Thursday, August 13, 2009

New York City

First let me start by saying that I'd never been to New York City before. When my friend called to say that she had gotten engaged and was going to be getting married I nearly shot through the roof. Finally a great reason/excuse to go to the city. I'd always wanted to go but never had gotten a chance. I'm glad that my chance came when it did because 6 years ago I wouldn't have even thought to go to the Garment District or hunt out quilt shops. Now I did.


I had a total of 3 days to run around in Manhattan after the wedding. My ultimate last stop was The City Quilter on W 25th St. Wow what a shop!!! At first I thought I wasn't headed in the right direction on the street because it all seemed residential. Then the red awning popped into view. I was so excited about going in that I missed the sign that said "Ring bell to enter". Lol.....my fault that I was jumping ahead of myself. Once inside I could appreciate their use of the space they have. Some quilt stores go overboard trying to cram so much into a small space so as not to miss out. The City Quilter is just right! They have a lot of product in a small space but with such a light open feeling. It makes you want to stay for a long time and browse.




Unfortunately my pic doesn't do justice to the inside of the place. They have very bright contemporary/funky novelty/great silks/NYC motif/Ethnic fabrics as well as some more traditional. They have a great selection of books and patterns. Then here is the be all and end all......they have GREAT customer service. The ladies inside were very welcoming and extremely helpful. All in all I say if you are ever in the city you have to make this a priority to stop at!



Walking around the city your head feels as if it is on a swivel. There is so much to look at both at street level and at sky level sometimes you just don't know where to stop. I found myself photographing clocks all over the city. This is just one of the many ones I found.....I believe it was on 6th Ave.


Just loved how the buildings looked through the street lights.

Sunday morning I woke early and went down into Times Square. I quickly found my way to Duffy Square at Broadway and W47th where there is a TKTS booth that sells same day Broadway tickets at a discount. They don't have tickets to all shows but a decent variety. At the window I somehow found myself with a 5th row Orchestra ticket to Rock of Ages. It was a great show!!!!!!! It was all centered around 80s music and was like going to a concert. The whole audience was singing along at times. Here is a pic of the theater where the show is on W 47th.



On Monday I went to the Empire State Building. Here is a view of it from the street.



After the ESB I went to the Garment District. It is so much fun to walk the streets and see fabric store after fabric store. I have to admit though at a certain point it was so overwhelming. I felt like I was trying to follow the Project Runway footsteps and found Parsons School of Design which somehow I didn't take a pic of. I also found Mood fabrics which lets just say I got into the most trouble there. They have an absolutely amazing collection of buttons!!!
This pic though is of NY Elegant Fabrics on W40th street. This is just a part of their back wall. Most stores were like this with fabric stacked floor to ceiling. Hence you can see why one can get so overwhelmed.


At Paron Fabrics I found this gorgeous piece of gray fabric that was iridescent from a chartreuse green to a purple. It just screamed out background fabric.



On my last day Tuesday I took the Ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a truly amazing experience. One I recommend to anyone that can.


This is a part of a window on the main building at Ellis Island. The amount of work they have done to create an Immigration Museum is incredible. I could have spent hours upon hours in the museum. It was very humbling to see the passports and ship manifests. Not to mention reading the statements of immigrants as to what they went through just to reach this country.



After the ferry I walked up Broadway from Battery Park. I saw the bull associated with Wall St. At the intersection of Broadway and Wall St. is Trinity Church. The architecture of this church is gorgeous. This is a side view from the cemetery.


I then walked over to Ground Zero where they are currently working. They have it fenced off as they are working so you can't see the main portion of it. However, after walking down the streets filled with skyscrapers the impact of this immense open area is beyond words. They have made a museum nearby but I was unfortunately not able to make it there. I heard it is amazing though.
Alas my trip ended to0 soon. Hopefully I'll be able to make it up there again soon as there is so much of the city I was not able to see. What I did see though made a lasting impression of what a great city New York is.