Goodnight & Goodbye...

Empire State Building Security really cracks me up sometimes - some of the things that are supposedly for the better good of the public is just downright ridiculous. So security is obviously super tight to get in here...think airport security with the usual scanning. I carry a stainless steel water bottle with me. And yes, it is filled with water, unless I'm going through airport security. So they were peeved that this was full. And common sense would have been to ask me what it was and possiblely having me take a swig of it if it's water or just empty the damn thing. The dood opens my bottle and sticks his nose in there and takes a big whiff. Obviously he didn't take any basic science classes...this is how you're supposed to sniff unknown liquids from bottles. It's called "wafting" so you don't pass out if there's a toxic, colourless chemical in a bottle. When I told him it was water, he turned beet red, the guy behind me giggled and he just stuffed it back into my hands. Guess it didn't help that I had a huge smirk on my face. Couldn't help it, was just too comical!

One of the best times of the day is when the light just starts to fade & everything gets this gorgeous blue tinge. Just lovely!

Crikey...this spot was prime real estate for watching the sunset. And I waited a long time here & it always peeves me when people think they can just push me out of the way b/c they feel they need to be there too. Here's a thought...wait your turn!

Although it was a super chilly, windy evening I really enjoyed the few hours spent up here photographing the end of the day. Of course, half of the bloody country was also here jostling their way around. Really sparkly city at night...lovely!

This was beyond awesome! Perfect venue & met some amazing people here...the owner was just a riot. I ended up here until 2 in the morning chatting with people & listening to Johnny O'Neal. Not only is he a wonderful musician, he has a wicked sense of humour. Halfway through a number he goes, "...Just hang with me here, I don't know what the hell I'm doing...You're never gonna hear that version again!" Absolutely magical evening & I really didn't want to leave;0(

After a quick nap, I was at this wonderful little restaurant for a scrumptious brekkie! They had homemade apple butter (WHERE do I buy this stuff...it's just heaven!) with super yummy cranberry/orange scones hot out of the oven. And I had possiblely the nicest server. We had a really good long chat about life, living & working in NYC and food. Just a perfect morning, though the sunshine was gone & the cold, chilly rain was back.

I took a bit too long at breakfast, but no point in rushing through great food & conversation. I had planned on a longish walk through Central Park before heading off to the airport, but I only ended up with about 15 min before I had to scoot off again. The park was still looking a bit brown & crinkly, so I wasn't too sad that I didn't have time for this. perhaps on my next visit...

On the train to Newark. Brutal travel day...had a 1 hour stopover in Chicago to connect & everything was well until we landed. There was another flight at our gate, supposedly leaving within 5 min. That turned into 40 min & it looked like that everyone that was connecting was hooped. not to mention that no one could tell us where our connecting gate was. So there was a general announcement asking that everyone stay seated until the people connecting could get out first. Did this happen? Nope! There was a freaking mad dash to get out first by EVERYONE! One guy that stayed seated quipped that EVERYONE must be on the connecting flight to YVR. Cracked us all up. I was chatting with the family ahead of me as they were also on my flight home. As we finally started to move, the Dad's parting remark was, "Thanks for remaining seated so we could get off first...all 7 of you!" I'm happy that I ended up being with a bunch of people that have a great sense of humour. Certainly made it much more bearable. Then it was a mad dash to our gate that was "very close".....uummm, not so much. We got there with about 10 min to spare before the flight left. I managed to get home in one piece, but was absolutely tuckered...