First off, it's cold out. Yesterday was a nearly jacket-free day, but today it was downright chilly.
Second of all, and this didn't affect us until after brunch, but the New York Marathon was going on most of the day, so all the cross streets up around Central Park, including most of the park itself, were closed off.
Our first stop was a new restaurant for us, Landmarc, owned by Chopped judge Marc Murphy, for brunch. We've been to his Ditch Plains in the West Village a couple of times, which we really love, so we expected the brunch menu at Landmarc to be pretty similar. We walked up to Columbus Circle and due to the time change, actually got up early this morning, so we made it there an hour early. Luckily, they weren't full and we able to seat us. The food and service were both excellent. I had French toast made from a thick cut country bread that was superb, plus thick cut bacon. Our table was right next to the window overlooking Columbus Circle and part of the marathon.
From there we'd planned to go to Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon Memorial, just about 12 blocks up by 72nd. But since all of the cross streets were closed off by the police, we soon realized that wasn't going to happen.
We ended up having to walk all the way up to 86th to cross over to the eastern side of the park, where we ended up on 5th Avenue. We were right by the Metropitan Museum of Art and thought about going in, but since it was already after 2:00 by then, we didn't have enough time to justify the expense.
On our way back, we passed by the Central Park Zoo. Madison has many fond memories of going there when she was younger, especially seeing the polar bear, so that was the perfect stop. As soon as we got there, they were feeding the sea lions, which was fun to watch.
We were saddened to learn that Gus the Polar Bear had passed away recently, so the polar bear exhibit was closed. We'd spent many a trip watching him swim back and forth, and were delighted to read how they'd worked to vary his routine by hiding his food. Gus, you will be missed.
On our way down 5th Avenue, we were stopped by two men hawking rap CDs for a local artist. When Marsha and I shook our heads and kept going (just like we do with all sidewalk vendors), they chased us down and hit us with this gem of a sales pitch (and runner-up for the title of this post): "Don't be afraid of the negro." I had to wonder: we're a middle-aged couple. Do we really look like their target audience?
Next stop was the Apple Store on 5th Avenue, and finally the Disney Store in Times Square. Then it was back to the room to give our feet some much needed rest.
Tonight is dinner at John's of 12th Street, which you can read about in an earlier post. This is our John's first trip there, so we're really excited about that. I just saw them again on another recent episode of Boardwalk Empire, so I am definitely ready to go back! Badda bing, badda boom!
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