$8 for two dozen roses? What if we throw in the kid?

June and Zo taking in the flowers at a 49th street stall.

Getting busy getting gone on our last day meant walking down to Rockefeller Center and seeing the new ice rink, taking in Radio City Music Hall and showing a tired Grandma Madison Avenue. We tend to like the side streets best but you can't come here without dipping your toes in the tourist water. It's the side streets though that give you a feel for living in Manhattan...flower stalls, and newspaper stands, quiet little barber shops and fenced in schools exploding with the noise of recess. If you want to really fall in love with NY then stay away from the tourist haunts.

Grandma didn't come all this way not to see some of this big stuff though, so we packed up her crunchded (that's her word) toes and headed off for the middle of this island.


Grandma grinning through almost amputated feet.

We really just did a drive by on everything, there isn't much point to lingering at Radio City, or the Rainbow Room, or even Rockefeller Plaza unless you're doing something there. We weren't. I think Mom was happy just to see those places but it was becoming more and more clear that NYC is less her style than it is ours. She was impressed more than awed, and enjoyed it but probably wouldn't have come here or will return without us. It didn't help that we motored around the city like it was on fire and that's just not Grandma's style either...Oddly, I think a longer stay would have benefitted Grandma. We could have just soaked it in, took our time, lingered. It would have been nice to grab a coffee and just head back over to the rink at Rockefeller Plaza and just hung out....or slipped down to Greenwich Village and just jumped from this restaurant to that one, a nibble here, a drink there...a longer stay, as weird as that sounds, would have helped Grandma adjust. New York in three days is a whirlwind for a girl from Dover Centre.


Zo and Mom out front of the Rainbow Room at 30 Rock...

The rink at the Plaza was in early, and in hindsight it would have been nice to just hang out and soak it all up. Grandma seemed to like the scene there and we probably rushed right on through. We should have grabbed a steaming cup of beans and sat and watched the gay guys pretend to figure skate.


Grandma, June, and Zo at the rink in Rockefeller Plaza.

So weather your fet are killing you or not Grandmama, it's more than likely you're heading back to NYC with the family. Start getting your walking in now.