Times Square was a few blocks in one direction and Central Park a few blocks in the other.
Joe was in my favorite place for him, right next to me. He kissed me, wished me happy birthday, and suggested it would probably ruin my birthday if I killed the hotel staff.
Sigh.
We had to check out within the hour, so we got our sleepy selves up and out of bed.
Joe gave me a funny birthday card and a Pez dispenser to add to my collection, since he hadn't gotten me my real present yet.
(*note: I am still waiting for my real present, mostly because I can't decide between the penguin experience at Mystic, and another tattoo.)
My only goal for the day was to go to the park. Central Park is one of my favorite places to hang out and for the first time I can remember, it did not rain on my birthday, so off we went. On the way I saw a killer pair of metallic blue chuck taylor's in a store window. The store did not have my giant sasquatch sneaker size, so we continued on to the park. (These sneakers would etch themselves into my mind and later become a quest of mine.)
You should know I despise looking like a tourist.
At Rent the night before I had purchased a poster. Great idea, I thought, I don't have any Rent stuff and this is my last time here and it will look great framed in my studio! Only I totally forgot we weren't hopping a train home after the show, and I now had to carry my shiny new poster all over the city all day. Add to this the fact that I had not only my tiny new digital camera in my pocket (because I wanted to have a chance to play with the functions before I took it scuba diving) but my DSLR hanging around my neck. I felt like I had a bullseye on my chest for every rickshaw driver and park tour guide in the entire metropolitan area.
But I refused to let it ruin my day!
I love stones and architecture and bridges, and this was one of my favorite pieces of the day.
I loved this shot.
While wandering around, I decided I wanted to go to the zoo. I love zoos. I think the Central Park Zoo has about 35 animals, 26 of which are pigeons. :) But I love it anyway. I'd just bought myself a used telephoto lens for my D70 and thought I might try it at the zoo, but I found myself really close to everything and didn't use the telephoto.
Upon entering the zoo, we first saw the sea lions. They were clearly enjoying the unseasonably warm weather as much as we were.
Then it was right to the penguins. I love penguins! This one seemed to have a little ham in him.
There were puffins.
And seals.
And giant sleepy polar bears.
There was a crafty red panda curled up on a branch who would look at me only when I did not have me camera lens trained on him.
There were lots of turtles.
And birds! It was so hot and humid in the birds' rainforest enclosure that all of my lenses immediately fogged up.
There were monkeys! I love monkeys even more than penguins.
The last critter was saw as we left the zoo.
Sorry, Joe. Another picture.
A cool shot of our reflection in a store window. Notice the aforementioned giant Rent poster.
We passed this place. It was called colony. The letters would flash on and off, sometimes randomly, sometimes in order. I'm not sure they thought the whole letters-lighting-up-in-order thing through.
Another subway sign, this one more demure. I liked the contrast of the dark sign against the brick.
This is where we went for lunch, my favorite diner in the city, due in small part to the fabulous balsamic vinegrette...
and in large part to the waiters and waitresses who get up on the counters and sing while you eat.
We spent the rest of the day not really accomplishing anything.
We wandered down to the garden, since that is where we are usually headed when we go in to the city. (Go Rangers!)
We half-heartedly looked for B&H, the photo supply company I give all of my business. I use their catalog and website all the time, but I had yet to see the store.
We never found it.
As much as I hate shopping, we spent all day looking in every shoe store for those metallic blue converse.
We never found those either.
I wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building. I love being up there. And I thought it would be a great opportunity to try out the telephoto lens I hadn't used at the zoo. But by the time we meandered over there, the sky was starting to get overcast and would not have made for very good pictures.
So we came home.
On the way, we stopped in Stamford. My parents wanted to take me out to dinner for my birthday. Also, my car had been parked at their house overnight and we needed it to get home. :)
It was a good birthday.
But I will definitely have to top it when I turn 30.
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