Broadway and the Big Apple--Part Two (a.k.a. Food Coma)

If you missed Part One of my trip, you can catch up here.

On day two of my trip to New York, Larissa took us to see Grand Central Station. Boy is it grand! You really can't get a good feel for what it looks like by seeing it in the movies. Even the pictures we took don't do it justice.

Next we went to Macy's department store to ride on the wooden escalator. This thing is OLD!! As in 109 years old! It's original, and still being used today.

Then we went to lunch at Patsy's, for some white pizza. What is white pizza, you ask? It has Riccotta cheese, Mozarella slices, and fresh Basil on top. It's pretty darn good!

Our next stop was to Serendipity for dessert, even though we were already full from Patsy's. We each had Frozen Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, which was worth the overinflated stomach.

They had something unusual on the menu at Serendipity:

Did you notice what was in it? GROSS!! I wouldn't eat that, but I bet my husband would. He likes to try strange foods, especially while on vacation.

We then took a jaunt over to China Town for some shopping. I was a little disappointed. It seemed like when I went to New York 9 years ago, there were wall-to-wall vendors. This time, there were very few shops to browse. But I DID buy a new suitcase to haul all my souveniers home. (I went a little crazy on the shopping, and couldn't fit my purchases into the suitcase I brought.)

That night, we went to see Catch Me If You Can. If you're not familiar with the story, there's a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tom Hanks. It's about a teenager named Frank Abagnale, Jr., who forges millions of dollars worth of checks, meanwhile posing as a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer. You watch in disbelief at how much he gets away with, while at the same time pulling for him to succeed.

I especially enjoyed the character of Hanratty, the detective who is determined to catch Abagnale. The actor playing him was able to convey a sense of frustration and yet a certain sort of respect and admiration for Abagnale.

In the story, he would begrudging go along with the song and dance and faldaral put on by Abagnale. He would shuffle his feet as if he was being made to dance against his will. His dancing successfully looked as awkward as if he wasn't a Broadway trained actor.



There was another surprise in this musical. It starred Tom Wopat as Frank Abagnale, Sr. Don't remember who he is? See below:

p.s. He's the dark haired one. After the show, we went to the stage door, and look who we saw:



We were finally hungry enough to eat dinner, so we headed over to the StarDust Diner. Here, the wait-staff sing and dance on the tables to entertain you. The food was decent, the service was terrible. I guess you can't expect your waitress to bring your food or your check in a timely manner, when she's too busy singing Les Miserables. The entertainment was a bit over the top, although enjoyable.

Stay tuned for the next installment in the series,  Part Three...