The City that Never Sleeps

"....those little town blues....are melting away....I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!"
There are those who visit the Big Apple and say, "Boy, am I glad I don't live there." Not me. I would LOVE and welcome the opportunity to live for one year in an apartment in NYC.
This past weekend I visited the "city that never sleeps" with my mother, my daughter, 2 sisters and 2 nieces. A third niece goes to college in the Bronx, so this motivated us to get our act together and plan a visit before she graduates in May.
A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL.
We planned this trip a few months in advance, and I was in charge of our hotel reservations. I searched and schemed, and finally decided to go with priceline.com. This is the second time I have used their services, and was pleased both times. I got a 3.5 star hotel in Times Square that was clean and comfortable and had all the amenities at a substantial savings over their published prices.
Our goal was to do a lot of sightseeing, as my youngest sister had never been to NYC before. Riding the doubledecker bus cannot be beat to see the most in a short period of time. We took the Downtown Loop which took us to Rockefeller Center, Macy's, So Ho, Greenwich Village, Chinatown, The World Trade center site, Southside Seaport, and Battery Park. You can "hop off" at any of these points, look around, shop, whatever, and hop back on the bus when you are done.
We got off at the WTC site and visited the church that is beside and served as a refuge for the rescue workers during those awful days and months that followed the tragedy. It is a must-see if you are in New York anytime in the near future. It gives you a new appreciation for volunteers; in fact, is worthy of it's own blog.
We also got off at Battery Park to walk close to the shore line and see the Statue of Liberty holding court out in the middle of the harbor. We experienced a "street show" while there~ 3 brothers that dance and do acrobatics....and then of course pass the hat for contributions. They were quite entertaining, so we dropped a few bucks in the pot.
Our longest stop was in Chinatown where we had authentic Chinese food and shopped some. I really don't care to ever go to Chinatown again in my life. Enough said.
Back in Times Square we went to dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner, where actresses and actors (Broadway hopefuls) wait on the tables, and sing and dance in between. It's a wonderful thing to do when in the city. Our waitress was from Pine Richland. So far, no luck for her on or off Broadway :(
Entertaining us for the entire trip was the "search for the perfect purse". Street vendors with tables full of handbags are everywhere....and there are a few characters with large canvas sheets, tied up with items that may or may not be hot. They untie their bundle to expose the goods, only to whip it back together and take off running when the cops come by. Shady!
One of the best parts of the trip was the camaraderie with loved ones travelling back and forth. Our daughters do not yet understand how we can be on the verge of murder with each other one moment and laughing til we're crying the next. All I know is that, NYC memories were made!