Good thing we have back up booze.

Today we decided to take it pretty easy and bum around the Met, maybe run a few errands before we head off for Iceland tomorrow. It was overcast and threatened to rain a bit, but much warmer so we took advantage and walked through central park up to see the Guggenheim.

Then a few blocks down to the Met to see the JAR exhibit.

Our walk along the park.

The exhibit was incredible. It was hard to believe the pieces were made of stone and metal, some looked so soft to the touch.

A Camellia Brooch, Click to see more of the collection.

We took a little break from the oohhing and ahhing for some lunch on Madison Ave. Dad says there is nothing like a New York patty melt and egg cream.
Then we were back at it, this time just to drop in on the Monet and Van Gogh collections. Next to famous paintings that we've seen pictures of a million times were a couple that I don't think I've ever seen. I think I like them more than some of the most famous.

Van Gogh - Vase with Roses

Seurat -The Forest at Paumbert

To put everything in perspective for ourselves, we left the Met and walked along Park Ave. to the subway, which we took directly to... KMart. Yes, it seemed to be the best option for what we needed (forgotten sunglasses, flip flops, etc). It didn't disappoint.

We had planned our evening, a trip to the West Side with three stops all wrapped up in a little bow. First a light dinner (that egg cream did us in at lunch), a drink at the top of the Empire Hotel, then a stop at Trader Joe's to stock up on wine.
The place we ended up choosing for our "light dinner" was Ed's Chowder House at the base of the Empire Hotel. After going inside it became obvious that it wasn't a typical chowder house and that it was good that we had dressed for dinner. We learned later that it is a popular stop for dinner before the opera or ballet. We found some suitable items on the menu and the food was very, very good, just not exactly what we had intended. Next on the list was a drink at the top of the Empire Hotel, but as we waited for the elevator to take us up we found out that the bar is closed for the next two months....
So onto Trader Joe's it was. We found it pretty easily, went inside, and found out that they don't sell wine at that location. To quote New York's own Liz Lemon : "WHAT the WHAT?!"
I know, right? A TJ's without wine? Can you even call it a TJ's at that point? Evidently you can in New York.
So with two of our three plans for the night dashed, I guess it's good that we still have our back up booze at the hotel room. New York City is turning out to be a dry town tonight.