New York City, Part 8

I had a wonderful night of sleep, a rare event in my life. Even rarer, we slept until 8:00 a.m. I have never been a person who sleeps in. I can count on one hand the number of times I have slept passed 7:00 a.m., and I would still have several fingers left over. So sleeping until 8:00 a.m.–even though on my clock it was only 5:00 a.m.–a much more normal time for me to arise–was a treat. After the toiletries, we left our room. We tried to get on a computer to print our boarding passes, but unfortunately were unable to get on one of the hotel computers. Normally, this would have put me in a bad mood. I hate to fly when I can’t sit next to Dorey. On Southwest, it pays to be first. But this time, I did not care as we were on Virgin and had reserved seats and could pick up the boarding passes at the airport.

So we headed out. Really, the whole purpose of the trip was today. We love to take walking tours when we travel. Michelle and James Nevius, who had taken us on walking tours of New York before, had just published a walking tour book of New York City. I had to try one of their walks as soon as I learned that their book would be published. And today, we would take one of these tours.

But not before having the subway fun on Sunday morning. I was going to buy an all day pass. I put my card into the machine, but it would not read it. I tried several times, all without luck. As I kept trying, the locals kept trying to get me to provide them with a few quarters. Living near San Francisco, we are not strangers to panhandling. I engaged the guy in conversation, about what, I don’t know. All the while, I could not get a ticket from the machine. We finally broke a $20.00, and paid cash for our tickets.

We rode the A train down to about 53rd street, where we hopped out to grab some breakfast. We were going of course to the Stage Door Deli, sort of a New York tradition with me. On our first trip to New York City, we watched Hairspray. Afterward, we purchased some cheesecake from the Stage Door Deli and ate it in our room. It was a great night. The next time, we took Kate there on a Friday night. A German man near us in the restaurant collapsed, and the ambulance came for him. It was a great introduction to the drama of New York City for Kate. So, even though the food is not great, I have affection for the Stage Door Deli. And that is where we ate that Sunday morning. I had a terrible omelette, but the bagel was out of this world.

Today's stats: Yesterday, I walked 11,012 steps. As of this moment, 5:30 p.m. on July 8, 2009, I have walked 151,373 steps in 13 days.