Heavenly New York City – Part Three

I heard Hubby on the phone last week trying to describe my new job to his brother. He simply said, “She just goes on lots of vacations.” And he hit it right on the head! I do get to go on all sorts of wonderful trips for “work.”

Let’s continue my “vacation” to New York City, shall we?

After the Guggenheim and MET, it was time to head back towards Times Square. But I knew that I wanted to go through the ground so that I could see Grand Central Station to take some pictures for you.

Oh, the woes of trying to be an exciting blogger! I have to spend time in Grand Central Station for all of you! And I can’t wait!

Here is one of New York City’s finest, standing outside of a beautiful residential building.

It was just a short walk back to a subway entrance. But there were lots of pretty things to enjoy as I trucked along.

Like more gorgeous churches. Who knew that New York City was so religious?

These little shops along the way were so cute. This would be a fun place to visit when I had oodles of time.

But I managed to make time for this shop. Of course.

And they had every flavor combination known to man. Red Velvet, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Cream Cheese, Triple Chocolate, and even Pecan Coffee Cake.

I opted to go simple for my first try in this shop. Vanilla with Chocolate Frosting and Sprinkles.

It was good, but I needed some chocolate milk to wash it down. Apparently, when you try to make a donut healthy and just bake it, the dough will be very dry indeed.

Now we are underground for the subway to take us to Grand Central Station!

We have arrived. I took quite a few pictures of this heavenly place, but I’ll only share a few. I promise.

The architecture was out of this world. Grand Central was reborn in the early 1900s to connect all of the tunnels throughout the city in a 16,000-foot facility that rivaled the Eiffel Tower in grandeur.

I love that the old-school ticker signs have been kept instead of switching to digital like the rest of the world. Can you imagine how the magic would trickle away in here with digital signs?

Hello, Grand Central!

When the terminal opened officially in 1913, over 150,000 people toured the station that day. Soon, NYC was booming around the terminal, which only meant good growth for Grand Central. It has been a key ingredient to this city for almost one-hundred years.

I love that there are American flags everywhere in NYC. We will never forget.

Part of my New York Pass gave me admission to a Grand Central Station tour, but I couldn’t get there in time to make the last one. There is just way too much to do in this city!

So I fell in love with these lights. Which is why I got carried away with taking pictures of them. I hope you enjoy them, too.

Aren’t they incredible?! They make me feel like it’s still 1913.

The station was a busy place on a Friday evening, for some unknown reason.

You would think that this is the heart of the city with how many people were using these grounds today!

It’s hard to describe the space…palatial? Monumental? Ridiculously gorgeous?

I really loved the ceiling, too, where the constellations had been painted into the surface, accompanied by lights that really glowed. Can you imagine this place lit up at night? It would look like we were outside!

Sorry about that. I’m not used to humidity. So there.

 

OK! Wasn’t Grand Central Station fun? Let’s walk outside towards Times Square.

   

But first, let’s head the wrong direction. And kinda get lost. But see some beautiful buildings in the process.

Also, let’s pretend that we still know where we’re going, so as not to look silly.

I wish street signs could help me.

Ironically, this trip to NYC was what finally tipped me over the edge into getting a smartphone. I wasted too much time these two days trying to figure out where things were. Or where I was in relation to where I wanted to be.

These look like they’re fresh out of the eighties. There are lots of bank headquarters in NYC, in case you didn’t know. This is where all of your money resides.

It’s time to get more free tickets! With the day winding down, I knew that I wanted to see the city during sunset from the Top of the Rock. So I used my pass to get my free tickets.

Apparently, every other tourist in town also had the bright idea to see NYC lit up at night from a great height. This place was busy!

I had about thirty minutes to kill until I could arrive for my observation ticket time. So I wandered a little ways down the hall and found Tri Tip Grill. And it smelled so good, so my feet led me right in for some dinner.

I got some red smashed potatoes, which were incredible, and a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich, which only got eaten half-way. Dinner was awesome. Being fast food, I didn’t have to tip more than my meal, either!

It’s time. Let’s go to the Top of the Rock! And by that, I mean the top of Rockefeller Center.

I didn’t realize that this iconic picture was taken as the Rockefeller Center was being built. Look at the whiskey bottle on the far right! Was that in his lunch?

No wonder there were so many casualties during construction…

There are two levels of observation here, and they were both packed with people. It was hard to get a shot of the city without getting bumped from behind.

Here is the Chrysler Building, just behind the MetLife Building.

Here is the view looking south towards the Empire State Building. It was the tallest building in the world for over forty years!

Do you know what replaced them in 1972? The World Trade Center.

New York still honors the place where the World Trade Center once stood. Can you see those two bright spotlights coming up? That is where they were. Just to the right of the lights, you can see the replacement building. Just a single tower, this time.

This past May, it passed the Empire State Building in height to re-become the tallest building in the city. It is still under construction.

In this picture, we face east towards Brooklyn. Isn’t the water gorgeous at night?

And yet another bridge. I love this view at night!

This shot is pretty because you can see the bright lights of Times Square down below. See it to the right?

And here is a shot of Central Park…and it is incredibly massive.

That’s the Hudson River to the left, and beyond it is my hotel in New Jersey.

I was on Top of the Rock for an hour, enjoying the beautiful views with thousands of other people. It took about twenty minutes just to wait my turn to descend the three elevators to ground level.

But it was worth it. I’m so glad that I did it!

Let’s check out Times Square at night. And let’s not be able to breathe because it’s so awesome.

I just love this place. Lots of action going on, and lots of people to watch as they, like me, are blown away by all of the bright, shiny objects.

I like that some streets have been closed off from cars to allow for smoother pedestrian traffic. Seeing all of these people, it just makes sense.

The Hard Rock Café in NYC couldn’t ask for a better location.

And, just like the rest of the city, the perfect blending of old and new took place. I love this ancient theater right in Times Square.

We’ve come full-circle! This is where we started our journey this morning! See the Chevy’s?

And this giant owl is protecting the Port Authority Transit Center, where I will soon be catching my bus back towards New Jersey.

All of the people were outside, apparently, since you could hear crickets inside the bus terminal. Am I silly to be quitting before 10:00 PM?

This beautiful picture was on the wall in the terminal. I wish it didn’t have so many reflections so that you could see its pure awesomeness.

I bought my ticket from a kiosk, not knowing the destination town. So I told the driver which streets I needed to stop, and then I asked him to make sure I got off at the right place!

Dang tourists…

The buses come about every twenty minutes, so I didn’t have long to wait.

And I sat up front so the driver wouldn’t forget me. I didn’t want to end up in Philadelphia or anything!

And then, as I rode along the banks of the Hudson admiring the city that I love, something magical happened.

Fireworks.

Since I couldn’t figure out a holiday or any special reason as to why they would shoot off fireworks tonight, I am simply going to stick with my reasoning that they did it just for me.

I can’t wait to come back for another full day tomorrow!