I slept until almost 6am which, at almost 8 hours of sleep, was both unusual and welcomed. I made coffee and finished the blog about the time Ash got up about 7:30am. Kevin was out late and we figured he’d be asleep for a while. We took Paul out for his first walk early, then another when the sun came out briefly. We got back after 11am and made a late breakfast.

Today was intended to be the lazy day. The only thing we had on the agenda was a walk in Central Park and dinner with friends in the evening.

I finally noticed the American Utopia poster that Taylor, the guy who lives here, has in his bedroom just over the side table on my side of the bed. (Read yesterday’s blog if you don’t get that!) It’s signed by David Byrne. Taylor is a photographer and there’s all kinds of press passes and other memorabilia all over the apartment.

Kevin and Ash at the beginning of the mall that leads to Bethesda Terrace.

Ash and me at the same spot.

Ash and me at Bethesda Terrace.

Bethesda Fountain

This body of water is just known as Central Park Lake. It’s on the west side near the lower 70’s. Central Park starts at 59th Street. We are staying at 58th St.

This is a closeup of the photo above it. The point of it is to see the ducks standing on the lake. Yes, standing.

This is called Ladies Pavilion. Ash always jokes about being “a lady who lunches and plays bridge” so a photo here was necessary.

Beyond the pavilion were these huge rocks at the edge of the lake. Above and below are Ash and Kevin climbing to the top. I’m not nearly as surefooted and passed.

Ash making his way down with a great view of Central Park South in the background. On our first walk that morning we looked up the tallest buildings in NYC. The tallest one in this photo on the right is Central Park Tower at 225 W 57th St, at 1550 feet it’s #2 after the Word Trade Center. And the one in the center is #3 at 1428 feet, 111 W 57th St. It’s also known as the Steinway Tower and is the world’s most slender skyscraper.

Belvedere Castle, built in 1872 as an observation point.

To the left of the photo above it. Beyond that pavilion is an outdoor stage and seats but it didn’t photograph well through the trees.

Looking northwest from that balcony.

Kevin’s photo of me taking the photo above it.

This is my 4th or 5th time to Central Park and the first time I made it to The Ramble, a woodsy area of the park that’s also pretty hilly. I’m sure it looks quite different when the trees are full of leaves. When did I get so gray?

We walked through the park some more, eventually made our way back to 5th Ave and found a place to stop for coffee. Then we walked over to Madison Ave at about 89th and window-shopped all the way back.

58th St. at Madison Ave. There’s the Steinway Tower again, you can see how it gets even more slender as it goes up.

We had done that walk without Paul so we could move faster, so Ash took him out as soon as we got back around 3:45pm. Then we took our time getting ready for friends to arrive at 5:30pm.

In the center is Sarah who you met the night before, Kevin’s traveling nurse friend. And on the left is Yian, our friend from San Francisco who grew up in Astoria (Queens) and is staying with her mother for a few months.

Dinner was in the theater district, so we made our way over a little after 6pm. This was at 6th Ave and 50th St, where we took a right.

The restaurant was Toloache, a Mexican place next to the Gershwin Theater on 50th, where I saw Wicked in 2019. Ellen, who I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, had introduced Ash to this. It was “the only Mexican food that excited her” Jim said last night in a text when Ash told him we came here in her honor.

It’s a beautiful 2 story place that was pretty crowded when we got there for our 6:30pm reservations.

Chips, salsa, guacamole, and a queso I could have made a meal out of. Flour tortillas were brought, too, so Ash and I started with the perfection of a simple quesadilla. I could have just eaten that all night.

Above: Ash got a jicama salad with grilled shrimp. Below: I got chicken enchiladas which some agreed was the best dish of the evening. Ash and I ate each halfway through then switched plates. Sorry for the bad photos, I completely forgot to take any when the food was served!

Kevin was obsessed with getting banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery. There are several throughout NYC. This was in Rockefeller Center at 6th Ave and 49th St. And they were out of banana pudding! Long story short: Kevin and Ash went ahead to another store at 59th and 8th in Columbus Circle, and we all met back at the apartment. I must’ve been really tired because I forgot to take photos again. Was the banana pudding excursion worth it? Yep.

Today I work. Ash and Kevin will be out and about most of the day. Ash is fixing dinner tonight and then we see Company.