Sunday in New York City

Our Sunday in New York City started by picking up a guide who took us around on the bus, pointing out various buildings and landmarks. One of the first sites was the Dakota Building. It's where John Lennon was shot and where his widow, Yoko Ono, still lives. The building, which had uniformed guards at the door, is also home to Maury Povich and his wife, Connie Chung, and disco singer Roberta Flack. At least that's what the guide said.

The Dakota Building is literally across the street from Central Park, which was beautiful. We were able to get off the bus (yeah!) and walk into the park. Right after the entrance was Strawberry Fields, an area dedicated to the memory of John Lennon. There was even a man sitting on a bench there playing his guitar and singing "Imagine." Pretty cool to see.

Here we are with mom in Central Park. You can see buildings way in the background, showing how remote the park seems, and we didn't walk that far into the park. There's a lot more there I'd like to explore.

Not sure what street this is, but look at all those cabs!

Our next stop was the 9/11 Memorial. There are two fountains built in the footprint of the towers that fell. It was pretty amazing and sad to see and read all the names of those who died.

Our guide said that white roses stuck in the engraved names signify birthdays. He said some days there are a few and other days there are many more. The 9-11 museum isn't expected to open until spring, but that would be something to see if I ever get back to New York.

This is St. Patrick's Chapel which faces the site of the World Trade Towers yet none of its windows were broken in the attack. A cemetery surrounds the church and none of the tombstones fell during the attack. It became a resting spot for emergency workers during the cleanup and recovery.

Our Broadway outing of the afternoon was to see "Pippin," which recently won a Tony for Best Musical Revival. We only had 45 minutes to shop in Times Square between our lunch and the start of the show. That was probably the most disappointing part of the trip. How can you shop in an area like that in 45 minutes? I can spend that much time in a grocery store. I need to go back to get into that M&M store! Here's mom relaxing with the group as we met in Times Square, ready to walk over to the theater. "Pippin" was an odd show. Don't think I need to see it if it ever comes to Chicago.

Here's an advertisement for some of the major Broadway shows that were playing while we were there. It gives a little taste of the chaotic environment that is Times Square. I wish we could have been set loose to explore it after dark.

We had dinner at B.B. King's restaurant and the music was so loud we couldn't even hear the waitress. And I'm still shaking my head that they didn't have any unsweetened ice tea.