NYC Day 3

 

Today was a day full of sight seeing!  I had hoped to try to get into a recording of the Late Show while here but they aren't taping this week.  Boo!  Oh well, there's still plenty to do.  It was really snowing in the morning but that wasn't slowing anything down.  My first stop was to the M&M's World store to get something for the boys.  Smells great in there but not much cheap, and by cheap I mean under $5, stuff for sale.  I didn't want to spend all of the money I had alotted for souveniers in one store!  I also stopped by the Hershey's store across the street which was very small and not to terribly impressive.  By comparison the M&M's store was 3 stories!



Split Pea Soup

  

I stopped into Junior's for lunch.  I had split pea soup and a piece of cheesecake, which they are known for.  The split pea soup was ok but alot thicker and chunkier than I thought it would be.  My waitress Tina, who was so pleasant, also gave me a side of pickled beets, slaw and a pickle.  I tried them, but I still don't like beets. 



Cheesecake

  

The cheesecake was very rich and creamy.  It had a sponge cake bottom instead of a graham cracker crust.  I couldn't finish it and I didn't take the rest with me cause I wanted to save my appetite and calories for other things I haven't tried yet.



Macy's



After lunch I headed down through Times Square towards Macy's.  Its a huge department store with 3 floors of shopping and several places to eat in the cellar.  Didn't buy anything....the things that caught my eye were just too expensive!  

NY Public Library

Then I headed over to the NY Public Library's main branch building, the Stephen A. Schwarzmann building.  You know, the one with the two lions out front.  What a beautiful building to see and it will be celebrating its 100th birthday this May.  It is now primarly a research building and not a place you would go to checkout a book.  The only exception is the ground floor which is the Children's Center.  Behind the library is Bryant Park which is a nice little green space in the city.  They had a temporary ice skating rink set up while we were there.

 

 

That evening Bill and I headed out for supper.  We were really wanting to have steak but the steakhouses are soooo expensive!  About 35-45 bucks for a steak and that doesn't include anything with it.  And these are huge steaks that I wouldn't be able to finish anyway.  So while I was researching where to have steak on the internet, I saw where people were suggesting to go to a french bistro for a very affordable steak dinner.  They usually do steak with pommes frites (steak and fries) and steak au poivre (steak with a cognac cream sauce) for 25-30 bucks and it includes the fries and a salad.  And the steaks at the bistros are a good portioned filet so its not too much meat. 

Steak Au Poivre

We decided to try La Bonne Soupe.  It was such a cute, intimate little restaurant.  We had a simple salad with a dijon mustard vinagrette and the steak au poivre with pommes frites.  Just right!  Very satisfying but it didn't weigh us down for more sightseeing. 
 

After supper we caught the subway to Grand Central Terminal.  Again, this is another beautiful building in NYC!  Its so weird to see these historical beauties surrounded by plain looking concrete and glass towers.  They just don't make em' like they used to huh?  Built in 1913, this is still a very busy, very much functioning station where subway lines and train lines intersect.  It also houses shopping and several restaurants too.  The huge concourse's ceiling is painted blue with a mural of the constellations.  They even have some lights to simulate the stars.  It really is breathtaking to step in there and you can see it on people's faces when they walk in there.  They just gaze up and say, Whoa!  Hard to believe that this landmark was almost torn down.  Thank goodness it was saved and revitalized.