First-Time Adventures in the Big Apple — Part 2

FIRST PUBLISHED SEPT. 14, 2015

Our Big Apple history and genealogy lessons in the Battery ended and it was time to move on and see some more of this huge metropolis. We rode the subway to Canal Street Station, walked east through Chinatown and on to Little Italy for lunch. Auntie Lynn lived in New York City for a while and wanted us to experience Little Italy. The neighborhood has changed dramatically over time and is no longer the enclave of Italian immigrants it once was. Chinatown is encroaching on the area more and more, but there are still vestiges of Italian life here and there. Lynn took us to a fabulous Italian restaurant to get our first taste of New York pizza (we still like Connecticut pizza better — sorry New York!), and got a great window seat where we could watch the world go by. Upon leaving the pizza place, Sofia spotted a restaurant next door called Sofia's. Camera time! I snapped a couple photos of her pointing to the restaurant's sign. Decked out in her Statue of Liberty sunglasses, her stance made her look just like Lady Liberty.

Back on the Canal Street subway we went and rode to Central Park West. This was a highly anticipated part of the day, since we are all Beatles fans! Jain and Sofia were eager to go to Strawberry Fields and John Lennon's memorial. They flashed peace signs at the entrance and while kneeling at the Imagine plaque on the grounds. Sofia ran free through the park and did cartwheels while Jain purchased a small calligraphic print of the word "IMAGINE" with a rose.

We could not have asked for better weather for this venture into New York City! North Carolina had been so hot and we were begging for a reprieve from the heat and relentless sunshine. The day we had planned to come into the city had been rainy and cold, so we waited until the next day. It was perfect. Temps no higher than the low 80s, a cool breeze blowing — strolling through Central Park was just glorious. Sofia spotted its immense boulders and dashed off to climb all over them. She was in her little athletic glory!

Finally, it was time to end our day, but not before window shopping along Fifth Avenue. I felt bad for Jain that we didn't get to go in any of the stores so she could drool over the fashions, but we had accomplished all we could in one day and everyone was pooped.

The girls really wanted to visit a museum, and I would have loved to take them to the Central Park Zoo. But we know now the next time we go into the Big Apple we'll have those things to see and do! Maybe even a Broadway play!!!