New York, New York
Oh look....Marines.
So having Steve and Heather here has enabled me to check out a few things that I have not done on my previous visits to the city or yet since I have been living here. One of those things was see a Broadway Musical. Steve, Heather and I all agreed that we were going while they were here. We didn't really care what we saw, but we were going to see something.
We decided on a Saturday matinee and we also decided that we were going to take part in another NYC tradition.....the TKTS line. The TKTS booth is where they sell left over tickets to shows.....usually at about half price. The line-ups can be very long and they may not be selling tickets to anything you want to see but it can be a good deal.
They opened at 10am so Heather and I decided we should get there early. The two of us headed over to Times Square just after 8am (Steve decided he needed to sleep in. You would think he was the one partying with Marines until 3am). Anyways, we get there nice and early.....only to discover that they don't actually let people start lining up until 9am. We weren't the only ones there that early though. It was a nice morning so I am actually not going to complain. I could have used a little more sleep but as people always tell me, I can sleep when I'm dead.
Heather and I on the Red Steps in Times Square. Behind us (more behind me) is the Father Duffy Monument. He was chaplain to the 69th New York Infantry regiment during World War I and received the Distinguished Service Cross. These steps are new however the project has been in the works since 1999 with a contest and construction delays and all kinds of stuff. They were unveiled in October 0f 2008 and now are a very popular place for tourists to hang out and get some good pictures. On the weekends this section of Broadway and 7th Ave is actually closed to vehicle traffic and lawn chairs are put out for people to hang out in. Really is becoming more tourist friendly.
Anyways, we got lined up at 9am and at 9:30 they posted the shows they were selling tickets for. Our first choice was there...Avenue Q but just in case we had 2nd and 3rd choices lined up too (Rock of Ages and Phantom of the Opera...you can never go wrong with the Phantom). Anyway, we got our first choice, we got great seats and we only had 4 hours to kill before the show started.
We wandered our way through Marine Day demonstrations, where it occurred to me that the Marines must have a hotness requirement for entry because there were no ugly Marines in the city. I later learned from what I have to believe is a reliable source (see picture in previous post), that some guys simply didn't make the cut. After all, Fleet Week is about selling the Marine Corps (and the Navy and the Coastguard) to the public so they only brought those who will sell good.Look...they play music too.
Cute Marines.....big guns. How can you go wrong?
Mmmmmm, Marines in smedium* t-shirts.
* Smedium - a t-shirt size between small and medium seen on a guy who should clearly be wearing an extra-large.
A sample of some of the demonstrations. And yes, these guys were clearly wearing t-shirts that were too small. They claimed (at least this is what they told their First Sergeant) that they wore the small ones so no one could grab onto them during the demonstrations. No I'm not buying it either.
We then wasted some time in the giant Macy's. It is a massive, massive place but I cannot lie, I was far too tired to shop (yeah I said it) but Steve was not, so I went home to take a nap before the show and then Steve and Heather came home with what turned out to the first of many purchases. And then we headed back to Broadway to the show.
The Golden Theatre on West 45th Street. It is the current home to Avenue Q. Of course you can only see pictures from the outside but if you want to see video check out YouTube.
So the show was really good. Everyone I know who has ever seen it liked it...even the boys so I knew Steve would have a good time. The show itself is like Sesame Street, you know with people and puppets and singing and stuff like that.....put the puppets sing about how much their lives suck and at one point (Spoiler Alert) there is in fact puppet sex. No this is not family show, but it was funny so if you are over 18 I totally recommend it.
Heather with the Intrepid.....still an air craft carrier but now it is only a museum. Steve and Heather made a visit to it one day. I still have not made it there......but it's on the list.
And to sum up the rest of Steve and Heather's visit (I had to go back to work remember):
- They did a lot of shopping. Seriously I was not sure who Steve was most of the time. He shops worse than a girl but we all found some great deals. Loving the sample sales.
- They managed to go to a taping of The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon (see they even met a Baldwin.....this one is Stephen)
Heather looks happy. Baldwin looks....well I'm not quite sure.
- We managed not to kill each other after sharing 400 square feet for 7 days. (It was probably a good thing that we went are separate ways during the day most of the time.)
- I had to say good-bye to the Marines. Yes, it was sad. The city seems quiet with them gone.
- And eventually I got my tiny little apartment back.
It was a great week.
Julie
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