Tickets purchased to see the Tina Turner musical in the Big Apple. It is always so much more enjoyable to go with a friend. I just happened to have my friend from Austin, TX coming to NYC to do just that. She will be referred to as Austin in this story.
I drove to the city after work instead of taking the train from Norwalk so I could pick Austin up at the airport. We had the privilege of staying at my sons’, “T”, and his girlfriends’, “K”, apartment in Queens. K happened to be away for the long weekend, and my son was kind enough to go to my place at Shits Creek in Norwalk to watch his “sister” Ninja. It was going to be a surprise for Ninja.
Precious gift from my boy and his girl allowed Austin and me the opportunity to enjoy all that the city had to offer -subway, sights, great food and a broadway performance! Our responsibility was to take care of my grand cat Swiffer at the apartment. Piece of cake-look how precious he was.
The next morning Austin and I started to make our way around the city to check some touristy things out. One of those things was becoming familiar with the subway. Did we really become that familiar with it? Hell no, but we only went the wrong way once out of our multiple excursions. I think that's a pretty good return on our geographical investment. Speaking of the subway, the "Gronk your hair" advertisement in the subway was extremely amusing to this football fan. Had to snap a picture of that one.
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Our must sees that weekend were to head to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the 9/11 memorial area and of course the Tina Turner Musical.
First stop, was the memorial. Words truly could not describe the feelings I felt in my gut just being in that area. Definite must visit while in the city to pay respects to those who lost their lives during that horrific purposeful disaster. The beauty in the area was extremely peaceful feeling.
Next stop, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. We hopped back on our trusty transportation to make our way there. The park itself is humongous. There are a multitude of sites and things to do. The main attractions for Austin and me included the Unisphere, Rocket Thrower and Queens Zoo.
We learned the Unisphere and the Rocket Thrower were both created for the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Click here and/or here to go to Wikipedia for detailed explanations about the park, and the two sculptures.
Time was a ticking and we had to find our way back to Queens via the subway to gussy up for the show. We were successful and had to jump back on the subway to head to Lunt-Fontanne Theater near Times Square. Another successful landing. It’s like we’d done this subway thing before. We found our seats in the theater and were excited for the show to begin.
I personally have been mesmerized by Tina Turner’s physique, especially her legs. Rock solid muscle tone-amazing! The gal who played adult Tina in the show appeared to have that leg-type as well. It truly felt as if we were watching Tina in action herself.
The show was about her life, beginning in childhood, following through to meeting her husband Ike, and overcoming obstacles of more abuse to obtain her independence successful career. Bravo was indeed expressed at the end of the performance.
One we left the theater, we walked around the area a bit and happened upon an Italian restaurant which was full to the brim called Carmine’s. It boasts The Original NYC Family Style Italian Restaurant. Who would’t want to head inside there? We were able to get in and sit at the bar as all the tables were taken. When one hears NYC and Italian, their mind should automatically picture cheesecake. That is what happened to us. We had the largest piece of NYC cheesecake either of us had ever seen. As expected, it was fabulous! Oh and of course here is a picture.
Wonderful weekend in the books! Everybody had a wonderful time, including Ninja and Swiffer. Ninja was surprised and elated that her brother was hanging out with her. Swiffer showed his affection to me by allowing me to hold him once, very quickly. Experiences like this weekend adventure cause me to continue to love travel nursing so much!
Thanks for sharing Michelle, I am inspired to listen to "Simply the Best " now.