Live Music, Central Park, & "Night On The Town"

I'm going to separate this post into two. I saw and did a lot of cool stuff/places/people today, but today was also September 11. And as I woke up yesterday morning, I realized that for the first time. So first I'll talk about everything else, and then address experiencing a 9/11 anniversary IN New York City. I think that deserves it's own post, don't you?


SO. First thing I have to say is that Central Park is GORGEOUS when there are leaves on the trees. This is probably common knowledge, but every time I have been to this city, its been during or on the tail end of winter. As cool as the Park was, it felt like Winterfell the whole time - beautiful and intriguing, but a little barren and really freaking cold. Well...it was different this time:

I mean, right?? It's beautiful! On Kali's recommendation I got lunch to go from a place called Burrito Box, and let me just say that it is one of the best burritos I have ever had. Anyway, pictured above you'll see the giant rock I was eating my lunch on top of. However, a yellow jacket (feel the sting!) would NOT leave my burrito alone, and I wasn't about to share food with something that could sting me whenever it wanted to. I surely looked ridiculous swatting it away whole trying not to tick it off too much (think Brian Regan's spider web routine), so I didn't stay there very long. This was a shame, because I'd chosen the rock for my perch due to the view and to the brass jazz trio that was playing below the rock. Oh well.

Instead, I found a bench on "The Mall" (the famous stretch of trees that form an arch over several benches that you always see in movies) and got to listen to this sax player. Not too shabby. And BONUS: I've seen this guy before! I have a picture of him playing on the same corner from Christmas 2009, when the Park was covered in a fresh blanket of snow. So instead, this was my view for lunch - again, not too shabby.

I continued on the Bethesda Terrace to see the famous fountain. I come see this every time I'm in NYC. Again, I've only been here during winter, so the fountain was definitely a sight to behold as I stood on the terrace and listened to the classical string quartet play below me and watched families in their boats and people taking both tourist-y and artsy photos of the fountain (I did both). See below:

So, you know...that was awesome.

I finished my tour of Central Park by cutting across to Central Park East (5th Ave) and catching the bus down to Rockefeller Center.

"Wait...you've been there already, haven't you?" Well, yeah. Here's the thing: I LOVE Rockefeller Center. Seriously. I always end up going there at least two or three times when I come to this city. Y'all, I'm obsessed with anything related to television. Surely they need electrical engineers at 30 Rock...
I stopped by the Godiva shop on my way to Rockefeller Plaza and indulged in a milk chocolate dipped strawberry the size of my fist. Well...not quite that big, but it definitely falls under the category of "jumbo-size." Again, walking around there with the light breeze and sun shining down, munching on my strawberry, I looked out over the lower concourse (where the ice skating rink normally is) and thought to myself: "Yeah, I could live here."

I hopped the subway down to Bryant Park and the Public Library. I haven't been able to make it here before, and I'm so glad I did this time. There's something awe-inspiring about seeing the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings dotting the skyline while kicking back in a park with 300 strangers. I walked to the Empire State Building and drank that in for a while.

I also went into a Payless because my flats were pinchig my toes...and walked out with solid orange/pink wedges. That would only happen to me...

Then I made my way to the World Trade Center site, which I'm leaving to another post entirely. Kali and I met back up for dinner at Blockhead's again (no shame) before stopping back by her apartment before heading out for a night on the town with her roommate Kaitie. We went to one of their favorite bars, Stumble Inn (get it?), where they played a ridiculously awesome assortment of classic rock. I'm not a big bar person, so the music selection definitely helped.

We ended up hanging out with an Australian named James for the night. He was weird at times, but overall it was like hanging out with a little drunk teddy bear. A teddy bear with an adorable smile and very large muscles.
We took James down to see the Freedom Tower and the WTC Memorial, which was a sight to see at night. Again, I'll post on that later.

We dropped him back off before heading home, and that was that. It was a true New York adventure that included laughter, ridiculous moments, hanging out by the river, and roaming the streets of the city enjoying each other's company. It was a good note to end on, and I hopped in a cab the next day (rather...today) and headed for Laguardia, leaving this skyline behind me for a few weeks: