NYC 20160812

Midtown Manhattan
-rye, armagnac, fernet, bitters

We slept way in by New York Standards, by Vancouver time we were on the luxurious side of indulgent.  We got our stuff together and ventured out in search of a fried chicken sandwich at Fuku+.  Having made it to our destination, Google Maps advised us that the restaurant would not be open for another 30 minutes, much to our disappointment.  We regrouped and backtracked to a place that sold pizza by the slice ($7.50 for 2 slices, we are still outraged).  Armed with a slice of pizza each and some o.j. on ice we made it a couple blocks to Central Park.  Up until this point we were congratulating ourselves at having acclimatized to the heat and humidity, we were crossing streets even though the walk light was not on, we were true New Yorkers.  That was until we got to Central Park. 

The temperature dropped slightly being in the trees and away from the heat reflecting buildings, but the humidity from all the green increased significantly.  Sitting on the park bench, eating our slice of pizza and downing about a liter of orange juice and ice mixed with water from the fountain was humbling.  We made it to the small amusement park that is in the entrance and took some pictures of the buildings.  While we waited for Fuku+ to open we also decided to wander a little further in and stretch out on the grass.  One of us can stretch out and catch a few winks almost anywhere, the other can only stretch.  

After relaxing for about an hour on the grass and having sweated out what can only be a liter of orange juice we started to make our way back into the city for some fried chicken sandwich.  We found the restaurant that was blissfully air conditioned and settled in.  We enjoyed our first Mid Madhatten in Mid Madhatten along with several cold waters and munched on some fried chicken sandwich and jalapeño dusted fries.  The Mid Madhatten hit the spot and we lucked out by managing to make it on Happy Hour so only having to pay half price.

From there we wandered back towards our hotel, walking by Rockefellar Centre on our way and checking out the Lego Store with its replica statues and skylines.  We made it back to our hotel and drained had a nap.

After our nap we looked up info on the Empire State Building.  We had decided before we had left Vancouver that we should try to do the building after dark to see all the lights of New York.  This turned out to be a great plan.  We left the hotel about 10pm and grabbed a hot dog and gyro on the way.  The whole experience for the tower was a little bit unrealistic and distant in that we walked straight up past the zig zag of red velvet ropes to direct traffic right to the security check in point. You are not allowed to bring bottles, large bags, anything really that can be tossed over the side.  Zooming through security we led a small pack of people past even more zig zagged velvet ropes past several informative slides to an elevator that shot us up 80 floors.  The whole time we made our way to the elevators we were astonished at the preparation for what could only be thousands of people.  After our elevator to the 80th floor we did stop for a moment to look at pictures of the build, numbers showing the cost of the building at its time (approx $25 million, and about $30,000 for insurance haha).  We went to the second elevator that took us up the extra 4 stories to the outdoor observation deck. The views were amazing, while there still was quite a few people it wasn't that bad.  We were able to find many spots to take in the views, all 360 degrees of them and managed to take quite a few good pictures.  We also managed to take a note so bad selfie in the dark.

After the tour we made our way back to the hotel, stopping to get some juice and snacks from a 24 hours CVS.  Arriving at our hotel we made a few drinks and finished watching some Netflix, as the city that never sleeps turns out sleeps at about 2am...  We are still sticking with our guns by staying on Vancouver time Zone in New York and finding that it actually serves us quite well.  We eat later than normal and so miss the rush that restaurants may normally have.  Our lunch is pretty much Happy Hour, and currently we are staying up late, it being 2 am Vancouver time, or 5am New York time.  The concierge wishes us a Good Morning while we make our way to Time Square at 3am.

Tomorrow we check out what is required and if we can get on a sailing cruise, we may also take a taxi up to a museum and then walk the way back.  We have 6 full days left and a huge list of things to try and do. We may also try to watch a movie in Bryant Park which is not far from here tomorrow.