BEE HAPPY: June 2013

On my birthday this year, my good friend, Shellie, suggested that it was time to go back to

New York City. We had so much fun there, when my brother, George

lived there in the 80's, it was time to revisit.

THEN

NOW

So off we went. Things had changed quite a bit. One thing I noticed is that I felt a lot safer this time around. We walked, and walked, and walked. It was like "Trains, Planes and Automobiles" with Taxies and Ferries included.

THEN

2013

Here is the Ferry we traveled on every day because we were staying at the Base on Statin Island, thanks to Shellie's son, Chase. Here is the place we stayed.

The first day, on Monday, it was raining pretty well so we bundled up and headed to the

Museum of Natural History.

I remember the Museum was one of my favorite places in NYC.

Here is a picture back in the 80's on the deck of the Museum

Below are some neat shots taken in the Museum.

That day was a wet one, but we were not going to let that stop us. After we left the

Museum we headed to China Town and Little Italy.

We ate dinner in Little Italy and then in began to rain again . . . (how exciting).

inside the restaurant

Raining like a Son-of-a-Gun

Tuesday was a BIG DAY . . . . Rockefeller Square here we come.

Time Square is were we started out after taking the subway.

Holy Smokes . . was that a site to behold!!

The GE Building is the structure that holds CBS. It was almost as tall as the Empire State Building. So we decided to go to the TOP OF THE ROCK, to see the view.

Looking down from the top of the Empire State Building in the 80's

Here are a few more shots of us at Time Square, one of my favorite places!

We had a big day on Tuesday because we had to buy our tickets to a Broadway Show, which was the Newsies, and then we had to head over to CBS so we could get in line for the JIMMY FALLON SHOW.

Listen to this one . . .

Shellie and I were standing line for with our "VIP" tickets, thanks to my son Kristian, and two guys came out and asked if any of us in the audience had any special talents. . . .THIS WAS MY CHANCE . .. I stepped forward and announced that I was 60 years old and I could do the splits. They seemed to be impressed so the took a video of my talent and said they would get back to me tomorrow to let me know if I was one of the lucky ones.

After a lot of anticipation was as sent an email, thanking me for the interest, but the had filled the slots. Oh well, . . . it was pretty excited for me to think of the possibilities of performing on LIVE NATIONAL TV!

The show was so fun . . . We had great seats and it will be a time to remember all my life.

On Wednesday we had another fun filled day. We headed back down to Time Square to get ready for our Broadway Show Matinee-NEWIES. While we were waiting we really needed to find a place that served OATMEAL, which was muchly needed at this time. So we did, after paying $15 for a bowl. Then we hit the Wax Museum . . . .SOOOOO FUN!!!!!!

After the Wax Museum we headed over to our show.

After a very excited Wednesday, we headed back to the hotel to recharge for Thursday.

Thursday was the 9-11 Memorial visit and our NBC Tour . . .

We were a bit hungry on the Ferry, so we decided to have one of those NYC HOTDOGS.

The Memorial was very emotional . . .to think back then and what they have built since. A couple of pictures of us in the 80's when the World Trade Center was there.

This is what is there now . . . . instead of two buildings, they are building 6. With a wonderful museum that will be finished in 2014.

We also visited the Fire Station that was involved and lost all those HEROS.

Inside a tribute museum were pictures of most of the victims, you could feel the spirit there. A very humbling experience.

We came across the famous Trinity Church, which was a place for refuge during that time. Remarkably, it was undamaged and stood strong
during the whole ordeal.

Walking the streets, we came across a fellow from Peru that was selling booklets on the Memorial. He said he would give me a good deal, 2 books, one CD and a kiss on the cheek. . . I couldn't resist. . .

Now we had some time before our NBC tour so we decided to check out the Highland Trail, by Greenwich Village. It is an old railroad track that had been converted to a scenic trail to walk along the Hudson. It starts at 14th Street and 11th Avenue and goes to 34th Street.

It is in the old Meat Packing District.

It let us out in Greenwich Village, which was wonderful!!

One thing that I really wanted to do is to check out my brother's, George, old apartment. I have a lot of GREAT memories of it. So we found it, right in the middle of the best part of NYC. Check this out. His address was 222 51st Street . . . . our hotel room number was 222 . . . . I really think that is why we had such a wonderful time in NYC, by brother was looking after us.

(the below picture is of me and George back in the 80's)

This is our Hotel Room

This was a great park that was across from his place.

Then we headed back to Rockefeller Square - 30 Rock - for our NBC studio tour. They showed us around and we saw the sets for Saturday Night Live
and the Sports/News Room.
Very Fun . . .but we were exhausted.

We walked by St. Patricks Cathedral, where major refurbishing was taking place.

We started our trek . . . . walk to subway, walk to Ferry Building, walk to catch Bus S51 , walk the Base, since no buses went there after 7:00 pm . .. We were ready to CRASH!!!!

On Friday we work up to a BIG RAIN STORM. It was the ruminants of Hurricane Andrea . . and boy, it rained BUCKETS!! But SHOW MUST GO ONE . We got out our umberellas we bought at Walgreens for $13 the day before. We went to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art and we had to walk through Central Park . . Hell or High Waters. Apparently it was High Waters, because while we were there it rained 4" that afternoon.

It was still raining but we were determined to see the Park so off we strolled. There was hardly anyone else in the park. But we were told that it is a lot safer now that it ever was, and I have to say I felt pretty safe. We did not run into any situations or weird folks.

Belvedere Castle. . . . a look-out built in the 1870s, was a structure that was built to

oversee the park. Now it is a visitor center so you can take advantage

of the beautiful views of the park.

It was blowing and raining like crazy. We looked like a couple of drowned rats. After we left the Park we tried to catch a bus, but they were all full they didn't stop to pick anyone up. . .so we WALKED the length of the park to the Plaza Hotel. WE WERE like SPONGES!!!

To Celebrate LIFE . . we went downstairs to the Plaza's Desert Court and treated us to something obscene. . Didn't know how our trip back to the Base would be through all the weather. We were curious to see if the Ferry would still be running.

The streets were filled with umbrellas . .

Below are some pictures of us in the 80s near the Plaza Hotel . .

FAO Swartz in the 80's

The Trump Tower, back in the day.

They still have plenty of policemen on horses

(above 1980, below 2013)

We did actually make it back that night in once piece . . .so much for the fattening
farewell dessert.

But it was a wet trip, we ended up taking a taxi to the base, because it was
coming down so hard.

Saturday was our last day in the Big Apple . . .we still had a list of things we wanted to do, so we got up early and left for NYC one more time. We wanted to go to 34th Street were all the shopping took place.

It ended up being a beautiful morning. We only had until noon because we had to be back to gather our luggage and catch a taxi to the airport.

We started from Grand Central Station and had a little oatmeal for Breakfast. From there we headed to 34th Street and 6th Ave.

As we were talking I saw this huge building . . . I said holy smokes that is one big building . . and then I saw the sign . . EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

We found some fun stores. One we really liked was The Strawberry. We picked up a few gifts and then went on to find Macy's, the largest store in the world . . .