Trip to Mars with Stan

Sue's nieces' idea for us to eat dinner at Mars 2112 was a stroke of genius! The restaurant's Martian atmosphere is a bit corny, but its fun and nicely done. Unlike some theme restaurants, the noise level at Mars 2112 was not overbearing. For example, at the Rain Forest Cafe, the theme includes a lot of loud wild animal and natural sounds such as thunder. When I ate there, I couldn't hear any of my dining companions talk without shouting. I have no desire to eat at Rain Forest Cafe again, but I am looking forward to eating at Mars 2112 again, as I had a great time there, and the company was great too! My entire day in Manhattan was fun. Spending the day in Manhattan was a great way to ring in my 44th birthday.

If anyone wants to see the digital photos I took during my visit to Manhattan, let me know via email. I haven't done any digital processing on those photos yet, but I hope to do that tonight after work and put them up on my web server.

My dinner and her nieces was great. The food was reasonably priced and tasty. The service was first rate too. I also enjoyed the company of Sue and her nieces. This restaurant has a $2 per person entertainment fee for each guest. That fee is added to the bill at the end of the meal. My chicken was delicious. I forget the name of the dish, but it was a chicken breast seared in a pan with some lemon juice, spices, and white wine. The chicken was served with some roasted root vegetables cut into shoe strings and a disk of white rice. The glbutt of Merlot I ordered was also very good. Thanks Sue for the wine! The cheesecake with raspberry sauce I ordered for desert, was awesome; very creamy with just a light tough of raspberry flavor. The crust was very light too. The chocolate Oreo desert that Sue shared with her two nieces was pronounced a success. I shot some photos of our deserts, but those photos didn't turn out well at all.

After a 90 mile drive on the NJ turnpike yesterday morning while listening to music on my iPod, I ended up at my favorite camera store, B&H Photo on 9th Avenue at 11:00. I left my car for the day at a parking lot on 33rd Street and I walked or took the train to get where I needed to go the rest of the day. I spent maybe 1.5 hours at the camera store. I bought a new camera bag there and I transferred my camera gear to it and put my old bag in my car. I also grabbed a slice of pizza at the place across from B&H and a bottle of Diet Pepsi for lunch. The pizza was quite good and only 99 cents a slice!

After my visit to B&H, I walked to the subway by Madison Square Garden and I took the E train to the 5th Avenue stop to see the Museum of Modern Art. I wanted to see the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier museum too, but I decided to skip that. I walked around the 51st Street area for about an hour shooting photos. I saw a festival that stretched along 6th Avenue for several blocks, so I bought a beef shish kebob there for a snack, and another bottle of Diet Pepsi. I tried to shoot some photos of the Citibank building which I think is on 53rd and Madison Avenue. Just as I lifted my camera to shoot a photo, a private security guard for the bank asked me not to do that. She was very polite and she told me that they had fears of persons. Ugh! This kind of interaction makes me think the persons have already won! I asked the security guard for directions to the MoMA, and she pointed me in the right direction.

I then walked around shooting photos of interesting sites. I found a homeless man sitting next to a shopping cart. The shopping cart had been turned into a makeshift cat condo. It held at least four or five young cats. Each cat was lay in a cardboard box lined with old clothes. One of the older cats was resting in a little sports bag hanging from the cart's handles. I shot a few photos of the guy and his cats, and I left some money in the donation cup he had put on top of the cart.

I finally got to the MoMA around 2:00 and it was crowded, but not too crowded. I paid the $20 admission price and I walked around and admired the exhibits for two hours until it was time for me to meet up with Sue and her nieces. I was surprised that the museum did not prohibit photography, so I shot several photos there, including a few in the outdoor sculpture garden. I really enjoyed my visit to the MoMA, although I feel the admission fee is way too high.

Then I walked over to 51st and Broadway and I arrived at the Mars 2112 restaurant right on time. Sue was there waiting for me. Sue's nieces showed up a minute or two later. Sue's nieces went to see the American Museum of Natural History and the wax museum before dinner.

After dinner, we parted company and Sue and her nieces went home. I decided to walk off my dinner by walking to the Empire State Building. My plan was to go up to the observation deck at sunset to shoot some photos. By the time I got there, the line to get into the observation deck went out the main entrance. Since the sky was heavily overcast and I was already getting tired from the long walk and humidity, I decided to walk back to my car and go home. The ride home was fine. It was the first time I ever remember not having to wait in heavy traffic to get off Manhattan Island. Usually, I take the Holland Tunnel back to NJ, but this time I decided to try the Lincoln Tunnel instead. There was hardly any traffic at all. This was around 8:00pm. I sailed through the tunnel and I ended up getting home two hours later, with a brief stop at the rest station around exit 7A on the NJ Turnpike.

So, it was a nice day.