Nothing beats being home.  We thoroughly enjoyed the people, the sites, the activities, the food, and the whole experience of New York City, but there is no sleep that is better than the sleep in your own bed.

 

Thursday morning, we finished up our packing and headed down for our last breakfast – the fritata with mushrooms, onions and chicken sausage, a ton of coffee, and a quick farewell to Kipp, to whom we gave Smarties (they don’t have them in the USA) and an Edmonton Pipes and Drums pin to commemorate our stay.

 

We wanted to pick up a patch for Jenny – she is such a traveler now that we wanted to get a badge from all the cities she’s visited and sew it onto a new blanket.  But the Firefighter Museum was closed because it was New Year’s Day, and the Police Museum was flooded during Hurricane Sandy and their temporary lease expired in October, so they were not open either.  Instead, we took the train to the 9/11 Memorial.  It was a surreal experience, being where two large towers once stood.  You could smell some of the burnt material even now, all these years later, from a block away.  It was not altogether unpleasant, but it was a sharp reminder of what took place on that site over 13 years ago.

 

Along one wall, there were bronzed carvings depicting the shapes of the towers burning and falling, as well as memorializing the 343 firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11.  Where the towers once stood, there are fountains that fill the craters left behind, and along the railings around the fountains, there are etched the names of all those who lost their lives.  These names are three or four deep, and travel all around the fountains – the size of a building  – and it felt very surreal.  I knew where I was when I first heard the news of the towers collapsing, and on an intellectual level, I understood it, but actually being on the site was a moving experience I won’t soon forget.

 

From the memorial, we took the train to Christopher St, where Kipp recommended a little European-inspired restaurant where we could have lunch.  On our way there, we found another souvenir store, where we actually DID complete our souvenir shopping – including Jenny’s badge (bright pink that says “I heart NY”).  At the restaurant, one of the waitresses brought her kids with her to work, and explained to them that they couldn’t pet Jenny.  She asked a lot of questions about guide dog training, and made a comment about how she thought that guide dogs are perfect little beings that don’t make mistakes (Ben nearly spit out his water laughing).  The food was terrific, the ambiance was like a 60s style diner, and it was a fantastic place to spend our last meal in NYC.

 

We headed back to the B&B, grabbed our stuff, and caught our ride to the airport.  Because Jenny’s harness sets off the alarm, they had to pat both me and her down.  I told them that I would take the harness off and then they could go ahead, and they were OK with that.  Jenny got a chance to do cute little circles before getting security checked, and she laid down calmly while I got searched.  The whole process from checking in to finishing security took less than 10 minutes, and we made it to our gate in plenty of time to watch the first 2/3 of the Corner Gas movie on our portable DVD player.

 

Our flight to Chicago was delayed due to problems loading the luggage (including strollers).  We made pretty good time, but the flight was noisy and bumpy, and Jenny was unimpressed with the whole process.  Ben and I grabbed our GoPicnic lunches and snacked on them during the flight, and hoped and prayed that our flight to Edmonton would wait for us.

 

We landed at Chicago only 10 minutes later than scheduled, and were assisted through the WHOLE airport to get to our connecting flight to Edmonton.  Chicago O’Hare is a huge airport, but Ben says it is a nice-looking airport, very wide hallways, shops, restaurants… just very big!  Our flight took off nearly half an hour late because a cleaning crew had to clean up a mess involving potato chips and the landing of the previous flight.  The crew offered to move us to the bulkhead seats, which we accepted gladly, and made our way to Edmonton.  Our flight landed an hour later than scheduled, but the flight crew was courteous and professional, offering us warm wet towels at the end of the flight.  The crew was so impressed by Jenny that they gave me a little pin with pilots’ wings to clip on to a blanket or jacket; I just have to decide where to put it!

 

Our friend picked us up at the airport, driving through an incoming snowstorm to come and get us.  My worn-out shoes were no match for the piling-up snow, but we got into the van and made it home safely.  Ben is a bit disconcerted about the empty streets here, a sharp contrast to the insane traffic we had experienced the past nine days.  I told him that he should never ever ever complain about traffic again – and he said if he did, he would say that at least we weren’t in New York.

 

We hauled our duffel bag upstairs and nearly fell into bed, with Jenny squirming and wriggling to find a perfect position between us.  We are now settling back in, snug in our house, as snow swirls and blows around us, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

Thanks to Kipp, Margo and Sarah-Doe at the Canal Park Inn for hosting us and feeding us, Roam Mobility for keeping us in touch with friends and family back home, The New York Pass for giving us access to tours and sites we might not have seen otherwise, the restaurants, tour guides, tourists, MTA workers, locals, flight crews, and all the others who made our trip so special and unforgetable. This one’s for you.

 

This morning we had a quick breakfast downstairs, then booked it down to the Subway where we were to take our final walking tour of the trip: The High Line, Chelsea and Meatpacking District.  Unfortunately for me, I took us down the wrong route through the Subway, taking us several blocks out of our way, which resulted in us being slightly (2 minutes) late for the start of the tour.  The guide asked if we were the Lang party (“Who are late!”) and I had to admit that yes, we were, and it was my fault.  We did the walk of shame, got processed, and walked through Chelsea Market, a beautiful old building with many food stands.

 

 

 

 

We toured the High Line, which is a park built on the site of an elevated train, with views of the city, terrific hotels, and high buildings that you can actually walk beneath without feeling like you are beneath the buildings.  We saw some awesome historic buildings in the area, and heard how the Chelsea neighborhood was transformed from a run-down beat-up area to one of the most happening neighborhoods in new York City – rent here can run you $5000 a month, and that’s for a little studio apartment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jenny did most of the guide work on this tour as well, and did a fantastic job!  She got lost once and tried to take me with the other tour group – our tour had taken a quick right turn that she didn’t see, so she did the only thing she could think of.  Our tour guide, Linda, got to say hi to her after the tour, which made her smile – she has a dog as well who lives with her daughter in the country because NYC is a bit too much for him.

 

 

 

By the end of the tour, we were very very cold, so we stepped into an old-style diner for terrific food – three-bean turkey chili for me, chicken fingers for Ben.  We planned out our afternoon, then – sufficiently warm – we walked to the Subway, where we caught the E train to Lexington and 53 St, and took an 8-block walk to Dylan’s Candy Bar.  This place was full of candy – like FULL! I think I read that it was three floors!  We kept it pretty simple, and I got some Reese’s peanut butter cups, gummy fruit salad, and mint Hershey kisses.  Jenny was a bit overwhelmed by all the smells, but did not scavenge or scrounge, even when our bag ripped and gummy fruit wound up on the floor.

 

From there, we left the sweet-smelling shop and took another 8-block walk to Carnegie Hall.  Along the way, we heard an actual copy-cat of two car horns – one would honk twice, so would the other; one would make a long honk, the other would follow suit.  This lasted for a full minute, and it made us smile as we walked the loooooong blocks to Carnegie Hall… where we found out they were closed until January 8!  I was so disappointed – I had wanted to see Carnegie Hall so badly (if you have ever played an instrument, you know that Carnegie Hall is one of The places that you want to perform).  I actually cried!

 

Dejected, we tried to do some shopping at Columbus Circle, but you couldn’t sneeze there without being charged $20 for the privilege.  So we headed back to the B&B, relaxed, and got started packing…

 

We booked a reservation for a place called Uncle Boon’s, which had three important qualities for a New Years Eve spot: It was relatively inexpensive compared to other choices, they were still taking reservations, and (I thought) they were close-ish to our B&B.  So we walked… and walked… and WALKED… a good 40-minute walk – not nearly as close as I thought.  Ben was pretty irritated that we were walking that far in the cold, but once we sat down in the little Thai restaurant, with Thai remakes of 60s music playing in the background, and the food started to arrive, I think his irritation lessened considerably.  We started off with lotus leaves wrapped around peanuts and sesame seeds, a coconut custard with lobster that packed a HUGE punch once it hit the back of your tongue, and tapioca dumplings… and there was MORE food…. and MORE food!  Ben thinks his favorite was the oyster soup (even though I got to eat his oyster(, which tasted like a lemon ginger broth with onions and mushrooms; mine was probably the pork belly (it tastes like a pork chop, but slightly greasier)… and we both adored the bourbon ice cream with rice and Pomegranate seeds.  The food was all terrific, though, and well worth the very long walk back, where we saw in the distance the Empire State Building all lit up in different colours.

 

It was 9:30 when we got back from Uncle Boon’s, so we stayed up late, relaxing, and watched the ball drop on TV.  reportedly, a million people were crammed into Times Square that night, and even though we couldn’t see them, we could hear the fireworks from Times Square.  it is a great place to be – NYC at New Year’s – but I do agree with those to stay away from Times Square to avoid the crowds.

 

Happy New Year!  My next entry will be from my own home, which – as much as I love it here – is calling me back with my own bed, my cozy house, and three kitties who will probably shun me on arrival.

Tuesday dawned cloudy and cold, so we bundled up and headed to Amelia’s for breakfast – Kipp and his daughter Sarah had prior commitments and could not provide us breakfast themselves, but treated us to breakfast at Amelia’s.  We walked down there for a delicious and somewhat filling breakfast, and Jenny walked the whole way flawlessly without her Halti!

 

After breakfast, we met up with Cory – our tour guide – at Penn Station for the Food on Foot Tour, which is unlike any other tour we have been on since arriving here.  The group was large, with attendees from Canada (Vancouver and Edmonton), USA, Australia, England, Germany, Scotland, South Africa, Japan, Taiwan, and Costa Rica.  This tour was designed both to be an eating tour and a mingling tour, and we did much of both!  Cory was a bit of a drill sergeant, demanding a “New York pace”, describing how things were going to be, but under that gruff exterior was a man who loves his city and wants to share it with others.  He told us that the current Penn Station was a new building, but there was an old station that acted as a hub until it fell into disrepair, and then Pennsylvania Railroad company bought the air rights to where Penn Station now stands.  We even found a Tim Hortons at Penn Station!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started at a pizza place, where Ben and I split a slice of fresh mushroom pizza.  It was quite tasty, especially in comparison to generic pizzas back home.  While eating, we chatted with two travelers from Germany, who explained that from Munich, they could drive 3 hours, be through another country, and be halfway through Italy, while from Edmonton, we would still be in Alberta if we drove 3 hours in any direction.

 

After that, we headed to a Mexican grocery, where I enjoyed a fruit punch Mexican soda.  It was delicioso!  While waiting for the others’ tacos to arrive, we chatted with a couple from South Africa who happened to be at the Rangers game we were at earlier in the week.

 

 

Leaving that stop, we headed toward City Sandwich, where Ben and I split a “Todd”, which was like a BLT, except the Portuguese bacon was a bit thinner and not crispy, but it was so delicious.  We chatted with a couple from Scotland who were both teachers, and we stood outside shivering in the cold chatting about Scottish independence, traveling, and our love of NYC.

 

From there we went to a Greek bakery, where I went in and brought out an apple strudel for Ben and a honey cookie for me.  While I was inside, Jenny got to play Doggie for Mayor while hanging out outside with Ben, which made her and fellow travelers very happy.

 

After that point, we took a bit of a detour through a park, and then on to Papaya Go, where I enjoyed a kinesh (think fried potato cake) and Ben got a hot dog.  We ate outside while the line kept moving, but many other tourists – perhaps even us – found it very very cold!

 

Our last stop on this tour was the Little Pie Company, where I had (arguably) the best apple pie in the City – the sour cream apple walnut pie – and Ben had cheesecake.  We were both in foodie heaven, and believe it was the perfect way to end our tour.

 

Jenny did almost all of the guide work herself, in some places leaving Ben at the back of the group while heading up to the front, being only mildly distracted by other dogs, but loving the few minutes when she could say hi to the other travelers.  I was so impressed, and think that she has really grown during this trip.

 

We planned on going to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, but the lineup was so long that we decided that it wasn’t a make-or-break place to go during our trip.  We caught the Subway back to the B&B, then relaxed for a couple of hours and then headed back out toward the theater district.

 

Upon exiting the train station, we found a cute little souvenir stand where we nearly completed our souvenir shopping.  Then we tried to find a particular Italian restaurant, but were unable to locate it due to the crowds.  Instead, we found a pub where we ordered sandwiches – which we enjoyed – and ate them with a background of very loud music – which we did not.  Then we made our way to Broadway, where we located the Longacre Theater.

 

“You Can’t Take it With You” stars James Earl Jones, which brings out the inner nerd in Ben, and all the reviews say the play was supposed to be hilarious.  It lived up to all our expectations, and more!  Once we entered the theater, we were guided to our seats, and offered water for $5 a bottle (“Welcome to Broadway!” – we declined.  The usher was very polite once we were seated and asked other theater-goers to go around the long way so as not to disturb Jenny, but it was done in such a way as to be both respectful and discrete.

 

The play is hilarious; I do believe there’s a movie, but I can’t say if it models the play well.  We spent 80% of the play laughing at the antics of the characters, and the rest just smiling.  Jenny scrunched herself under my seat, and did fantastic with all scenes – including those with fireworks – except the end of the second act, where there was a mass explosion of fireworks, where she wriggled out and tried to sit up.  Thankfully, this was literally the last part of the act, so we were able to get up, stretch, resettle, and thoroughly enjoy the rest of the play.  If you are ever in New York and get a chance to see it, DO IT!  It was such a unique experience, where all of the cast fed off each other’s energy, performed extremely well, and – most importantly – engaged the audience.

 

Tomorrow is a busy day, because it is our last full day in New York.  We are doing a tour of the High Line, Chelsea and Meatpacking District, then visiting Carnegie Hall, and enjoying a lovely New Year’s Eve dinner.  Even as I love New York, home is calling me back; it will be nice to go home, but I feel like I have seen what I wanted to, and still will have more to see when we come back again – and make no mistake… we WILL be back!

Ben and I have been looking forward to our alone day since starting this trip, not because we wanted to get rid of each other, but because we had a couple things we wanted to do that the other wasn’t interested in.  Ben toodled off before I did to head to his TV and Movie sites bus tour.  He saw some cool sites, but was overall disappointed with the bus tour.

 

I Took the E train to the Museum of Modern Art, which was an incredible experience.  Debbie, my guide, described pictures, Matisse cutouts, and walked me through the sculpture gallery, where we could, with surgical gloves, touch sculptures by many artists, and learn about some art history.  I am not well-versed in art, and probably won’t be much more educated in it, but it was a lovely experience, and Debbie’s descriptions were spot-on.  We went to one exhibit where you could touch some of the canvases; one of them was like a patchwork with different squares of canvas put together, some with charcoal, others with oil, and you could feel all the contrasts!  Jenny even got in on the action – laying down on the canvas!  She also was photographed as much as the artwork – something I didn’t find out until Debbie asked if I often got people taking pictures of my dog.  Thankfully, Jenny handled it all with the utmost professionalism.

 

 

After that, I went back to the train station, where I headed to the Dunkin Donuts for a coffee and donut.  Soon as I walked in the door, the lady behind the counter yelled “No dogs!”  Another customer said that it was a service dog, and that I could not be refused.  Another employee, probably a manager, said from the back that service dogs were allowed.  This all happened in the span of about 5 seconds, before I could even think to interject and say anything for myself.  Thankfully it got squared away quickly and I didn’t have to.

 

We took the E train back to within a few blocks from our B&B, and relaxed for an hour or so before taking off again.  At this point, I realized that I had misplaced my Metro card, but Ben and I talked to a transit officer who let us take the 1 train to Christopher St – advising me to call 511 to report the lost card – and walked down to Washington Square Park.  There’s a fenced dog run there, and Jenny had a blast running around, picking up other dogs’ balls, and generally meeting other dogs and being a goofy pup.  We bought a water bottle from a vender and filled Jenny’s water dish, which prompted nearly every other dog to come by for a drink!

 

After the park, we went back to the Subway station, where I purchased another 7-day Metro card – there is a reason we carried emergency cash  – and headed back to the B&B, where we got ourselves gussied up for a night on the town.

 

I found a groupon for Bill’s Food and Drink, and from the time we walked in to the restaurant 20 minutes ahead of our reservation, to being led to our table and being asked if they could set out water for Jenny, to the minute we walked out the door, the staff was attentive, service was prompt, and the food was terrific – they earned their tip, and then some.  We split an Amstel Lite beer in celebration – toasting Henny (Jenny’s trainer), New York, each other, Jenny, and whatever else we could think of.  Ben had an appetizer of roasted beets, and I had curried cauliflower soup, and we each had the pork chop, and chocolate cake for dessert.  It was a terrific place, from the food to the service to the ambiance; we would go back!  Cool fact about this place: they have real silver dollars embedded in their floor!

 

Jenny was exhausted after leaving the restaurant; she really slowed down.  She was SO tired that she completely ignored another dog that came on the E train with us usually – at the very least she looks up!

 

Tomorrow, we head off to a Food on Foot tour, have a blank slate for the afternoon, and then it’s BROADWAY!!!!!

This morning – Saturday – started out late, as the sites we wanted to see weren’t open until 10:00 AM.  We lazed around a bit until we got some breakfast late downstairs.

 

After breakfast, I twisted my ankle quite badly off the step of the B&B – Jenny tried to avoid getting hit in the bum with the front door, walked too fast, and down I went!  It HUUUUUUURT!  But the show must go on, as they say, and we walked down to the New York Fire museum, where we looked at interesting stories about the history of the fire department, and Jenny and I even got to try on some gear!

 

After a quick trip back to the B&B, we took the Subway to Bowling Green, where we sat down amongst a small swarm of pigeons and other birds to enjoy a beautiful picnic lunch.  It has been unseasonably warm here in NYC; I think the city has taken pity on us poor Canadians and given us an extra week of autumn.  We’ve heard so many stories from other travelers – from Florida, Australia, and other warm climates – that they were disappointed not to see snow; we told them to come to Canada to visit us… THERE they would get snow!

 

After our lunch, we met up with the Slavery and Underground Railroad tour from Inside Out Tours.  Before the tour started, we met up with two tourists from Germany, who joked and laughed with us about life in general.  Oliver, one of the tourists, told Ben he owed him a beer on behalf of all Germans as an apology for a German-speaker who called him an a**hole one day while he was driving a bus.  We would’ve taken him up on it if we’d caught up with him again, but the tour was rather large, and we didn’t get the chance.  We also met up with the Australia couple who were on the Inside Broadway tour with us yesterday, giving proof to the idea that New York is, in effect, a small world.

The tour guide described many ideas that New York has traditionally held about slavery, Africans other races, and it was an incredibly eye-opening experience.  I had no idea that New York bought slaves until the early 1800s, but did not emancipate them all at once, but it was a gradual abolition of the institution.  We also saw pictures of what was done to slaves who ran away, or men and women in free states who passed themselves as white.  This also brought up the fascinating question of “passing”, and what that meant for people; many lost their families because they couldn’t acknowledge them due to their African ancestry, but this also enabled some to survive, and others to help free slaves.  We also passed many historic buildings, almost all of which were rebuilt after one fire or another, including taverns, churches, and homes.  At one point, we even saw some wooden spots in the road that are where the original wall of Wall Street stood.

 

 

 

At the end of the tour, we got insanely lost, taking the wrong Subway, then getting turned around on foot and having to walk at least 12 blocks to get back to the B&B.  My ankle was throbbing at this point, and many of the streets were aggravating the injury by being uneven.  When we got back, Ben wrapped my ankle in the tensor bandage from Jenny’s emergency kit (don’t judge me!), and that kept the ankle stabilized enough to heal.

 

We ordered in chicken strips for dinner through the same site that we ordered last night’s Chinese food.  I am constantly surprised by the number of restaurants in the city, and the number that will deliver through Seamless.  It is nearly overwhelming, the amount of choice here.

 

We packed up Jenny, put away our cameras, and took off to Madison Square Garden to watch the New York Rangers take on the New Jersey Devils.  If you know we’re from Edmonton, you will have heard about our hockey woes; if not, look them up, because they are fascinating (if depressing) reading. we purchased accessible seats so we could have room for Jenny, which turned out to be a great choice, since my ankle was NOT up to climbing up and down a ton of stairs to get to other seats.  The view was fantastic, and Ben could see the whole rink from where we were – we’re pretty sure there’s not a bad seat in the house!

 

The atmosphere (beyond chaotic) of the Garden is electric.  These fans love their team, get into the game, and it has been a long time since I have felt something that electric at a sports game.  Even the pre-game preamble was classy, polished, and engaging.  We got snacks for the game, including cotton candy that came with a free hat (or did the hat come with a free bag of cotton candy?)  We went on to see the Rangers beat the Devils 3-1, and it was the first time we ever saw a hat trick live!  It was fantastic!  At the end of the game, the fans gave the Rangers a standing ovation.

 

All this time, Jenny was… terrific.  The whole day, she walked calmly with Ben and I.  If we were in crowded areas or with walking tours, I put down the harness handle and held her leash; in less-crowded (though still crowded) areas, I walked with her harness.  She did nearly flawless guide work all day, ignoring an insane amount of dogs (I stopped counting at 6), walking at a steady pace, and moving through crowds like she’s done it for years.  She curled up at my feet during the hockey game, MuttMuffs in place, and handled herself with grace and professionalism.  I just want to pick her up, snuggle her, and tell her to keep do whatever she’s been doing.

 

Ben and I talked today about how much we love the city.  We thought we would hate the crowds, and while we have had moments of panic due to the sheer number of people, it has not been as crazy as we thought.  We have met some great people along the way – along with a group of MTA bus drivers while coming out of Madison Square Garden; one of them hit Jenny in the bum with a door, apologized profusely, and we got talking and found they were a group of bus drivers, many with more than 20 years on the job.  Ben gave one of them his ETS patch from his old parka, and the driver gave him an MTA calendar.  It was great to hear them swap war stories, laugh at their pronunciation of Newfoundland, and just enjoy some levity.

 

Tomorrow, we’re off to a NYC Gospel Music tour, the New York City Transit Museum, and whatever else we feel like doing.

I LOVE working a guide dog.  Even though I am a good cane traveler, my worst day with a guide dog is exponentially better than my best days with my cane, especially in unfamiliar places.  I need to remind myself of this, even as I realize that we are all – dog, husband, myself – slightly overwhelmed by all the sights, smells, people, and new experiences.  We will get into a groove, and it WILL get better… and it did… culminating in what might be a legendary story for the trip.

One thing that I have noticed while I have been here – and the couple of other American cities that I have been in – is that people will not necessarily reach out and pet Jenny (though I have gotten that), but they will stare at her.  This does freak her out, and ultimately puts me on edge.  It’s just a weird quirk that I have noticed here.

We purchased the New York Pass at a discount months ago, because almost everything we wanted to do was included in the pass, and it would save us a ton of money while letting us do things we might not otherwise wish to fork over admission fees for.  Since Ben and I both love boats, we decided to take advantage of the All-day Access Pass for the New York Water Taxi, but since it was running on a 90-minute schedule we decided not to get off the boat, but just take pictures from the windows and the decks.  We got pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, and learned a lot of cool facts about new York City – like if Brooklyn were to break away and become its own city, it would be the 4th largest city in the world.

Jenny didn’t like the boat much, which ultimately culminated in our disembarking, going down the dock, and her leading me smack into a door frame.  We had a little “chat” about this, the Halti went on her nose, and on we went to the Intrepid.

The Intrepid was a cool experience, not only because it was, well, the Intrepid, but because they had a completely accessible guidebook.  If I had gone completely by myself, I had tactile maps that would have enabled me to both navigate the museum and learn about the exhibits.  In addition to the tactile maps, there was a pen that I assume read bar-codes in the book, which would let you trace the map and find out where you are, and read you the signs by the exhibits as well.  I have never seen anything so instantly accessible to me in my life, and I didn’t have to even ask for it!  The admissions crew mentioned it to us… I wish more museums had such awesome services!

After the Intrepid and lunch, we had some time to kill, so we went down Broadway and did some souvenir shopping.  We talked to one shopkeeper who told me the rent for the Subway sandwich shop around the corner – half his store’s size – was $28,000 a month.  Our mouths just fell open!  We couldn’t imagine such high rents for anything!

Since we still had time, we went to Discovery Times Square, where we took a quick look at the Body Worlds exhibit.  I remember when it came to Edmonton, and there were protests and boycots… I can’t remember why, and now that I have gone to the exhibit myself, I don’t understand the major protest fuss… it’s bodies; we all have them, we all should learn about them and what we do to them and how they break down.

Then we got insanely lost trying to find our tour guide for Inside Broadway tours (we did find him).  Tom, our guide, was terrific!  He laughed with us, at us, cracked jokes, did some awesome singing, and even got to say hi to Jenny, who I took off harness at the end of the tour… she went NUTS playing “Doggie for Mayor”.

I think here might be a good time to explain about the traffic here… IT IS NUTS!  At some spots – both before and on our tour – we had to jaywalk, squeeze between cars, or do other insanely crazy things that go against all instincts for self-preservation.  Jenny was NOT comfortable with this, even at one point trying seriously hard to pull me down the street and over to the corner.

Even before the Broadway tour, our feet started to HURT!  We decided to be lazy, went back to our B&B, and ordered Chinese food while Jenny passed out on the floor… but the day wasn’t done!

I am either brave, foolish, or some combination thereof, but I purchased a ticket for Jazz at Kitano for the Friday night show.  Ben is not a jazz fan, so I decided to go alone.  I looked up the train route on the MTA web site, and hoped and prayed I wouldn’t get too lost walking from 42 St to Park Avenue… my friends have told me that I am brave, so I’ll go with brave… but I didn’t feel brave at all!

That walk started off badly.  Jenny seems to struggle finding the corner near our B&B, so I walked several blocks while listening (and doubting) my GPS tell me that I was on the wrong street, so we went back and had to find the corner, which we ultimately did.  The rest of the trip to the Subway went off without a hitch; Jenny even took me directly to a box where I could swipe my card, and we JUST made it on the train.

I started to get nervous once I got off the train at 42nd street, but Jenny got me to the steps.  We got a bit disoriented, but I heard someone use the door to get toward street-level, so I directed her that way.  We made it up to W 40 St entrance, and we were off and walking.  The crowds, even at 9:30 at night, were HUGE – partygoers, tourists, even young kids.  Jenny nearly effortlessly guided me through them, around them, beside them.  I kept on walking until I got to W 38 St, which is where I thought I needed to be… and we walked, and walked, and walked.  I started to get nervous when we passed where I thought we should be, because my GPS kept on telling me we were going to go to E 38 St… but I decided, trust the dog, trust the GPS, ASK PEOPLE!

I did end up making it without incident, and squeezed in to the show just before it started.  The staff at the Kitano was incredibly attentive without being invasive, asking how they could assist… it was a wonderful experience!

I ended up sitting with a friend of Scott albertson, leader of the band.  The club was VERY anti-talking during performance, so we chatted a bit between songs.  The jazz was blues-influenced, with old standards and new interpretations.  As a special guest, a young girl played the piano on one song, and the saxophonist came back from the first set to stick around and play with her on the second one – she is 12 years old and plays the piano wonderfully!  The whole show was a great experience, including birthdays and that Robbie Burns song that you sing every New Years Eve and can’t get out of your head.

Turned out that all the people sitting at the table beside me were either band members or friends and family related to them.  They heard my story about walking from Times Square, thought I was sooooooo brave, and said that Scott would give me a ride back to the hotel.  I SO accepted, and wound up riding back with half the band!  Jenny was a big hit at well, staying calmly (asleep?) during the whole performance, but she did say hi when we got to the hotel.

We all fell into bed, exhausted after a day that didn’t start out so great (I have a massive bump on my forehead to prove that), that ended up terrific.  And now… for tomorrow!

We got up early this morning and prepared to face the day, unpacked the rest of our things, drank Ben’s kick-you-in-the-teeth coffee, and had breakfast in the cafe at our B&B – I enjoyed the waffle-iron frittata, and Ben loved the French toast.  We could have spent hours talking to Kipp (our innkeeper), who has had many careers – actor, furniture maker, playhouse owner, and probably a zillion other things we haven’t gotten to yet.  I honestly think I could spend a month talking to him about life experiences, from Hurricane Sandy to building furniture to thoughts on pride of residence… oh, wait, we did that this morning!

 

We left Jenny in the room to rest and recover for an hour or so, so that we could locate the Subway stop(s) closest to our B&B.  We got our Metro cards, and decided to take a train ride just for fun.  We took the E train to Penn Station, and got off to see where Madison Square Gardens is, and fulfilled our desire for hot dogs from a street vendor.  I got a chili dog that leaked everywhere, no matter how straight I held it… thankfully we had a ton of napkins!  Then we picked up a couple things from a pharmacy, which is where we heard our funny quote of the day.  I keep forgetting that American money includes pennies, and I made a comment about that; the cashier was surprised that we didn’t have pennies.  Ben showed her a toonie and told her it was worth $2 in Canada.  Her response was priceless: “That’s $2? Here, that’s a souvenir!”

 

We made our way back to our B&B, called friends and families to wish them merry Christmas, rested a bit, and then Ben went out to take some pictures.

 

 

We have been looking forward to a holiday lights and movie sites bus tour since we first heard about it.  The normal meeting spot was closed today, but we met up with Max, our tour guide, across the street, after enjoying lamb gyros and pretzels from street vendors for dinner.

 

 

 

 

It was an interesting way to see the city, but unfortunately traffic in some areas was insane, Jenny decided the little tiny spaces on the bus floors were GREAT for scavenging (aided by a spilled bag of jellybeans), there were too crying babies on the bus, and Max (our tour guide) only have a finite number of movies and trivia questions to choose from to fill the time.  We ended up at Macy’s, where Ben took this great picture of the Empire State Building.

 

 

We caught the train from Penn Station, where thankfully Jenny had mostly gotten over her case of the munchies (thank goodness for the Halti!!!) and arrived back at our B&B, where we are planning tomorrow’s itinerary.  On the docket?  New York Water Taxi, The Intrepid, and the Inside Broadway Tour!  This will be our first time using our new York Passes, which (according to our calculations, will get us in to see a ton of attractions we are either too inexperienced or cheap to take advantage of without it 🙂

Well, we arrived at our B&B about two hours ago, and are both absolutely exhausted!  Even on the best of days, air travel is exhausting for many people… we are both wiped, feel disgusting, and really just wanted the opportunity to sprawl as much as possible.

 

In preparation for this trip, we purchased MuttMuffs for Jenny, as the past couple of trips she has not been a great traveler.  We won a contest that provided us with two Roam Mobility Sim cards so that we can call and be reached while we are here, and we made sure we had talk, text and data plans at the ready so that we can keep in touch with friends and family.  And exchanging money? Yeeeeesh! I have never in my life had to fold money before; Canadian money includes Loonies ($1 coins) and toonies ($2 coins), and the new $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 bills are made of a plastic-feeling material that includes braille symbols that can help someone who is visually impaired identify their money immediately (even our previous currency had these markings).  Here, the money is paper, with no markings, and the smell gives me a contact high (is it the ink?)  Thankfully, I have folded my bills into cool different shapes which thankfully were not held up at the airport…

 

I have mixed feelings about traveling in airports with my guide dog, but thankfully Jenny has matured sufficiently in the past six months, and handled security with the professionalism she possesses.  Our first flight, to Denver, was a bit of a gong show; we sat very close to the front of the plane, and Jenny was very very cold.  Even though I used her jacket as a blanket, it was still too cold, too confined or too loud for her on the plane, and she nearly vibrated the whole flight.

 

Once getting to Denver, we had a bit of a problem.  Jenny was giving me all the signals that she needed to go outside, but the animal relief area was both outside security and at the far end of another terminal, and we only had less than 1.5 hours to get to our next flight (cane users thankfully don’t ever have to deal with this…).  I tried to improvise a “pee-pad” in a bathroom, and she wouldn’t go… she turned around in circles and just sat down; I could see the wheels turning in her head, thinking “Well, this is a very very bad idea…”  This ultimately resulted in a dog that desperately had to relieve, no where to do it, and a hope and a prayer – or several – that the 3.5-hour flight ahead would be as uneventful at the end as it was at the beginning.

 

But I didn’t need to worry; the plane departed and landed on time… and without incident.  There were several extra seats, so we did a little bit of musical seats amongst our row, which enabled Jenny to have the space in front of two seats – mine and the one in the middle!  I know some people who wouldn’t accept this, but why cut off my nose to spite my face?  And anyone who is not sure their dog will benefit from MuttMuffs – they have earned their keep FOR SURE!  Jenny used to always sit up and squirm during takeoff and landing… today, NOTHING!

 

We landed at Newark, and Jenny was pulling SO hard on the harness – a typical “take me out now!” sign.  Thankfully, there was an exit door right by the baggage carousel where we found a great patch of grass for her to happily answer nature’s call.  As soon as that was done, she was a very very very calm dog, taking me back to my husband, who unfortunately ripped an unimportant zipper on our duffel bag when carrying it off the carousel.

 

Then… the organized chaos of the Passenger Pickup area of Newark Airport.  It was honestly crazy… there were attendants constantly yelling “If you’re not dropping off or picking up, get out of the way!” and I could tell that this had been said multiple times every day.  We chatted up one of the attendants, and he said that he uttered that phrase “all day, everyday.”  Our hired car picked us up and got us to our B&B, talking about driving in the city, his homeland (India), asking questions about Canada.  My favorite line – just based on his tone – was “I don’t like the south of India… it is WAY too hot! (emphatically) I am from the north! (quickly)”  I doubt I can adequately convey the humor of it, but it was just so priceless!  In the 30 minutes in his car, I heard more horn-honking than I do in a month back home.

 

Upon arrival at our B&B, we were met by the innkeepers, Kipp and Margo.  Once we got inside and started to settle, the first thing they asked was if they could say hi to Jenny.  Normally I wouldn’t, be OK with this, but Jenny had been in work mode for 12 hours straight, including air travel, so I took off her harness and let her go.  She ran up the stairs and played “Doggie for Mayor”, promptly endearing herself.

 

Since then, we’ve ordered and eaten New York-style pizza – unfortunately the delivery driver didn’t want to accept our groupon, but did in the end – watched cheesy game shows, and unpacked our suitcase.  Jenny is now fast asleep on her blanket on the floor beside my bed, and we will live to face our first full day in New York City!