Friday afternoon was the first opportunity to donate or consign a bike for sale. All Jibe staff work this event. Anya:
Bike Doc mechanics were available to repair bikes that were donated. In the background, students from the Bike Tech program at Inderkum HS cleaning bikes before repair.
Mike (right) is a knowledgeable bike price estimator and extremely helpful at an event like this to advise sellers on a reasonable asking price.
Bikes flooded in over a 3-hour period:
Saturday morning, more bikes in a slow steady stream from 9 to noon plus visits from Tracy and Brenda who were out for a ride.
By noon, there were over 200 bikes inside the ballroom at the Aquatic Center ready for tomorrow’s sale.
Lots of kids bikes, so many in great condition, and frequently priced at $20.
Our goal was to walk High Line Park – highly recommended by several people. To get there, we decided to ride the subway. Easy to pay and get on, a bit confusing when we had to transfer to a different train halfway there, but down another level and we were set.
This area of the city is called Hudson Yards. When we exited by way of a couple of really long escalators going up, we were shocked to be greeted by strong cold wind. Walking High Line Park would not be pleasant in any way. We found a Starbucks, had breakfast, warmed up and came up with plan B. Great idea: a Starbucks bike:
Nearby, the Vessel, currently closed due to several suicides, a solution is still being explored.
We decided to walk back, technically a 42 minute walk but we managed to find a few distractions along the way. Madison Square Garden and the Empire State Building:
The Garment District with soooo many fabric shops (Sacramento has just one).
Maria has an internal homing signal for Irish pubs.
A rooftop bar and restaurant, so nice and warm inside.
Continuing our trek back, we skipped Pig and Whistle but stopped next at Sean’s Irish Pub:
The spires of St Patrick’s meant we were close to our hotel. It was still quite cold, but the buildings blocked a lot of the wind.
On our way to “dinner,” a traffic jam even though a police officer was directing traffic. Half the vehicles in all directions were honking horns continuously.
Another NYC tradition, hot dog and a pretzel from a street vendor. Our “dinner:”
We were up early Wednesday morning to fly home arriving mid-afternoon.
Central Park, one end of the 2-mile-long park just a few blocks from our hotel.
So .. Maria tends to start conversations and make friends with people wherever we are. Doormen, waiters, trumpet players, and birds who seem to be following her as we stroll through the park.
Yes, it’s possible to get lost in Central Park. We decided to head back, then walked past the same blossoming tree twice, got directions from a friendly local, turned in the opposite direction and followed a main road back to the corner where we’d started. LOL.
We found Cassidy’s Irish Pub on the way back and had a late lunch. My current favorite storefront with 3-D flowers up high:
An early evening glass of excellent red wine + dessert.
On a lark, we got up at 6 am, quickly put on warm clothes, walked a couple of blocks, went through security, and lined up along the barricades for the Today Show. From 6:30-7:00, a producer and two staff members prepped us for the show, did short interviews to find groups to feature, followed by little rehearsals and filming short clips.
When it began to rain, the staff brought out orange ponchos for everyone.
We were able to watch the entire show, with sound and without commercials, on a big screen. 8:01 – there we were on the big screen with my (in Maria’s words) “electrocuted hair”. Our rehearsed phrase, “Celebrating 50 years of friendship .. from Sacramento!” Smile and wave.
The hosts came out to film and visit.
All were friendly and gracious and walked the entire perimeter, chatting and posing for selfies. Fist bump with Al Roker:
Morning walk past St Patrick’s Cathedral side entrance
to Rockefeller Center:
Times Square. At lower left in the picture where sign says “tkts” was a list of Broadway shows with seats available. We got in the long line where Maria began a conversation with an oceanography high school teacher and his wife from Connecticut (btw, this happens wherever we go) which made the time go by quickly.
We were able to get some great seats (Orchestra center, Row 9) for today’s matinee performance of The Book of Mormon. We had just enough time for lunch at a Celtic pub before heading to the theater.
The Eugene O’Neill Theater.
Great show! After, we did a bit more shopping on 5th Avenue, then back to the hotel.
The morning view from our hotel room on the 25th floor.
We decided to check off my #1 wish – a trip to Mood Fabrics – just a 20 minute walk from our hotel. 3 floors of fabric – an overwhelming choice of fabrics – most of the bolts lay horizontal on deep shelves (like the upper right part of the picture) which makes searching for something special a bit challenging.
Since it’s impossible to find good buttons in Sacramento, this array was enviable:
A whole section of trims:
We walked back along 5th Ave and browsed in a few stores, Lulu Lemon and Saks Fifth Ave were impressive. In the afternoon, we went to the West Village for a food tour. Our guide, Amanda (red shirt):
First stop: Mamoun’s for falafel.
Bagel with cream cheese and scallions from Bagels on the Square:
Cupcakes from Molly’s Cupcakes:
Molly was a 3rd grade teacher before opening her shop which is decorated like a classroom including (well-anchored) swings at the counter. Also on the tour were friends of Maria’s from Lake Wildwood, Heidi and her mother-in-law Sheree. While all 3 of their husbands are golfing in Arizona, we are having fun in NYC!
The owner of the next restaurant is a 28-year old woman whose father had a newsstand for 30 years on the same site. When he retired, his daughter opened Taco Mahal. Because her father is Indian and her mother is Puerto Rican, the food she serves is a fusion of the two cultures. We had a delicious tikka masala taco:
There were many other points of interest along the way. Chumley’s was a speakeasy whose actual address is around the corner which is where the cops showed up during Prohibition. Meanwhile, the customers came out this door to mill around until the cops left. This is where the term “to be 86’d” came from:
The building from the tv show, Friends:
On the right, a public school. During the week, this street is blocked off so the kids have a place to enjoy recess.
The only wood-built house in Manhattan:
A “slice of pie” from Two Boots Pizza. “The Duchess”:
And, finally, a cookie from Chip City where cookies are always served warm.
Now stuffed beyond anything reasonable, we went back to the hotel to regroup. Later we met Sheree and Heidi at:
Sheree’s niece is the lead singer in a group called Young Me and the Moons. In 2014, a group of friends at Harvard Business School started a band performing hits from the 80s to make a little extra money. Now graduated and scattered across the country, they get together once a year in NYC for a one-night stand.
We were seated in the VIP section with family members and friends off to the side – yay.
Where will we land next? Stay tuned … a few hours later .. a couple of hints:
We settled in at our hotel – Lotte (pronounced LOW-tay) New York Palace in Manhattan – then walked a couple of blocks to have a beer and bite of food. We were quite tired having gotten up at 2:30 am PST.
For the past four weeks, in between everything else, I’ve been working on a lined coat using two colors of denim from my stash. I added a few embroidery details at the hem and the triangles on the upper pockets.
arletelouise 