It is Sunday, June 7 and there are only 146 days until Halloween.  It is never too early to start planning your costume and watching for the candy bargains.  Today we remember the birthdays of Pope Gregory XIII, Peter Rodino and Mark Wahlberg.  On this day in 1776 Richard Lee (VA) moved the Declaration of Independence in the Continental Congress, in 1864 Abraham Lincoln was renominated for President by the Republican Party and in 1970 The Who’s “Tommy” was performed at NY’s Lincoln Center.  In Chad it is National Day and in Massachusetts it is Teachers’ Day.

 We had the opportunity to go to New York City with friends the other day.  Our friend Paul was here from Iowa and had brought a friend with him who has seen and experienced very little of the world.  They were here last fall and it was the first time the friend had flown.  Paul said he wasn’t much better this time, but hopes he will improve over time.  Among the things we did last fall were a trip to the Empire State Building and a ride down the shore for his first ever view of an ocean.  This time around Paul was taking him to Washington, DC.  Two things that he wanted to do in New York City were going to the Freedom Tower and taking a carriage ride in Central Park.

The lovely Elaine and I agreed to go with them on their sojourn to the city.  I should point out that Elaine and I have lived our entire lives in New Jersey, more specifically in sight of the Empire State Building.  We have been to New York City many times and I worked within walking distance of the Empire State Building at one time.  Until last fall, when Paul talked us into going with them, we had never been in the building, had never really thought about going there and really had no reason for not going.  So we went and it was great.

When we were invited to join them this time, we didn’t even hesitate, we decided to go.  The observation deck in the Freedom Tower, One World Observatory, just opened to the public on May 29.  It occupies the 100^th, 101^st and 102^nd floors of the Freedom Tower and was definitely worth the trip.  The view was incredible.  I loved the optimism of one young boy who told a friend, “Maybe we’ll be able to see California.”  My biggest problem was trying to divide my time between looking at the fantastic view and people watching.  What makes people watching better there is that, when you listen to them, you realize that there are people from all over the world that are crazy.

What I found interesting is the style of the clothing.  You went from people dressed for cocktail parties to people dressed in suits and dresses, to people dressed casually, to people dressed to go dumpster diving for additions to their wardrobe.  There are some things that apparently are universal.  I saw one family that had a young girl, who appeared to be 8 or 9 (keep in mind that I am not good at judging ages) and found everything exciting, they had a teenage son who could not have cared less about the whole thing and just wanted to be left alone so he could listen to his music and you had the parents who were determined that everyone get most out of the experience.  They looked just like so many other families.  The difference was that they were from Germany, I think, based on my somewhat limited knowledge of the language and what I was able to hear of their conversations.

You also had the family with the dad who really needed someone to help him get dressed.  You could see that he wore a shirt and shorts that he liked.  He believed that they went together because they both had blue in them.  The problem was that the shorts were a blue, green and white plaid while the shirt was a blue and red striped shirt.  The ensemble was completed by white ankle socks and brown shoes.  He was with people, but they were trying to not actually be seen with him. 

There was also the requisite gift shop where you could buy all sorts of paraphernalia adorned with the One World Observatory logo.   People were buying t-shirts, caps, coffee mugs, key chains, etc. like there was a prize for who could spend the most money in the shortest amount of time.  It will be interesting to hear the conversations a year or two from now when they sit and discuss what to do with all this stuff.  Afterall, they will need to make room for the stuff they bought on their most recent trip to the new casinos that are planned to sprout up all over our state.  The only up side to the current souvenirs, is that they generally do not include those wooden salt and pepper shakers you usually see at National Parks.

After leaving the tower, we journeyed to Central Park, where we took the carriage ride through a portion of the park.  It was an interesting ride.  Not one that we normally would have taken, but one that we did so that the neophyte could add that to his list of experiences.  The ride was nice, but I will not be adding it to my list of things to do again.  I never realized how rocky Central Park was.  I was also surprised by the number of people who were just laying out on the rocks napping.  I am not talking about vagrants, either.  I saw people who seemed to be normal, well dressed individuals who just wanted to lie on a rock.  Go figure.

We also took a quick run to St John the Divine.  I chose not to go in there, because parking was not available on the street and the closest parking facility was several blocks away.  It just did not seem worth paying $30 for a short visit to the church.  So the Lovely Elaine, Paul and Bret went in while I drove around .  I only had to make three large circles before they called to say they were done.  I picked them up and we were able to add sitting in rush hour traffic (it was just 6 PM) to Bret’s list of experiences.  I know taking a half hour to go three blocks will be high on his list of New York City memories.

This week our fact tells us that Johnny Appleseed planted apples so that people could use apple cider to make alcohol.  I knew there had to be a more useful reason that the altruistic belief that he simply wanted a lot of apple trees.  I think I will have a drink to salute his efforts.