Tuesday, August 25, 2015

NYC with Otto

Otto, who I meet about three years ago at Central Market started working in Connecticut.  I hadn't seen Otto for a while but saw from  Facebook that he was in the North East.  He told me he was going to two churches in New York on Sunday and that I could join.  I took him up on that offer. Otto said to get my little Texas self at the center of Grand Central and he would take care of the rest.

I left Chappaqua and walked to the train station which is about a mile walk.  I saw a nice looking girl there about my age.  I said I have a silly question but will you take my picture by the Chappaqua sign.  She said it wasn't a silly question and took my picture.

I sat by a phone charger on the train.  It is about an hour ride into the city.  I had my feet propped up and was comfortable when group of girls sat right next to me because it was the perfect number of seats for their group. We ended up talking and they were super sweet.  A mom was bringing her two daughters and the cousins for a meet and greet.  The ladies said I looked like their cousin Katie. They told me about the city and about the train.  A lady over heard us talking and offered me her train schedule and welcomed me to the city.  The man collecting tickets got me my own train time schedule.  The group of girls offered for me to follow them to the center of Grand Central where I meet Otto.  The ladies were very helpful and nice.

I saw several police officers around Grand Central.  I asked one of them if I should plan on being back on the train before dark.  The officer said no you're fine to come back any time.  I asked if they had any safety tips.  The officer said "what do you mean safety?"  It figured it must be a fairly safe city.

I meet Otto at Grand Central.  We got a taxi to go to the Standard Hotel where we had breakfast.  Otto was telling me all about the city.  The taxi driver said he should be a tour guide and mayor.

The Standard was a very neat hotel in the Meat Packing District.  We sat outside which was fun.  The weather was great!  At the Standard they have a rooftop pool.  Otto and I wanted to see the top and the great view.  We couldn't get on the elevator because we didn't have a key.  We saw some folks going up and went with them. We didn't quite get to the top so we had to take the stairs.  The stairs were really neat.  There was art work there and cool music.  Otto was taking a picture of the unique art work when a man that worked there said hey this area is closed. Otto said she is from Texas this is her first time in New York and explained how we just wanted to see the view.  The guy let us go up!  It was an incredible view! We could see so much of the city!  After taking pictures we got on the elevator.  We quickly discovered we had gotten on the service elevator.  There were several people that go on and off with carts.  We had to walk briefly through the back of the house to get back to the lobby.  It was an adventure!

We walked to Marble Collegiate Church.  We saw the Chelsea neighborhood, and Greenwich Village. Otto knew a lady at Marble and she was nice.  The sound booth guys charged my phone for me during the service.  It was a pretty church.  The choir was wonderful.  Otto told me one of the former pastors there wrote the Power of Positive Thinking.  We got to meet the main pastor after the service.

We quickly walked to Hillsong church.  We went right through the middle of time square to get there.  That was fun to see!  We got our picture taken with dressed up characters.  After the picture Elmo took off his mask and said to Otto "sir, I work for tips."  Otto gave him a $5 and the man playing Elmo said sir, we need more than this.

Otto and I had a hard time finding Hillsong.  We walked right passed it without knowing it.  While we were walking around Time Square to find the Best Buy theater where church was we took our picture in Time Square.  A nice older couple took the picture for us.  They were from some place in Africa that Otto had been.  We finally got to Hillsong.  We were there a few minutes late.  They had to set up more chairs because so many people were there.

We went to St. Peters Cathedral.  Otto took me around to the back area of the church I wouldn't know to go if I was by myself.  He said that is where he usually prays.

Otto and I were headed to the Plaza Food Court for lunch.  They have a fairly large food court.  On the way to the Plaza we passed Rockefeller Center which was great!  After a great lunch we went to Central Park.  From there Otto headed to the airport to go back home.   I walked around the park a little and then had to put a band aid on my heels.  Cute pink shoes aren't always comfortable.  A man saw my foot and I could tell he felt sorry for me.  I told him how the shoe were cute but aren't comfortable.  He pointed at his son.  I then found he couldn't speak English.  He put up two fingers.  I could tell he wanted me to put two band-aids on.  I was having a hard time peeling the band-aid and it would stick, it wasn't the best situation.  The man then went on to help me put the band-aid on.  I'm glad he did.  It was nice and helpful!  Even though he couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak the language he spoke he could still see that my feet needed help and felt sorry for me.

I walked around a little more.  I was looking for a place to charge my phone with a view.  I found the Peninsula Hotel.  I got a $9 Coke there.  Good views aren't cheap.  After so much walking I decided to go back to Chappaqua.

As I was exiting the train I saw the same girl that took my picture going into the city!  What are the odds of that!  We chatted for a bit and I found out she just graduated and is now working in the city.

After going home and taking a shower I meet Anne at the Cheesecake Factory in White Plains.  Anne leads the Young Professionals home group at Trinity Rivertowns.  We had chatted several times.  She was sweet to invite me to things.  It was great to finally meet her.

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