Sounds like a great day. I'd love to see "Driving Miss Daisy," but I doubt I'll be in NY any time soon. When I was working at a NY agency we frequently worked on Black Friday. I remember threading my way through the crowd at full speed from 53rd and Lex to the Port Authority at 42nd and 9th. I think the tourists look at high-speed on-foot commuters as rude, but we just wanted to get home! Paul
On Nov 27, 2010, at 3:49 PM, Daniel J. Matyola wrote: > I hope everyone here in the US had a great Thanksgiving, and is on the > road to recovery. > > After a nice traditional meal at home (turkey and much, much more), > with family and friends, we had a full Black Friday (The traditional > start of Christmas shopping in the US). My idea of shopping is going > on line, or doing it the old-fashioned way -- by catalogs. > > Nevertheless, yesterday I found myself in the belly of the beast. > > In the morning, my wife and her friend hit Flemington (a country town > nearby with lots of factory outlets) for some quick bargains, while I > did some yard work. Then, we headed into the City. On Black Friday. > Insane. > > We took the train into The City, then walked from Penn Station the 25 > blocks or so to The Park. Broadway was almost impassable at points, > with shoppers, tourists and theater-goers. We had an early -- and > hearty -- dinner at the Russian Tea Room (slightly to the left of > Carnegie Hall, and just south of the park). Then, since we had some > time, we headed over to Fifth Avenue, which was even more festive, and > every bit as crowded, as Broadway. We stopped to enter the confusion > and chaos of the busiest store in the City: the flagship Apple Store > at Fifth Avenue and 58th. > (http://images.apple.com/retail/fifthavenue/gallery/images/photo1.jpg). > If there is a recession, you couldn't tell from this place; there > was a line of people entering, and we could hardly move around on the > main retail floor, below street level. > > We then walked south on Fifth Avenue, past all the expensive fashion > and jewelry stores, to St Pat's and Rockefeller Center, which was also > mobbed. The tree was up but undecorated, the skaters were waltzing on > the ice below the square, and shoppers and tourists bumped into one > another every few inches. Even before the lighting of the big tree, > the decorations were sumptuous. > > Finally, we fought our way back to 45th and Broadway, to the Golden > Theater, and the ultimate goal of the evening: Driving Miss Daisy, > with Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones. It is a very good play, > but that is quite besides the point. Watching two of the greatest > actors of our time playing against each other was an overwhelming > experience, and everything we had hoped for. > > Finally, the hour and a quarter train ride home, to warm up and loosen > up in the hot tub before collapsing in exhaustion. Quite a day for > three old fogies from Jersey and Baltimore. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
