# TR: Nyc 10.2.2010-Now With Pictures



## severine (Oct 3, 2010)

Headed into the city again, this time to celebrate my birthday. The original plan was to check out the NY Burlesque Festival at B.B. King's on 42nd Street but my attempt to circumvent Ticketmaster's exorbitant fees only resulted in me not being able to score tickets at all: it sold out. With no real backup plan, I started wandering. Headed down 8th toward the Village, hoping to see a little more of it this time since I had a bodyguard with me.  Accidentally found Magnolia Bakery, which was on my list last time (and I mean the real one, not the one in Grand Central Terminal). Had the most delicious white chocolate cheesecake ever from there--rich cheesecake, huge chunks of white chocolate, macadamia nuts, and bits of toffee--wonderful! More wandering and B was really hungry so we decided upon Jekyll & Hyde. I had been to the midtown location; this one was lousy. I forgot about the $4.50/person entertainment surcharge, the food was terrible, and they only took cash, so just about all my walking around money was eaten up in one lousy meal. The shots delivered in a plastic syringe were cute, but did not make up for the rest of the experience. I should have known better.

As we continued wandering after that in search of the World Trade Center site (B hadn't seen it before), we came upon a Maserati dealership. I've only ever seen Maseratis in NY. By the time we got to the World Trade Center site, we both had to pee very badly. A poor choice in maneuvering the area resulted in a walk down to Battery Park with no options for public toilets. Getting desperate, we worked our way back up Broadway til we luckily found a McD's that was open. Ahhh... Relieved of that stress, I remembered that the Brooklyn Bridge was nearby and that there was a walkway, so we checked that out. I'm terrified of heights and didn't really think this through--was not expecting that the walkway was *above* the cars. We made it barely over the water before turning around to head back. Neat experience that I would like to do again on fresher legs. But at that point, I was just too tired.

Again recalling vaguely the area from my last trip, I realized we weren't far from Chinatown. By the time we got there, pretty much everything was closed. We walked to where Canal and Mulberry Streets meet and headed over Mulberry, which brought us through Little Italy. Little Italy had a lot more life but the plentiful restaurants were mostly closing up shop for the night and we had already eaten anyway. We did try dropping into a bar where there was karaoke but the bartender pretty much ignored us and the crowd started to annoy me, so we left.

At this point, my feet were killing me. I wasn't intending to do a hike through NY on this trip and hadn't planned well with my footwear. But I didn't want to waste any more money than necessary after the huge dinner bill so we trudged on. Hit East Village, which was familiar from my last trip but I was just too tired to do any more investigating. Continued up 3rd Avenue until I finally couldn't take it any longer and B hailed a taxi at 3rd and 30th. (According to mapmyrun.com, the total was about 10.43 miles on foot when we gave up.) Back at Grand Central, where we just missed one train out and had to wait another 40 minutes for the next, we secured some water and a broccoli focaccia from Zaro's and waited. 

The train left late and there was all kind of confusion due to different cars opening at different stops. Lots of college kids all riled up. There was this dude near us that was high or something. Fell asleep with an open can of beer in hand and the conductor had a hard time waking him to check his ticket. Inevitably, the beer can eventually crashed to the floor, spilling its contents as its owner slept on blissfully. The conductor had to practically throw him off at his stop; he slept right through it.

With delays on the train in addition to the delay in leaving, we didn't get into Katonah until about 3:45AM. Tired. Getting too old for this stuff, even though I originally had a grand plan to stay out all night and come back on the 5:40AM train. Yeah, glad we didn't do that. With a stop on the side of the road to rest, we didn't get into bed until 6:30AM. Still beat... 

Definitely not a day as planned and I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck, but it beats a boring night at home. Pictures on the way... I'm having some issues with uploading about 700MB of photos to flickr.

Edited - Here are some pictures... And the rest of the album can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrievibert/sets/72157625089298468

Magnolia Bakery in Grand Central Terminal






Grand Central Terminal Central Market





Petit Fours





Chrysler Building


----------



## severine (Oct 3, 2010)

Brooklyn Bridge










Little Italy


----------



## EOS (Oct 3, 2010)

#3 is my favorite pic!  Cool series.

Sounds like a fun trip.


----------



## severine (Oct 3, 2010)

EOS said:


> #3 is my favorite pic!  Cool series.
> 
> Sounds like a fun trip.


The Chrysler Building? (Since I added a photo to the beginning as you were posting this...) That was begging for the fisheye treatment.


----------



## wintersyndrome (Oct 3, 2010)

Glad to see you enjoyed my 'hood. (We live two blocks from the World Trade Center site and work near Grand Central)  for future reference there are restrooms in the Ritz Carlton Hotel...no one will ask you what your doing using a restroom in a hotel....and its a bit cleaner than the McDonalds 

Great restaurants here in TriBeCa too, PM me for suggestions before your next trip My Fiance' and I have a a lot of favorites down here.

Nice shots BTW.


----------



## severine (Oct 3, 2010)

wintersyndrome said:


> Glad to see you enjoyed my 'hood. (We live two blocks from the World Trade Center site and work near Grand Central)  for future reference there are restrooms in the Ritz Carlton Hotel...no one will ask you what your doing using a restroom in a hotel....and its a bit cleaner than the McDonalds
> 
> Great restaurants here in TriBeCa too, PM me for suggestions before your next trip My Fiance' and I have a a lot of favorites down here.
> 
> Nice shots BTW.


Good to know on the hotel restrooms! I was tempted a few times, given the plentiful hotels we passed, but was too chicken to find out. 

We passed by so many good restaurants. I'm so angry with myself for going to that tourist trap.  Even street food would have tasted better and been far cheaper. I will definitely be looking for some suggestions next time, thanks!

Oh, and Brian wanted me to add this to the thread. This is a close-up on the bike posted above:


----------



## marcski (Oct 3, 2010)

severine said:


> Good to know on the hotel restrooms! I was tempted a few times, given the plentiful hotels we passed, but was too chicken to find out.
> 
> We passed by so many good restaurants. I'm so angry with myself for going to that tourist trap.  Even street food would have tasted better and been far cheaper. I will definitely be looking for some suggestions next time, thanks!
> 
> Oh, and Brian wanted me to add this to the thread. This is a close-up on the bike posted above:



Nice, Classic Brooks saddle on that old steel frame!


----------



## EOS (Oct 4, 2010)

severine said:


> The Chrysler Building? (Since I added a photo to the beginning as you were posting this...) That was begging for the fisheye treatment.



That's the one!


----------



## ctenidae (Oct 4, 2010)

Where was the one with all the flags taken?

Nice shots


----------



## bvibert (Oct 4, 2010)

ctenidae said:


> Where was the one with all the flags taken?
> 
> Nice shots



Just a wild guess... on the corner of East 42nd and Vanderbilt?? :dunce:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...cR2iSlj3ZVCegURbmXAHdQ&cbp=12,62.18,,0,-18.76

Right outside of Grand Central with the Lincoln Building in the background.


----------



## SkiDork (Oct 4, 2010)

hands down the best shot is looking up at the flag on top of the brooklyn bridge.


----------



## ctenidae (Oct 4, 2010)

bvibert said:


> Just a wild guess... on the corner of East 42nd and Vanderbilt?? :dunce:
> 
> 
> Right outside of Grand Central with the Lincoln Building in the background.








:beer:


----------



## bvibert (Oct 4, 2010)

ctenidae said:


> :beer:



I see what you did there...


----------



## billski (Oct 4, 2010)

Nice photos - excellent framing, composition and color balance.  Makes them very interesting to look at.


----------



## legalskier (Oct 4, 2010)

Nice pics! Happy Birthday too! :beer:


----------



## Warp Daddy (Oct 4, 2010)

Nice , liked the shot of the cafe under the bridge or overpass


----------



## severine (Oct 4, 2010)

Thanks! (And Warp! You looked at the album! <3 ) All was not lost--at least I got some more photography practice.


----------



## bigbog (Oct 5, 2010)

..LOL, LOL...and probably passed by so many good looking bikes!  Nice pics sev!
Nothing like attempting to quench one's thirst with a bozo bartender at the helm.


----------



## severine (Oct 5, 2010)

Here's a map of the area we covered: http://www.mapmyrun.com/walk/united-states/ny/new-york/338128624801489966


----------



## Warp Daddy (Oct 5, 2010)

severine said:


> Here's a map of the area we covered: http://www.mapmyrun.com/walk/united-states/ny/new-york/338128624801489966



yeah u DID some walking !    NY is a great city to walk in tho -- we always burn out our sneakers there  

Luv sitting in Washington Park late nite listening to some of the BEST damn musicians i've heard and NOBODY knows THEIR name . My Son and his family lives in the West 80's a block below the park so we get to KNOW how to avoid the tourist traps and enjoy the city  ambiance . One of my favs Cafe Lalo is a little  intimate style "artists cafe"  on West  83rd just north of the theatre district that thrives  late at nite after the performances and has fantastic European fancy desserts.


----------



## Warp Daddy (Oct 5, 2010)

severine said:


> Thanks! (And Warp! You looked at the album! <3 ) All was not lost--at least I got some more photography practice.



Yep we did !   like i said b4 - u GOT talent !!


----------



## powhunter (Oct 5, 2010)

Nice report and pictures!!  Sounds like you and the big guy had a great time!

Steveo


----------



## bvibert (Oct 6, 2010)

Here's a few shots that I took.

Carrie's body guard that she mentioned:






This guy gave good directions:





I like old advertisements painted on buildings:





Not sure what's going on here, but thought it looked cool:










Lots of SS bikes in the city:










The other body guard:










Open to the public, but Private Property, No Trespassing??





My new car





View from the Brooklyn Bridge





A few more in the set if anyone is interested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17405833@N02/sets/72157625105444628/with/5056425302/


----------



## severine (Oct 6, 2010)

I have serious competition in this house!


----------



## Warp Daddy (Oct 6, 2010)

Big B the "sensitive photographer"  --Who KNEW ????   I'm witcha on the car bro --


----------



## dmc (Oct 6, 2010)

Nice copyright... haha..

I used to do that - until I started seeing my PIX with it cropped - now I use watermarks..


----------



## bvibert (Oct 6, 2010)

dmc said:


> Nice copyright... haha..
> 
> I used to do that - until I started seeing my PIX with it cropped - now I use watermarks..



I hear ya.  I just hate to put it right in the middle of the picture.  I messed around with different sizes, opacities, and locations but decided on a minimalist approach.  If I ever get serious about photography and try to sell pictures then I'll rethink my approach.


----------



## dmc (Oct 6, 2010)

bvibert said:


> I hear ya.  I just hate to put it right in the middle of the picture.  I messed around with different sizes, opacities, and locations but decided on a minimalist approach.  If I ever get serious about photography and try to sell pictures then I'll rethink my approach.



I have software that embeds an invisible watermark into the picture..   I've surprised a couple people who stole my shots..


----------



## bvibert (Oct 6, 2010)

dmc said:


> I have software that embeds an invisible watermark into the picture..   I've surprised a couple people who stole my shots..



Ah, I gotcha now.  I've never heard of that, but it makes sense.  Care to share what program you use?

I thought you meant that you put a watermark across the picture like many pros do so that their pics can't be used...


----------



## dmc (Oct 6, 2010)

Google "invisible watermark"
I've used Icemark costs like $40...

I'm headed down to NYC now... Stoked to take some pix... U inspired me


----------

