NYC checklist

Well, our heels and calves may never speak to us again, but Mrs. Mosley and I had a fine time walking all over New York City for four days last week. Here is our NYC experiences checklist:

• Broadway - There was nothing playing that really got both of us excited to see, Except for maybe Wicked, and that was not an option at the half-price TKTS booth. So we went and saw The Producers and had a grand old time. Incidentally, this makes two Broadway plays I've seen on vacation in other cities (the other was The Lion King in Toronto) and they were both based on films I haven't seen yet. Weird.
• Central Park - Easily one of the highlights of our trip. We took a stroll through the southern half of it only hours after landing and checking into our hotel. The weather was clear and cool and we ate lunch next to "The Pond". We then wandered and ended up on a bench on "The Mall" (Ingenious names this park has). Someone played a saxophone down on one end while Mrs. Mosley's head lay in my lap. Moments don't get more perfect than that.
• Empire State Building - You know, I might have been able and willing to wait an hour in line to go on Thunder Mountain ten years ago, but I'll be damned if I'll do it these days for most anything, including King Kong's hangout. To quote Sergeant Roger Murtaugh: "I'm too old for this sh*t!"
• Jackhammers - We passed only one, and it was working on a building and not the street itself.
• Panhandling - Two large instances of this on the subway itself. Both were during crowded periods. The first guy set down his hat (some change already jingling in it) and did a very loud spiel asking for money, gum, cigarettes, anything. He did get some change from others, and Mrs. Mosley and I simultaneously wondered if he jumped a turnstile or actually paid two dollars in order to come down here and beg for change. The second guy, who wandered from one end of the subway car to another offering (of all things) AA and AAA batteries for sale. Unfortunately for him, we happened to be flush at the time.
• Pigeon droppings - Yep. Once while standing on a street corner and the bird was perched on a street sign above my head. Little bastard.
• Post 9/11 security - The extra airport security was expected, including the whole "no liquids" thing. What wasn't expected was the fact that security to enter the Statue of Liberty was higher than the airports themselves. We went through the standard security routine once to get on the ferry and a second time to enter the statue. The second also had some sort of compressed air thingy that blew at your sides in case you carried a biological weapon on your clothes.
• Queens - This was the only borough outside of Manhattan that we ventured into. I'm not sure what I expected to find there, but Mrs. Mosley's first words as we emerged from the underground subway station was, "Hey! We're in the suburbs!".
• Street Vendors - No, we didn't get around to partaking of any of these. Mrs. Mosley's stomach can be sensitive to strangely cooked meat, so we took a pass. However, as much talk as I had heard about hot dogs and pretzels, the smells seemed to overwhelmingly indicate that marinated chicken on skewers was the most popular dish at these places. I have to admit, they did smell good.
• Subway - We took the subway to quite a few places throughout the city, though Mrs. Mosley and I agreed that it's not as easy to understand as the other three subway systems we have used on our trips (London, Toronto, D.C.).
• Taxi Cabs - We rode in cabs twice during the trip. The first was from Laguardia to our hotel after we landed and the second was from our hotel to Penn Station when we left. For the record, the first cabbie did wear a turban (East Indian, not Arabic).
• Times Square - It's as crowded and flashy and gaudy as you'd imagine, yet it's strangely charming because of it. Since I'm not partial to crowds, I wouldn't want to spend a huge amount of time there, but I'm glad I was able to visit for a little while.
• Traffic - Though it may be foolish to try and navigate all over Jacksonville with just public transportation, I am convinced it would be downright insane to get around NYC by car. Honestly, I saw more traffic jams at all times of day in all parts of town. It's ridiculous. And I think some of my suspension of disbelief will from now on be threatened if I ever see another movie with a NYC high speed car chase in it. It simply can't be done.
• Transvestites - I spotted one on a subway platform while we waited quite a while for our train. He had on high heels (natch), cigarette pants, a pink blouse and a white-blonde whig. A very fifties look. However, the whig didn't go nearly far enough to cover up his natural brown hair, half an inch of which could easily be seen. Nice try, though.

There is one last part of the trip that I loved, but that's another post. Stay tuned.