Wednesday In New York City

Let’s go back a month (I can’t believe it’s been a month!) and talk about what we did on Wednesday in New York City. Ready?

Dale and I got up very early to be in the studio audience of Good Morning America. We waited outside in line for a bit but the process was very easy and everyone was friendly and helpful. We did not get on camera (except for a brief shot of the back of Dale’s head) but I wasn’t really there to be on television.

I was there to enjoy the experience. To see George Stephanopoulos in person.  To ogle that day’s celebrity guest, Josh Lucas (he’s pretty cute in person) and to maybe get a free gift. (We did. 2 $100 gift cards to CVS.)

And to meet Robin Roberts. You never know which of the hosts will stay behind for photo ops with the audience members but I was thrilled that it was Robin Roberts and Ginger Zee on this particular day. As Dale was chatting to Ginger Zee he mentioned that we were in NYC for school vacation and that he drives a school bus. Ginger turned to him and said, “did you know that Robin used to drive a school bus?” And then Dale and Robin Roberts chatted about what it’s like to be a school bus driver. (How awesome is that?!)

After the taping we headed back to the hotel room. Hannah had taken a yoga class and she was hungry and we were hungry and so we set off in search of food. We ended up at Mom’s Kitchen and Bar in Hell’s Kitchen, just a short walk from our hotel. Hannah had pancakes with fruity pebbles in them, I had chicken and waffles, and Dale (Mr. Adventurous) had ham and eggs. It was all good, made even more so by a Bloody Mary or two.

After all that gluttony we were ready to stretch out legs so we walked over to Central Park. We visited The Dakota, where John Lennon lived, and also Strawberry Fields. It was a beautiful day and we sat for quite a while watching the people come and go and pay their respects to John Lennon’s special spot in the park. I may have also shaken my head a lot at the people who rode their bikes right up to the memorial despite the signs that were literally everywhere that said no bikes. Sigh.

It was a glorious day, sunny and warm, and we were in need of refreshment and I wanted to see The Boathouse. Now, here’s the thing with me and Central Park . . . I always get lost. I’m not great with maps anyway and when you account for the fact that there are roads and walking paths and biking paths and more . . .  I get terribly confused and frustrated and leave. But this time I had Dale and Hannah with me and, despite the fact that I kept telling them we were going in the wrong direction, they were right and we found The Boathouse and I had two wonderful glasses of rosé while watching the row boats. It was heavenly.

Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you about 3 more things we did on Thursday.