Liv-ing The Dream

Manhattanhenge 2019 Series

Day 1

What better way to enjoy the summer that chasing the stars?

Every year thousands of people flock the streets of manhattan to view the sunset through the buildings in a grand display of symmetry and splendor.

For those who are not familiar with the term Manhattanhenge, also called Manhattan solstice. The Commissioners’ plan of 1811, built the city of New York’ streets grid for most of Manhattan rotated 29° clockwise from true east-west. This means that a few times a year, when the azimuth for sunset is 299°, the sunset aligns with the streets on the grid, setting between the buildings. The view is spectacular, the energy, the crowds, and the atmosphere are one to remember.

The Journey

A few days after I became “Funemployed” A suggested a spirit-lifting trip to NYC for a much-needed getaway. I can’t remember the last time I was in NYC; my first Broadway show Rent and the craziness of Times Square are all but distant memories of my teenage years.

Packed way too much for this two-day trip, most of which would be spent on the road. 5 AM rolls around, A picks me up and were off. Being Canadian and considering the perks of legalization, A & I had a few extra things to worry about, primarily making sure the car was free of any residue and paraphernalia. Clean car check – Let’s go!

1.5 hours to the border- the essential duty-free stop! Stocked up on some essentials – maple syrup liquor; Sortileg, and some Ciroc for the weekend festivities. A nerve-racking experience for most individuals crossing the border, however, we had a smooth ride through, some standard questions and off we went. Our first stop was breakfast; where are we to find breakfast on the interstate? Albany, obviously. A couple of hours through some gorgeous mountains, the Adirondacks, and breakfast was just a few miles away … I must admit I was a little disappointed- I was expecting a super city- a nice downtown core and a metropolitan area. To our surprise, a small/medium-sized town, your typical suburb.

Breakfast at the Cracker Barrel was good- very beige, as we expected but good nonetheless. I tried grits for the first time… It is safe to say officially: I am not a fan. The store attached to the resto is adorable, some fun unique finds, very country-centric. I loved it!

On The Road Again

Thanks to Google Maps driving options A & I avoided all tolls. Leaving Albany we were routed through a series of highways; 9, 9A, 134, 82 to name a few. The route was not excessively long, roughly 25-30 mins added to our total travel time. This routing gave us the unique opportunity to travel the backroads of NY and experience the breathtaking views of the Adirondacks- something I would definitely recommend to those who don’t mind taking the road less traveled.

We made it!

2 PM rolls around and we finally made it to The Bronx! You know when you’ve made it to the city once you’re sitting in a ridiculous amount of traffic at 2 in the afternoon on a Friday. We drove down the 9A through Battery park; only an hour in traffic to our hotel, no sweat right? NOT! Thanking the stars eternally for the AC in our car, we probably would have melted!

I have never been so happy to jump into a cold shower! We arrived at the hotel in Time Square around 3:00 – 3:20. A much needed refreshing shower and quick wardrobe change later and we were walking out of the lobby and into Time Square. We could not have asked for a better location on a last-minute trip, all thanks to our Travel team!

Fri-Yay Afternoon in NYC

SO much to do soooo little time! Manhattanhenge is at 8:20 pm and I want to do everything. First, stop the Disney Store! Those who know me know I take everything Disney, quite seriously. We b-lined to the store, all of 2 blocks from the hotel. Not as impressive as the theme parks but perfect all the same. Purchased some NYC Disney swag – obviously, and back off we went. We walked through the M&M store, I get it, kinda… but I don’t REALLY get the hype. The store was packed, we’re not talking your average busy, we’re talking: shoulder-to-shoulder sardines crammed into a store busy. This is not a small space either, there are multiple floors; how or why it was this packed completely surpasses my understandings. On the other hand, the Hershey store across the street empty…

By this time we are getting a little ( super ) hungry and the clock is ticking. We are around 50th and 7th and A & I want to view Manhattanhenge from the Bryant Park bridge, 42nd and 6th, a 15-minute walk; one of the nicest views of the “Henge”. After a bit of back and forth A & I agreed on Italian, but where. A quick Google search for ” Italian near me ” and 1000000000 results later …. 70% of the results were pizza joints, 20 % of them were too far to walk and we were tight on time. The last 10% turned up a good variety of locations, most of which were either fully booked or had a 30+ minute walk-in wait time. We finally settled for Carmine’s, and it was one block up from where we were! In turning the corner, we saw the large crowd of individuals waiting for tables and their reservations. In retrospect, a reservation and some pre-planning would have been key! A managed to persuade the doorman – bouncer- security personnel to hustle us a table.

Carmine’s Time Square was stunning, not at all what I expected. Beautiful rustic and very busy. The service was good, the portions are massive, like ridiculously large. The waitstaff suggests all the plates should be ordered to share, they are not wrong! The food was good; considering the number of people hosted over both floors of this restaurant the quality of our meal was impressive!

To The Viewing Party, We Go.

After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel to drop or leftovers (we had TONS), change into something a little more comfortable and off to Bryant Park we went.

I am no expert in navigation, I just go with the flow and what I believe to be the general direction of our final destination. We had a little over an hour or so to walk a few blocks to the “best place to watch the Henge.” We actually saw so much on our wandering around the city; nothing we planned or sought out! It was a ton of fun just walking around exploring ” in the right direction”.

Google maps suggested it was a 15-minute walk from our hotel. We managed to get there/ in the area almost an hour later, with just minutes to spare before the iconic sunset. As we did not, in any way, take the most direct route, we conveniently saw Radio City Music Hall, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, window shopped on 5th Ave, The Waldorf Astoria, The Hemsleys Building, Lotte New York Place ( from Gossip Girl ), to name a few of the neat spots were able to see. As 8:20 was approaching, and we were still a good walk away from the park, A & I tried to get creative. We figured the view of Manhattanhenge would be more than spectacular from Park Ave and 42nd. We were not wrong! As we tried to quickly walk up the overpass towards Grand Central Station, we were stopped by the good ol’ NYPD. Apparently, the view was so nice Apple Co. had the rented out space for a private viewing party. We were turned around and sent back on our way 🙁

With 20 or so minutes to spare before the astral event A & I rushed to Bryant park bridge. To our surprise, the bridge was packed, I mean like just as bad as the M&M store full. We walked back off the bridge because there was NO way we would have seen a thing. We walked back down the hill and stood in the middle of traffic to view the sunset. The streets filled with people, the motorists not too thrilled with anyone’s presence, we were all blocking traffic. Hundreds of people lined the streets waiting to bear witness to this phenomenon.

8:22 pm on the nose, the sun peeking through the building, burning bright orange. It fiery glow lighting up the skies and the surrounding buildings. This is it, A & I were witnessing Manhattanhenge in all its glory!

This 10-minute astral event was well worth it! As the sunset and the crowd dissipated A & I made our way back to Bryant Park to admire our, we would have been view and take a much-needed break from our afternoon. I took this opportunity to look up our steps for the day, would you like to take a guess as to how much walking we had done; and we weren’t done yet! 12,906 that’s a little over 6.1Miles or 10Km.

After a much needed 45minute breather, we were back on our way! First stop Grand Central Station. One of the coolest things that most people do not know about Grand Central is the whispering arches. Aside from the stunning main concourse elliptical barrel-vaulted ceiling, host to the “Mural of Constellations”, the hall lite up by 10 astounding globe-shaped chandeliers in Beaux- Art Style, the Iconic information booth and 4-faced clock, and if you pay close attention to some of the granite, limestone, and marble you can even notice some fossil figures immortalized in the stone, among the many passageways, lie the whispering arches.

These arches are hidden by the Oyster Bar, on the lower level on Grans Central Station. If you stand with your ear against the tile work you’ll discover a secret: a corner-to-corner whispering gallery. Even the quietest of sounds can be heard over the hustle and bustle of this busy terminal.

This remarkable acoustic oddity is caused by the unusually perfect arches that compose the gallery. The distinctive tile work of these arches is known as “Gustavino” tiles, named for the patented material and methods of Spanish tile worker Rafael Guastavino.

Walking back to our hotel, through the bustle of Times Square at night is spectacular. This is truly a city that never sleeps! The tourists, street performers, food trucks, taxis… Everything about the city is alive all the time!

Well, it’s WAY past our bedtime at this point and A & I have been awake for too long to function! The adventure continues tomorrow!

TTFN.