WEEKEND IN THE BIG APPLE.

I flew out Thursday morning with daughter #1 to visit daughter #2. The main objective was to visit for her birthday, which actually is Oct. 2. The second reason was to be VIP guests at a special Wheel of Fortune taping at Radio City Music Hall.

We arrived before noon on Thursday and soon realized the weather was more summer like than fall like. While I hadn't worn a coat or anything long-sleeved, even pants and short sleeves proved to be too warm, and soon changed (in the car no less!) into shorts and a tank top. It was that warm (87 degrees!). Since daughter #2 (Renee) lives in NJ and we had flown into Newark, we decided just to take the train into the city from near the airport. The train takes you right into Penn Station, which is at 33rd and 8th Ave.

Just getting off the train puts you immediately into the throng of people that is New York City. Entering the street, it not only was more hot and humid than we would have liked, but you also mingled with the masses and took in the sights and scents that is the City.

Here too you're not far from Broadway and Times Square, but you are quite a way from Lower Manhattan, so the first thing we did was go try to buy tickets for a Broadway play or musical. We had looked at tickets on line at various discount ticket websites, but none of them were all that cheap or affordable, and then you had the added cost of having them mailed by express delivery, which didn't work for us either. As it turned out, buying them directly from the theater not only gave us a chance to see exactly where our seats would be, but it also saved all the add-on fees you get buying "discount." Renee's choice? Legally Blonde the Musical, being performed at the Palace Theater right on Broadway, of course! (She had already seen a couple of the other great shows--Wicked; Jersey Boys.)

Our next mission was to head to Ground Zero to see what, if any, progress was being made on the new World Trade Center construction. From Broadway to Ground Zero, it is probably 30 or 40 blocks, and we were hot and getting tired from the early morning flight, so we decided to take the subway. I am continually amazed at the New York City transit system. If you know where you are and where you want to go, the maps are pretty easy to read. If not, there is always someone available to help you figure it out.

What we discovered when arriving at Ground Zero was you could no longer get up close to the fence surrounding the construction. There was a policeman prohibiting anyone from standing at the fence. Before, while there was still a fence surrounding the area, the fence was on the other side of the sidewalk, giving people a place to stand. Now, it looked to me like the fence came out to the street, which would have meant people standing in the way of traffic to get a closer look. So I'm not sure what exactly is different now, but apparently some changes are taking place.

After this, it was getting late afternoon, almost 5 pm, and we really wanted to get back on the train before rush hour and head to Renee's on the shore. And we barely made it! We heard final boarding just as we were coming out of the bathroom, or would have had to wait more than another hour for the next train. As it was, with the usual traffic, it still took about an hour to do a 40 mile drive. (to be continued when I get my pictures uploaded)