New York = Bookstores & Basketball

If you like books and you've never been to The Strand on Broadway in New York then you should pack a bag, make a payment to your credit card, and get to this book lovers Mecca as fast as you possibly can. It's incredible. For years now The Strand may have been our most favorite bookstore, aside from the now defunct Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble store. It's amazing, floor after floor of awesome, and the staff are like book savants. I have a few friends (Beth Skinner) who would step on strangers necks to enjoy this kind of literary valhalla.

We actually walked out of the store without a single book or toy, but it was difficult...very difficult. We considered scooping up Oliver Jeffers most recent picture book, Stuck, but left it on the table in our awkward hurry to avoid the 3:30pm storytime rush of toddlers, unforgiving, overbearing parents with doouble wide strollers and mid-town attitudes. We made a quick exit from the children's section before it got ugly.

It was an easy day that began with less swelling, and was then followed by a short F Train ride up to Washington Square and the New Era store...a cool consignment store raid by Zoey and June at Clementine, and a walk up Broadway to The Strand and Union Square. I limped a lot. The swelling came back (and with it the pain), and it was nice to grab the F back home.



It was a crowded, end-of-the-day train ride back to Bergen Street, and Zed sat all alone like a champ. She even slipped into full-on casual New Yorker attitude when she started reading her neighbors newspaper. She made quick note that the subway was full of boys and wondered when we could get off. It didn't take long before we could and we poured ourselves back into the apartment and settled in for our last sixteen or so hours in the city and a night full of some NCAA Basketball Tournament games and rest. Zoey even filled out a bracket, with Mom's help, and despite a big wide awesome city waiting outside our window, we're excited to ignore it and just watch some basketball with an excited little funster.