Harlem. We visited Harlem last year, and fell in love with a little bakery called Make My Cake. It has the best cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. Today, we were heading in that direction.
Ray and I love to walk when we visit places. We see more that way. We’ll walk for hours until we can’t walk no more. It’s usually me that suggests getting in something with wheels.
I wanted to walk up to Central Park and catch the subway there, instead of the subway right outside our Hotel. We’re on 8th and West 34th Streets, Central Park is along 5th Avenue and begins at Central Park South Street (aka 59th Street). It’s a hike, but I enjoy it.
They were kinds enough to let us try various nuts before we decided on our pick.
There’s so much to see in Manhattan. For those of you who have never been, it’s best to plan on staying a good 4+ days. Take your time and wander. Let the day lead you. You’ll never know where you’ll end up!
Around this time of the year, all the shops have their windows decorated for the holidays. Macy’s was not quite finish, but several stores had theirs ready.
We passed a HUGE Disney store and we popped in for a second. I’ve never seen a Disney store as big as this one!
Amazing! On our way through Central Park I saw this little coffee/gelato/snack shop. Great place to just sit and enjoy the scenery!
We found the subway and headed up to Harlem. The train we got on had some entertainment. A Latin trio was playing. I’ve never seen live music on the subway. It was quite a treat.
We found our little bakery. Last year we stumbled on this place. It was extremely cold and wanted to pick up something hot to drink, and warm up some. When we stepped in and saw the cupcakes, we were tempted. They have the best Red Velvet Cupcakes. I don’t care for Red Velvet Cake/Cupcakes, but after tasting theirs, I wanted another one this time. We ordered one to eat, and one for dessert later.
Mmmm, I want another one! Now, Make My Cake is on 116th Street. We started walking in the direction of our Hotel – 8th Street. Yes, another long hike. But we were on a mission and this would kill plenty of time.
See, when I was packing for New York, I asked my grandson what he would like from New York. His answer: A Car Wash Book. This is a 3-year old. And he’s into Car Washes. I mean REALLY into car washes. You can’t go by a car wash without a huge announcement from him that he sees one! And he has names for them all. Blue car wash. Red car wash. Green car wash. “Nana, I want to go to the blue car wash! It’s right there!”
So, while we were heading back toward our hotel, Ray and I were checking out book stores in search of a book on car washes. There are no books on car washes. Just titles like Isabell’s Car Wash or “Five Monkeys Wash The Car”. No book on an actual car going through a car wash. We must have been in 6-7 book stores. We ended up with Isabell’s Car Wash. Why that one? Because it was the only book that actually had one little drawing of a car wash. And that page is his favorite in the entire book.
We accomplished our mission! While walking back, we noticed this huge church. I’ve never seen a church this big! It looked like it was ready to crumble any second. We found a back way in and was just awed at the inside.
This was the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine . It s claimed to be the largest Cathedral in the world. This place covers more than a ½ city block, spanning a length of 601 ft and height 232 ft and can hold up to 5,000 worshippers. Built in 1892. In 1909 changed to a gothic design. It’s also known as the St. John the Unfinished. Destroyed by a fire on December 18, 2001, it was closed for repairs and reopened in November 2008. It remains unfinished, with construction and restoration a continuing process. I was just amazed at the size of this place. Even more amazed at the collection of stained glass throughout.
There were 5 small portals inside and are decorated with relief castings of scenes from the Old Testament on the left and the New Testament on the right. The outside was as amazing as the inside. The detail in the architect was impressive!
That was one huge place! 
We ended up back at Lombardi’s for some of that fantastic pizza before turning in. New York City.
Another year gone by. It’s a great place to visit. There’s still so much more to see.
Maybe next year.
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