Last Day in New York

First off, the Christmas tree lights atop Radio City Music Hall Marquee:

We're having fun now!  I know you saw the still shot on an earlier post, but this is the moving action piece.

Today is our last day in New York and there's this sense of relief of heading home tomorrow and wistfulness at leaving this place.  So we get up and head south again--Barbara to Herald Square and Macy's, and me to mid-town Manhattan.  This was a spur of the moment decision to split up, but we agree to meet up again for lunch.

Barbara went over to H & M to check out the Versace line being revealed today; she said it was a madhouse.  Then to Macy's, where I met up with her in the furniture department on the top floor; they had chairs.

But before all that, I headed downtown and got off on the 23rd Street Stop.  I assume this hat in the mosaic (there were many others on this wall) is because I'm near the Garment District, which I never got to head into.  Next trip.

I've landed about the Madison Square area of town, near one of my favorite buildings. 
Yep, it's the Flatiron Building again.

 

Detail of the top of the "prow" of the building.  It has an interesting history, and apparently is destined to be a luxury hotel, when all the buildings leases run out, in about ten years.

Detail of top of the back.

It's quite ornate, showing that it was constructed in a time when these things mattered.
Pressing on, I run into the underground garage flea market (just like any other, if you ask me).

 

Shop windows along the street show all kinds of fabulous jewelry, but this shop wasn't open when I passed by.

This was my destination, with ArtQuilt Gallery beside it.  Check out my quilt blog for more info on this and other NYC fabric sights.

A tiny quilt: New York Subway fabric with appliqued subway routes on top.

Back out on the street, this sounds like a good idea: a foot massage.

A Saturday morning ritual of feeding the birds?

I stop at this flea market, and buy a calligraphy brush from the fellow on the right.

His table of wares.

So many little scenes along the streets.

I stop in at this paper store looking for "washi," or paper tape.  Not much success although they did have just about everything else paper.  I saw two other shops that had paper as their theme--do all stores congregate in districts in New York?

I walk over to the one-train, as I hear someone call it.

And take it up to 34th street to meet Barbara.

We find each other, show off our treasures, then start to walk up to  Fifth Avenue to see the windows, before we depart this city.

Macy's--one side is "Miracle on 34th Street" and the other side is a fantasy of moving puppets and wishes and music.

We walk uptown.

Past the tree in Rockefeller Center and down into the basement to grab a quick snack, as we decide to postpone a meal until an early dinner that night.

All cables for the lights for the tree.  Check your favorite TV station on  Wednesday, November 30th, for the lighting of the tree.

We watch the ice skaters from below.

And from above, outside in the plaza.

These two little girls look like they are wearing old-fashioned ice-skating outfits, with those ruffles on their coats.

More art deco on the buildings in this area, then we start our way up Fifth Avenue, Barbara determined to get to the Apple Store and charge her phone, and me determined to photograph the Christmas windows.  We eventually split up and meet later.

Cartier's store.

Fendi.

This store (Henri Bendel?) had a dollhouse scene with wild and crazy party scene.

Trump Tower.  The guy's a dweeb, but his tower is nice looking.

These windows are loaded with antique clothing.  Sorry about the glare--that's how it is in the day.

More Bergdorf Goodman windows on the theme of Carnival of the Animals.

This picture is from their website, as I couldn't ever get a good photo. 
This one is called Breaking the Ice.

These are my snapshot details.

Testing the Waters

Obviously, my shot.

Teacher's Pets. 
These are all made of paper.

The zebra's stripes.

And their last one is Artists and Models (below).

I've arrived at the corner and it's time to find Barbara.

The street scene is in full swing, and if it weren't for the fact that we're both really tired, we'd love to stay and play. 

We hire a bicycle cab to take us on a ride through Central Park to our hotel.

He owns his own contraption.  He told me the name, but I forgot.

A final meal in New York City: dinner at the Shake Shack.  We go back to our hotel, grab our luggage, find some money a bank, take a taxi to Penn Station.  A train on the NJ Transit system is next, with a pick-up at P4 at the Newark Airport by our hotel: Fairfield Inn and Suites.

We are out the door the next morning, catching an early flight to LAX.  We arrive 45 minutes late (bad weather in LA) so Barbara runs across the airport to make her connecting flight home with a whole 2 mintues to spare.  When she told the guy at security she was trying to make her flight and could she please run barefoot to her gate, he told her to take the whole bin and run like crazy.  So she slipped on her backpack, grabbed her wheelie suitcase with one hand, tucked the security tray with all of her things in the other and made the flight.
Thanks for the memories!