Saturday Sightseeing

         
          This morning, I set out early with no real plan in mind as to how I would spend my day. My first stop was to be K-Mart to pick up some allergy meds. There is definitely something in the air here that is torturing my sinuses. Anyway, on the way, I pass by Old Navy. I don't know if y'all saw the ads about the $1 flip flops on Saturday, but the people here sure did. It wasn't even quite 9 a.m. and people were rushing in by the dozens. But the real sight to see was the people leaving. They literally had as many as three of Old Navy's largest shopping bags filled to the brim with flip flops. It was all some of them could do just to carry their bags of flip flops. As Ted would say, volume, volume, volume.
          Then on to K-Mart. Since the meds are on the bottom floor, I decide I will check out at the registers downstairs and explore that mall a/k/a subway station. I have included a picture so you can see the "mall". It turns out to be Penn Station. I grab a cup of coffee at au bon pain and a seat and watch the people rush about. Many appeared to be going to the beach for the day. 
          Next stop was Greeley Park (in our area) to sit in the shade and watch the people. I even had a mouse friend join me for the sights. Then it was on down Broadway to the Whole Foods store at Union Square, where I went upstairs to people-watch from their glass-front seating area that overlooks Union Square and the Green Market that was in full swing today. 
          On down Broadway to Lafayette I head all the way to Screaming Mimi's, the vintage store I had been wanting to go to, but it turns out that I like Cheap Jack's better and it is in our neighborhood. One of my favorite pieces at Cheap Jack's is a 1920's cape-like long coat. And it is a bargain at $995!  If anyone wants to send me their credit card, I will be happy to pick it up for you. :) 
          The Young Designers Market on Mulberry was interesting, but I found the buildings in this area of Little Italy to be more exciting, and I had fun taking lots of pictures. Then there was the two-mile walk back that provided more photo ops. 
          Kelsey spent the day at the Fifth Avenue luxury shops, so we met at Rockefeller Center and had lunch/dinner. We stopped at a few shops on the way back. For a day without a plan, I'm a totally exhausted country mouse in the city.

"Mall" outside K-Mart

Flatiron Building

Love this dress made of spoons at a kitchen shop

The very first gas station I have seen in Manhattan -- $3.95/gallon on June 30, 2012

Building in Little Italy

Unusual but eye-catching

Chelsea Market and The High Line

           Today, Kelsey and I roamed for hours in the Chelsea Market, home of Food Network and Oxygen Network. The building was once home to a Nabisco cookie factory and has been renovated into a shopping concourse on street level and offices, studios, etc. on the remainder of the floors. The building occupies a full city block, and the atmosphere of an old factory was retained here in such an artistic and tasteful way. What fun it was to explore its more than 2 dozen food shops and restaurants. The ID Pop Shop was here this week in the market's event space. This is where more than 25 independent designers have come together to show their lines.
           But back to the food. We each chose a different place for lunch, so we purchased our meals and brought them to one of the many tables in the hall and people-watched as we dined. Kelsey picked Friedmans where she got Mexican grilled corn-on-the-cob with fresh lime wedges and mac and cheese. She declared both to be delicious. I chose the Lobster Place and had a shrimp wrap that I found to be equally delicious.
          There were bakeries, a dairy, a grocery store, florist, cooking shop, and more. It was the perfect place for taking pictures, and I hope you enjoy our photographs.
          Leave the Chelsea Market on the back side and you will see the High Line Park, an ingenious park created from old, abandoned elevated railroad tracks. It appears that part of the tracks have been transformed into a landscaped garden complete with trees, flowers and ornamental grasses. Other parts of the tracks have been made into a walking path. The views from up here (30 feet above the city) are fabulous, both of the park itself and the views of the city and the Hudson River. There is even one section that meanders under a bridge providing shelter from the elements (today that was the sun) and filled with little artists' booths and food booths as well as tables and chairs for sitting. There are benches all along the path, this area was just particularly significant to me because of the shade and the little shops.
          One unique area was a place where there was bleacher-like seating facing a huge wall of glass allowing you to see the buildings and people below as living art. Such a fascinating idea.

          The High Line was also a park begging to be photographed, so we, again, have lots of pictures!  Hope you enjoy our photos as much as two country mice did taking the pictures.

A tribute to this building's past

A bakery -- and such a cute logo!

Dividing the dough at Amy's Breads

So many choices!

Shrimp wrap from The Lobster Place

Kelsey's Mexican Grilled Corn from Friedmans

And her mac and cheese

View of the Hudson River from the High Line

Interesting skyline view from the HighLine

  

Kelsey on the High Line

Love the old tracks showing through the landscaping

Miniature wooden statue on the High Line

We were on the edge of the Meatpacking District

K-Mart Discovery

           The very first day we arrived, as we were trying to make our way to our apartment building, I saw a K-Mart that was near our address.  I knew before I came that I would have to give up Wal-Mart, but, hey, we don't have a local K-Mart, so I could shop at K-Mart, right?  (You know, like the rule when you are out of town that you can't eat at any restaurant that you have at home.)  

           Last week, as I was out exploring, I just came upon the K-Mart and decided to drop in.  It had three floors, and I had a bit of difficulty finding what was on my list.  So, basically, I just wandered around and checked it out.  On the bottom floor, there was a check-out area that led out into a brightly-lit mall area with some other stores that looked interesting.  There were no check-outs on the middle floor, and maybe 20 check-outs on the first floor.  

           Since that day, whenever I "believe" I'm in the area, I look for K-Mart but haven't seen it again.  So today, since I still have that list, I look up the address.  I head out of our building and start down the block and realize that this can't be the right way, because the numbers are going down rather than up.  I turn around and start the other way, and now, I realize why I haven't been able to find K-Mart again -- it's because I am totally turned around on its location.

          Now that I'm headed in the right way, I find it with no problem.  I immediately head down the escalators to the bottom floor, as this is where all the home goods, health and beauty, and groceries are located.  Armed with my shopping cart, I load up everything on my list plus a few extra treats.  I decide I will just check out down on the bottom floor and explore that mall on the way home.  Thankfully, before I check out, I push my basket up to the exit and ask the guard where does this exit lead to.  He kind of looks at me, and at the same time, I'm looking out into the "mall" and realize that it is the subway.  So I say, is that the subway?  And he says, yes, where do you want to go.  I said, I better go upstairs because I need to be on 34th Street.  So he tells me, since I have a shopping cart, to take the elevator up.

          Well, I had seen the elevator back in the hardware area, so off I go.  There is an older gentleman and a young woman (maybe his granddaughter) also waiting for the elevator.  They don't speak English well, and they are as confused by the buttons as I am.  So the man is trying to ask me, which floor we should go to to check out, and I just don't know.  So he pushes every button.  There is a "C", a "B", an "I", and a "G".   We first go down to "C", which is the cellar -- why didn't I remember that.  I've got to make it a point to remember that C is cellar.  The cellar is the employee floor so an employee gets on and back we go to "B", which is the basement or what I thought was the bottom floor.  Next we go to "I", which is the intermediate floor -- makes perfect sense, right..  And then finally to the top floor, which is "G" or ground.  

          So, when will this country mouse ever learn what the elevator buttons stand for?  I am so used to entering an elevator on floor 1, that it never occurred to me that G was 1.  Duh!  It also never occurred to this country mouse that there would be an entrance to K-Mart down in the subway.  I've never noticed this on any of the TV shows I watch!  And I really must have seemed like a country bumpkin mouse to that guard.  

          NOTE:  I have no pictures of K-Mart -- I know you are disappointed -- but I am sharing others with you.   

Empire State Building -- we live in the area so it is my landmark

 

A cute balcony that I keep walking by in the Fashion District -- one of my favorites

The Flatiron Building -- I edited it to try to make it look like an old photo

Thank You, Mood!

         
          If you are a Project Runway fan (or viewer), you will be quite familiar with Mood.  When Maria was here last weekend, she asked me where Mood was.  We both agreed that it was in the Fashion District area, but we didn't know where.  We had both seen Parsons New School of Design and the Needle and Button sculpture, but could not seem to find Mood.
         After a leisurely stroll this morning to Kips Bay, back up 5th Avenue, and then to Bryant Park to people watch, since I was in the Fashion District, I decided that I wanted to go to Mood.  After all, Tim Gunn and Project Runway have made it quite the NYC destination.  First of all, I had to search and search on the internet to find the address.  You can easily get to their website, but their address is not easily found.  I finally found it in the FAQ section.  Since it is such a well-kept secret, I'm going to give you the address:  225 West 37th Street, 3rd Floor, NY, NY.  Now, you know it.  Make a note of it, because it's not a well-known fact.
          After resting and watching the working professionals eat their lunches in the park, I proceed on to 225 West 37th, and find the building well-marked with the street number.  It looks like an office building, and I go in to look at the directory.  No Mood listed.  So back outside I go to recheck my phone.  I do have the right address but nothing anywhere to indicate this is Mood.  So I just decide to ride the elevator up to the third floor and check it out.  These elevators have attendants that close the old sliding doors and control which floor the elevator goes to.  Luckily, he stops on the 3rd floor, and I can tell that it is a fabric store.
          I go in expecting to find a HUGE store.  You know how the designers run all over the store on Project Runway.  Well, in reality, it is not that big (maybe I'm just used to the Hancock Fabric stores).  It is, indeed, just material on rolls stuck into bins like you see on Project Runway.  There are only about 5 rows of fabrics, but it is stacked to almost the ceiling.  Downstairs, is the upholstery and home fabrics.  Not at all the glamorous store that I had been expecting.  This country mouse has seen fabric stores just as good as Mood back in the country -- I even worked at one once back in the day.

Old Sign on Building in Fashion District

Church in the Fashion District

34th Street Macy's and Empire State Building

Bakery in Kips Bay (that is the apartment on the second floor I tried to rent from the uncooperative realtor -- FYI, it is still for rent)

2 Parades in 2 Days

         
           This weekend was a parade weekend. On Saturday, Kelsey and I made the hour-long subway trek to Coney Island for the 30th annual Mermaid Parade. This is Coney Island's version of Mardi Gras and is to welcome summer. People dress in all types of seas costumes (or lack thereof).  At the end of the parade, the Queen Mermaid and King Neptune lead a procession from the Boardwalk into the water to officially open the beaches for the summer season. As you can probably imagine, this was a loud and boisterous parade with lots of celebrating as I hope you can see from some of our pictures.
          On Sunday, the Pride Parade was held in Manhattan. I saw on the news that they were expecting 2 million in attendance. It was a very long parade lasting about 5 hours. We watched part of it, went to the grocery store, came home, I took a nap, went back out, and it was still going on. Kelsey says that the Atlanta parade has much more spunk and better costumes.  Many of the people we saw in this parade were wearing matching T-shirts rather than crazy costumes.
          It was hot, even for us country mice, but we thoroughly enjoyed these two unique NYC celebrations.