.  After Carnegie Deli I wanted Heather to see Times Square at night because it's amazing. So we walked down and sat on the big red stairs and soaked in the view of all the lights and billboards.  Then we went to Radio City Music Hall, snapped a few pictures and headed home.  We made a plan for the next day and headed to bed.

Day 1.
We decided to sleep in a little bit on Thursday because we knew we were going to have to wake up early the next  few days to get everything in. We started off the day with a visit to Cranky's for brunch.  I just love it there.  We shared a breakfast burrito and the pesto pasta and enjoyed my new favorite fruit drink called MASH.  We also had the pleasure of meeting the celebrity dog named Rocky.  He was soooo cute and the owner came over and told us the story of how he found Rocky.  Hilarous.  We totally had the owner all figured out. 

After, Cranky's we headed to Central park to ride a tandem bike.  I looked online  for a bike company and checked out their prices.  For 3 hours it was going to be $17.00 per person and we thought that was a great deal.  I had no idea where the company was so I said we should just get out at Columbus Circle and find the best deal that way.  There are always people holding signs and trying to get people to rent bikes.  So that's what we did.  We bargained with two companies.  The first one was easy to walk away from because it was 30 bucks per person!  The second company was really funny.  I told them about the company with the rate of  $17.00 and he said, "okay lady money is no problem for us" with a thick Indian accent.  He kept saying that until finally I said "If we do not find a better price we will come back to you. I promise"   They were also going to make us walk to get the bike and not bring it to us.  Then we walked across the street and found a nice man that was easy to bargain with and he brought us the bike.  However, we still had to walk to the company because it is illegal to take money on the street.  So once the man brought out the bike he made us walk back to the company anyway and took us to a corner and said cross this line and pay me.  So we payed him $40 total and it felt like some sort of shady deal.  It was funny.  Then we walked the bike into the park, took pictutres with it and then a nice man gave us some really helpful tips on how to ride tandem.
Leave it to me to make a scene.  Even after the helpful tips from the nice man we couldn't get going and once we did I started screaming because we were on a little path and people were just standing right in the middle of it!!!! I couldn't believe it so I screamed some more and then we were stopped by the park police.  They said you can't ride on the walking paths or you will be ticketed.  So then we walked the bike to the outer circle and started our ride through Central Park.  We stopped at the Bethesda Fountain first and then heard street musicians under the bridge.  A man in boxers joined them randomly and played his water bottle and added some vocal harmony to the beautiful music.  A wonderful New York moment for sis.  LOL!!!
Then we figured out how to start easily on our tandem bike.  We lined it up with a curb, put our feet on the pedal, counted to three and then off we went.  We did not follow any of the road rules because if we did it would be disastrous.  Since I was in front I had to talk to the people walking by or running or in my way with things like...."Don't cross now", or "OH MY GOSH WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!" or "On your right".....You know things that  would prevent us from having an accident.
We made a few other stops, took pictures and then made it back to Columbus Circle by 5:30.   Keep in mind by this time we are exhausted, our bodies are hurting already, I can't lift my leg over the seat anymore and we just can't make it up the hills without walking the bike.  But, it was so much fun and one of my favorite things I've done.  Great idea, sis!

After we were good and tired from riding our awesome tandem bike we headed to the TKTS booth and bought tickets for Sister Act.  We killed time by eating a hot dog from a corner vendor and looking around the M&M store.  We bought some goodies and then headed to the theatre.

Sister Act was so good!  I am so glad that is the show we were able to see.  The music was nothing like the movie and the story line was a little different.  But I love a good show and that one was awesome. After the show we headed home for a good nights rest.

Day 2.     
Friday was a super busy day.  The original plan was to go to the Statue of Liberty at 9:00AM and then go to the Circle Tour that takes us on a tour by boat of the whole Island of Manhattan for 3 hours at 12:30 Then we were to see the Empire State Building for the sunset.  However, that didn't quite work out so here's how the day actually unfolded.  We woke up at 6:30 because we bought tickets in advance for the Statue of Liberty at 9:00AM.     We didn't have to wait in any line so we just hopped on the boat.  We got to Liberty Island snapped a few pics and grabbed lunch really fast because we wanted to make it back in time to catch the 12:30 boat tour.  Alas, the trip back to the boat tour was longer than expected so we ended up missing it.  We had to regroup so I suggested Dean and Deluca because I was so desperate for coffee.  I hadn't had any and I was beginning to be grumpy.  Heather gladly agreed.  I got my coffee and was immediately happy and she got a pretzel from the street vendor and she was happy.  Once we made new plans we were off.  First stop was Ground Zero.  We went into the memorial, a few blocks away and no matter how many times I've been there it's always a moving experience.  After that we went to the fire station right next to the visitors center and the door was closed so we kept waiting to see if they would open it.  The firemen didn't want to be seen I guess.  After Ground Zero we went to the Financial Distict and checked out Wall Street, Trinity Church, and The New York Stock Exchange.  We did all of that so quickly because we really wanted to make it to the Brooklyn Bridge so we could walk across it into Brooklyn before the sun set.  That was also one of my most favorite things we did.  The bridge is so beautiful and we got an amazing view of the city.  Once we crossed into Brooklyn we ate at the original Grimaldi's Pizza.  We waited in line for at least an hour  but it was worth it. We devoured a small pizza and then headed down to the barge down the street where we could view both the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge side by side.  The area we were in is called DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan, Brooklyn Underpass).  The view was gorgeous which made for amazing pictures.  We were very satisfied with our day and the fun we had so we headed home with sore feet and a full stomach.  As you know I get lost all the time so we couldn't find the subway even though I have apps on my phone that tell us where to go.  Thankfully, a nice man came our way and asked if we were lost.  So I said yes we are trying to find the subway.  He was so nice!  He gave us a nice little tour of Brooklyn Heights and walked us to the entrance of the subway station.  He was truly a God Send.  Grand Central Station was going to have to wait until the next day.  We fell asleep on the A train but  when we got home Heather was formally introduced to my mouse because she saw it walk across the kitchen floor and found that it had eaten her coconut M&M's from the M&M store.  When we were through fuming about the mouse we propped our swollen and tired feet up on pillows and had sweet dreams of NYC. 
Day 3.
Saturday we woke up early at 6:30 again to go on the Circle Tour around the island of Manhattan.  We decided that the 10:00 tour would be the best so we had to get there at 9:00ish to board  the boat and get a seat.   The tour was really cool and Heather got some great pics.  However, I am so lame and a bad hostess because I totally fell asleep hard core while we were on the boat.  I blame it completely on the gentle rocking of the boat as we rode around the Island.  After the boat tour and my little nap we went to Chinatown for lunch at Wo-Hop and of course some good shopping and bargaining.  Lunch was so yummy.  Once our tummies were full we were ready to hit the streets of Chinatown full force. The sounds of "You want Gucci, Prada, Looey Ton, Coachy" is really music to my ears.  Of course, I am a sucker for fake Coach bags but we told the first few people who approached us with those musical words "no".  Instead we popped in and out of stores asking the owners to lower their prices and walking away when it wasn't low enough.  (Thanks Kat for teaching me how to bargain)  Finally, someone approached us and asked "You want Coachy?"  I said "yes where?"  This lady took us to the side of the street to show us pictures and I was like "what?  where are the bags?  I want to look at them and hold them in my hand."  So she took us down the street a few blocks and kept saying "right here, right here" when I kept asking how much further.  I, of course, made this woman mad who was leading us to the purses and she got fiesty.  We finally made it into the room where all the bags were but I was not impressed and neither was Heather so we left empty handed. When we were walking away the lady that led us to the secret store started talking about us in her foreign tongue and then proceeded to make ugly faces and talk about us  to all the other people working on the streets.  They were all clearly working for the same people because as we were walking back we saw a huge group of people standing on the corner looking at the pictures we looked at.  It was all very interesting and entertaining as well.  We made several purchases in Chinatown and then walked across the street to Little Italy.  Heather liked Little Italy much better and I have to agree.  Chinatown is usually my favorite but I was very happy to be in Little Italy.  We did a little shopping and then had more amazing food and refreshing sangria at this place called Cafe Napoli.  We indulged and ate every last bite of bruschetta that we ordered and then shared 3 mini canolis!  It was all so delicious. 
We still had lots on our to-do list for the day so we headed to The Empire State Building so we could see the sunset.  Here is an amazing story for you. The sun doesn't set till around 8:30 and we got to the ESB around 7:00 and I spotted the FlatIron building that Heather had not yet seen.  We figured we had time to walk down a few blocks to look at it a little closer and take some pics.  By the time we got back to the ESB it was now about 7:15.  All these people were downstairs trying to sell express passes for 42 more dollars so we could bypass all the lines and make it up to the top a little faster.  They were saying the wait was at least 45 minutes to an hour to get to the elevators even if you already had a ticket.  I told Heather there is no way the line is that long.  We are not buying the upgrade.  Well, the people downstairs were right.  The line was ridiculously long and we were going to miss the sunset.  However, becuase we both had sangria we legitimately had to use the bathroom.  Once we got inside and near a guard we asked where the nearest bathroom was.  The guard said "it's past security but I don't see why you can't go ahead and go now."  So we basically skipped the whole entire line, made it through security in less than five minutes and found a bathroom.  But the line wasn't finished so when we got to the bathrooms we asked another guard where they were and he said around the corner and then Heather asked "What do we do when we are finished?"  The guard said in a creepy way "Well I guess you just join the line."  Basically Heather and I bypassed the whole line and made it up to the top by 8:15,  just in time to see the sunset and view the ESB in the day and in the evening. It could not have been more perfect!  It seemed that everything on this trip was falling right into place.  God is so good which is no surprise at all. 

After enjoying the beautiful view of the city from North, South, East and West we made our way back down to the bottom, got some Starbucks and sat outside to tell our amazing line story to Heather's video camera. Then we got on the subway for one last stop before we headed home...Grand Central Station.  It was beautiful but we didn't stay long because once again we were so tired so we headed home for some much needed rest.

Day 4. 

Sunday was a bittersweet day.  It was Heather's last day here and we still had lots to do and see.  We woke up early one more time and headed to breakfast at Magnolia Bakery!  It was so good but it was a nasty, rainy, wet day so we didn't make it back to Central Park like Heather wanted and she had to buy an umbrella so we didn't have to share. After our breakfast we quickly fit in Rockefeller Center, St. Patricks Cathedral, FAO Schwartz, and the Lego Store before noon so she could come back, pack and head home.  As Heather was packing I discovered that my mouse had a hayday in the kitchen with all my snacks my parents sent me so I decided to finally set out more traps once Heather left.  She wrote a few postcards and amazingly fit all her stuff except two small items in her suitcase and headed out to the street by 1:30.  I hailed a cab for her and made sure he was not going to charge her more than eighty dollars and then we said our goodbyes.  I was sooooooo sad to see my sister leave.  It was the taste of home I needed and I loved sharing the city with someone that I love so much.

I cannot express how much it meant to me that Mom and Pop sent her here and that she was able to spend a good amount of time here with me.  I love you sis and treasure all the memories we made!  Especially the tandem bikes in Central Park!

Rocky-Long Island City's Celebrity Dog

The Brooklyn Bridge at Sunset

Yummy...The Original Grimaldi's

A very happy Crystal with a big fat Mocha from Dean and Deluca

A very happy Heather with a big fat pretzel from a street vendor

YAY!!! Bryant Park...My favorite

The New York Stock Exchange

Self take on the Brooklyn Bridge

A brief encounter with Spiderman in Times Square...I clearly won!!

Carnegie Deli=Delicious

We are well prepared for our tandem ride in Central Park. Look at those helmets.  They are so flattering!

The Empire State Building through the Brooklyn Bridge

Cafe Napoli in Little Italy

A bicycle built for two.  Perfection!

Bethesda Fountain in Central Park

Love, A very thankful little sister,
Miss Gulley in Manhattan