Once again a rather slow start but Mickey, Anna Marie and I ventured a walk to Le District; Ashley had homework to do, so she stayed in.
I wanted to share this incredible walkway with them with its many sitting areas, structures and beautiful trees and plants.
For example, we stopped to try to make sense of this structure:
It is called “The Upper Room” and was designed by Ned Smith in 1987. It marks the entrance to Albany Street; it has been said that the structure offers a sanctuary from the city. Hmmm. It does have a long table with chess boards and 12 stools, but truthfully, the art was lost on us.
We also passed a dedication to the Memory of Police Officers who lost their lives in service to the people of the City of New York. The names date back to the 1880s. This has a water feature and pool but obviously not on this day.
The end destination, Le District, is a favorite of mine (does it seem like I say “favorite” all the time?).
We went on Le District because I was certain Mickey and Anna Marie would enjoy seeing the area. I believe they did. Le District is a French open market with specific stations for meat, seafood, cheese, etc. as well as imported canned goods. They also serve food and quite a selection of wine. This is where we enjoyed a delicious lunch.
By now Ashley joined us. Her mission was to shop with her mother for the brutally cold weather in Chicago, but first we had to take advantage of some photo opportunities:
Le District opens up to a Brookfield Place shopping center and it also provides a walkway to the other side of the Oculus underground. There are many well known stores; actually, it feels more like a maze. We walked to Greenwich St. underground and through the Oculus. The entire complex is on 16 acres. Shopping was next on our list.
Later that evening Anna Marie and I met Grant at Midtown, but to get there Anna Marie showed me how to use the public bus system.
What I learned was that my beloved Maps app on my iPhone has all the information I will ever need to get me anywhere to Midtown and beyond. It tells me where to pick up the bus, which bus to take and at what time. I learned that I need to alert the driver when I want to get off by either pressing a button or tugging the string, and that the bus only goes to a certain point and then turns around to go back. That last part makes sense, but when you have never ridden on a public bus, would you have thought about that? I was so excited I had to take a photo with the bus driver.
We met Grant at Rockefeller Center – BIG mistake. How we were even able to find Grant was nothing short of a miracle on 49th Street. The crowd of people on the streets was incredible. In fact, I heard on the news that 5th Avenue will be closed to all automobiles for the next three Sundays so that pedestrians can walk on the street in addition to the sidewalks. Recession? WHAT recession?!
The three of us quickly got away from the crowd and ended up on 2nd Avenue—and found yet another fun find: La Cava. When we walked in the place was completely empty. It was a bit after 9:00 p.m.; the kitchen was closing at 10:00. The menu has food from various parts of Europe; I ordered a pasta dish that was the perfect portion and absolutely delicious. We had before dinner drinks, dinner and then after dinner drinks. By 11 p.m. the bar was completely full, which was rather astounding as we had the whole restaurant to ourselves for what felt like a long time. We decided people came in because of us; it was as if we gave new life to this place. Aren’t we something?