New York Diary Part 5: The $18,500 Question

Saturday was our last full day to explore all the landmarks we wanted to cover in our short trip. Since we explored most of downtown on Friday, we decided to head uptown.

Central Park: Our subway dropped us off right in front of Central Park West. We avoided the zillions of runners and started making our way to the east side. Note: definitely bring your running shoes. Sadly, we didn't see the Great Lawn or Strawberry Fields, but this park has a TON of fun looking playgrounds. If I were 10, I'd totally dig this place. But M and I proceeded to walk along, avoiding more runners and bikes and falling roller-blading kids.

FAO Swartz and The Apple Store: First, the Apple store in NYC is underground and crowded as hell. But you get to take a glass elevator down and all you see above ground is a giant Apple symbol on glass. Very cool if you are an Apple fanatic. Next door is the best toy store on the planet: FAO Swartz. Granted, the Toys R Us is pretty neat, but this was a must see as well. The piano from Big is still in the store, but is heavily guarded and can only be seen in action when there are scheduled demos. There are stuffed animals galore. An entire section devoted to Harry Potter collectibles. (No, nothing came home with me, sadly.) And there were lego sculptures of Spongebob, Chewbacca, and, yes, Hagrid, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Nice.

Tiffany's: M and I continued our path down 5th Avenue and stopped at Tiffany's. Not just any Tiffany's... THE Tiffany's. We had to experience all four floors of fine jewelry goodness. Our stroll through the diamond floor went something like this:

M: "Am I reading that correctly?"
Me: "What?"
M: [points to shiny tennis bracelet in a glass case] "Does that really say $18,500?"
Me: "Well, yeah."
M: *groans*
Me: "Maybe there is a discount floor..."

Sadly, there wasn't a discount floor. So we left to find something to eat.

Carnegie Deli: Even if you can't stand meat, you should eat at this deli in NYC. (Okay, if you are a vegetarian, maybe you should skip it. But still...) Much like Sardi's, there are pictures of all the celebrities that have passed through this little restaurant. (Except they are actual photos and not freaky sketches.) The restaurant is so packed that the staff has to guide you along the way to your seat... and then you get real comfy with strangers. How this restaurant would fare in a fire, I'm not sure. But they survive somehow. Order a big pastrami sandwich. But you can probably split one meal between 2 people. And the cheesecakes are MASSIVE. CD is cash only, so be sure to have enough for the food and tip. Maybe you'll spot Woody Allen.

Top of the Rock: The Rockefeller Center is a good alternative to visit if you don't want to wait in line for the Empire State Building. It's the same view and probably about the same price. Here, M and I were skyrocketed to the 67th floor of the building and froze our behind off looking down at the city. We managed to see the Statue of Liberty from our view as well as St. Patrick's Cathedral, Times Square, and the Brooklyn Bridge. And the other good thing about the Rock: the NBC studio store is on the bottom floor. So you can grab all the Dunder Mifflin shwag you want. And since it's still cold outside, the ice rink is still open and still busy. However, I'd stay inside and grab a coffee.

Some other sites worth noting in this intermission: Grand Central Station was busy and big. Strawberry is a really cool, Forever 21-like shop for everyone over 21. The Chrysler Building isn't apparently open on weekends. And walking from Central Park to Times Square is a HAUL. Take a freakin' subway.

TKTS Experience: Mental note - The TKTS booth is a madhouse around 5 pm because all the shows are looking for last minute attendees. It's cash only and popular shows generally don't get discounted. The attendant looked at me like I had 3 heads when I asked for Wicked tickets. Avenue Q wasn't much of a discount either.

Serendipity 3: (Note, there isn't a 1 or a 2... don't ask.) M and I were starving, and since all the Times Square restaurants were booked, we decided to head Uptown East. Serendipity 3, the coffee bar, ice creamery and restaurant from the movie is near Bloomingdales between East 2nd and 3rd. It's also not as easy to get into as the movie makes it. I also wouldn't expect service with a smile, either. A table for two at 6:30 pm was going to take an hour and 45 minutes. At that rate, you better home it's worth it. Luckily, there was Patsy's Pizza on one corner, and Dylan's Candy and Dessert Bar on the other. We put our name down at Serendipity and figured we would return for dessert. We were glad to experience traditional, NYC style, pizza. And then Dylan's was a diabetic nightmare. So much chocolate and brightly colored confections. (If you can grab them, get the chocolate covered grahams.)

Finally, we check back into Serendipity and our name is almost up. We are escorted, quite literally, about 20 feet behind the registration desk. It's THAT small of a parlor. No wonder seats are a commodity. And the lights scream "we have a short somewhere... please fix." But maybe that's part of the charm. After being ignored for 10 minutes, we finally get water. Luckily we only asked for a Forbidden Broadway Sundae, which was heavenly! But we couldn't finish it. Sad. S3's specialty is the Frozen Hot Chocolate. Often served to couples with two straws. (Everyone say "aawwwwww!")

We left within a half hour and headed back to the hotel early to pack and prepare for our early-ass departure the following morning.