New York, New York (Part Three)

Ah, Sunday. That was a lovely, busy day. Ari and I had a quick breakfast in the apartment and walked down to the Rockefeller Center, where Ari's Mecca resides - the Nintendo World Store. We had agreed to meet there with some of the most special, wonderful people in the world - members of my March96 mailing list. I have mentioned them before on this blog, but I still cry when I read this piece I put together for a Squidoo Thanksgiving magazine. If you don't have time to read that article, suffice it to know that I have been a member of this mailing list since July 1995, when I was pregnant with my oldest, now 16. We have been through many trials and tribulations, and we try to get together as much as possible. If the Nintendo World Store was the highlight for Ari, seeing my March friends was the highlight for me. They are like sisters and brothers to me, and whenever we meet in person, we just pick up the thread as if our last meeting had been just the day before. Indeed, virtually, it probably was!

Our group included another March sibling (14 years old) and a March kid (16 years old). Enjoying the pleasure of having big kids, we dumped them all at the store and went off to enjoy our coffee and chat. This picture is actually of Ari playing Mario Kart with a random stranger he picked up in the store, but he soon connected with the other boys and we felt quite confident leaving them.

We eventually had to drag them out for lunch, under the solemn promise of returning later. Of course Ari had to pay a visit to the statue of Prometheus.  Note the gamer shirt. He kept it clean specifically for this day. This, my friends, is what a gamer looks like. We were able to satisfy some of his desire to buy the whole store and also got some nice gifts for his siblings. Saying good-bye to my friends was hard, but I know we will find a way to meet again sooner rather than later, despite the difficulties of modern travel. The day was completed with a lovely dinner with some old friends whom I had not seen in thirty years.

This morning we had some difficulty getting up, but we did drag ourselves down to the Empire State Building. Ari learned something about the myriad people who addressed us on the street, assuring us that we would be waiting for HOURS unless we bought a premium ticket from them. Amazingly, there was a very short line for tickets (and the kind person behind the glass gave Ari a child's ticket even though he admitted to being thirteen), a very reasonable lineup for the elevators and a respectable but not excessive crowd up on the 86th floor. We had fun identifying all the places we had seen from the cruise (we saw The Beast on its way back from the Statue of Liberty, and waved at our old friend down there). Central Park looked amazingly close from up there, but I think we are going to have to leave it for next time. 


On our way back north the other side of Broadway was the shady side of the street, so we found ourselves paying a visit to a distinguished lady I remember from my childhood. I don't, however, remember her wearing such decorations on her head.

Tomorrow we will be travelling a good part of the day, so I imagine you won't hear from me for a day or two after. Thanks for following our adventures in the Big Apple!