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So as I told Kristie via text while boarding the 539 pm ” Done here! Worked. Shopped. Cached. Time to go.” I originally had the 7pm train out of NYC, so I was getting out a bit early.

Here’s what happened after I posted this am,,,,,,

The train got in a few minutes late, not bad really I was expecting it to be a lot worse. Walking the 10 or so blocks to the customer site was great. I was headed towards Times Square so I could see all the lights and activity the whole way.

So from 1030 until 130 I worked. I won’t bore you with those details, all I have to say is that I have a new happy customer.

After that I decided to take a stab at the cache that’s located in Bryant’s Park. So I get out the GPS and head out. Here’s a little help for all the Geocachers that read this and would even try some caches in NYC. Your GPS is going to have a very, very , very hard time getting a signal around all the tall buildings. I eventually put mine away and went strictly off the clues from the site. I stop and get some coffee at the shop in the clue, from there, around the back near some stools, under a rail, and VOILA!!! Took me 5 minutes once I determined the most likely place. Simple key-holder with a magnet holding it under the railing. Extraction was easy, took it back to my table and stool, signed log, now to replace,,,,,,wait, what’s the trash guy doing there, oh wait, no, don’t leave your mobile trash cart there…..oh whew,,,you were just stopping long enough to replace a bag in a nearby container. 5 minutes later (how long does it take to replace a liner right!!) and the cache is nicely hidden as found! WOOHOO!!!

So hear I am 1 block from the Empire State Building (I thought it would be bigger), 3 blocks from Times Square,,,where to go, where to go. Eh, Times Square it is.

WOW, holy crap, what a waste of electricity!!! Yeah, Times Square is packed, but the only people paying attention to all the neon, and the huge monitors are the tourists like me. Maybe I don’t get it, but I snapped off some pics, and got tired of being in everyone else’s camera angle so I ducked out quick,,,,,but it was a good ducking out of. I ran smack into an overly extravagant monstrosity of a display. A huge 75 foot (if not more) monitor with various M&M characters being animated across it.

So what’s this? A store you say? No, really an M&M store!!! WOOHOO!!!! For those who know me know that I have a bit of an M&M distraction let’s call it. I had not planned on shopping for myself, but at the site of this, I couldn’t resist, so in I go. 3 levels and $35 dollars later (along with some picture snapping) I walk out with renewed energy to continue seeing the city. The only down side is that now, along with my laptop bag, I am stuck toting around a bright yellow M&M bag also. Can someone point and say “Stupid Dumb Tourist coming!!!!” Eh, so what, I have candy AND a new dispenser, don’t mess with me!

Rockefeller center!! Again, a little let down for me, I thought the tree would be bigger, brighter, and more elegant., The ice skaters were having fun, but so were the one’s at Bryant Park. I couldn’t squeeze in tight enough to get a great picture of the tree over the waterfall with the skaters at the bottom, but I tried. “Official” picture taking stations have all the great spots. and no, I wasn’t paying that price. So snap snap, time to go. Back towards Time Square. Take my bearings. What time is it? 430. Wow, that was a quick 3 hours. Ok, I am done, time to go. So back the way I come, stopping in at a local pizzeria to sample NYC pizza (I like Chicago style better) and on the train.

So here I am, in the Cafe car again ( I am not having as much fun as Bing did in White Christmas) heading home. Kristie has called a few times while she has been out shopping (I bet she would switch with me in a heartbeat.) I am going to stop this while I can and grab a beer while I go over a ton of emails that I know have appeared in my inbox. Until then,,,,,,