It was a super quick visit, and really just for work purposes ... but we did knock off early enough from our training to allow me a few hours to amble about the Big Apple.
Actually, on the way to my work meeting, I did pass what appeared to be the remnants of the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Or, at least, I saw 3 or 4 kids sleeping on cardboard outside of the Wall Street subway stop who looked exceptionally uncomfortable -- although that might have been the combination of 100+ degrees and the obligatory dreads.
And right after I left said meeting, I did try to work my way to the Freedom Tower. I only got one picture from a distance (it's on Facebook in my "How I Spent my Summer Vacation (pt. 2) album") as the whole memorial is blocked off from view in some attempt to only allow those in who have tickets (which makes sense from a security point of view or for raising money) ... so I could only say "yep, tower's going up" ...
But I spent most of my time of my bonus hours in Central Park, with the hustlers and the homeless and the internationals -- the cell phone focused and the ear budded -- the birds, the pigeons, the super skinny squirrels -- the girls hoping to be discovered, the women who might have been discovered a long time ago, the creepy men who were leering at the girls as if they were going to pretend to be someone whose business it was to make a discovery but who really had ulterior motives, and the old ladies who probably were responsible for discovering girls some multi-thousand cigarettes ago -- all flung together in a Babel-esque scenario of multi-lingual-ality. I didn't see anyone famous (or infamous, which I guess are in equal supply in the big city) ... and the rich seemed to be mingling with the poor without issue in some utopian existence.
I did have to fight off the Somalis or the Nigerians or some other authentically African cultural group (and I mean authentic in the either-myself-or-my-parents-literally-escaped-from-a-warlord vein) who seemed to have taken over all of the bike-rick-shaws and who doubted that someone of my recent weight gain could really navigate the park on my own (I did mention that it was a day of 100+ degrees, right?)! We have those methods of travel here in Wrigley -- particularly during the games -- but Chitown is much more racially represented and diversified when it comes to this industry.
And as a final thought -- DON'T EAT THE SNOW CONE that is pictured above. You might be tempted to do so (one more time -- particularly on days of 100+ degrees) when you see everyone walking past. But they are NOT THE SNOW CONES that you think they are -- NOT SHAVED ICE WITH A LIQUID SYRUP SPRAYED ON IT -- but they are instead some chemical concoction that gets pulled out of an ice cream freezer truck. The leading ingredients may be water and sugar (which would seem to be just fine) but it will NOT taste the way you expect to it. I don't want to start a feud with street vendors, but DON'T BUY IT.
All that said, my time spent walking around amidst the rocks that I fully expected to see because I enjoy the "central park" course on Golden Tee, you will be missed (but at least I have the pics by which I can remember you).
NO NEED TO FLY TO NYC -- YOU CAN WATCH THE PROGRESS ONLINE:
http://www.panynj.gov/wtcprogress/index.html
MORE PICTURES OF WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT EAT IN CENTRAL PARK:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=central+park+snow+cone&gbv=2&rlz=1W1ADFA_enUS490&gs_l=hp.3...1703.4266.0.6063.22.20.0.2.2.0.203.2440.9j9j1.19.0...0.0.ONS39kNqw5c&sa=X&oi=image_result_group
FACEBOOK SAYS I CAN SHARE THE ALBUM THUSLY:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2953180528920.104341.1843633569&type=3&l=c8fe3cd7ef
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