Day 34- NYC with family November 29, 2008

Day 34, Friday, November 28, 2008

I woke up on the Upper East Side in my uncle David’s apartment with my mom and brother Devon.  Thanksgiving was our day with my dad’s side of the family and Black Friday was for my mom’s side.  We spent our morning relaxing as usual, taking time to catch up and enjoy a lazy breakfast.

Finally, at almost three, we left the apartment to spend the rest of the afternoon walking through Central Park.  David and Devon brought a frisbee and for awhile we had a toss going.  My mom entertained herself by drawing a maze in the sand of a baseball diamond.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  I didn’t even need to wear the winter coat I brought along.

Devon and David throwing the frisbee in Central Park

We ended up in a part of the park I’ve never been to, which is funny because I’ve spent a good chunk of my time in NY wandering through Central Park.  We went to the Belvedere Castle.  Anytime you hear on the TV or radio what the weather is like in NY, it’s usually from Belvedere Castle in Central Park.  The place has been restored from a rather grim weed-ridden graffiti-covered place to a tourist haven.

David, Mom and Devon at Belvedere Castle

David snapped this of me with Central Park in the background

sunset in Central Park as seen from the Belvedere Castle

Next we wandered through the bramble, part of the park that is mostly woods and thickets.  As it was getting dark we arrived at the boathouse.  It’s become one of my mom’s favorite places to go.  We paused to have some mushroom soup, a chicken salad sandwich and a cup of hot cider, all of which were very good and surprisingly affordable… a great option for a place to relax in the city.  

As we continued on, we stopped to see a regular street musician perform under the 72nd Street Bridge by Bethesda Fountain.  Although I don’t know his name, my uncle and I have often seen the street musician perform there.  He plays violin, stomps around to give himself a beat and sings opera simultaneously.  He’s quite talented and I often see people there with him improving.  This time there was a dancer wearing a chain of lights reacting to his music.  The bridge was recently refurbished and the tiled ceiling is now brilliantly clean and softly lit.

street musician and dancer under 72nd Street Bridge by Bethesda Fountain

Our wanderings ended with the promenade at the southern end of the park, leading us out to the busy city streets and eventually to our next stop, MOMA.  I recommended the Van Gogh show at the Museum of Modern Art to my family.  My brother is a fan.  We went to see a larger Van Gogh show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a family a few years back.  So, the good news is that we realized the MOMA is free on Friday nights.  The bad news is that we were supposed to get a timed ticket to get into the Van Gogh and by the time we got there it was sold out.  So we wandered around, looking at some of the paintings and sculpture along with the photography, design and architecture exhibits.  We got back to the Van Gogh exhibit fifteen minutes before the museum closed and they were letting people in without timed tickets (standby).  So we did get to see it after all.  It’s a small show, but of a great quality.  I love the idea of Van Gogh painting by lamp light.  He had a thing for night scenes.

We ended the evening with our own version of Thanksgiving dinner at a vegetarian restaurant called Blossom.  David said it was his favorite restaurant in the city right now.  I was sold.  My favorite entree was celery gnocci with rosemary cream sauce and beets.  To go with it I got a pink lady juice- beets, pineapple, ginger and pear.  Both were delicious.

Blossom vegetarian restaurant on the Upper West Side

Tomorrow my brother heads home to PA and my mom and I start our two day drive to Chicago together.  We will stop in PA to see some friends of my Mom’s on Saturday and then Sunday will be the long haul to Chicago.  I’ll check back in on the blog early next week when I’m in the windy city.  Until then, enjoy your weekend!