NYC Part 3 - at long last!

You, my readers, my five faithful readers have been so funny about "nagging me to finish the NYC post"! Shish! So much pressure. It takes time to upload photos from three sources, it takes time to........

Okay, what it really boils down to is, I am a "wanna be writer". The truth is, thoughts that come to me fluent enough to write only come in occasional spurts and I have been desperately waiting for those spurts to come my way.
They still haven't.
And yet you still demand.

Okay, actually I'm VERY flattered and don't mind your nagging at all.
So here we go.....
(by the way, all photos are still unedited, sorry!)
(and this post is very, very, very long, sorry!)

We arrived JFK Airport Thursday morning at 8:05 on June 9th. Scott's friend (Patrick)'s future wife (Beata) was able to pick us up at the airport. She was so kind and wonderful; she took us back to their place (while Patrick was at work) introduced us to her mother and aunt who were here from Poland (who I also loved, so kind, so friendly) and helped acclimate us to our surroundings there in Queens.

After having a huge breakfast at this wonderful little diner

(which Scott and I loved and ate almost everyone of our meals at)
we were on our way to "The City".

First though,
came the subway.

I'll reflect on that some more in a later post.

I still haven't recovered from that experience yet and am not ready to talk about it.

Manhatten!


On Thursday, our primary objective in The City, was to find Ground Zero.
When we surfaced from the subway station, smack in the middle of "it all", it was so overwhelming, but everything was also moving so fast that if you didn't move you'd surely get run right over. Therefore, there just aren't many pictures from this experience. Everyone and everything around us was moving so fast, and Scott was on a mission, I truly was hanging onto his hand for dear life. When we "found" Ground Zero, I admit I was disappointed. I can understand that the memorial fountain is still under construction and the new single tower they are building is still under construction, but there still wasn't a single place one could go to scope it all in. If you didn't know better, it just looked like another place in New York City where they were doing construction.

Even being there, I tried to grasp the enormity of this event and of course I couldn't.
I did catch this photo of the skyline where the two towers must have stood; where they must have normally filled that space.

I'm still not certain if the flags outside of this building were placed there in honor of the towers, but I thought it an interesting coincidence if not.

It was extremely hot on this day and all the walking that this over-weight, out of shape, middle-aged lady was doing was wearing me out. After Ground Zero we were on the look-out for Battery Park ( I think) which I don't believe we really found, but we did find this park, Roosevelt Park, that was very nice.

And although hot and hazey that day, we could see the Hudson and

The Statue of Liberty.
I was a little disappointed in this as well. I imagined it to be a lot bigger.....however, we were probably also still very far away.

After The City, we returned to our hotel in Queens (more subway) to freshen up. We then headed back "in" to catch the train (yes, subway) to The Bronx so we could catch the Yankees vs. Red Sox play at Yankee Stadium. This event was the one on Scott's wishlist.



Not that I'm super experienced with ball fields, but it was a very nice stadium! There were lots and lots of seats and not a bad one in the house.

"Beer Guy, getchya beer here" {only say it with the thick Bronx accent} "Beeya Guy, getchya beeya hereya"!

I don't know why, but I totally got a kick out of all the vendor guys. And yep, the peanut guy actually threw the bag of peanuts. I was glad the Beer Guy didn't!
I liked the Beer Guy. I liked what he had to offer. No Coors Light, but tall and cold, I'll take it!
Scott did too.

Well, we got there at 5:00 and the game was at 7:00. Scott got to see Monument Park. We ate, we drank and we waited........yep, rain delay. It finally cleared up and everything looked like it was about ready to start.....until......more rain. (It wasn't even really rain. It was more like a sprinkle.) Well, Scott and I now had been up for about 18 hours, it was starting to catch up to us. And well, after our subway experience to the stadium, we didn't want to imagine what the subway would be like if they canceled the game right then and allllllll those people were leaving at the same time. So we did. We decided to leave. I really felt badly for Scott, but he seemed okay with it. We had really gotten to see and do a lot while there, just not see The Yankees play.

Later, turns out. They did begin the game at 10:00, it didn't get over until after 1:00 and The Yankees lost. (Michele says "yeah", Scott says "boo").

Friday, June 10th.
Scott's friend Patrick is an assistant district attorney for the city of Queens. He said he'd been in court all week and was giving his summation on Friday and that we were welcome to come watch.

Wow. What an education for me!

Patrick walks to work. That's the courthouse where he works.
Already I was overwhelmed.
I had no idea what to expect.
It's probably a good thing 'cuz had I known I'd probably been too scared to go.

Turns out, this was the very end of a case the jury had been listening to for four weeks.
It was a murder trial.
A gang murder trial.
There were 5 defendants; five defense attorneys.
And there was the prosecution; there was Patrick. He was amazing.
His calm demeanor; his ability to articulate the facts clearly and his expertise with PowerPoint, left all 5 of those defense attorneys screaming for mistrial the moment the jury left the room.
It really was something to see.

After being in the courtroom for five straight hours, I was ready for something to cheer me up.
After a slice a New York pizza pie, we headed back to the room freshened up again and headed back into The City. (hmmm,hmmm, subway)

It was time for my "wishlist" and you all know that meant LION KING ON BROADWAY!!!!
Did you hear me? Lion King, Lion King on BROADWAY in NEW YORK CITY!!!!!!!

And then, to get to go with the young, handsome, talented, so smart, so kind, so thoughtful former 2nd grade student of mine.........I just couldn't wait!

So, here is the "BEFORE" circa about May of 1994
(I think. Anyway, a long time ago.)

Mrs. Broaderick and Khristian on his 2nd grade awards day

And now, "PRESENT DAY" at Rockefeller Center.

Isn't that amazing? I look JUST THE SAME, only shorter.

Oh my gosh, Khristian showed my the best time in New York City. He treated me to a fancy dinner at this beautiful outdoor restaurant just caddy-corner to the NBC station on Rockefeller Square. He then took me and showed me around Time Square. It was so overwhelming. So many people, so many gigantic neon billboards and The Lion King theater right around the corner.....I barely could take it. Thank goodness he was there with me.

Our seats were perfect. High enough to see everything, but right in the center. The music was beautiful, the colors bright and bold, and the actors outstanding, but what put this experience over the top was watching Khristian. He was, literally at times, truly on the edge of his seat enjoying this experience as much as me. Between his excitement and the music and the colors, I cried for the first 10 minutes until I could finally get a hold of myself and soak in the rest of the show.

After the show, Khristian showed me the largest Disney store I've ever seen.

And I was just about to do some damage at the M & M store

When I realized Scott had finished his bachelor party festivities before me and was waiting for me outside the Lion King theater. I felt just like Cinderella at the ball and thought I'd better get back before the stroke of midnight.
It was truly a magical night.

Saturday morning, June 11th, I still had one more stop on our list of things to do, so it was back into The City,
(yep, subway, damn)

to visit The American Girl Doll Store for McKenna.
We got in, we got out and headed back to the hotel (subway, put me in a rubber room, plz)
to rest and relax before The wedding, the very reason we came to New York in the first place. Everything else was a perk.

Wow, the place was very nice and there was lavender everywhere. It looked beautiful

just like Beata.


Can you believe I handed the photographer my point and shoot camera for this shot? Of course he paid me back. It is off center, Beata isn't looking and I guess Scott feels he is so tall, I mean I am so short that he has to lean over.....but all in all, I still like the photo. The bride and groom were so busy and so happy, I think you can tell that in this picture. Scott and I enjoyed meeting Patrick's friends and Beata's family. It was a beautiful night and I am so grateful to have been there.

Speaking of beautiful and lavender, I thought I'd share with you what Andrea painted for Patrick and Beata. She wrote on the back "May your love bloom".

I'm a proud momma.

That's it folks.
Well, that's it for tonight.
What has taken you several minutes to read has taken me several hours to post.
But there you have it and I am grateful you asked.
I am grateful to have journaled the experience so I'll always be able to remember.

Love to you,
Melle