Day 11--huh?--of ML's ten days (I mean nights) in NYC

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Sunday, July 1

My last day. I set the alarm for 6:30 and went to early Mass at St. Francis of Assisi, a beautiful old church two or three blocks west on 31st. I didn鈥檛 plan anything for this morning, which for me is always a big mistake. I thought later (too much later) that I should have picked an area such as the Village and had a nice breakfast there or saved my breakfast at Norma%26#39;s for this morning. Breakfast turned out to be good, though. I went back to the Murray Hill area and ate at Cinema Caf茅. There was outdoor seating and it was a gorgeous day weather-wise, but the seats were in the sun, so I opted for indoors but by the windows. I had delicious pancakes with bananas and walnuts.

I finished packing and didn鈥檛 want to spend the next 45 minutes sitting in my hotel room, so I walked to Macy鈥檚 which was only a few blocks away. A crowd was gathered around the doors, and I realized they were waiting for it to open. Just as I joined the group, the doors opened (11 am) and we all poured in. I still don鈥檛 know if I saw a real New York character that morning or a clown. A man dressed as a woman, fake boobs and an off the shoulder dress, knee high socks each a different color, pushing a live poodle with dyed fur in a stroller, wearing a wig (the man not the dog), a live bird on top of his head. Wish I could have taken a picture. I had a quick look around, then went back to the hotel to check out.

I鈥檇 asked the hotel to reserve a car service for me since I鈥檇 heard that cab drivers were reluctant to go to LaGuardia. Ell, our tour director, had recommended a car service for all who were heading there. Just as I turned from checking out, the driver was in asking for me by room number. His slip of paper said I was going to JFK and he said he showed up early (it was 11:40) since he鈥檇 heard JFK was a madhouse because of increased security as a result of the Glasgow airport bombing. But LaGuardia was fine with him.

It was a pleasure to be driven by someone polite and well groomed who didn鈥檛 grumble about traffic or my destination and had an air conditioned car. It cost $40 plus toll plus tip. We were at the airport by noon, and I could see why cab drivers would be reluctant to take a fare to LGA. There were so many cabs waiting, it looked like a taxi parking lot.

The line for the American Airlines counter was huge. I didn鈥檛 know if you could get a boarding pass using curbside check-in, so I used a self-service kiosk to check in, then got in line at the curb to check my bag. The line was long but no where near as enormous as inside. Once my luggage was checked, I went inside and got a slice of pizza from Famiglia, then headed for security, dreading what it might be like based on the line at the American counter.

Security turned out to be not much of a line at all. In fact, it was shorter than the line to the ladies room. My flight left from Concourse C in the Central Terminal Building, and there were two ladies rooms on that concourse. One had one working toilet, the other had three working toilets. That was really my only complaint about LaGuardia. There was only a ten to fifteen minute delay in takeoff, but we arrived in St. Louis a little early. I鈥檓 ready to go back.

I want to thank everyone on TA again for all the advice and tips, thanks to all who wrote prior trip reports because they helped, thanks to those who asked questions which meant I didn鈥檛 have to ask them, and finally thanks to those who stuck with me and read my trip report because I had a chance to re-live my trip by writing it.

Day 11--huh?--of ML's ten days (I mean nights) in NYC

I%26#39;m sad it%26#39;s over........I have enjoyed your reports. Enjoy the rest of your summer at home..............I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll be off somewhere soon!!

Day 11--huh?--of ML's ten days (I mean nights) in NYC

I%26#39;m sorry it%26#39;s the end of your trip report - although it was nice to get a bonus half-day thrown in at the end! But at least now you can get down to the business of organising your next trip! ;o)

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us all!

I%26#39;m sorry to see your reports over, too. You left me with yet another laugh at the LGA security lines being shorter than the lines for the ladies room. How true.

Thanks so much for letting us share your trip. Give a holler when you%26#39;re planning your next trip.

By the way, I think that was LotusPath you saw in Macy%26#39;s.

What a great set of reports! So tell us -- when you got home, did anyone look at you funny and say something like ';why would you want to go to New York at all -- let alone for that long!';? ;o)

Thanks for sharing, its been fun to take part of your journey.

I thought I responded to this, but if I did, I must have been in another topic because I don%26#39;t see it here.

Bettina, I will certainly give a holler when I plan to return, although unless I can convince my company to pay me more for fewer work days, it will probably be next year.

GWB, people have a tendency to tell me I was ';brave'; to go to New York by myself. I assure them I did research first and knew it would be safe, but they often don%26#39;t believe me.

Hey, don%26#39;t talk about my Uncle Murray that way! He%26#39;s no clown and he, Tweety and Fluffy ADORE Macy*s!!

;o)

Yeah, LGA is basically our bus station for planes.

Anyway, thank you once again for your wonderful chapters. I printed them out and had the best time reading them during my daily commutes.

I think you should forward or print and hand out all your chapters to skeptical friends! So, the next obvious question is when are you coming back and who will you be bringing with you!?

QB, next time I%26#39;m in town I%26#39;d like to take your Uncle Murray%26#39;s picture.

I hope to come back next year. I realize I spent more time in NY than a lot of travelers on this forum, but I still barely scraped the surface. As far as who I%26#39;ll bring with me, it won%26#39;t be my husband since he hates to travel. I%26#39;ll be emailing my adventures to some family and friends, so who knows, but I won%26#39;t be surprised if I%26#39;m by myself again.

Thanks for all your great reports. The guy in Macy%26#39;s wouldn%26#39;t bring on a second look by most New Yorkers. Only a 15 minute delay for takeoff at LGA--a miracle.

Great reports and I liked the line about the line for the bathroom being longer than security.