Day 326: Balloons, Lamps and Starcatchers

Our day was packed with fun activities and time with our family.  We took the subway down to Justin's neighborhood and did the grocery shopping for tomorrow's holiday dinner.  Then we delivered the groceries to Justin's apartment, where we met Mary and the four of us had lunch at the Firehouse on Columbus and 86th.  Crews were busy at work inflating the balloons along the side streets between 81st and 79th Streets for the Macy's parade, so we were finally able to view the process close up.  In years past, they did the job at night and it was impossible to get close enough to see.

Next, we visited the NYC Historical Museum where we explored a display on NY's role in WWII and then watched a film on the history of NYC.  After that, we took the subway south to Spring St. and walked to April's office on Hudson.  We met the one co-worker still in the office and she gave us a tour of Adknowledge's offices.  They'll be moving to a new location in February near Penn Station.  Back on the subway, we made our way to Christie St. so we could see Colin at work.  We were lucky enough to meet his boss, Lindsey Adelmann, ten of his co-workers and see his work station.

He still had to finish up a job, so we waited at the Bodega cafe where we had a S'more shake and coconut curry shrimp.  Delicious!  It seems like everyone in NYC is a 20 or 30 something.  We saw very few people our age until we got to the Brooks Atkinson Theater for Peter and the Starcatcher.  It's the humorous backstory for Peter Pan.  We finished off the evening at a Thai restaurant called Yum Yum for a light supper.  And then we got back on the subway to go uptown  to Evan's.

We covered a lot of miles, and although it is crowded and dirty, there is something so invigorating and refreshing about this incredible city.  In Queens alone, 168 languages are spoken!  It is the most diverse, energetic, vibrant and resilient city on earth and we can certainly understand why our kids are so happy here.    Every newcomer has a chance to make it and there is a place for everyone.

Colin at work

Papa Smurf balloon

So, when I tried to upload the photos for today, I found that I had run out of storage space on the blog.  Tomorrow, I will have to upgrade.