First Day in NYC

I arrived at Newark last night Nov. 6, 2004, in time to see a beautiful setting sun from the airplane window. The pink and orange Manhattan skyline was spectacular. The trip from Seattle was quick--a total of 7 hours, and Martin the 16-pound cat survived with only an occasional whiney meow. My final morning in Seattle before embarking on this bold (some say "crazy") move to the Big Apple afforded me my last view of Mt. Rainier in all its glory, both on the way to the airport and from the plane. You haven't lived until you've seen the Mountain on a clear day at sunrise. Truly breath-taking.

The 70-dollar taxi ride to Longacre house in Midtown was quick (thanks, BillG), and the concierge was out on the sidewalk in a heartbeat, helping us with the bags. I couldn't wait to free poor Martin from his soft-sided carrier after I suffered from the "guilts" all day (and for at least 2 months prior). His was freed briefly at Sea-Tac when I had to (literally) let the cat out of the bag to get through security. A friendly security guard helped me stow him again. He hated being in that bag.

Martin and I were pleasantly surprised with the luxury 1-bedroom apartment that we got on the 10th floor on W. 50th Street. This is "corporate housing"??? Wow! Two TV's, two VCR's, digital cable, high-speed Internet access, a huge bathroom (huge for Manhattan), cleaning service, health club, and even a gift basket. More importantly, there's a coffee maker. I think we won't have a problem staying here the next three months!

Today was Sunday, New York Marathon 2004 Day. After 11 hours of sleep, I awoke to a very bright, sunny day and went out walking in the warm breezy fall air for several hours. Did some shopping. Avenue of Americas was roped off for a huge street fair that extended several blocks. You could buy just about anything there. It was fun! I got an "I [heart] NY" t-shirt for 3 bucks. And my brother Dave says NY is "expensive." Ha! I can buy a designer watch for 5 dollars on any streeet corner. ;-)

Lots of street vendors here in the city. You can buy anything from fresh fruit and hot dogs to cashmere scarves and leather purses on any city block in Midtown. I only saw one seemingly homeless person all day. Apparently the NYPD are pretty strict about that.

The Macy's building was amazing! It takes up an entire block on 34th Street! And there were about a million people in there. Yes, that would be about 12% of the population. I went in to buy some shorts because it's fairly warm in my apartment (without the heat running).

I came home at sunset. The view out the apartment windows with the sunset reflected in building windows was really pretty. I'm surrounded by tall buildings. My apartment looks down on W. 50th. I've gotten used to the street noise (sirens and lots of horns)--with one exception: Harleys are eardrum busters! Gawd. A Harley-Davidson motorcycle is louder than the biggest fire engine and can be heard from a great distance.

As I was walking down 6th Avenue amongst the throngs of people, I thought, "I LOVE New York!" And I meant it. I think we'll fit in just fine here.

Signing off.