Who would have ever thought that we would get to spend so much quality time with so many friends in one year? Our last visitor to New York was Kathy Blackford. Some of you may know her as Kathy Redman. We go back to 1973 and our college days. Her visit couldn’t have worked out better. This was her first time to New York City and we were able to give her a capsulized version of our year in a bit less than a week. We were also able to incorporate many things from our ‘to do list’ that we wouldn’t have gotten to otherwise. Staten Island Ferry, Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, to name a few.
Day One:
After Kathy’s midday arrival we went straight to the Macy’s Annual Flower Show. On the way out of the apartment I asked the doorman about all the barriers I had noticed the night before. I learned that Obama was coming back to the Sheraton for a speech at Al Sharpton’s convention for his National Action Network. So after Macy’s we scrambled back so we get to our apartment before the lock down and watched as the sharpshooters set up again. We knew the drill from last summer. When that finally wound down we had a quiet Thai dinner in Hell’s Kitchen.
Day Two:
We took in three floors at the MoMA and a really nice late lunch at their café. From there we took in some of the sights around Rockefeller Plaza. We had managed to secure passes for the Jimmy Fallon taping that afternoon. You have no idea who the guests will be when you reserve these about six weeks ahead of time. We were excited to learn that the musical guest would be Paul Simon. Great luck. As if that was not enough excitement the three of us wound up being shown in the audience for a couple of minutes of one of their skits. Later that night we felt obliged to stay up and watch ourselves on the broadcast to make sure we weren’t cut or that we hadn’t imagined the whole thing. It was pretty exciting.
If you don't care to see the entire skit you can jump ahead to around the 3:30 mark for the first of our several appearances here. You will see left to right, me, Kathy, Toni, just to the right of the actor.
If the embed video doesn't appear here is the direct link. http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/how-you-like-me-now-4711/1318895/
The video is no longer available at the Fallon website. This LINK will open it in your Windows Media Player though:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.
Day Three:
A quick stroll, if you can call it that, through Time’s Square, then to Bryant Park, the New York Public Library, the lobby of the Chrysler Building. From there we back tracked to Grand Central Station for The Oyster Bar followed by cheesecake at Junior’s. Recharged we went to 34th Street to go to the observation deck of The Empire State Building. It was strictly unintentional but we had inadvertently put together an architectural tour for the day.
Day Four:
We took the long bus ride all the way to the bottom of the island to catch the Staten Island Ferry. This runs every ten or fifteen minutes and provides the only access to the Island from Manhattan. It also includes great views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline…each way. After completing the round trip we caught another bus to Greenwich Village and spent the late afternoon and evening touring many of our favorite haunts.
Day Five:
We spent virtually the whole day touring Central Park. This time we took a bus up to the Upper West Side and started working our way back from 96th Street south towards our place. This put us at the Reservoir. Just about any time you see people jogging Central Park in the movies this is the spot. We circled around the lake to the west side until we got to the lower 80s. We took a time out from the park to grab some lunch over on Amsterdam. Then back to the park and Belvedere Castle. This was especially nice since the trees were not yet blooming and the views were spectacular. From there we wound over to The Loeb Boat House and managed to get our hot drinks served five minutes before the café closed for the day. Then we got into more familiar territory at Bethesda Fountain and The Mall. Finally we went to Strawberry Fields and the Imagine Mosaic. It was getting cooler so we wound up the CP tour and caught the subway back to the apartment. Later I asked Kathy what she would go back and see a second time in a future visit and she said Central Park. So, I am glad we saved that for the last day.
Sadly the fun tour was over and the next morning we grudgingly said goodbye to Kathy. I know that it was a week that we will remember fondly forever. It was a wonderful mix of seeing icons, living as locals, and a couple of extraordinary surprises. Kathy clicked her ruby red sneakers and she was off to Kansas.
Day One:
After Kathy’s midday arrival we went straight to the Macy’s Annual Flower Show. On the way out of the apartment I asked the doorman about all the barriers I had noticed the night before. I learned that Obama was coming back to the Sheraton for a speech at Al Sharpton’s convention for his National Action Network. So after Macy’s we scrambled back so we get to our apartment before the lock down and watched as the sharpshooters set up again. We knew the drill from last summer. When that finally wound down we had a quiet Thai dinner in Hell’s Kitchen.
Day Two:
We took in three floors at the MoMA and a really nice late lunch at their café. From there we took in some of the sights around Rockefeller Plaza. We had managed to secure passes for the Jimmy Fallon taping that afternoon. You have no idea who the guests will be when you reserve these about six weeks ahead of time. We were excited to learn that the musical guest would be Paul Simon. Great luck. As if that was not enough excitement the three of us wound up being shown in the audience for a couple of minutes of one of their skits. Later that night we felt obliged to stay up and watch ourselves on the broadcast to make sure we weren’t cut or that we hadn’t imagined the whole thing. It was pretty exciting.
If you don't care to see the entire skit you can jump ahead to around the 3:30 mark for the first of our several appearances here. You will see left to right, me, Kathy, Toni, just to the right of the actor.
If the embed video doesn't appear here is the direct link. http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/how-you-like-me-now-4711/1318895/
The video is no longer available at the Fallon website. This LINK will open it in your Windows Media Player though:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.
Day Three:
A quick stroll, if you can call it that, through Time’s Square, then to Bryant Park, the New York Public Library, the lobby of the Chrysler Building. From there we back tracked to Grand Central Station for The Oyster Bar followed by cheesecake at Junior’s. Recharged we went to 34th Street to go to the observation deck of The Empire State Building. It was strictly unintentional but we had inadvertently put together an architectural tour for the day.
Day Four:
We took the long bus ride all the way to the bottom of the island to catch the Staten Island Ferry. This runs every ten or fifteen minutes and provides the only access to the Island from Manhattan. It also includes great views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline…each way. After completing the round trip we caught another bus to Greenwich Village and spent the late afternoon and evening touring many of our favorite haunts.
Day Five:
We spent virtually the whole day touring Central Park. This time we took a bus up to the Upper West Side and started working our way back from 96th Street south towards our place. This put us at the Reservoir. Just about any time you see people jogging Central Park in the movies this is the spot. We circled around the lake to the west side until we got to the lower 80s. We took a time out from the park to grab some lunch over on Amsterdam. Then back to the park and Belvedere Castle. This was especially nice since the trees were not yet blooming and the views were spectacular. From there we wound over to The Loeb Boat House and managed to get our hot drinks served five minutes before the café closed for the day. Then we got into more familiar territory at Bethesda Fountain and The Mall. Finally we went to Strawberry Fields and the Imagine Mosaic. It was getting cooler so we wound up the CP tour and caught the subway back to the apartment. Later I asked Kathy what she would go back and see a second time in a future visit and she said Central Park. So, I am glad we saved that for the last day.
Sadly the fun tour was over and the next morning we grudgingly said goodbye to Kathy. I know that it was a week that we will remember fondly forever. It was a wonderful mix of seeing icons, living as locals, and a couple of extraordinary surprises. Kathy clicked her ruby red sneakers and she was off to Kansas.
To see some photos from this visit HERE
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