New York City: 250 Years In A Minute

America turned 250, and this warranted a trip to my favorite city to choose joy when the world often gives us plenty of reasons otherwise. New York, along with many other parts of the world, was sweltering through a heat wave. When we stepped out of Penn Station midday, the gnawing humidity was oppressive.

America turned 250, and this warranted a trip to my favorite city to choose joy when the world often gives us plenty of reasons otherwise.

Arrival

Our first stop was somewhere between Hell's Kitchen and Times Square. My son poked his head into a corner pizza joint for a slice of pepperoni, and we danced through the street symphony and FIFA Liberty crowds. We trudged through the heat, pizza in hand, to our hotel.

I chose The Pod Hotel Times Square for their central location and contemporary ambiance. I wanted to surprise my son with bunk beds with attached TVs. As soon as we opened our door, I climbed the ladder to claim the top bunk. We showered, changed, and headed out to find Mama's Empanadas just a half mile from us.

Eat

Empanada Mamas was surprisingly good. What we assumed would be a pick-up location turned out to be a sit-down restaurant with music, a bar, and deliciously authentic food with vegetarian options. For an appetizer, we ordered the platanos chips with guacamole and jalapeños. The guac was so fresh and chunky with a zippy bite on the backend from the jalapeños. The chips were not cooked to order, but still good and a unique take on the traditional starter.

They offered corn and flour breading, with some being baked and others fried. My son preferred the beef wrapped in fried flour, while I was happily content with veggies in a baked corn shell.

Our next quest was to find a used book store to add to my collection. On our way we pushed through the crowds watching navy men challenge civilians to the pull-up bar to watch street performers hurl themselves over other grown men. The crowd hooted and cheered to the shirtless man's close call.

Wander

A ways past Bryant Park, we arrived at the used bookstore, Bookoff. Two levels of tightly stacked, genre-specific shelves, I was in heaven. I headed for fiction but was quickly distracted by Morrison's pink-covered, The Source of Self-Regard collection in non-fiction. I then headed to classics, where I was thoroughly impressed by their price and selection. I happy-danced to the register with three books.

After book hunting, we were obliged to stop and get ice cream. Our son walked us in dizzying circles until we happened upon Serendipity 3. The Pepto-dipped walls, confusing 1950s theme, and 2000s hip-hop were off-putting, but the air conditioning provided respite from the heat. We ordered the overpriced ice cream; disappointed, we ate and left.

Back in our room, we tossed around ideas on things to do besides standing around staring at fireworks. Son suggested a movie, and with a quick Google search, I found a rooftop cinema playing Independence Day. Excitement filled the room until we realized the show started in 20 minutes and we were a 25-minute walk away.

Small Moments

We grabbed our things and ran through the lobby and burst into the street. We ran against the hot wind and sidewalk standers blocking our way. I checked the clocked as the time counted down we gained minutes. Faster and faster, we ran zigzagging past bag stands and food carts. Finally, outside the theater we came to with diet cokes and popcorn in hand just in time to collapse into our rooftop lounge seats. We locked in.

In the morning, we rose to the calling of warm bagels and mountains of cream cheese from Broad Nosh Bagels. I had a crispy and chewy egg bagel toasted with scallion cream cheese, and my son had an onion bagel with scallion cream cheese stuffed with slices of pickles. I'm still salivating over our bagels.

God Bless America.