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<\/a>Times Square<\/p><\/div>\n
Actually, we left a week ago last Thursday for New York, New York<\/strong>, on our way to jump on a cruise that goes to . . . well, you\u2019ll see.\u00a0 But first, about our time in the Big Apple<\/strong>.\u00a0 I have to be honest and say I really wasn\u2019t looking forward to our day and a half there before our departure. I had been there several times on business several years ago and a couple of times to see my daughter, Stephanie, when she was enrolled in the American Musical & Dramatic Academy<\/strong> (AMDA), aspiring to get on Broadway<\/strong>.\u00a0 The city is big, impersonal, messy, crowded, crime-infested \u2013 generally, not where I wanted to spend any time.\u00a0 I was soooo wrong!<\/strong>\u00a0 This city is electric and we found the people to be most friendly!!\u00a0 A cab ride, with a friendly cab driver, brought us from JFK to our hotel, the Edition<\/strong>, which was ideally situated on Times Square<\/strong> \u2013 we were in the heart of the \u2018city that never sleeps\u2019.\u00a0 After getting to our room on the 27th<\/sup> floor, which gave us an excellent view of what was going on below in Times Square, we cleaned up and headed out to nice Italian dinner at La Masseria <\/strong>– walking distance.\u00a0 Great dinner, friendly server!<\/p>\n 911 Memorial<\/p><\/div>\n Friday morning found us on a Hop-On-Hop-Off<\/strong> bus that started in Times Square and had stops at the Empire State Building, the Flatiron District, SoHo, Chinatown, Little Italy, Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, Battery Park<\/strong>, and the World Trade Center<\/strong>.\u00a0 We sat in the seats on the exposed upper deck of the bus, and while we did get a little rain, it offered us a great view of all the aforementioned sights.\u00a0 We ended up spending 3-4 hours at the 911 Memorial Museum<\/strong> \u2013 what an emotional experience!<\/p>\n Us, listening to ‘Sinatra’<\/p><\/div>\n After hopping off the bus for good in Times Square, on our way back to our room to freshen up before finding a place for dinner, we stopped at one of my favorite places in any city, an Irish Pub<\/strong>.\u00a0 This one was named the Playwright Tavern<\/strong> on 49th<\/sup> Street.\u00a0 Our thought was to have a quick beer before we go back to the room, clean up and find a place for dinner.\u00a0 With an engaging bar tender, who was actually from Ireland<\/strong>, one Guinness led to another and before we knew it, we decided to stay there for dinner.\u00a0 \u201cFish & Chips please!\u201d\u00a0 After dinner, I asked the bartender where the stairs at the end of the room led; he said it was more of the restaurant and another bar.\u00a0 It\u2019s an Irish Pub, of course there\u2019s another bar!\u00a0 So, I went upstairs and found a quaint restaurant setting and the other bar, where there was a guy singing Sinatra tunes, and he was really good.\u00a0 I ask a server, who is standing next to me, if this was a patron who just got up to sing or the regular entertainment.\u00a0 It was the regular entertainment, but he was anything but regular, he had an amazing voice.\u00a0 I went down and got Linda and we spent the next couple of hours listening to this guy, his name is Kurt Decker, belt out Frank Sinatra and Billy Joel tunes.\u00a0 He ended up not only singing to us, but talking to us during his break and explaining his love of Sinatra music.\u00a0 An incredible evening!!!<\/p>\n The next morning, we Ubered over to Brooklyn<\/strong> and got on the Emerald Princess<\/strong>.\u00a0 I have to say that Princess is not our favorite cruise line, the ships are nice, but the food is average at best – says the guy who dined on Guinness and fish and chips the night before!<\/p>\n On Saturday we board and just before sunset we set sail, or whatever it is those big ships do when they leave port, and got a stunning view of the Statue of Liberty<\/strong> and the Manhattan skyline as we head out on our adventure.<\/p>\n Leaving Manhattan (that’s not our boat!)<\/p><\/div>\n As we head North, I’m really looking forward to having a nice lobster dinner!!!<\/p>\n On Thursday: Newport, RI and Boston<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow We\u2019re leavin\u2019 today . . . Actually, we left a week ago last Thursday for New York, New York, on our way to jump on a cruise that goes to . . . well, you\u2019ll see.\u00a0 But … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/911-300x176.jpg\")
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<\/a>An item from \u2018It\u2019s a Small World\u2019\u00a0 <\/strong>Once out to sea, the casino opens and while Linda is playing the slots, I sat down at the bar to watch the Utah-USC game<\/strong>.\u00a0 I notice the guy next to me is also rooting for Utah and I ask him if he\u2019s from there.\u00a0 He said he was not from there but went to school and played football at a small school there that I\u2019d probably never heard of, Westminster College<\/strong>. I told him I that\u00a0I also went there and played football.\u00a0 We had a great time talking about familiar people and places and watching Utah kick a final-play field goal to beat USC.<\/p>\n